New book eyes Italian immigrants

As Charlie Campo can tell you, immigrants could be “loath to discuss anything but the life they had forged in this country, so grandchildren got little information about their heritage.”

Fortunately for people like Charlie, the chief librarian here at the Bangor Daily News, there are researchers and authors such as Rudy J. Favretti.

Favretti started out working on his own Italian roots, and wound up embracing everyone he could find in the lower Val di Zoldo in the Dolomites, near the Austrian border.

The result is the 232-page “Jumping the Puddle: Zoldani to America,” a book Charlie describes as every bit as endearing as its title.

I’d have to agree. In fact, I’d suggest that even those of Italian descent whose ancestors came from a different region might learn a lot about day-to-day living in this fascinating country.

“The description of life before the migration helps me better appreciate my grandparents,” Charlie said. For those whose roots do go back to Zoldo, the rewards of perusing this book will be rich, indeed.

They may find their names among those who came to places such as Bridgeport, Groton, Hartford, Meriden, Mystic, Old Mystic, New London, Norwich, Stonington, Stafford, Stafford Springs, Willington and Willimantic, Conn.; Clifton, Passaic and Patterson, N.J.; and Providence, Westerly, Bradford and Hopkinton, R.I.

Favretti turned up the following surnames in the 1920 Census:

Badin, Baldi, Brostolon, Calchera, Campo, Carocari, Cercena, Cini, Costantin, DaCorte, DeFanti, DeMattia, DeRocco, Fain, Favretti, Fontanella, Lazzaris, Molin, Panciera, Pasqualin, Pra, PraBaldi, PraSisto, Santin, Scussel, Serafin, Sommariva, Talamini, Tiziani, Toldo. A few additional names were gleaned from vital, cemetery and family records.

Also, you will note, he made an effort to include the “sopranome” or branch that helped differentiate which part of a family a person came from.

Information he extracted from the 1920 Census and recorded in the book includes the person’s age, occupation, date of immigration and, where appropriate, date of naturalization. However, the author chose not to include family members who were born in this country.

Thus, Charlie’s grandparents were listed as Carl Campo, sopranome Grappa. He was 27, came to this country in 1905, and was naturalized in 1917. He was a weaver in a woolen mill. His wife was Mary, maiden name Fuoli, age 23. She came over in 1904, and was naturalized in 1915.

Keep in mind that in April 2002, the 1930 Census was released, so you might also want to check out that resource, as well. The University of Maine’s Fogler Library in Orono and the Maine State Archives in Augusta have the 1930 Census for Maine. For other states, you can request microfilm through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Family History Centers in Bangor, Farmingdale and other locations.

Back to the book. There are also many pictures of people, buildings, and the incredible mountainous landscape in Val de Zoldo. And surely you’ll be interested to read about many of the projects the Zoldani worked on in this country.

To order “Jumping the Puddle: Zoldani to America,” send $22.50 to Rudy Favretti, P.O. Box 403, Storrs, CT 06268. Connecticut residents should add $1.35 sales tax. Sounds like a nice Christmas present to me.

In discussing immigrants from the turn of the century, the obvious question is whether a family shows up in the Ellis Island Records for arrivals to that port in New York. Keep in mind that the Web site for this resource covers 1892-1924. Indeed, Charlie’s grandfather is there.

Charlie showed me on www.ellisislandrecords.org that Carlo Campo was listed on the manifest for the SS Statendam, which left Rotterdam on April 15, 1905, and arrived in New York on April 25.

The family group was listed as Giovanni Campo, 61, a farmer; Mrs. Giovanni, 53; and children Raffaele, 32; Marie, 17; Carlo, 11. Their destination was Stafford Springs, Conn., the home of the couple’s son, Anton. The family brought along $200 from Italy, and each member had a doctor’s certificate.

This is a wonderful Web site. While copies of the ship’s manifest and a picture of the ship are available by purchase, you may look at them both free.

Queries: Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or e-mail familyti@bangordailynews.net.