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RUSSO FAMILY HISTORY
Last update 11/11/2022I have always thought that the surname Russo meant "Red" in Italian. Instead, it means "Russian." What this had to do with our ancestry, I am not sure. However, cousin Sam Wyckoff tells me that in the Sicilian dialect that Nanny and Pop-Pop spoke, Russo did in fact mean red.
In the mountain village of Grammichele, on the island of Sicily, a Francesco Russo married Marianna Giandinoto. On September 29, 1838, their son was born. They named him Michele Russo. A day after his 24th birthday, Michelle married 16-year-old Concetta Tornello in Grammichele on September 30, 1862. Concetta was born in Grammichele on June 27, 1846, the daughter of Giovanni Tornello and Caterina Nicosia.
A year after their marriage, the couple welcomed their first child, a son named after Michele's father, Francesco Russo, born in Grammichele on November 14, 1863. When he was 23 years old, he married 18-year-old Concetta D'Amico in Grammichele on July 17, 1890. Concetta was born in Grammichele on April 17, 1872.
Concetta's father, Giovanni D'Amico, was born in Grammichele on February 28, 1841. His parents were Francesco D'Amico and Concetta Catalano. When he was 26 years old, Giovanni married 18-year-old Francesca Taccia in Grammichele on June 29, 1867. Francesca was born in Grammichele on September 2, 1848. Her parents were Ignazio Taccia, born 1810, and Maria Concetta Guglielmino, born 1812. While Maria Concetta was born in Grammichele, Ignazio was born in the town of Caltagirone, about a 3 hour walk from Grammichele. Ignazio's parents were Nicolo Taccia and Maria Cancemi, born in Caltagirone sometime before 1800.
Francesco and Concetta had four children. The first child, a daughter, was Concetta Russo, born in Grammichele on February 10, 1893. While it would at first seem that she was named after her mother, we must take into account naming conventions for children in the 19th Century. The firstborn child was named after the husband's father or mother. In this case, little Concetta was named after Francesco's mother, Concetta Tornello.
The naming convention continues with the birth of another daughter, Francesca Russo, born in Grammichele on July 3, 1893. This is the child who would grow up to become our grandmother, who we all knew as "Nanny." Since the first daughter was named after the husband's mother, the second daughter was named after the wife's mother, Francesca Taccia. The third child turned out to be a son, Michele Russo, born in Grammichele on September 22, 1896. He was named after Francesco's father, Michele Russo.
Finally, we come to the fourth and last child, another son, Giovanni Russo, born in Grammichele on December 13, 1905. This is the man who became known to us as Uncle John. He was named after Concetta's father, Giovanni D'Amico.
To get a better grasp on the naming convention, click on the RUSSO FAMILY CHART link in the panel on the left and compare the names of the four children to their grandparents.
In the Spring of 1909, Concetta and her four children made their way from Grammichele to Naples to begin their journey to a new life in America. How they got from Grammichele to Naples is unknown, but the distance was at least 300 miles if they sailed by ship from Messina across the Tyrrhenian Sea, or 400 miles by land from Messina across the strait to the southern tip of Italy, on up the coast to Naples.
Regardless, on March 15, 1909, 36-year-old Concetta, her 16-year-old daughter Concetta, 13-year-old Francesca (Nanny), 12-year-old Michele, and 3-year-old Giovanni (Uncle John) boarded the vessel S.S. Bulgaria. Concetta's husband Francesco remained behind in Grammichele. He would make his own journey later. Since she was travelling without him, Concetta conformed to the 19th Century custom of using her maiden name for herself on the ship's manifest, and her husband's for the children.
Nineteen days later on April 3, they arrived at Ellis Island, near the coast of Jersey City, New Jersey. To get there, their ship had to sail right past the Statue of Liberty. According to the ship's manifest, Concetta claimed she had $40 and was to join her cousin Salvatore D'Amico who lived on Manhattan. In addition to the regular ship's manifest, I also found a "Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry." Concetta is listed with three of her children, daughters Concetta and Francesca, and Giovanni. Michele is not on the list. The "Cause of Detention" is L.P.C. The notation LPC means "Likely to become a public charge." This usually indicated the immigrant did not have money, did not have a destination in the U.S., or did not have a friend or relative to meet them.
It's possible that cousin Salvatore D'Amico could not be at Ellis Island on April 3 when they arrived, or that they did not have tickets to their final destination. The document shows they were all held for two days before being declared "Admitted", and that they were each provided two breakfasts, 2 dinners and two suppers. 12-year-old Michele, for reasons unknown, was sent back to Italy.
Six months later, Michele returns to America, this time with his father, Francesco Russo. They departed Palermo on October 9, 1909 aboard the S.S. Calabria. Palermo is a seaport on the northwestern side of Sicily, 140 miles from Grammichele. Sixteen days after departing Palermo, they arrived in New York on October 25, 1909. Francesco was now 46 years old. He and Michele had tickets to their final destination, Francesco paid for both of their fares, they each had $25, and they were joining Concetta and the other children at 61 Catherine Street. Both were admitted.
Thanks to the ship's manifest, we know that Francesco was 5' 4" tall and had a scar on his neck. Michele, who was now 13 years old, was 4' 5" tall and had a scar on his upper lip. Both had a dark complexion, with brown hair and eyes.
Francesco and Concetta and the children moved initially to a tenement in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, at 106 Cherry Street. A hundred years before, it was a wealthy affluent section. By 1910, it was a waterfront slum. Regardless, they were in America pursuing their dream. They began immediately by adopting "Americanized" names. Francesco became Frank; Concetta became Katie; daughter Concetta was now Jennie; Francesca (Nanny) was Frances; Michele was Michael; and Giovanni was John.
Frank worked as a plasterer. Katie, besides being a full time housekeeper taking care of her own family, performed dressmaking chores on the side, working from home. Daughter Jennie, 17 years old in 1910, helped her mother with the dressmaking, while 14-year-old Michael performed menial tasks in a machine shop.
By 1915, they had moved on up the East Side to what would become known as the East Village. They found a home in another tenement at 418 East 14th Street. Frank and Michael were now "musicians", while Katie and Jennie were still doing dressmaking at home. Living with them was daughter Frances (Nanny) and her husband Salvatore (Sam) Cannizzaro and their little daughter Frances, who was one year old. Sam was a house painter, while Frances was a "feather maker." Sam and Frances were married at City Hall on October 25, 1913. I have no evidence that they had a ceremony in a Catholic church. By 1920, Sam and Frances had moved to Keyport, New Jersey.
Fillipo Criscillo was born in Mirto, Italy on January 25, 1878. Mirto (Sicilian Mirtu) is a small commune (town) near the northern coast of Sicily. Fillipo's father was Serafino Criscillo; his mother Rosa Arrico. Serafino and Rosa arrived in New York City on May 29, 1900, aboard the S.S. Patria.
Two weeks later, 23-year-old Fillipo joined them. He arrived aboard the S.S. Neustria on June 11, 1900. Fillipo had several siblings: brothers Nicola, born 1868, Frank, 1875, and Gaetano, 1879; and sister Concetta, born 1885. I don't know when or how they all arrived in America, but by 1905 the entire family lived in a tenement at 356 East 13 Street in the East Village of Manhattan. Fillipo was working as a house painter. Just around the block from where they lived was the Russo family. One Russo in particular caught Fillipo's eye (or vice-versa). On February 27, 1916, Concetta (Jennie) Russo married Fillipo (Phillip) Criscillo. Jennie was just 23 years old and Phillip was 38. He was 5' 6" tall, weighed 135 pounds and had brown hair and brown eyes, with a fair complexion. The marriage took place at the Municipal Building in Manhattan and the ceremony was performed by a City Alderman.
By 1920, everybody moved to an apartment at 327 East 12 Street, all within a block or two of their previous homes. By everybody I mean Jennie and Phillip, Jennie's parents Frank and Katie, and Jennie's brothers Michael and John. Somehow, in the midst of this cozy arrangement, Jennie and Phillip's first child was born, a son named after Phillip's father (of course). This was Serafino Criscillo, born July 7, 1919. On May 24, 1922, another son, Frank Criscillo, was born. Again, according to custom, he was named after Jennie's father, Frank Russo. These are the only children they had.
Sometime before 1925, Phillip, Jennie, and their young children Serafino and Frank, moved to a rather remarkable looking brick house at 179 Bay 46 Street in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, just north of Coney Island. In less than 5 years they would move again to 38 Grandview Avenue in the town of Mariners Harbor on Staten Island. Jennie's mother and father, Frank and Concetta Russo lived with them. Barely a block from them lived the Ducatelli family, at 52 Mesereau Avenue. Later, we will learn the significance of this.
In 1940, Frank and Katie moved to Keyport, New Jersey. They bought a home at 42 Osborn Street. Sometime around 1941, Jennie and Phillip left Staten Island to move in with them. To the rest of the family, Katie was known as Nonna (Italian for grandmother) and Jenny was Zia (aunt).
For those of us who knew them, the two sons of Phillip and Jennie Criscillo couldn't be more dissimilar. God decided that Serafino, the older brother, would be denied a normal life. As an adult, he was 5' 5" tall, weighed 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. His younger brother Frankie, however, proved to be anything other than normal. Short and stocky, the physically strong Frankie earned a letter in football at Curtis High school on Staten Island. But athletics weren't Frankie's only pursuit. He transferred to nearby McKee Vocational High School where he pursued a curriculum in art. He was a member of the school's Art Guild, art editor of the school newspaper, and Class President. His nickname was "Cricket."
When he was still in grammar school, Frankie won first prize in the New York City John Wanamaker Art Contest. In high school, he was awarded two art scholarships. He used one to attend the Leonardo DaVinci Art School in New York, and after one year used the other to attend advanced classes at the Federal Art School, also in New York. Some of the works he produced during this time were purchased by a well-known insurance company.
While attending art classes, Frankie took up boxing. He would train and box at semi-professional club matches around New York City. But fame and fortune in art or boxing were elusive, so Frankie also worked as a riveter at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyards on Staten Island. He was 5' 8" tall and weighed 170 pounds. He had brown eyes, black hair and a light complexion.
Around the corner from where the Criscillos lived on Staten Island was the Ducatelli family. Rocco V. Ducatelli, born in Italy around 1880, was a bricklayer by trade. He and his wife Mary had several children. One of them was Josephine "Josie" Ducatelli. She was born in New York on March 28, 1921. In 1941, Frankie married Josie. Their daughter Geraldine "Gerie" Criscillo was born in New York in 1942. On February 1, 1943, Frankie enlisted in the Army to serve his country during World War II. When he first entered the Army, he brought Josie and Gerie to live with his parents in Keyport at 42 Osborn Street. He served with the 86th Combat Engineers in the Pacific Theater. He took part in the major island invasions of Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas and later in the final invasion of Okinawa. He would serve for the remainder of the war, honorably discharged in January of 1946.
After the war, Frankie set up a private business building cabinets. In 1948, he joined the Keyport Police Department. He learned to be a photographer for his duties in the police identification bureau. In 1949, he secured a pilot's license. He was an artist, pugilist, riveter, soldier, cabinet maker, photographer, pilot, and policeman.
Josie was very talented in quilting and many other crafts. She spent much of her time teaching others how to quilt. Around 1958 or 1959, Frankie, Josie and Gerie moved to 23 Pershing Place in Keyport.
I have very little information about Michele (Michael) Russo beyond 1925. We know that he was born in Grammichele on September 22, 1896 and emigrated to America with his mother and three siblings on April 3, 1909 aboard the S.S. Bulgaria. For some reason, 12-year-old Michael was not admitted with his family. Instead, he was sent back to Italy and returned successfully aboard the S.S. Calabria with his father Francesco six months later on October 26, 1909. He does not appear to have very much of an education. He could neither read nor write. After the family settled in Manhattan, Michael found work as a laborer in a machine shop. A few years later, he and his father were both working as musicians.
Michael was 5' 5" tall, one inch taller than his father. He had a dark complexion with brown hair and eyes. He weighed 120 pounds. He also had a noticeable scar on his upper lip. Michael enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve and served as a Musician, First Class.
By 1920, his father gave up music and earned a living as a house painter. The family had moved to Hazlet, New Jersey. Michael, however, was still a musician. In fact, he was a member of the renowned "Creatore Military Band" led by a character named Giuseppe Creatore. A newspaper at the time gave this description of Creatore's stage presence: "Creatore starts the band in a mild, entreating way. A simple uplifting of the arms. Then suddenly, with a wild shake of his shaggy head, he springs across the stage with the ferocity of a wounded lion. Crash! Bang! And a grand volume of sound chocks the hall from pit to dome." Master Creatore was known to select only the best musicians to perform in his band.
When Michael was 23 years old, the 1920 Federal Census listed his marital status as single. However, he is on the 1925 State Census, living with his parents and brother John at 2 Duffield Street in Brooklyn, along with a wife named Sarah. To further complicate all this, Uncle John told me many years ago that Michael was married to a woman named Anna, and they never had children.
I have found no record of either Michael or a wife after 1925.
While his brother Michael may have been a musician, "Uncle" John was an artist. He was 5' 8" tall and weighed around 150 pounds, with a dark complexion, dark brown hair and brown eyes. On January 29, 1927 he married a woman named Lillian. I know very little about her, except she was born in New York in 1908 and her parents were born in Italy. They lived at 242 East 19th Street in Manhattan. At some point, the marriage ended, but I don't know under what circumstances.
On June 24, 1939, John married his second wife, Mildred M. Moore, the daughter of William J. Moore and Emma Schneider. Her father was a New York City police officer. Prior to the marriage, Mildred worked as a stenographer and lived with her family, including her younger brother, William J. Moore, Jr., at 481 East 140 Street in the Bronx.
After the marriage, the couple lived at 12 Willow Place in the Great Neck Estates Village in the town of North Hempstead on Long Island. By this time, John was working as an illustrator for a commercial firm, earning an income of $3,900 in 1940. Prior to the marriage, John had spent some time in Argentina, although I do not know under what circumstances. On May 2, 1940, Mildred gave birth to a son named Paul Frank Russo while they were still living on Long Island. Sometime after this, the family moved to Argentina where their daughter Kathryn Margaret Russo was born, on July 12, 1945. And, sometime after that, John and Mildred moved to California.
Concetta (Katie) and Frank Russo moved from Staten Island to Keyport in 1940. In 1941, their daughter Jennie and her husband Phillip Criscillo joined them, at 42 Osborn Street. On July 1, 1945, Frank was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A few weeks later he was transported to Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch. He was transported back home several days later and died at home on August 21. He was 81 years old. He was buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Keyport.
Four years later, in 1949, Concetta (Katie) was still living with Phillip and Jennie at 42 Osborn Street when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. On January 3, 1951, she underwent a mastectomy. Nearly 8 months later the cancer had spread through the rest of her body and she died on August 27, 1951. She was 79 years old. She was buried next to Frank at Saint Joseph's Cemetery.
Jennie suffered for years from heart disease. She and Phillip were still living at 42 Osborn Street when she suffered a heart attack and died at Riverview Hospital in Red Bank, New Jersey, on October 18, 1959. She was 66 years old. She was buried at Saint Joseph's Cemetery. When Phillip became ill not long after, he moved in with Frankie and Josie at 23 Pershing Place. He was 84 when he died there on February 18, 1962. He was buried next to Jennie at Saint Joseph's Cemetery.
Frankie and Josie were still living in Keyport when he died on December 18, 1992. He was 70 years old when he died. Serafino was 75 and living in a nursing home when he died October 14, 1994. Josie passed on May 21, 2007 at the age of 86. She had been living at the Laurel Bay Nursing Home in Keansburg at the time of her passing.
Mildred died in California on November 19, 1994, one month before her 83rd birthday. John reached the age of 101 when he died, in California, on April 18, 2007. He and Mildred were cremated and their ashes were scattered in the Rose Garden section of Conejo Mountain Memorial Park in Camarillo, California.
