Continuing the story of Giovanni Marvulli, I had left off with the death of his beautiful wife Grazia Scarola in 1916. She was the mother of 5 of his children of which 1 had passed in infancy. Their 4 living children were all under the age of 10. From 1916 until 1922 Giovanni was a single father.
By August 1922 Giovanni met or had reacquainted with widow Maria Fazio – Tomanelli. Maria (1887, Grumo Appula) was the daughter of Pietro Fazio (1842 G.A.- 1923 G.A.) and Laura Tetro (1854 G.A.) (the Tetro name is one that has repeated in our family history) Maria Fazio had married Domenico Tomanelli of Grumo Appula on Sept. 3, 1910.
Together they had 3 children. Giuseppe (1911), Pietro (1913 ) and Teresa (1914).
So much of their personal story is lost, but like so many others, it is not hard to imagine what their lives were like. All born in our family town of Grumo, this was most likely a family introduction or arrangement, Maria in Grumo with 3 children and Giovanni (John) with 4 children in New York were paired up out of convenience and necessity. Maria traveled alone to New York and on August 20, 1922 Giovanni and Maria said I do. They were married in the ‘family’ church St. Clare’s in New York City.
Giovanni and Maria went on to have 3 children together, although 1 passed away in infancy. Recapping the children: Giovanni at the time of their marriage had son Dominick (20), Rocco (16) Rose (14) and Joseph (13). Maria had children Joseph (11) and Teresa (8) from her marriage to Domenico Tomanelli. Joseph and Teresa were left behind in Grumo and did not join their mother until 1933, arriving together. A year after marrying Giovanni, Maria had son Pietro ( Peter) born in 1923, followed by Grace in 1924 and Thomas in 1926.
1925 New York Census
Little Grace did not survive and passed away on Dec 30, 1925.
I was unable to find Giovanni in the 1905, 1915 and 1920 census records. I was able to pick up his path in the 1925 census and then in the city directory index’s on Ancestry. I can see by these last two records that by the 1920’s Giovanni was now using the name of John. His last name has been written Marvulli, Marvilli, and a form of Marvullo. Maria has also been using the name Mary.
1920, Mavilli, – ice – (W 37th St)
1922, Marvulll, Grocer, (W 37th St)
With the stamped date of June 8, 1925 on the second page I was sad to see that his Petition For Naturalization had been denied for ‘lack of knowledge’
By 1930 the family was still living on W 37th St., John (54) Mary (44) have son Rocco (24), Joseph (21), Peter (17), Thomas (3) living with them. John’s occupation was listed as fruit store dealer. Mary and Joseph were both working as clerks in the store. Son Rocco was a press feeder in a print shop.
On June 19, 1933, Teresa (19) and Giuseppe (22) finally arrived from Italy to join their mother and step father and siblings aboard the Conte Grande.
I paused here to consider their arrival. Joseph (Giuseppe) had been 10/11 when his mother left and Tessie (Teresa) had only been 8 years old. Who had they lived with? What had they thought about all this, their mother leaving? What had they been told? Joseph’s occupation on the passenger list was carpenter and Tessie was housewife, which I believe was a generic catch all for single woman at the time. I took another look at the records and discovered another passenger list for the year 1921, a Boston, Mass arrival on into N.Y.. Quite a few researchers have picked up this record as our Giuseppe (Joseph) but on very close inspection I do not believe this is our Joseph. Below is the record and my explanation.
There were 17 people traveling from Grumo, with last names like Peragine, D’Armiento, Spano, ….on this ship. I do believe these are many of our extended family members. The age of this Giuseppe/Joseph is off, which led me to look very closely. He was traveling with Maria Baccellieri – Tomanelli going to her husband Rocco Tomanelli. She had along with her Carlo 12, (Giuseppe/Joseph 9) and Raffaele 4. It was noted on page 2 that this Giuseppe was traveling to his father the same as with Carlo and Raffaele. This passenger list is a great resource for tracking our extended family branches but I believe this is not our guy. I have to tell you too that I had to resist the rabbit hole and continue on with our story.
By 1940 the census for John (65) and wife Maria (52) had an address of them living at 340 Stockton St., Brooklyn. The census record indicated that they had also been living there in 1935 as well. John had listed coal and ice dealer for his occupation and not grocer. Their 2 son’s Peter (16) and Thomas (13) were living at home but no indication was given that they were in school or working. A quick glance at the WW11 enlistment records for Thomas revealed that he had only a grammar school education. Perhaps he was working with his father. Son Peter I had written about in my previous post honoring him on Veteran’s Day. He was killed in action in 1944. HIs enlistment record also indicated only a grammar school education.
Now an empty lot, I imagine that 340 Stockton looked very much like the building still standing that was next to their address. (The 354 address is for across the street 🙂
Meet John and Mary Marvilli
Thank you to Deborah Hansen who originally shared this on Ancestry July 11, 2017
Thank you to Elisabeth Villarroel who originally shared this on Ancestry Jan. 24, 2016
*I have tried connecting with both Deborah and Elisabeth but unfortunately have had no reply from either of them.
With out starting to go into the marriages and lives of the children of John and Mary, I have not found much more about their lives after 1940. I have not been able to confirm the death date of Mary however most researchers have March 15 or the 30, 1955 for a date. From the New York, New York, Death Index, 1949 – 1965 I did find this listing.
| Name |
Maria Marvilli |
| Age |
69 |
| Birth Date |
abt 1886 |
| Death Date |
15 Mar 1955 |
| Death Place |
Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA |
| Certificate Number |
6449 |
| Household Members |
|
I will need to do some more research on her . The death certificate for Giuseppe/ John Marvilli does shed some additional insight into John’s life. He retired from the Grocery business and had owned his own store. His last years were spent at the Holliswood Nursing Home in Queens, New York where he was seen by the attending physician from August of 1957 till he passed in Jan. 1959 at the age of 84. The certificate does indicate that he was a widower. His son Rocco Marvilli, living at 608 Evergreen Ave., Brooklyn was the informant. Rocco was about 53 at the time of his father’s death. John is buried at Calvary Cemetery, in L.I.City.
Preceding John in death had been his sister Rita Edith Caso in 1950 along with his brother Giuseppe in the same year. His sister Angelina had passed the year prior in 1958 leaving my great grandmother Nicoletta still living until 1962. In my next post I will finish with the children of Domenico Marvulli and his wife and mother of his children Rosa D’Armiento.
Mass card photo courtesy of Ann Elmendorf (Ann I am so thankful for your early ‘spring cleaning’ of photo’s, thank you for sharing this mass card with me)
Branches On Our Civitano Family Tree 