The "Goodfellas" of Squirrel Run

Just as it happens today, when kids and cameras are combined, it makes for some truly memorable and funny photos. In this picture we see Ernest Salvo (far left), Paul Pesce, Adolpho Pesce, and most likely, Edgar Carozzo. His face is shaded by the thumb of who is most likely Tom Catalino taking the picture (multiple family photos reveal these guys as one of the Squirrel Run “brat packs” of the time).

The picture was taken in the Winter time, as can be seen by the heavy coats, the snow on the ground behind them, and the leafless trees. When compared to other pictures of the same locale, it appears that this photo was taken at Wagoner’s Row.

As I have said many times with other photos I have posted here, it is so great to see these historic shots out in the light again. They spent decades in boxes. Frank and I both have received feedback from many who follow this site and have enjoyed viewing these old memories. Rest assured that both Frank and I will keep these pictures coming for as long as we have them to share! And speaking of which, do you have boxes of these old pictures that you would like to share with the Squirrel Run community as well? If so, feel free to contact either Frank or myself, and we’ll do what we can to get them uploaded onto this site for you. These memories have gone forgotten for too long!

The 24th Annual Mushroom Festival

Virtually all of we Delaware Valley Giusvallèn are connected in some way to the mushroom business. Many of those who left the powder mills in the early 1920s went directly into the cultivation of mushrooms. It came naturally to our first generation forefathers, because mushrooms were a big business back home in Giusvalla (and other areas of northern Italy).

What better way to celebrate our heritage next month than heading to Kennett Square, “The Mushroom Capital of the World,” for the 24th Annual Mushroom Festival? The food alone is reason enough to stop by (don’t forget to try the mushroom soup!).

If you want to make a day out of it, there’s plenty for everyone: antique & classic car show, games and activities for the kids, live entertainment, local vendor, parades and lots more. The festival will be held this year on September 12-13.

You might even bump into a cousin or two!

For more information on the Mushroom Festival, go to:

http://www.mushroomfestival.org/

"Grace"

We are all probably familiar with Eric Enstrom’s famous painting “Grace,” which depicts the bearded elderly gentleman deep in prayer at his kitchen table. I’m sure many of us grew up with a replica hanging on the wall of our parents’ or grandparents’ home.

In the mid 1980s my father’s sister Marina took this picture of my great-grandmother Rosaio at her dining room table, using the Enstrom painting as her inspiration.

Grandmom Rosaio loved having her picture taken, we have dozens and dozens of pictures of her taken in various propped poses from the time she was a young girl. This particular picture was taken when Grandmom was in her 90s, and is a family favorite!

Don't Mess With Mutèn......

This past weekend, my Uncle Paul Salvo and his wife Rita (Devlin) Salvo were at our home to visit for my daughter's birthday party. After the mayhem subsided a bit, I pulled him aside and asked him if he would mind recounting some memories about his grandfather, John "Mutèn" Salvo..

One of the memories that he shared was one that I had never heard before: as was the case with many Italian communities, there would be times when friends would come to the Salvo house to drink, sing, and be merry together. My Uncle Paul shared that at one specific gathering, the celebrating apparently went on into the wee hours of the night. Mutèn finally decided that he would retire for the evening. He said Buona Notte to everyone, and headed up for bed. One would think that when the head of the household retires for the night, it might be time to pack it in and close down the party.. However, in this instance, that did not take place.

Mutèn had headed up to bed, but the "party" continued without him. The drinking and the singing persisted. After some time of it, Mutèn apparently made an encore appearance.. But this time, it was while sporting a SHOTGUN. Thankfully, the gun was never aimed and fired, but without even squeezing the trigger once, its message was conveyed without question: "THE PARTY'S OVER!!"

The Cavallo Bianco

Those of us who grew up close to the history of our family in Giusvalla (especially we members of the Pesce family) are familiar with the “Cavallo Bianco.” The history of the “Cavallo Bianco” goes back to the early years of the 20th century, when it was known as the “Locanda Cavallo Bianco” (White Horse Inn). At that time, it also served as a stopping point for travelers to change their horses. Adjoining the inn and beyond the archway that leads to the “port ed Tzentòn,” there were stables where the horses were kept. The original proprietors of the inn were our dear Lalla Francìşcha and the infamous Borba Tzentòn.

At the “port ed Tzentòn” was a large oven, where Lalla Francìşcha prepared bread to sell to the weary travelers. These were busy years for our Lalla, running the restaurant, inn, keeping the stables up, baking the bread and managing her brood of six children. Borba Tzentòn was frequently away pursuing some new business venture, so Lalla was often left alone to bear the heavy load on her small shoulders.

Lalla Francìşcha’s son, Vittorio and his wife Gemma, eventually took over the running of the restaurant, which became known simply as the “Cavallo Bianco.” Vittorio and Gemma’s daughters, Francesca and Nanda grew up in the kitchen of the Cavallo Bianco, helping their parents with every little task from cleaning, to cooking, to baking the bread in the big oven in the “port ed Tzentòn.”

Today Nanda and her husband Angelo run the restaurant, and their son Massimo who is an architectural engineer in Genoa sometimes lends a hand. The stables and great oven are gone, but the rooms upstairs have been beautifully restored and are ready once again to receive guests and travelers.

I had the great pleasure of celebrating my birthday at the Cavallo Bianco this past year with 25 of my dear cousins in Giusvalla, many of whom are grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the restaurant’s original proprietress, Lalla Francìşcha. An vüj di ciü che, tante grazie a tucci … ashper purrej turné prasht!

In the picture: At the Cavallo Bianco in 1963 – Meme, Pina (my great-grandmother), Teresita, Francesco, Bastianèn, Gigèn

A’summa parenti? Are we related?

The short answer to this question is yes, if your family came from Giusvalla, then you are probably related in some way to other people whose family came from there. Giusvalla has always been a small town, with just a handful of nuclear families intermarrying generation after generation, it is a mathematical probability that if we go back far enough into our family history, all we Giusvallèn will discover a common ancestry in at least one branch of our family.

However, it would be inaccurate to simply assume that all Baccino, Bonifacino or Perrone families sprung from the same ancestral patriarch. For example, it is well-known in Giusvalla that the various Bonifacino families are descended from the soldiers of “Bonifacio il Vasto,” a 13th century nobleman from the Aleramici family.

Families in Giusvalla distinguished themselves from other unrelated families with the same surname by associating themselves with their ancestral frazione (neighborhood), for example there were the Perrone della Colla, Perrone dei Dogli, Perrone della Casùrera and Giusvalla’s noble family, Perrone dell'avvocato. It was the same with all the large old families in Giusvalla.

At the time of the 1645 census in the town of Giusvalla, the following families were living in Giusvalla:

Bonifacino - 36 families
Perrone - 30 families
Baccino - 27 families
Beltrame - 25 families
Pizzorno - 14 families
Buschiazzo - 10 families
Tessore & Rabellino - 5 families
Bazzano & Brondo - 4 families
Doglio & Porro - 3 families
Astisano, Bistolfi, Ferraro, Iardino, Rapetti, Siri, Scarrone & Zuffo - 2 families
Biale, Bagnasco, Ivaldi, Laidi, Marchisio, Marenco, Richebuono, Salvo, Salvagno, Tortarolo - 1 family

As record-keeping as we know it was just beginning to develop following the Council of Trent a century before, we can perhaps consider this list an accurate representation of the earliest documented residents of our ancestral village of Giusvalla.

Some of these family names disappeared from Giusvalla over the subsequent centuries, while other families moved into Giusvalla from other towns nearby (Carozzo, Camoirano, Manzino, Pesce, Rosaio, Zunino, etc.).

Of course, you’ll only know for certain if you are related to someone by carefully documenting each generation of your family history. The rule of thumb with genealogical research is to start with yourself, obtaining documentation such as birth, marriage and death records for each vital event in every generation, which (with luck) will lead you to a starting point for researching the previous generation.

Interested in your Giusvalla family history? I started my search over 20 years ago and over the years have obtained copies of many of the original records from the Giusvalla town hall, as well as the older ecclesiastical records from the registers of Giusvalla’s parish, the church of San Matteo. If you’d like a hand getting things going with your own “family tree,” I am more than happy to share whatever I have, or get you started on your search!

In the picture: Marriage Act of Lorenzo Antonio Perrone & Maria Luigia Perrone - from the marriage registers of the parish church of San Matteo, Giusvalla

The Death of Gidio Tortarolo

Growing up, I knew very little about the family of my Godmother, Theresa (Tortarolo) Angelone. I knew her parents were buried at St. Joe’s on the Brandywine, because my father would point out their headstone whenever we went to visit the family graves. However, I’d never once seen a picture of them, or heard anything about them. I knew they had died from the 1918 influenza, and I knew that as a result, my Aunt Theresa had come to live with my Grandpop Salvo’s family. I’d also heard briefly that she had a brother and sister, but I’d never met them or seen a picture of them either. Years went by and the topic came up somewhere again that she’d had a brother and a sister- so, I finally asked to know who and where they were. After all, if we visited Aunt Theresa regularly, why couldn’t we see her siblings too?? It never made any sense to me as a kid.

My parents explained to me that both had died early in life, and that her sister’s name was Josephine, and her brother’s name was Gidio (spelled as Egidio on the family headstone). And this is where things got interesting: I remember my father telling me that Gidio was killed “in a hot air balloon accident”. At this point I was a kid growing up in the 1970’s and 80’s- at that time, I knew people died when airplanes crashed. I knew people died in car accidents. But a hot air balloon?? Come on. I really thought my father had gotten a bad translation from Italian to English on that one.. Yes, I knew balloons go up high and all, but really- how many people did you ever hear about who died from hot air balloon fatalities?! It just sounded nuts.

Of course my father had no other information to go on, and really had no way to verify the story. The info most likely came from Aunt Theresa herself, or her husband (Art Angelone), and I’m sure it was upsetting for Aunt Theresa to discuss. So, I doubt she went into much detail about it. Either that or, she simply did not know all of the details surrounding the death. After all, it happened in MD in 1930. We had no obituary for Gidio, and there was nothing called an “internet” yet, so without any clues there was little more research that could be done. At that point in my life, the given explanation had to suffice, even as vague and odd as it was..

Interestingly enough, in another household in the tri-State area at that time, a similar question had been asked, and an equally-interesting response had been provided: Frank Rosaio had been told by the sister of his grandfather (Francesco Rosaio) that Gidio had met his death in a motorcycle stunt. Frank’s family recalls Gidio riding his motorcycle all over the place on the Rosaio family farm. But once again, as was the case with my family, no one really knew for sure what took Gidio’s life so early on.

Fast-forward about 25 years- my father signed up for an account with ancestry.com, and started doing research on the Brady, Salvo, and Angelone lineages. While working on the Angelone tree, he was doing obituary searches, and lo and behold, found the obit for Gidio Tortarolo posted on Frank Rosaio's genealogy site (which is how I first met Frank)! It had his last name misspelled, but it was definitely him. It read as follows:

From the "Wilmington Morning News," 8 Oct 1930, p. 2:

"Body of Balloon Victim To Be Buried Here

The body of Egidio Torgarolo, who was killed in Whitehall, Baltimore county, Md., on Saturday afternoon by falling from a balloon, was brought to this city yesterday. The funeral will take place from Krienan Brothers' undertaking parlors at 400 Broom street. tomorrow morning. Requiem mass will be held in St. Joseph's Church, on the Brandywine, at 9:30 o'clock, and interment will be made in the adjoining cemetery.

The young man was 23 years old and formerly lived in this city, but lately had been traveling and giving balloon ascensions. He has two sisters living in Wilmington. The young man was substituting as parachute jumper for Captain John Smith, and was known as Ernest or "Steve" Carinalio."

The obit confirmed the story my father had heard and passed down to me.. But even though it provided more insight, it in turn raised even more questions: where in MD did this happen? Were there witnesses? I felt compelled to find out the whole story, as grim as it may be.

I posted inquiries to a few online sources, explaining the details of the incident (brief but confirmed), along with when Gidio had died (October 4, 1930). Within 24 hours an email came back stating that an article regarding the accident had been found in the Baltimore Sun newspaper. It recounted the death of a man at the White Hall Fair, by the name of Ernest Carinalio (Gidio’s stage name, which appeared in the obituary my father had discovered). The posting of the article was October 5, 1930 (pg. 3, column 6). I requested to have a copy of the article emailed to me, and received it 3 days later. The article (which has been attached with this posting, click on it to view full-size) indicated that Gidio was in fact on a hot air balloon, but that he was actually scheduled to jump from the balloon wearing a parachute, as part of a stunt show. Somehow while preparing for the event, Gidio’s parachute pack got tangled up in the ropes of the balloon, and while trying to get it free, Gidio fell. He was only 50 feet from off of the ground, which would not have been enough time to deploy the chute. As a result he fell to his death, and according to the article, the tragedy took place while 1000 fair-goers were watching.

From what we know about Gidio, he spent his life as a thrill-seeker. Family members can remember him riding his motorcycle all over the place as a young man, and the career he selected at the time of his death further reveals his interest in such activities. I feel in a strange sense that some piece of Gidio carries on in me, as I am an avid motorcycle rider and enthusiast, and I am the only one in the Tortarolo-Salvo-Ghione-Brady lineage who seems to have that gene.

Another interesting point of curiosity about Gidio has been in regard to the stage name he selected, “Ernest” or “Steve Carinalio”. In trying to determine why he chose that name, our family couldn’t help but wonder if the “Ernest” came in some way from my grandfather, Ernest Salvo. But recently, another subtle fact has revealed itself: in the Tutti pic at the top of this site, you can see Gidio standing with his right arm around his little sister, Theresa. And his left arm is around a pal at that time: Ernie (Ernest) Camoirano.. That sure sounds a lot like Ernest Carinalio to me.