17-Scotti Family in Agropoli-From Father to Sons

Acknowledgement

The research of Anthony Vermandois of Imagines Maiorum forms the basis for the exploration of our ancestors who lived in Agropoli.  Anthony has recorded dates of birth, death, marriage, immigration, occupation and other pertinent information using sources in Italy and the United States.  We have used the charts of descent for the Scotti family to prepare this posting.

Relationship Notes

Pedigree chart for Sammy showing his descent from Aniello and Anna Maria Scotti through his maternal line.

Francesco and Rosolia (nee Patella) Scotti were:

–Sammy’s Second Great-Grandparents
–EmilyAnn’s Third Great-Grandparents

Continuation of the Landholdings

The earliest progenitors of our line within the Scotti family were Aniello and Anna Maria (nee Baldi) Scotti.  Aniello’s profession was described as “possidente” which can mean a landlord or land owner.

Aniello and Anna Maria had two sons.  We do not know if there were other children born as Anthony has not listed records for the birth and death of other children.

The children we know of are:

Giuseppe, born 1802.
Francesco, born 1807.

Francesco is our direct ancestor.

16-Scotti Family in Agropoli: Aniello Scotti, Possidente

Acknowledgement

Anthony Vermandois has researched the families of Agropoli and other towns in the Campania region.  His website, Imagines Maiorum presents the vital statistics for these families through the charts of descent he has created.  For this week’s posting we have used the chart for the Scotti family.

Links to the online dictionaries used to translate words from Italian to English are provided in the Resources section at the end of this posting.

Introduction

We have completed (for now) our study of the Serrapede family in Agropoli.  With this posting we start getting to know our ancestors along the Scotti bloodline.  Since there is always the possibility of new discoveries in the family research we may return to the Serrapede family in the future.

Relationship Notes

Pedigree chart for Sammy (Sabbatino) Serrapede.

Aniello Scotti was:

Sammy’s 3^rd Great Grandfather along his maternal line.
EmilyAnn’s 4^th Great Grandfather through her maternal Grandmother Josie Muro Serrapede.

15c-Serrapere Family in Wilmerding: Holiday Dinners and Favorite Foods

Antoinette’s Memories of Holiday Time in Wilmerding

Italian-American traditions like holiday dinners have changed over time. Part of this is due to the local environment where our ancestors settled. The availability or scarcity of certain food items caused them to adapt their cuisine and celebrations. Another factor is that as the descendants intermarry with members from other communities the cuisine is sometimes altered and changed to suit the tastes of the current generation.

On Sunday, September 13th, 2015 Antoinette and I discussed some of her memories of holiday gatherings and foods used in her family. While there are some similarities to the way our branch of the Serrapede family celebrated in Brooklyn, as described in Posting 15a, there are also many differences. Here are some of the ways Antoinette’s family celebrated the holidays.

15b-Serrapere Family in Wilmerding: Pleased to meet you!

Connecting with the Antoinette Frances Serrapere

I am always amazed at how the Internet is making the world much closer.  Through this blog I have connected with a member of another branch of the Serrapede family from Agropoli.  Last week I received two comments from Antoinette Frances Serrapere letting me know her grandfather was Cosmio Serrapede from Agropoli!  I let my Uncle Sammy know and he encouraged me to follow-up on the contact.  We both were very excited about the connection.

Antoinette’s grandparents were Cosimo and Anna Marie (nee Botti) Serrapede.  The family name changed to Serrapere after Cosimo immigrated to the U.S. in 1902.  Her father Nicholas was born and raised in Wilmerding.  He married Rosemary Calhoun from Monroeville, a nearby town.  Rosemary’s parents were of Scotts-Irish descent.

Antoinette works as a hairdresser and is known as Toni Warren by all her clients.  She now lives in North Versailles with her daughter Jamie.  When we had our first telephone visit on Sunday, August 23, 2015 Antoinette shared many memories of growing up in Wilmerding during the 1970s.  I am very happy to say that Antoinette (I love using her full name!) will be a guest contributor to our blog posts about Wilmerding in the coming months.  The addition of her memories and family stories will broaden our scope of the town and surrounding area.  After the start of the 1980s Uncle Sammy and I no longer went to Wilmerding.  Uncle Sammy eventually relocated for employment and I became caretaker/companion to my Mom.  Antoinette’s input will bring us closer to current times so we can see the changes that have taken place since our ancestors lived and worked in Wilmerding.

Cosimo Serrapede was the character witness for Raffaele Mattarazo’s Declaration of Intent.  Like many of our grandfathers or great-grandfathers he worked at Westinghouse Air Brake Company.  Raffaele was a cousin by marriage to my great-grandfather Gennaro Serrapede.  Antoinette’s family also knew the Mattarazzo family.  Some of them came to her wedding.  The ties from Agropoli continued through to her generation.  My first cousin 1x removed is Nicky Muro, the son of Peter and Angie (nee Carola) Muro formerly of State Street.  Nicky was a high school teacher Antoinette remembers because she was one of his students!  Peter was my Grandma Josie’s younger brother.  Angie’s father was Gaetano Carola, a businessman from Agropoli.

I took many notes during our call and will be adding Antoinette’s contributions to the postings that will be part of the series for future postings about the Muro and Serrapede families in America.  Antoinette has visited the website ImaginesMaiorum.net  She told me many of the surnames for families like Rizzo and Botti are familiar because she knew the descendants who settled in Wilmerding.  It’s going to be great to add her knowledge to the postings.  We hope you will enjoy the added personal touch her contributions will bring.

Further reading from this blog

Cosimo Serrapede/Serrapere

Posting:  10c-Cousin Raffaele of Wilmerding, Pennsylvania in 1920

10c-Cousin Raffaele of Wilmerding, Pennsylvania in 1920

Imagines Maiorum-Ancestors from Campania

The website of genealogist Anthony Vermandois.  His database contains the names of families from Agropoli and nearby towns.

http://www.imaginesmaiorum.net

towns.

http://www.imaginesmaiorum.net