History

Sersale, Italia to L'America:  Lia, Gigliotti, Capolupo and Mirarchi Families  

 J.  "Giulia" Eshelman-Lee   Copyright © 1999-2007   

        The train arrives at Naples on February 16, 1900. Paolo walks to the port and gathers with other anxious fellow travelers for boarding the Kaiser Wilhelm II destined for the port of New York in America. Apparently he arrived early as he was the sixth passenger to board the vessel. He was pleased to see it was one of the larger ships and wasn't as apprehensive as others because this was not Paolo Giuseppe's first trip to America. The other passengers were all Italian from other small regions with various occupations from musician to goldsmith. Each passenger was asked a series of questions for the manifest and his answers were: Name: Giuseppe Lia; age: 24; sex: male; married; able to read and write; nationality: Italian; last residence: Sersale; heading to New York; [destination illegible}; has a ticket to his destination; paid for his own passage; carrying 17 lire; had been to the United States before; going to join brother-in-law Capolupo; never been in prison; not a polygamist; not under contract for labor; condition of health was good; not deformed or crippled. "

    After two weeks of sea travel the Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived at the Port of New York full of passengers excited about their new destination. These passengers had already been examined by the ship's surgeon which affidavit attested that each were personally examilled and that none of the passengers were idiots or insane, or a carrier of any contagious diseases, nor had they been convicted of a crime, or polygamists or under a contract or agreement. Paolo Giuseppe passed his medical exam with flying colors: his medical affidavit attests he was in good health. The supplement to the manifest reads:Color: white; Country: Italy; Province: South; Mother Tongue: Italy; subject of what country: Italy; Religion: [no one had this filled in]. (1)

Paolo had an early history of being a pioneer and adventurous. When he was sixteen, in 1892, Paolo left Sersale for South America: destination Brazil. During this time, many Italians migrated to Latin America, leaving from ports of Naples, Genoa, and later from Palermo. In Brazil, he worked on a coffee plantation. The plantation owner didn't want him to leave because he was such a good worker. He contracted typhoid fever and eventually returned to Sersale. History tells us a siege of yellow fever caused many to return home and think of emigrating to the United States instead. While working in Brazil, Paolo learned to speak Portuguese fluently.(2)   Shortly after he returned he married Carmella Capolupo, a young girl from Sersale.⁽³⁾

            Opportunities in the late 1800s in Sersale, like all of Calabria, were scarce. Watching the elder men trek to work on farms daily from sunup to sunrise with a piece of bread and cheese in their pockets (⁴⁾  was a reminder to the younger generation that in order to own property of their own they would eventually have to migrate elsewhere: following opportunity. Their loyalties as Italians, Sersalans, & Calabrians never faltered; holding on to the dream they could return to their homeland once they acquired some property and money. Migration to South America and North America was commonplace as the young men pursued what lay ahead across the great seas and Atlantic ocean.

Paolo came from a small immediate family, having only a sister and his parents Paolo and Maria. He was quite close to his first cousins, children of Francesco Lia [b c 1845] and Ippolita Lia [b c 1850]. Ippolita was a distant cousin of Francesco. These cousins namely:

Antonietta Lia [b 1879], Vito Lia [b 1880], Luigi Lia [b 1896], Saverio Lia [b 1901], Maria [b ????], and Theresa [b ????]. (5 )

Greeted by famiglia upon his arrival . . .

Paolo and Carmella Lia stayed in Cleveland for a while where two other children were born in Sebring, Ohio. The birth of their sons Joseph [b 1904] and Tony [ b 1906] added to what would later become a larger family. The family traveled back to Italy a few times with their residence still in Cleveland. Suddenly a tragedy struck the family! The eldest son Natale was sledding and had an accident and tragically died of a hemorrhage. It was time to take stock. Paolo and Carmella decided it was time to return to Italy stating, "we're having bad luck here and we're moving back to Italy" ( 12 ) The family must have left before 1910 because they were not enumerated in the census for this year in Cleveland. ( 13 )

In 1910, however, Vincenzo Capolupo and his wife Antoinetta Lia Capolupo were still residing in Cleveland along with his mother Maria Gigliotti. It is here where we discover she had become a widow for a second time. She is living with her son and daughter-in-law, using her maiden name. We are left to wonder what happened to Francesco Mirarchi. Further research will answer these questions. Their son, Saverio Mirarchi had arrived in Cleveland around 1902. Maria was now living in America with two of her children, her sons - Vincenzo and Saverio. Her daughter Carmella and son-in-law Paolo and thei family had returned to Sersale, looking for the right place to succeed with their family: still undecided exactly where that was! The census in 1910 for the Vincenzo Capolupo household reads:

Snow Avenue, Vincent [sic] Capo/upo, head of household, 31, Italian, immigrated in 1897, could speak English, occupation: foreman, Section railroad. Antonetta, wife, 32, Italian, immigrated in 1905, could speak English. Maria Geoti[sic], mother, 55, Italian, immigrated in 1910, could only speak Italian. Andrew[sic] To/areco, boarder, 56, Italian, immigrated in 1890, could speak English, occupation: laborer, steam railroad. Joe Baratti, boarder, 25, Italian, emigrated in 1906, could speak English, occupation: laborer, steam railroad. Louis Lia/Leo? boarder, 25, Italian, immigrated in 1905, could only speak Italian, occupation: laborer, steam railroad.  (14  )

            By 1920, the Lia family had all emigrated to America, settling in Hazleton, Pennsylvania. They returned to America after suffering yet another death of one of their young children, their daughter Maria. It was recalled that Maria had been ill and taken sick as the draft from her window blew cold on her as she lay in her crib. The windows had no panes and it was difficult to keep out the cold.²² When the Lia family settled in Hazleton they found other fellow countrymen of  Italy to be their neighbors. As part of the fourteenth census of the United States the family was enumerated on the 8th of ]anuary 1920 by Luis R. Cresse, more than likely a resident of Hazleton. The enumerator went through the neighborhoods in an orderly manner and neighbors preceding were the Clement family, Carasia family, DeLucca family, and Greco family. The two families after the Lias were the Rodino family and the Rosa family. The Lia family was enumerated as follows:

"Lia [crossed out] Lee - Paul head, age 42, owned his home. Immigrated to the United States in 1901; alien; could read and write; native of Italy, mother tongue - Italian; parents from Italy; able to speak English; laborer; industry "colliery" [coal miner]. Wife - Carmella, age 42. Immigrated in 1903; alien; could read and write; native of Italy, mother tongue - Italian; parents from Italy; not able to speak English; no trade. The children were: Joseph - age 16; born in Ohio. Antonio - age 12;
born in Ohio. Natale - age 10; born in Ohio. Maria - age 6; born in Pennsylvania. Millie - age 5; born in Pennsylvania. Paul Jr. - age 3 1/12; born in Pennsylvania. James - age 8/12; born in Pennsylvania. ^{( 15 )}