MARTINI FAMILY--VITALONE FAMILIA

Reggio Calabria, Italy

Utica, NY

Domenico Vitalone birth certificate

Vincenzina Villella Vitalone

the Vitalone home in Sinopoli

Domenico Vitalone

Princess Irene to America

Italian Cross of War

Ellis Island Processing

In the last blog entry, we left when Vincenzina Villella married Domenico Vitalone....the grandparents of Tony Martini...but who was this Vitalone clan and where did they come from? According to the family oral history, when ancient Rome took over the Calabrian area...which was then Greek owned....the Romans sent families and soldiers in mass to the area to "filter out" the Greek influence, thus creating a more friendly and easier to control population. Our Vitalone ancestors were among these early Calabrian infiltrators from the north. We can document back to Francesco Vitalone, born about 1800 in Sinopoli, Reggio Calabria, Italy. His son Pasquale Vitalone married Lucia Francesca Antonia Alvaro in 1847 Sinopoli, and one of their sons was Francesco Fortunato Vitalone, born in 1857. Francesco Vitalone married 17 year old Giulia Camillo in 1875 Sinopoli, and their children were Pasquale, Carmelo, Rosa, Antonio, Giorgio, and Domenico Vitalone...yes, the one who married Vincenzina Villella from our last blog entry. Let's take a look at this couple.
Domenico Vitalone boarded the "Princess Irene" in Naples on the 22nd of April, 1904, and sailed to America. At the Ellis island processing facility, the 16 year old with $10.00 cash in his pockets listed his destination as Utica, New York, to see his cousin Carmelo Vitalone. In June of 1910, when Domenico Vitalone and Vincenzina Villella were working in a textile factory in Herkimer, New York, "Jennie" Villella's mother died, leaving Jennie with her brothers and stepfather. Most likely Domenico and Jennie met at work, and they were married on March 25, 1911 in Herkimer by a Justice of the Peace. On the Marriage License, Domenico lists his occupation as "knitter", and Jennie's as "mill hand".
On July 10, 1912, Domenico Vitalone and Vincenzina Villella became the parents of my father, Frank Vitalone, born in Herkimer. More about him later. As for Domenico and Vincenzina Vitalone, a second child, Julia, was born before 1916, and she died young without marrying. With World War I taking place in Europe, all Italian young men were called home by the Italian government to come back and defend the homeland. Domenico responded, and the little family packed up and returned to Sinopoli, Italy. Domenico Vitalone joined the Italian Army, and was unfortunately killed in action fighting the Austrians with the Italian Third Army in the Ninth Battle of the Isonzo River in the Carso Plateau area, November 1, 1916...my father, Frank Vitalone, was 4 years old. Vincenzina Vitalone received a memorial certificate signed by Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy, for her husband who "died for his native land". Later, in 1918, Domenico Vitalone was posthumously awarded the Italian war Cross of Merit, for service to his country. Today, there is a monument in Sinopoli to the soldiers who died in WWI, with Domenico Vitalone's name alone at the top. With her 28 year old husband gone, Vincenzina married years later to Giorgio Vitalone, and raised Giorgio's daughter Maria Vitalone in Sinopoli. Vincenzina Villella Vitalone died on March 5, 1981, at the age of 84. Her death marked the end of the immediate Italian Connection to our family in America. Comments/questions to graveyardgossip@gmail.com