Lo Stemma/Insignia of Paduli. Depicted are the three main hills of Paduli, Monte Santo, Monte Coppola and Monte d'Oro. The crown indicates that Paduli sided with the kings, that is the State, in their struggles with the Papacy.
Chiesa Madre/Mother Church of Paduli dedicated to Saint Bartholomew
Paduli in America
A site for exchanging information among the descendants of Paduli in America. This site is dedicated to you, the descendants of the hundreds of Padulesi of the first generation who came to America betwen the 1800s and the 1920s. Send me your comments, suggestions, pictures of your ancestors, stories about them, and so on so that we can begin to form a real network of descendants interested in keeping the traditions and the contacts alive both among ourselves and with the present-day citizens of Paduli. (alexander.deangelis@gmail.com)
Un sito per lo scambio d'informazione tra tutti i discendenti di Paduli in America. Questo sito e' dedicato a voi i discendenti degli centinai di Padulesi della prima generazione che vennero in America tra gli anni 1880 e 1920. Mi invia le sue osservazioni, suggerimenti, foto degli vostri antenati, storie de loro, et cetera, e in questo modo possiamo cominciare di formare un vero network di discendenti interessati nelle cose di mantenere le tradizioni ed anche di stabilire legami non solo tra noi ma allo stesso tempo con i cittadini di Paduli odierni. (alexander.deangelis@gmail.com)
Angelo Zullo passed away on September 11, 2009. He is certainly one of the last, if not the very last Padulesi immigrant from the first generation of Padulesi who came to the United States between the 1880s and 1930s. We mourn his passing.
FOCUS ON ROCCO FLORIO (October 21, 1901 - October 5, 1983) AND CLEMENTINA MAZZEO. (See photos below.)
Rocco Florio was a leader among the Padulese community in Oyster Bay, New York and was one of the minority of Padulesi immigrants who could read and write. He would act as an emissary from the Padulesi in Oyster Bay when he went back and forth to Paduli bringing letters and small packages of gifts to families in Paduli and carrying back the latest news to the Padulesi immigrants living in Oyster Bay.
Rocco, an outgoing personality, was born in Paduli on October 21, 1901. His father, Angelo Maria Florio, may have originally been from Bari. He too was a shoemaker and presumably taught youg Rocco the skills necessary to making and repairing shoes. Rocco's mother was Raffaela Di Napoli. Clementina's mother was a Scaramuzzo related to the Scaramuzzo family in Oyster Bay, including to the current President of the Italian-American Citizens Club, Peter Scaramuzzo. Although Clementina was a Mazzeo, according to her daughter Nancy, she may not have been related to the Padulesi Mazzeos in Oyster Bay. Rocco's brother Emilio also lived in Oyster Bay with his wife Alessandra Lombardi Florio (see picture below).
Rocco and Clementina had four children, all of whom are living in the United States. Their first child, Angelo (89), was born in Paduli and came to the United States with his parents when he was three years old. He was called John, after his Confirmation name. He currently lives in Emaus, Pennsylvania, near Allentown. Angelo was a boxer in the Golden Gloves and also was involved in deep sea diving. He ran a company called Jaflo involved in tree work, mulch and clearing wires.
Nancy Florio Portes, baptized Annuciata, lives in Huntington Station, New York. Nancy went to Saint Dominic's school in Oyster Bay, as presemably did her brothers and sisters. She provided most of the information about her parents in this vignette.
The third child is Emilio, nicknamed Army. Several years ago he and his sister Nancy and their brother Rocco, Jr. (see next) attended the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Italian-American Citizens Club of Oyster Bay.
The fourth child, Rocco (81), lives in Florida with his wife Sylvia.
Rocco Florio was a shoemaker by trade. For many years his shoeshop sat on the west side of South Street between the corner of South Street and Orchard Street and the firehouse. The building is no longer there. Passersby could often hear the excited shouts of the Padulesi men playoing Bocco in the summer evenings in back of Rocco's shop and home. Rocco DiNapoli, the baker, was Rocco Florio's first cousin.
Rocco was an active member of the Saint Rocco Society and the Mutual Aid Society.
Rocco Florio and wife Clementina Mazzeo: Rocco Florio was a leader among the Padulese community in Oyster Bay. His shoeshop stood for many years on South Street not far from the fire house.
Alessandra (Sandella, Sandra) Florio Lombardi, wife of Emilio Florio and sister-in-law to Rocco Florio
Italian-Americans at the St. Rocco Festival, Oyster Bay 1931
From the 1880s through the middle of the 1920s, hundreds of citizens of Paduli di Benevento left their homes and traveled to America seeking better economic conditions and opportunities. I believe that many or most of them wanted to return to Paduli some day after they had saved enough money to live comfortably. Some Padulesi did in fact return to Paduli including my own great grandfather on my grandmother’s side, Vincenzo Mainiero. However, most of the Padulesi who left Paduli to come to America ended by settling down in America and raising their families here. Their motives for staying were many including economic necessity, the two World Wars, and purely personal reasons. They settled in such towns in the State of New York as Oyster Bay and Glen Cove on Long Island and Syracuse and Auburn in Upstate New York, and in various towns in Eastern Pennsylvania. Many of their names are inscribed on the Bronze Plaque that was donated in 1949, along with a Hammond Organ, to the Church of San Bartolomeo in Paduli by the citizens of Paduli residing in the United States. The Plaque is fastened to the wall of the church in the hallway between the church proper and the church offices. The names on the Plaque will be familiar to anyone from Paduli, e.g. Florio, Ranaldo, Minicozzi, Bozzella, Marmorale, Saccone, DeVivo, etc.
This website is dedicated to their memory and especially to my grandparents, Rocco D'Angelis (17 December 1891- 28 March 1965) and Maria Teresa Mainiero (1 December 1897- 12 May 1974), two citizens of Paduli who, like so many other Padulesi, emigrated to America in the period between the 1880s and the 1920s. Although they settled down in America and began a new life, they never forgot their place of their birth.
For further details of the history of Paduli and of the compilation of this website, click on the links below to the Preface (in English) or the Prologo (in Italian).
See the page labeled List/Elenco for over 1200 ships records of immigrants from Paduli.
Nel periodo fra il 1880 e il 1920, centinaia di cittadini padulesi, lasciarono il loro paese natio e andarono in America in cerca di lavoro e di opportunità. Credo che, la maggior parte volesse tornare a Paduli dopo aver risparmiato qualche dollaro, sufficiente per godersi una vita più agiata. Sebbene qualche padulese tornasse, come mio bisnonno Vincenzo Mainiero, tanti altri si stabilirono in America e cominciarono a far crescere le loro famiglie, o per necessità economiche o per causa dei due conflitti mondiali. Essi si stabilirono nei paesi dello Stato di New York come Oyster Bay e Glen Cove su Long Island, Syracuse e Auburn nel nord dello stato di New York, e in vari paesi nell’ est dello Stato della Pennsylvania. Tanti dei loro nomi sono incisi su una lastra di bronzo donata dai cittadini di Paduli residenti in America nel 1949 e adesso fissata all’interno della Chiesa Madre di San Bartolomeo in Paduli. I nomi sono ben familiari a tutti i padulesi, esempio: Florio, Ranaldo, Minicozzi, Bozzella, Marmorale, Saccone, De Vivo, etc…
Questo Website e' dedicato alla loro memoria e specialmente ai miei nonni, Rocco D’Angelis (17 December 1891- 28 March 1965) e Maria Teresa Mainiero (1 December 1897- 12 May 1974), due cittadini di Paduli (Benevento) che, come tanti altri padulesi, emigrarono in America nel periodo fra il 1880 e il 1920. Sebbene si stabilirono in America e cominciarono una nuova vita, mai dimenticarono il loro paese di nascita.
Per la storia di Paduli e la creazione di questo sito clicca il link Prologo la giu.
Vedi la pagina List/Elenco che contiene piu di 1200 estratti di navi delle emigranti Padulesi.
So che in questo Elenco esistono molti errori. Anche se ho dato ilmeglio di me stesso per decifrare i cognomi e altre informazioni tra i dati storici, ammetto che in alcuni casi ho sbagliato.Spero che con la pubblicazione di questo libro, altre persone, chehanno informazioni migliori o correzioni o consigli, sono libere di mettersi in contatto con me, o in italiano o in inglese, con lettera al mio indirizzo postale (P.O. Box 397, Hamilton, Virginia 20159, USA), o via email alexander.deangelis@gmail.com
I recognize that the information contained in this website contains many errors despite the best of my abilities to decipher the names and surnames, etc. I welcome any comments, suggestions or corrections, in either Italian or English, and also any new information about the First Generation that may fit into this site. Please contact me at alexander.deangelis@gmail.com or at my mailing address P.O. Box 387, Hamilton, Virginia 20159.
