The Firrantello Family

I need to specify that this webpage is about the Firrantellos who originated in Sciara (PA), Sicily and settled in New Rochelle, NY at the beginning of the 20th century.  Specifically this means the family of Ignazio Firrantello and his wife, Maria Quattrocchi, my grandparents.  There is another family of Firrantellos in the United States, however they originated in Caccamo (a neighboring town of Sciara) and settled in Chicago Heights, IL.  If you are from the Chicago family, I would be very interested in hearing from you so we can research any possible connection.

On this webpage you will find all the direct ancestors and direct descendants of Ignazio and Maria. I have also included two charts indicating some of their aunts, uncles and cousins.

Ignazio in Sciara.

Ignazio was born in 1875 in Sciara, Palermo Province in Sicily (map).  At this point, Sicily had been part of the Kingdom of Italy for less than 15 years.  Ignazio's parents, Loreto Castiglia and Santa Farella were not yet married when he was born so they did not keep the baby.  Instead they gave him to Santa's married sister.  His adopted parents, therefore, were Francesco Firrantello and Anna Maria Farella.  He was named Ignazio after Francesco's father.  Loreto and Santa became his aunt and uncle, but Ignazio knew that the many Castiglias in Sciara and later in the US were his relatives.  This is fortunate because Anna Maria and Francesco had no children of their own.  There seems to have been no other Firrantellos in Sciara nor are there today, although there are a number of them in Caccamo.

The late 19th century was not a good time for Sicily.  As everyone knows the economic situation was bad, but what most people don't realize is that it was also in political turmoil.  How much these political issues (such as partisan fighting and the war in Africa) affected Ignazio's decision to emigrate, I have no idea.  I'd like to emphasize that Sicily was going through one of it's most difficult periods at this time.  Many people have the misconception that Sicily was historically poor and backward.  To find an excellent outline of Sicily's 3,000 year history that will clear up many of these things I would refer you to BestofSicily.com. The United States at this time was growing economically and needed a larger work force, so they made laws encouraging immigration, something that would last until the early 1920s.  The rest, of course, is history as Ignazio joined the millions who emigrated to the United States in the late 1890s.

Ignazio in New York

In April 1897 Ignazio was married to Anna Otriano (marriage certificate).  They lived for a time in the Bronx next door to another couple from Sciara, Antonino Peri and Teresa DiPasquale.  During this time, Niccolo Castiglia, Ignazio's cousin, who was actually his brother, came to America with the help of Ignazio.  The 1900 Census finds Ignazio and Anna living in the home of Salvatore Lisanti and his wife, Domenica Castiglia who was Ignazio's first cousin. Also in the house are Nicolo as well as Antonina, his sister. It is interesting to note that Nicolo's son Larry (more on him below) would one day marry Salvatore's daughter Joshephine. Ignazio's wife Anna died sometime around 1905 without having had any children.  Ignazio's friend Signor Peri arranged for his niece, Maria Quattrocchi, to come to America.  She was a teenager when she came over and lived with her aunts, Caterina and Sebastiana in New York City.  One day Antonino came to Maria to ask for her hand in marriage to Ignazio.   The two were married July 11, 1906 in a civil ceremony (marriage certificate) and then on July 29 in St Lucy's Church in Manhattan (marriage certificate) .  They settled in New Rochelle, NY, living in a two family house with Maria's brother Giuseppe Quattrocchi and his wife Matilda Realbuto. Sometime between 1915 and 1920 they bought a house at 43 Beechwood Ave. in New Rochelle, where they would raise their family and continue to live for the next 30 years.  For a while they raised Niccolo's three children when he was without a wife.  After Niccolo remarried, he left one child living with Ignazio and Maria and that was Loreto (Larry) Castiglia.  Larry continued to live with them until adulthood.  Ignazio and Maria had five children of their own, Frank, born in 1909, Tom, born in 1912, Loreto (Larry or Babe) born in 1915, Anna Maria born in 1917 and Mary born in 1920.  At the age of 6, Ann Maria was hit by a car and died.  This left in the house four children plus their nephew Larry.  Another person that lived with them for quite a while was known as "Jack", Maria's half brother.

Maria's father, Tomasso Quattrocchi, had died when she was still a baby and her mother, Maria Peri remarried to Gioacchino Ricotta.  She had three more children with him including Gioacchino (Jack). 

In 1948, with their children all grown and married, they moved to 203 Woodland Avenue, about a half mile from Beechwood Avenue. Eventually their son, Larry and his wife Olga moved into the second story apartment with their young son, you humble webmaster. In the winter of 1957, Ignazio had a heart attack and died at the age of 81. Maria continued to live for a few years on Woodland Avenue and then moved to a smaller space. She lived in a few places to be close to family and friends and died some 12 years later.

The Firrantello family has at this point in time continued for another three generations, however, the story of these subsequent generations is something that will have to wait for another time.