On this day 124 years ago in Farindola, Italy, Elisabetta Rossi married Filippo Marcella. They were the parents of my great grandfather Cesidio.
Elisabetta Rossi was born in 1866 in Valleceraso, Bacucco, Teramo, a neighboring town, to Giuseppe Antonio Rossi and Anna Antonia Ricci.
The valley outside Bacucco (Arsita), Teramo
Her parents had moved to Farindola before the marriage of their oldest child, Elisabetta. Elisabetta’s father was originally from Penne, Pescara, having been born there. I was able to trace back to 6th great grandparents in the Rossi line born around 1740 in Penne. Giuseppe’s father Domenico was literate and I have a few of his signatures saved. The one below is from his son’s marriage to Elisabetta’s mother, Anna Antonia Ricci, in Bacucco in 1865.
Anna Antonia Ricci was born in Castiglione Messer Raimondo, Teramo. However her parents were also born and married in Penne, Pescara. I was able to trace the Ricci back to the mid 1700s in Penne too, to another set of 6th great grandparents. The Ricci married a member of the Delle Monache family through which I was able to trace to a set of 7th great grandparents born around 1700. They were Anastasio Delle Monache and a lady named Lorenza.
My great great grandmother Elisabetta Rossi was the oldest child and had at least 7 siblings: Antonio, Palma, Domenico, Maria Carmina, Giovanni, Anna Domenica, and Girolamo.
Elisabetta married Filippo Marcella, a man who was a widower, and also 23 years older than she was. Coincidentally, I noticed on the birth records of Filippo’s children to Elisabetta that his age somehow decrease with each record!
Filippo was born in 1844 in Trosciano, Farindola, Pescara to Massimo Nicola Marcella and Maria Carolina Colangeli. Through miracles of modern Google Earth, this is a clipped image of Contrada Trosciano in Farindola.
Filippo’s first wife was Maria Antonia Lacchetta, the daughter of Filippo Lacchetta and Maria Salzetta. Maria Antonia had passed away in April of 1893 and Filippo Marcella was left with small children to raise. We don’t know the circumstances of her death but she had given birth to at least 11 children in 20 years. Some of the children didn’t survive a few days or past infancy.
Filippo’s children with Maria Antonia were: Carmela (died in infancy), Cesidio (died in infancy), Maria Grazia, Donato (died in infancy), Bambino (stillborn), Andrea, Carmine, Raffaele, Pasqua, Filomena, Serafina.
Elisabetta’s first born was my great grandfather Cesidio. Her other children were Maria Domenica, Antonia Vincenza, and Antonio Andrea.
Filippo Marcella was the fourth of ten children. He had two sets of twin sisters. The first set passed away in their childhoods. He also had a brother that passed away in his childhood. The siblings that survived to adulthood are as follows: Maria Giustina, Maria Giuseppa (midwife)*, Domenico**, Nicola (Antonio), and the second set of twins Serafina and Maria Domenica.
Filippo’s ancestry, so far, has been traced back to the early 1700s. His father’s ancestors were born in Farindola to at least that point in history. His mother’s ancestors encompass at least three midwives, not including his sister, and a line traced to Montebello di Bertona. Filippo passed away at #137 Trosciano, Farindola in 1916.
Pecorino di Farindola
*Maria Giuseppa married Panfilo Zenone. This is one way we are related to the Zenone cousins.
**Domenico is the sibling of Filippo through which we are related to the Romagna cousins and again to the Zenone cousins.
Sources:
Antenati San Beniculturali – Archivio di Stato di Pescara (Farindola, Penne, Montebello di Bertona)
Archivio di Stato di Teramo records on Family Search (Bacucco (Arsita) and Castiglione Messer Raimondo)
Recently, I discovered and can confirm that, yes, second great grandmother Emilia Bold’s mother Elisabetha Scheid Bold did come to America, at the age of 57 in 1880, sailing from Rotterdam, Netherlands aboard the ship the Scheidam and died in Manhattan in 1905. Her daughter Rosa traveled with her. They traveled in steerage and no profession was listed for either of them. Through clues in censuses, it appears Elisabetha’s husband, Jacob Scheid, Nunschweiler’s Head Catholic Schoolmaster, had passed away. Elisabetha came to live with her daughter, Anna Maria Bold, who had been in America for 13 years.
Anna Maria Bold Leies
I find Emilia Bold’s sister intriguing because of the age that she came here alone. According to church records, Anna Maria Bold was born in 1852 in Busenberg, Germany, a few miles from Nuenschweiler. At the age of 15, in 1867, Anna Bold’s name appeared in the Hamburg Passenger Lists on the ship named Cimbria sailing for the Port of New York. Her place of origin was Nunschweiler. She traveled in steerage. The passenger listing really specifies her age as 15! Anna Bold is also listed in the Germans to America index at the age of 15. Castle Garden lists her as arriving on June 13, 1867 at the age of 15 as well. The burning question is, did she know anyone on the Cimbria?! Is there anyone out there researching her that can shed light on this? What prompted her to leave her home at this age?
Cimbria’s listing for Anna. Literacy was not specified.
The next year, Anna Bold married Jacob Leies on December 6, 1868 at the age of 16, according to the recently released New York City Marriage Index. At first I thought this was a mistake that she was marrying at 16 and marrying a Leies. I actually discounted the index when I first found it. But no, it is all real and she is really Emilia’s sister. The marriage index listed the names of Jacob’s parents and also his birthplace as Huberhof – the same farm as second great grandfather Johann Leies.
What is our relationship to Jacob Leies?
Jacob Leies was first cousin to our second great grandfather Johann Leies. Jacob Leies and Johann Leies shared the same grandparents. Johann Leies (great great grandfather) is the husband of Emilia Bold – sister of Anna Maria Bold.
Jacob Leies was born in Nunschweiler to Johann Jacob Leies and Louisa Catharina Knerr, who immigrated to the United States around 1854 when Jacob was 14. He and his parents were living in New York City’s 8th Ward at the time of the 1855 New York State Census. Johann Jacob was listed as a laborer on that census. The entire Leies family had their surname misspelled as Lyse on that record.
Even though Jacob was about 14 years older than Anna Bold, Anna Bold would have been about the age of 2 when Jacob would have left for America.
Also, Jacob Leies is the brother of Union Soldier Peter Leies, 1841-1862, born in Nunschweiler, Germany and killed at Antietam. Jacob spent time in the Union Army as well, after his brother’s death at Antietam, in the NY 159th Infantry Regiment. I have had trouble locating information on Jacob in the Union Army and don’t want to spend the money to order the service records of a first cousin 4 x removed to me no matter how fascinated I am by immigrants in the United States Civil War.
Coincidentally, after the war, Jacob supported Anna and their children as a “manufacturer of artificial limbs.” That made me wonder if Jacob suffered an injury during the Civil War, so I looked for a pension. I couldn’t locate proof of one. The spelling of Leies in most records at this time in America is allover the place as well. On the other hand, his choice of profession choice could mean nothing.
On to Elisabetha Scheid Bold…
Elisabetha Scheid was born in 1822 in Rodalben to Johann Jacob Scheid and Catharina Buchler according to Rodalben’s Kirkenbuch and Familienbuch. She married Franz Jacob Bold in Nunschweiler, in 1842 where he was the schoolmaster. This current blog post is updating some of the facts regarding Elisabetha Scheid in this previous post.
On January 24, 1880, Elisabetha and her youngest daughter, Rosa, arrived in the Port of New York on the ship the Scheidam, which had sailed from Rotterdam, Netherlands.
This is the largest I can make this snippet of their manifest
American records point to proof that Elisabetha’s husband Jacob Bold had passed away in Nunschweiler by 1880. I found an Elisabetha Bold on the 1880 Federal Census living with her daughter Anna and son-in-law Jacob Leies, and their children Mary Ann, Richard Joseph, Louisa, Jacob Aloysius, and Anna. Her relationship to head of household Jacob was listed as “mother.” The box for widowed/divorced is checked next to Elisabetha’s name.
Back to Anna…
In 1885, Elisabetha’s son-in-law Jacob Leies passed away. In 1897, Anna Bold Leies passed away. Anna’s will on Ancestry.com listed all of her children as heirs and a man listed as her cousin Jacob Weinlin, as Executor.
A little on her children: Anna’s son Jacob Aloysius Leies joined the United States Navy in 1905. After his service, he was a post office clerk and never married. Richard was a merchant/salesman according to federal censuses and city directories. I have been able to trace Richard’s large amount of descendants to the 1990s while I am still trying to track down what happened Anna’s daughters Louisa, Mary Ann, and Anna.
Juliana Rosa Bold Ertl
Rosa (Julian Rosa) Bold was born in 1860 in Nunschweiler. As stated above, she came to the United States with her mother in 1880. It is unclear how long she was in New York City. She was not on the census with her mother in 1880, nor with her Chicago siblings Richard, Alex, and Emilia.
By 1883 though, she is found in Chicago marrying another German immigrant named John Ertl, They had three children: Elizabeth, Karl, and John. She passed away young, on April 4, 1891 in Chicago.
I could only find one of Rosa’s children in adulthood – Elizabeth, whose profession on the 1940 Federal Census was listed as a stenographer for an architect company. She never married. I am still searching for her sons.
Back to Elisabetha…
By the time of the 1900 federal census, Elisabetha was living with Jacob Weinlein, his wife Louisa, and their family in New York City. Elisabetha was listed as “aunt” as to her relationship with the head of household Jacob. (He is the same man that was the Executor of Anna’s will.) Elisabetha stated she was widowed, a mother of “8” children and when asked if any of her children were living the number was “0.”
I found that number interesting because her son Immigrant #1: Chicago Police Officer Alexander Bold, was still alive. You may remember that Alexander had a rocky family life and his wife had divorced him on grounds of cruelty. I suppose it could be that he was estranged from his family.
I too count 8 children born to Elisabetha in Germany, as follows:
Emilia – born in 1843, died in 1894 in Chicago
Rosalia Maria Magdalena – born in 1846, died as an infant
Catharina Michaelina – born in 1848, died unk.
Helen Catharina – born in 1849, died unk.
Alexander – born in 1850, died in 1910 in Chicago
Anna Maria – born in 1852, died in 1897 in NYC
Richard – born in 1854, died in 1889 in Chicago (have not told his story yet)
Juliana Rosa – born in 1860, died in 1891 in Chicago
The census taker wrote “yes” in the block under “Can Speak English” in the 1900 federal census for Elisabetha.
Elisabetha passed away on January 14, 1905 in Manhattan. Several of her descendants are buried in Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County, New York. I wonder if her grave is there also. I have not located it yet. The New York Death Index did list her parents as Jacob Scheid and Catharina Bechler. That is so close to Buchler, there can be no mistake that 3rd great grandmother Elisabetha Scheid Bold came to the United States too.
On this Veteran’s Day weekend, I decided to count the amount of Veterans that I could find descended from Elisabetha Scheid and her husband Franz Jacob Bold. So far, this is what I have: 1 U.S. Navy Veteran, 1 World War I Veteran, 6 World War II Veterans (3 of which were brothers) including Colonel Gerard M. Leies.
I will find what happened to Rosa’s sons and Anna’s daughters!!!!!!!!
Sources:
Familien – und Seelen-Verzeichnissi fur Pfarrei Rodalben
Rodalben Kirchenbuch
Nunschweiler Catholic Church records via microfilm
Busenberg Catholic Church recrods via Family Search
Hamburg Passenger Lists
New York Passenger Lists
CastleGarden.org
Germans to America
New York State Censuses
United States Federal Censuses
New York City Directories
New York and Chicago birth, marriage, and death indexes
New York State Civil War Muster Rolls
Fold3.com
Various records from National Archives pertaining to the descendants of Richard Leies
This year on Veteran’s Day I remember my great uncle Colonel Gerard M. Leies, United Stated Air Force.
Military Commendations:
Air Medal with Two Oak Leaves
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Great Uncle Gerard attended the University of Chicago and University of California and received a master’s degree in physics after attending Loyola University.
He enlisted in the Air Corp on June 23rd, 1941. He served as a weather officer for the 13th Bomber Command and 13th Air Force supporting the Guadalcanal and Philippines Liberation campaigns.
He left military service at the end of the war and returned in 1948. From 1948 to 1950 he served as Special Projects Officer with the Air Weather Service in Washington, D.C.
In 1953 he was assigned to Aeronautical Research Laboratory at Wright – Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, serving as a physicist and then as Chief of the Modern Physics branch. He and Donald Reynolds developed a solar generator that ran through cadmium sulfide which the Air Force hoped would be used to power homes in the future. This headline news was picked up by the Associated Press and re-printed across the country in June, 1954.
Uncle Gerard did further work for the Air Force in nuclear physics, solid wastes physics, plasma physics, relativity, and nuclear engineering at the Air Force Technical Applications Center in Orlando, Florida.
In 1962 he was awarded a doctorate from Georgetown University and retired from the Air Force. He remained active in research for the Air Force as a civilian and expanded his research field to include nucleonics.
Colonel Leies is on the right
Uncle Gerard died in 2008. His obituary attributes him to being one of the nation’s first nuclear physicists. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Elisabetta Rossi was born in 1866 in Valleceraso, Bacucco, Teramo, a neighboring town, to Giuseppe Antonio Rossi and Anna Antonia Ricci.
Cinziarosa's Descendants (c) 