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Note: Address of mayor's office, Viticuso:
Ufficio di Sindaco Comune di Viticuso FR 03040 Italia Notes from Anthony Lewis Genetta (source: Joseph Janetta):
Emilia and all the children except Joe, the oldest, emigrated to the U.S. in 1920, joining Cosmo. Joe was in the Italian army 1916-1921 (ages 16-21: 1 year in, 1 year out, then 3 years in) and came to the U.S. by himself. Cosmo had been in the U.S. twice before his family came, and was in Florida when they arrived. He almost died of pneumonia in 1920.
Cosmo owned house and farmland in Viticuso. Family sold it to relatives shortly after end of WWII.
Church: Parrocchia Sta. Maria Assunta, 03040 Viticuso (FR) Emilia's two sisters - see notes under Emilia. Two cousins about Joe's age [he did not know whether still living]: Luigio Valatine Alberto Valatine Valentino, Rougione Via Sarsima 177 00127 Vitima, Roma Notes from Anthony L. Genetta's memories of things his father told him:
Cosmo was a professional musician on transatlantic passenger ships; in addition he spent two periods working in the U.S. before his family emigrated. Emilia stayed in Viticuso, raising the children and running the farm. The older children worked on the farm after school, and there were several hired hands. Cosmo was a good provider; he sent enough money home for the couple to add regularly to the farm land they owned. After WW I he started an ice cream business in Jacksonville, FL, which prospered, and Emilia and the children joined him, arriving January 20, 1920.
Emilia did not like Florida, which was hot and damp in the summer and full of lizards and "jo-frogs," and in a few years the family moved north to Philadelphia, where they had relatives, then to Vineland, NJ., where they planned to retire. They were still well off financially, paying cash for a house and four acres of land on Brewster Road in Vineland, and for a truck to help their older sons Joe and Nick get started in business. However, the boys wrecked the truck and Cosmo lost his savings in the 1929 crash, the bank paying him 10 cents on the dollar. By this time Cosmo was in poor health and Emilia went to work in a clothing factory to support him and their young children, Frank, Mary and Tony.
Cosmo did not adjust easily to life in a rural community. The family owned several goats, and Emilia - who was more accustomed to farm life - usually milked them. When she was away visiting one of their married daughters, however, this responsibility fell to Cosmo, who hated it. He and the goats had no rapport, and he would lose patience rapidly during the milking operation. According to his youngest child, Tony, he once became so enraged he actually bit the goat's leg.
[s.a. notes under Emilia]
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