1920 Ambruso Wedding Photograph

 

 

 

 

Isn’t this a great old photo?  Of course I’m a bit biased since it is the wedding photograph of my grandparents: Michael Ambruso (b. 1889, son of Rocco) and Vincenza “Jennie” Lammardo.  They were married in Mt. Virgin Church in Garfield, NJ on 15 Feb 1920.  The maid of honor was Michael’s sister, Felicia (front row, far left).  The best man was Felicia’s fiancé, Lorenzo Mancini (front row, far right).  They were married at Mt. Virgin Church two months later. 

I am almost certain that there is another Ambruso directly behind the bride.   It looks exactly like Michael Ambruso (b. 1891) son of Giuseppe, from Philadelphia.  He was the groom’s first cousin.  They grew up together as young boys in Salandra.  He traveled all the way to Garfield, NJ to be in his cousin’s wedding party.  I wonder how many other Ambruso’s from Philadelphia came with him for the wedding celebration.   Viva la familia!

If you have any old Ambruso wedding photos where you can identify Ambruso relatives, please send them to me via email (jmcast@rcn.com).  I'll be sure to post them.

 

 

A Visit To Salandra

 

Philip Corrigan and his sons

Ambruso cousin, Philip Corrigan, is in the U.S. Military and stationed in Italy.  He and his wife and three young sons live in Naples.  They have been there for about a year, and now that the pandemic has subsided somewhat in Italy, they decided to take a family road trip to Matera, with a stop in Salandra along the way.  Salandra is the ancestral home of four branches of the Ambruso family that came to America.  

 

Salandra, Matera, Basilicata, Italy

Philip's grandfather was Rocco Bonelli, who was the son of Maria Ambruso and Pasquale "Patsy" Bonelli from Garfield, NJ.  Maria was the oldest child of Rocco Ambruso and Pasquarosa Corrado.  She married Pasquale in Salandra and was the first of her family to come to America with Pasquale.

He sent me the pictures I have included with this post.   I'll let him describe the experience in his own words:

"The town is a hill town and the hills are all sand colored at this time of year since all of the grass is burnt out. It almost reminds me of Texas. My kids thought it looked like a desert. The road to get up to the town was an adventure - classic windy Italian road with room for 1.5 cars. We only stayed in the town a few minutes - had time to grab a frozen lemonade and take some pictures.  I think the American family in the big car walking around during riposo was quite the novelty for some of the locals."

Church of St. Rocco

Philip also sent a photo of the World War 1 memorial plaque showing the names of the local war dead.  No "Ambruso", but one "Bonelli". 

 
It is interesting to think that one family from this sleepy little Italian mountain village has multiplied into hundreds of descendants, from all walks of life, here in America.