Remembering Eugenio "John" Ambruso (1892 - 1973)

Eugenio "John" Ambruso

Eugenio Ambruso came to the United States in October of 1900 with his father Giuseppe and his older brother Michele.  The three went to stay with Eugenio’s uncle Frank on Mildred Street in South Philadelphia.  Eugenio’s mother, Maria, came over with the rest of the family in 1901. 

Eugenio had little formal education, however he always stressed the importance of a good education to his children and grandchildren.  From all indication, he was a hard worker and a real go-getter.  According to his World War 1 Draft Registration Card, when he 18 he worked as a farm laborer near Moorestown, NJ.  Two years later, in 1920, he married Carmella Laino. For most of his adult life he was known as John Ambruso, not Eugenio.  Carmella was always called “Millie”.

He worked as a pinch press operator for Pillings & Sons, Surgical Instruments for over 20 years.  However, John was also a successful real estate investor.  His granddaughter says that he owned eleven properties in South Philadelphia. 

Even though he worked hard, John Ambruso found time for enjoying life.  He played bocce, and he played it well.  He was a perennial champion in the South Philadelphia leagues winning several trophies and having his picture in the newspaper.  He was a big Philadelphia baseball fan, especially of the old Philadelphia Athletics.  He never got over them moving west to Kansas City. 

John loved music.  He often listened to opera and was a great fan of Caruso.  He and Millie both liked Sinatra; and the Perry Como Show was a weekly ritual.  He also loved wine.  One of John’s hobbies was making homemade wine in the basement. 

John and Millie attended 7:00 AM Mass every Sunday at Epiphany of our Lord RC Church at 11^th and Jackson Streets.  They were both religious.  When their grandson Eugene was young he had a serious illness.   The family vowed to say a rosary every night for his recovery.  They kept their promise and Eugene recovered.  Though John spoke perfect English, when it was his turn to say the rosary he would pray in Italian.  He also kept a prayer card in his bedroom to St. Rocco, the patron saint of Salandra.

John was very close to his mother.  He would visit his mother every day after work before he went home to his own family.  Her death in 1932 was very hard on him. Whenever he spoke of her, even years later, he would tear up.  He always told his grandchildren that “You could never pay back your mother for all that she does for you.”

Family was very important to John.  According to his granddaughter Maryanne Jordan Warrick, he always said that he never needed riches. He had his health and his family.  He couldn’t ask for more. He had two daughters, Mae and Terry, and five grandchildren.  He spent a lot of time with his grandchildren since they lived nearby.  Today they have fond memories of picking blackberries with their grandfather; or drinking milk and sugar coffee; or sitting on his knee as he told funny stories or tried to teach them Italian.

Eugenio “John” Ambruso died in Philadelphia on May 1, 1973.  He left behind a close family that shares wonderful memories and a lasting Italian-American heritage. 

Bocce!

The photo above shows Eugenio “John” Ambruso with his bocce playing friends.  The photo was sent in by his granddaughter Maryanne Jordan Warrick.  It was taken in 1960 and shows the bocce players at the recreation center at 16^th and Jackson Streets in South Philadelphia.  John was a bocce champ and had many trophies to prove it. 

My grandfather Michael Ambruso often told of playing bocce all Sunday afternoon in the side yard at his brother-in-law, Patsy Bonelli’s house in Garfield.  Probably drinking homemade wine from Patsy’s basement. 

Bocce was certainly a popular pastime with Italian-Americans in both South Philly and Garfield.  Can you share any memories of your Ambruso relatives playing bocce?  Were they good enough to win trophies like John Ambruso?

Italians in America and the Great War

Unidentified Italian soldiers in Austria during World War I

 

The following is the opening paragraph of a research paper published in Italian Americana in 1978 by Fiorello B. Ventresco.  The title of the paper is: Loyalty and Descent: Italian Reservists in America during World War I:

“In the summer of 1915, an angry mob of Italians in Philadelphia stormed the hall at Eighth and Christian Streets where a meeting was taking place and attacked several of the speakers.  The speakers were attempting to convince reservists not to return to Italy, where they would fight in the Great War. Such conflicts became common in various parts of America as the war continued.  The clash of opinions among Italians in the United States emerges as one of the most interesting and complex chapters in American history.” 

The entire 29 page article can be read at www.jstor.org .  The author goes into great detail about the reasons for and reactions to Italy’s reach to America to get its young men to come back home and help fight in the war it just entered.  The enormous exodus of young Italian men to the United States and other countries during the last decade of the 19^th century and the first decade of the 20^th century drastically depleted the number of able-bodied young men available to serve in the Italian Army.  The Italian government never thought that these young men were permanently lost.  They considered them Italian citizens working in a foreign country and reservists in the Italian Army.  They assumed that they could get about 100,000 young men to return to Italy from the United States.  At the outbreak of the war, the U.S. government was neutral and formally announced that no foreign born residents could be forced to join foreign armies as long as they remained in the United States.   The records show that by December 1915, about 41% of the Italian men in the United States returned to Italy to fight in the war.  A remarkably high percentage.

How did this situation affect our Ambruso ancestors?  Consider the fact that the angry mob assembled at Eighth and Christian was just two blocks down the street from where Frank Ambruso and his sons and their families were living at the time.  Were they part of the protest? 

 Frank Ambruso was 70 years old in 1915, and already a naturalized American citizen since 1900. His sons, Michael and Leonardo were also naturalized citizens and fully absorbed into the American culture.  There is no indication that they served in the U.S. military, however they did fill out the required WW1 draft registration cards in 1918. 

Also in Philadelphia in 1915, Frank’s brother Joseph had two sons old enough to serve in the Italian Army.  Michael was 24 and Eugenio was 23.  Michael was married with two children and lived just four blocks from the scene of the 1915 demonstration.  He submitted his application for naturalization before that, in January 1914 and was granted United States citizenship in May 1918.  Obviously, he had no intention of joining the Italian Army.  The same must have been true of his brother Eugenio who was granted U.S. Citizenship in 1923. 

My own grandfather, Michael, was in Garfield, NJ in 1915 when Italy entered the war.  He had already served in the Italian Army before he came to America.  In 1918, near the end of the war, enlisted in the U.S. Army and gained U.S. citizenship.  His brother-in-law, Lawrence Mancini married to Felicia Ambruso, enlisted with him.  Unlike many of their fellow Italian immigrants, my grandfather and his brother-in-law seemed to have cut ties with the old country and embrace the new one. 

We do know what one Ambruso ancestor did answer the call.  “Hartford Mike”, Michele Ambruso (b. 1890) was in the USA in 1915 when he decided to return to Italy to serve in his country by joining the Italian Army.  It also helped that his wife was still in Italy.  He was not alone.  When he eventually returned to the United States in 1923, the passenger manifest of the ship he was on shows scores of young men who must have done the same thing.  The record shows that they were in America until 1915 and then returned to Italy.  So it seems that Hartford Mike was the only Ambruso family member that answered the call from Italy and joined the Italian Army during the Great War…La Grande Guerra.



Giuseppe's Family Photo

We will end our overview of the Ambruso ancestors of Philadelphia with this wonderful photo of Giuseppe Ambruso and his family (ca. 1911).  The photo was provided by Rob Bradley, a family genealogist and husband of Vito's granddaughter.  In the back row are the two oldest sons, Michael (b. 1891) and Eugenio (b. 1892).  I'm not sure which one is which.  Across the front, from left to right are: Mary (b. 1895), Assunta (b. 1904), mother Maria, little Vito (b. 1907), father Giuseppe, Frank C. (b.1900), and Adeline (b. 1897).  Certainly a grand family.  These people lived their lives as proud Americans with strong Italian roots and traditions.  Giuseppe and Maria dreamed of a better life in America for their family.  Today, their grand children and great grandchildren are living out their dreams and keeping the traditions alive.  Evviva per le famiglie!

Marriages & Families - Eugene and Carmella Ambruso

Eugenio Ambruso's
World War 1 Draft Registration Card

For a genealogist, World War 1 and 2 Draft Registration Cards provide a wealth of valuable information.  Since the card is a serious, official government document that was filled out by the person himself, the information is usually very accurate.  The photo to the left shows the WW1 card filled out by Eugenio Ambruso the second son of Giuseppe.  First, we notice that, when the card was filled out in 1918, he was still using the name Eugenio instead of Eugene, or "John" as everyone later called him.  He states that he was born on Novber (sp) 25, 1893 in "itley".  It should also be noted that his WW2 Draft Registration Card says he was born on Nov 25, 1892 (different year) in Salandra, Italy, which proved that this is indeed Giuseppe's son Eugenio. 

Eugenio came to the United States with his father Giuseppe and his older brother Michele in October of 1900.  They went to Giuseppe's brother Francesco in Philadelphia.  Eugenio's mother, Maria, came over with the rest of the family in 1901.

The WW1 card also tells us that Eugenio is living at home with his father, mother and brother at 812 South 12th St. in Philadelphia.  However, he is working as a farm hand in Moorestown, NJ.  In 1918, it would have been very difficult to commute from Philadelphia to Moorestown every day.  He may have stayed at the farm during the week and come home on weekends, or it might have only been a seasonal job during the harvest. 

Two years later, in 1920, he married Carmella Laina in Philadelphia.  They had two girls: Mary "Mae", born in 1921, and Theresa, born in 1925.  Eugenio applied for U.S. Citizenship in 1923.  By that time the family was living at 2321 Percy Street and he had a job as a punch press operator.   According to his WW2 Draft Registration Form, he was working at that same company, Pillings & Sons Surgical Instruments in 1943, but living at 1229 Wolf Street, where he resided for the rest of his life. 

Eugenio, (or John as he was called for most of his life) became fairly successful, and owned eleven properties in South Philadelphia.  He died in May of 1973.

Giuseppe Maria Ambruso + Maria Giuseppa Di Dio

The third son of Michelarcangelo Ambruso and Maria Giuseppa Iula was born on 8 Dec 1855 in Salandra.  He was named Giuseppe Maria Ambruso.   In 1883 he married Maria Giuseppa DiDio, who was born in Salandra in 1867.  If you look closely at the Salandra Marriage Record shown above (click on it to see it larger), you will notice that he was 27  years old (di anni ventisette), and she was 16 (di anni sedici) when they married.  Sixteen seems young for a woman to marry, but at that time in southern Italy, it was not uncommon for brides get married at that age.

Their first son, Michele Giuseppe, was born in Salandra in February of 1891.  Following naming conventions, he was named after his grandfather.  Their second son, Eugenio was born in November of 1892.  By naming customs, this son should have been named Vito (Davito) after his mother’s father, but for some reason he was not.

They then had two daughters, Maria, born about 1895 and Adelina, born about 1897.  Their third son, Francesco, was born in April of 1900. 

As stated in the previous post, Giuseppe and his two oldest sons came to America in October of 1900, six months after Francesco was born.  His wife, Maria and the rest of the family all came to America in May of 1901.  They all settled in Philadelphia, on South Mildred Street, the street where Giuseppe’s brother, Frank, and nephews Michael and Leonardo, already lived. 

In 1904 they had their first child born in the USA, a daughter they named Assunta.  Then in February of 1907 their fourth son was born.  They named him Vito. 

I cannot find Giuseppe and Maria with their family of eight children anywhere in Philadelphia in the 1910 U.S. Census, even using possible misspellings and alternate spellings of the name “Ambruso”.  A thorough search of each address on South Mildred Street shows that they were definitely not living there, or anywhere in the immediate area, in 1910.

Neither can I find Giuseppe (or Joseph) in the yearly Philadelphia City Directories, or any other Philadelphia data base.  So we don’t have a good idea of where they lived or what Giuseppe did for a living until 1920. In the 1920 U.S. Census we find the family living at 2014 South Tenth Street.  The last name is misspelled as “Ambrusia”.  It lists Joseph’s occupation as “laborer”. 

Also, on the passenger manifest for his nephew, Michele, who came back to the USA in 1923, it says he was going to his uncle Giuseppe at that South 10^th Street Philadelphia address.   Other than that, the only thing we have is the grave stone for Giuseppe and Maria in Holy Cross Cemetery, which says that they both died in 1932. 

That grave stone also has two other interesting facts:  First, their daughter Assunta died before her parents.  She died at the young age of 26.  Next, besides Assunta, Maria and Giuseppe, the grave stone also lists Anthony Lauria Jr. Maria and Giuseppe's daughter Maria married Anthony Lauria.  They had a son named Anthony Jr. who sadly died at the young age of nine.  He was laid to rest with his grandparents.

The Other Ambruso Family in Philadelphia

For the last month I have been posting articles about the family of Francesco Domenico “Frank” Ambruso.  It’s time to move on to the other branch of the Ambruso family that also settled in Philadelphia. 

 

Between 1845 and 1858, Michelarcangelo Ambruso and Maria Giuseppa Iula had four sons and two daughters, all born in Salandra, Italy.  Two of those six children came to America and settled in Philadelphia.  As we learned previously, Francesco was the first son to emigrate.   He came over in about 1881.  By 1900 he was fully settled in Philadelphia.  His three children were grown and newly married, and he even had a grandson born in the USA.  By that time he was already a naturalized US citizen and was going by the name “Frank”. 

 

In that same year, Frank’s younger brother Giuseppe decided to follow his older brother and venture into the New World.  Frank may have sent him a letter urging his brother to join him in Philadelphia.  Giuseppe arrived at Ellis Island on October 17^th 1900, on the S.S. Alsatia, with his sons Michele (age 9) and Eugenio (age 7).  On the ship’s passenger manifest it says that he was headed to his brother Francesco’s house at 714 South Mildred Street in Philadelphia.  

 

Ship's Passenger Manifest  from the S.S. California showing Maria Giuseppa Di Dio Ambruso
arriving with her three children at Ellis Island on May 22, 1901

Seven months later, in May of 1901, Giuseppe’s wife Maria arrived at Ellis Island on the S.S. California, with three children:  Maria (age 6), Adelina (age 4) and Francesco (11 months).  There were a few other people from Salandra making the voyage with them and listed on same page of the ship’s manifest.  I’m sure they helped this young mother with her three small children traveling without her husband.  The next line below them on the manifest was Nicola Puzitiello, a 31 year old married man from Salandra who was going to his relative at (would you believe) 810 Bainbridge Street in Philadelphia, just around the corner from South Mildred Street.  He probably accompanied Maria and the children on their train journey from New York City to Philadelphia.

If you look at the far right side of the manifest shown above, you will notice that Maria listed that she and the children were going to her husband at 723 South Mildred Street.  So it seems that in just a few months, her husband, Giuseppe, already had a home ready for the family, just up the street from his brother Frank.  Giuseppe and Maria eventually had three more children who were born in Philadelphia, making eight children in all.  Most of the descendants of these children stayed in the Philadelphia area, southern New Jersey and northern Delaware.  There are probably over fifty direct descendants of Giuseppe and Maria alive today.