Family

As mentioned previously, family was everything and more to Giuseppi. After being married, he and his wife could not wait to have one of their own. They had eleven children, only eight of which survived. The two youngest children, Dominic and Jenny, passed away after being removed from the house during the Tuberculosis epidemic. During this time, the disease was also known as Consumption. Every member of the family was ill except for the two youngest children. While Giuseppi's wife nursed the family back to health, Dominic and Jenny were taken away in an effort to ensure they did not get sick. Unfortunately they fell ill and passed soon after. The eleventh child was either stillborn or a miscarriage, which as one would imagine, was incredibly difficult on the family.

As each of Giuseppi's eight children got married, he would allow the couple a year to live in the attic of his house on Clinton Street. This was so they could save up to buy a house of their own. By the end of the year, the couple had to own a home, otherwise they would be out on the street. Each one of his eight children did this, and each one of them moved to a house on the same block as Giuseppi. The Italians called this the "Square Patch". Now, Giuseppi had all eight kids and their partners living around him, and each one of his kids had at least five of their own. This meant he had 45 grandchildren, my grandmother being one of them.