Ariel Berechia Bellondi

Ariel Bellondi was born on 2 Sep 1871 in Stradella, to Vincenzo Bellondi (1843-1919), a Ferrara-born minister who led significant protestant works in Firenze and Venice, and his wife Antonietta Lenti. His father - the founder of the Baptist church in Venice in c. 1877 - was well known for his contributions to Italian Protestant hymnology, and the opposition he raised from Roman Catholic authorities. His son, Ariel, was already active in evangelistic activities when, in 1893, the head of the Italian Methodist Episcopal mission in Italy, William Burt [q.v.] invited him to study for the ministry at Colgate University (1895-97). He arrived in New York as a 22 year old 'student' aboard the SS Fulda, on 30 Oct 1893. The aim may well have been for Bellondi to return to Italy as a missionary, in support of his father's work. His daughter, Virginia, would remember, however, that it was while at Colgate that Bellondi met Harry Emerson Fosdick, who convinced him that he could help his fellow Italian nationals. Here there was an opportunity to worship freely, in a country which enshrined the separation of church and state. (The Times Argus, 10 Sep 1975: 4).

In 1894 - while still a student, and yet to fully master English - Bellondi was invited by the Buffalo Baptist Association to work among Italians in Buffalo. He commenced a work on Ohio Street, Buffalo, under the Buffalo Baptist Young Person's Association, a work which later moved to Pearl St. At first, Millar notes, no-one came. Then a rumour circulated that Bellondi was the son of the great national hero, Garibaldi, a reputation which (though false) piqued interest and drew increasing numbers of attendees, including from among a group of Italians from Abbruzzo who had converted in their home town of Pescasseroli, Aquila, under the influence of Pietro Taglialatela, before migrating to the USA. (Millar) Bellondi's mission opened in a home on Fillmore Avenue near East Ferry Street, where a group of these pescasserolese lived. When, about a year later many of those families were moving out to Hickman Avenue, the mission was transferred to the home of Filippo D'Arcangelo, 31 Hickman Street. There, some fifteen families attended services in the D'Arcangelo attic:

In Bart D'Arcangelo's words: "They had a portable organ. Bellondi played it. They had Sunday School pictures on an easel...they passed out leaflets. People sat on chairs." Since Mr. Bellondi was stationed and lived downtown, he was obliged to commute each Sunday to conduct worship. This he did by bicycle from his home on Prospect Street, or by taking the Belt Line to the closest station, then walking the remainder of the distance, a journey by foot of at least two and a half miles. Given the vagaries of the local weather, this was no small chore. That he did it faithfully each Sabbath testifies to his commitment to his Lord, and to the people he was being called to serve.

Bellondi's active street work and energetic preaching saw some 80 Italian people go forward for baptism in the first year, 40 of which were baptised in a meeting of some 1200 people at the Prospect Avenue Baptist Church on 8 May 1895. At the same meeting, land and building support worth $1500 was dedicated by the Baptist youth organization. This opened in 1896 under the title of 'First Italian Baptist Church'. The church prospered - by March, there were reports of some 300 attending, while Bellondi also spoke in other towns (such as Rochester) and started a number of preaching points. He worked with Christian Endeavour, and built on the educational programs established by churches which had no Italian language minister.

In June 1895, he visited his family in Italy, where his father was a Southern Baptist missionary leading protestant work in Venice.

In May 1897, Bellondi graduated from Rochester Theological Seminary, recounting (on behalf of the American Baptist Home Mission Society) to a student anniversary service in Pittsburgh the work which he was now doing among Italians in New York. (Los Angeles Evening Post-Record 19 May 1897: 3) At a meeting where McKinley's expansionist actions towards Cuba were applauded, Bellondi also criticised the Catholic Church for its contribution to ignorance in the Italian South, and called for the establishment of an Italian training school to produce ministers to the very large number of people being converted to the Baptist in the country. He was supported by John H Eager, a Baptist missionary who, to that point, had spent 16 years in Italy.

The first record of him speaking in Barre, Vermont, (in the First Baptist Church) is in August 1898, the year in which the first annual convention of the Italian Baptist Association was held. Italians settling there included many who came from stone quarrying areas - skills which contributed significantly to the public buildings of the town (e.g. the Scampini building). Meetings commenced in the Presbyterian church, generously provided by Rev. Mr Mitchell. Such was the interest of the whole city in providing an Italian outreach, Bellondi would remember in his final sermon that 'Catholics and Protestants and non-believers have helped in our work', the greatest help coming from the local Congregational Church. Out of this work Bellondi formed the Italian Baptist Mission, on Brook Street, Barre, Vermont. Later in 1899, Bellondi resigned his charge in Buffalo, travelled back to Italy, and was succeeded by Angelo Peruzzi. "Bellondi would continue to be revered as the congregation's founding pastor, and in later years occasionally returned to it as a guest. When he died early in 1950, a special memorial service was held for him." (Millar 1996)

He was travelling a good deal, visiting and encouraging other Baptist Italian works, and by 1899 was being described as the General Superintendent of all Baptist Italian missions (of which there were 35) and churches (2) in the US. In Barre, there were 25 converts, and a church was being planned. (Barre Evening Telegram 11 Jan 1899: 1) In 1901 he spent some months developing the work in Richmond and in other locations in Virginia, while still basing himself in Barre and continuing the work he had commenced in Montpellier. The next year he was featured speaker at the Baptist Young People's Association conference in Providence, Rhode Island, and in 1903 the preacher (assisted by Angelo Dominia of New Haven) at the ordination service for Antonio Roca in the Italian Baptist Church in Hartford, CN. Later that year, he returned to Italy again to see his family, where his father was now ministering in Florence (leaving Rev. Minuetilla as locum in Barre). In 1904 he was the only Vermont-based clergyman to be invited to speak at the Religions section of the International Congress of the Arts and Sciences in St Louis. This was followed up by an invitation to represent Protestant Missions Abroad at the 1906 International Exposition in Milan. This was the 'flip' side of his intensely local work of social assistance and community involvement through actions like acting as a translator in court proceedings. Among those he influenced was Charles Poletti, future Lieutenant Governor of New York, for whom he helped obtain a scholarship to Harvard.

In 1905 a location ('the old Jackson place') was purchased on Brook Street, Barre, for an Italian Baptist church (with V. Gerratti as builder. In the end it was completed by A. B. Lane). From late 1905 Bellondi made regular trips to connect to the Italian Baptist work in New York, and he was travelling constantly as well as shepherding both his congregation and a difficult building project. With the church almost finished by May 1909, Bellondi was exhausted, and in need of rest. In his History of the Baptists in Vermont, Henry Crocker (rather dismissively) notes;

The chapel, which had been under construction for some time, Mr. Bellondi was unable to complete, and after his dismissal, the work was placed under the superintendence of Dr. [W. A.] Davison [of Burlington], who, with characteristic energy, brought the enterprise to completion, and the chapel was dedicated. Rev. G. B. Castellini was appointed over this mission, which promptly gave promising signs of progress. (Crocker)

He resigned from the Barre congregation and as a missionary of the Baptist Home Mission Society, and preached his last sermon there as pastor on 1 August 1909. He was succeeded by Giovanni Battista Castellini, who transferred from Montreal, and left for Italy for an extended tour of rest and recuperation. The church was opened in September 1909.

Bellondi next appears as a Baptist Minister in 1913 - as pastor of the Italian Baptist Mission in Lawrence MA, living at 35 Davenport Street, Haverhill, MA. He would later move to Methuen. On 12 Feb 1914 in Brookline MA he married Margaret Henry (b. 15 May 1893, Scotland), the former matron of the Barre City Hospital. She was the Scottish-born daughter of the James Henry, stonecutter and farmer, and Margaret nee Watt of Williamstown. They would have two children, Virginia Esther (1915- ) and Vincent (1920–1983). With the rise of concerns about migration in the US Congress, in 1922 Bellondi met with numbers of Congressmen about 'immigration problems'. He remained active in the Italian Baptist Association, at several meetings of which he preaches or provides teaching.

Through World War II, Bellondi lived in Methuen and worked in Boston, in part time locums, and in war relief organization (particularly for Italy, France and Belgium). He was, his daughter remembered, a champion for the local Italian working community, stepping in as a negotiator over wages and conditions in places such as the American Woollen Company. Shortly after the war, they retired to Kenny Farm, Florida. Bellondi returned to settle family affairs after the death of his sister, Elina, and while he did so his wife moved to Merritt House in Claremont, CA, to be near her daughter.

Bellondi died 1 Dec 1949 in Florence, Italy, of angina. He was buried in the family mausoleum in the Cimitero Evangelico agli Allori, Firenze. He continued to be revered in Buffalo as the congregation's founding pastor, in 1936 speaking at its 40th anniversary function, and repeatedly returning to the church as a guest. When he died, a special memorial service was held for him. (Millar 1996) Margaret died in 1967, having moved back to Williamstown, VT, to live with her brother and sister. The Church her husband had built in Barre was later listed as a Historical Monument.

Family:

Esther Virginia 'Ginny' Bellondi (17 Nov 1914, Haverhill, MA - ) m. Dudley Bowles Murphy (10 Jul 1897 – 22 Feb 1968), lived in Malibu, CA., and later Winchester, MA. Dudley Murphy was an avante garde film maker, and she and Dudley ran the Holiday House restaurant, on the Pacific Coast Highway near Paradise Cove. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudley_Murphy) She was Murphy's fourth wife, and she died 8 October 1979 in Los Angelese. Two daughters, Christopher 'Kit' Caroline Murphy (1941–1977); Erin.

Vincent Lincoln Bellondi (8 May 1920–14 Nov 1983), became a machinist. At the time of Margaret's death in 1967 he was living New York City. Buried Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, Queens County, New York, USA. Served in WWII.

Sources:

Ancestry.com

Crocker, Henry, History of the Baptists in Vermont (Bellows Falls, VT: P.H. Gobie Press, 1913)

Delson, Susan, Dudley Murphy, Hollywood Wild Card. (University of Minnesota Press, 2006)

Heller, Paul, 'Preaching the gospel to anarchists and socialists : Baptist missionaries in Barre, 1899-1916', Vermont History 78: 2 (Summer/Fall 2010): 196–207.

Millar, G., "Edison Street Baptist Church, The First Italian Baptist Church in the United States." Edison Street Baptist Church. Monroe Fordham Regional History Center, Archives & Special Collections Department, E. H. Butler Library, SUNY Buffalo State. https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/edison-baptist/1

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