When our wedding date was approaching, we needed a place to live. Uncle Tony was working at a 2 family house in Carteret that was being renovated into 2 apartments. We talked to the landlady and convinced her to let us do the finishing touches (like paint) in exchange for a few months rent. The rent was also very cheap ($125/month) which was great since we were still going to college. Thus, the downstairs apartment at 12 Christopher Street became our first home. Continue reading
Author Archives: Joe
Ragucci, Mary – “buy a new bed”
Aunt Mary has the oldest bed of anyone that I know. As a teenager my bedroom was directly below her bedroom in our Port Reading home. Many times in the middle of the night I’d hear this CRASH that caused me to jump out of bed. What happened was the boards that went under the bed frame to hold up the mattress would slide out and fall with a loud noise onto the floor. Of course, it always happened in the middle of the night. We continually pleaded with her to “buy a new bed” but it was fruitless. She could not make up her mind on what to buy so she just kept the same one. After years of hearing this crash in the middle of the night, my father decided that something had to be done. So he rigged the bed frame boards so they couldn’t fall off the frame. To this day, to my understanding, she still is sleeping on the same bed.
Ragucci, Mary – “nose and fingers”
Mary Ragucci was afflicted with arthritis at a very young age. As a result, her fingers began to freeze into a bent position. If you look at old photographs of Mary you will see her with her “old nose” as she would describe it. That’s because she had a operation that straightened both her nose and her fingers. Unfortunately, as she got older her fingers began to freeze in a bent position again. I could never understand how she was able to type or push buttons with those “crooked” fingers. But it didn’t stop her. All her fingers are crooked as the joints of the knuckles are frozen in a bent position due to arthritis.
Ragucci or Ricucci? – “How did Ricucci become Ragucci?”
Why are we Ragucci and not Ricucci?
As I started to look into the Ragucci genealogy, I immediately uncovered that the family name in the home town of Monte Sant Angelo in Italy was Ricucci and not Ragucci. But my Father and his brothers and sisters all use the name Ragucci here in the US. So how and when did it change?
My first hint was that my fathers uncle, Antonio, was still using the Ricucci name here in the US. I then looked at the Ellis Island records and found that my grandfather, Giuseppe, came into the US with his last name as Ricucci (see the Ellis Island records). Also all his brothers who came into the US also used the Ricucci last name. So it didn’t change during the immigration process.
I then was able to get some of the birth certificates of my father and his brothers and sisters. It appeared that the last name were mangled in various ways – my father’s last name was “Richuccio”, my aunts were “???” which all are similar enough to Ricucci. But my Uncle Tony who was born last has the name “Ragucci” on his birth certificate. Thus something happened before his birth to cause the change. Another hint was that my father’s uncles children used the Ricucci name in the US. So what happened and where?
After talking to my Aunt Mary the cause became obvious. My grandfather died at an early age while in Carteret, NJ and my grandmother, who could not speak English, raised her 4 children without a father. In the adjacent town of Port Reading there was a family named “Ragucci” (no relation) who ran a small grocery store. When my father and aunts went to school, the teachers INSISTED that they were spelling their name incorrectly because “Ricucci” sounded to them the same as “Ragucci”. So they made them write their last name as “Ragucci” because that’s a name the teachers knew from the family grocery store. Thus, my uncle Tony who was born in Port Reading has his last name listed as “Ragucci” and not “Ricucci” on his birth certificate. When talking to my fathers cousin Angie Ricucci (Antonio’s daughter) she said that as a child for a while they were living in Port Reading. When she went to school they changed her last name to “Ragucci”. When they moved back to Elizabeth, her name returned to “Ricucci”.
So our “real” last name should be Ricucci and not Ragucci. We can blame the teachers of Port Reading for this change.
Ricucci, Grace and Giuseppe – “Coming to America”
(Recollections of Mary Ragucci – recorded 12/28/2002 by Joe Ragucci)
Grace married Giuseppe Ricucci on January 30th, 1910 in Monte Sant’Angelo, Italy. Their first child, Dominico, named after Giuseppe’s father, was born around 1912. Giuseppe was hospitalized many times (probably from pleurisy – a swelling and irritation of the membrane that surrounds the lungs). She said they would lance his back and remove fluid. He was in hospital when his first child died (about a year old) and Grace wouldn’t tell him until he came home.
Giuseppe’s brothers went to America to find work so Giuseppe followed them but left Grace in Monte Sant’Angelo. He arrived in Ellis Island in New York harbor on May 30th, 1913 and met his brother’s Matteo and Antonio who had come earlier. He first when to Port Reading, then to NY, and finally found work in Derby, Connecticut and sent money for Grace to join him around 1917. Because of the war, her ship, destined for Ellis Island, was diverted unexpectedly to Boston because they feared that NY harbor had been mined. Giuseppe was wanting at Ellis Island and received word that she was diverted to Boston. Grace remembers not speaking the language and being put in a room all by herself (probably a hotel room) to wait for husband. Giuseppe made his way to Boston and they were re-united and went to Derby, Connecticut. Later they moved to Port Reading, again where they remained.
Ricucci, Grace Tomaiula – “Childhood in Monte S’Angelo”
Grazia (Grace) Tomaiula was born on December 12, 1887 in Monte Sant’Angelo, Italy. Her mother was Maria (Latorro?) and her father was Giuseppe Tomaiula. She had 2 brothers and an adopted sister. Her older brother was Francesco, her younger brother was Matteo, and her adopted sister was Matilida Dodicene.
(Recollections of Anthony Ragucci – recorded 12/28/2002 by Joe Ragucci)
Grace would call her mother a “cowboy” because she used to ride horses and dress and act like “Annie Oakley”. They did not get along (see story below). She loved her younger brother, Matteo, but did not get along with her older brother (see story below). Not much said about her father or adopted sister.
As a child she remembers playing and running through the caverns of St. Michael’s shrine in Monte Sant’ Angelo
Ricucci, Grace Tomaiula – “Almost dead”
(Recollections of Mary Ragucci – recorded 12/28/2002 by Joe Ragucci)
When Grace was a young girl she was on the balcony of her house hanging clothes to dry when she fell off the balcony down the side of the mountain. She was unconscious (probably with a concussion) and they thought she was dead. They actually put her in a coffin prior to burial, but while in the coffin she awoke thus avoiding being buried alive.
Ricucci, Grace Tomaiula – “How grandma met her husband”
(Recollections of Mary Ragucci – recorded 12/28/2002 by Joe Ragucci)
In Monte Sant’Angelo, a boy who wanted to court a young women would not come into her house but remain outside the front door. There was this young boy who would come to the door to court Grace. Her mother really liked this boy because it family was considered wealthy since they owned several homes. Grace was not really interested in him. At the same time her older brother had a friend, Giuseppe Ricucci, who would come into the house and visit. Her father liked him. Since he was allowed into the home, Grace got to know him and liked it, especially his curly hair.