Matteo Ricucci came to the US from Italy several times (in 1909 and then 1911 with his brother Antonio. However, he never remained in the US but returned to Monte S’Angelo in Italy. During World War II he became an interpreter for the US forces since he could speak both English and Italian. He died in Italy.
(Recollection of Dominic Ragucci recorded by Joseph)
While growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s we would frequently visit the “Aunt and Uncle from Elizabeth”. That’s how we knew them. But later I realized that they were Antonio and Maria, my father’s Aunt and Uncle. I also realized that they spelled their last name differently – Ricucci – verses our spelling of Ragucci. (See story on how Ricucci became Ragucci).
The place I most remember is their large home onWestfield Avenue (Rt 28). They lived downstairs and their daughter Angie lived upstairs with her husband Joe Esposito and my cousin Martha Esposito. We would always drive to the back of the house and park next to their garage.
They were a typical Italians talking with a Italian accent and always ready with the food and wine. The “uncle” made his own red wine that was potent! I found out that he soaked the barrels with alcohol to increase the alcohol content. They typically added coke to the wine to dilute it. As I got older I was offered some heavily diluted with soda.
My father said that his uncle didn’t like to work and was constantly out of work. When I knew them they were retired. The Aunt was a typical Italian grandmother figure.
I was talking to my Dad (Dominic Ragucci) about a page from the 1930 Census that I found with a record of the Antonio and Maria Ricucci (affectionately called the Uncle and Aunt from Elizabeth) who were living in Port Reading at the time. My Dad began to talk about the Aunt and her “episodes” which I believe were due to epilepsy. Continue reading
Why are we Ragucci and not Ricucci?
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.
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.
(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