Sources and acknowledgments

How to read the sources

This archive follows the family master record as of October 2026. The labels keep different kinds of evidence separate.

[record] A detail from an original document, or a supplied reading of its index. Where a scan is missing, that is stated.
[memorial] A detail from a Find a Grave memorial; memorials may contain errors or dates that differ from records.
[family research] Research or recollections shared by relatives, principally between 2008 and 2016, and the October 2026 update.
[family papers] Details from the family papers shared in October 2026. Where these differ from memorials or other records, both accounts are noted.
[interpretation] A possible explanation or reading of evidence, not an established fact.

Historical context is credited separately to public sources. “Research questions” marks work still to do. If several source types appear together, the text explains which part comes from each. Photographs carry their supplied captions and credits; a credit does not independently verify every identification.

The family history

[family research] This history draws on Radice, Fabrizio and Taylor family sheets, Storia di San Fele, family photographs and documents shared by relatives. The expanded tree follows that research while marking missing dates and uncertain relationships. The town’s San Fele family names include Radice, Fortannascere, Lorenzo, Frascella, Fabrizio, Pietropinto, Ricigliano and Gerardi.

[record] The Italian records are San Fele civil registers held by the Archivio di Stato di Potenza and made available through Antenati. Domenico Radice’s naturalization file comes from the USCIS Genealogy Program, case GEN-10308143. Arrival references come from the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation; the family supplied the index details and the 1905 crop.

[family papers] The October 2026 family packet adds Daniel Francis Radice’s recorded birth name, “Donato Francesco Radici,” his Georgetown graduation years of 1932 and 1936, and his blind date with Laurel Katherine “Peggy” Taylor on 6 January 1939, one year before their wedding. It also supplies Peggy’s Elkins birthplace and Daily News work, family nicknames, death and burial details, and Taylor family dates. These details remain attributed to the family papers. Peggy’s singing in Washington’s nightclubs and jazz clubs comes separately from her memorial.

[family papers; family research] The packet names Guy Taylor’s parents as Samuel L. Taylor and Seba Stalnaker. Earlier family research records Samuel Lee Taylor and Luceba Stalnaker. The packet’s forms are preserved as supplied; they do not establish a legal name change.

Family records

[record]
Maria Michela Pietropinto’s birth record, 1867, act no. 385
Peter’s birth record, San Fele, 1879, act no. 83
Domenico’s Ellis Island arrival index, November 1902 — JFLX-T31
Vito’s arrival index, 10 March 1904 — JFBT-MZD
Rosa and her children’s Gallia manifest, 21 April 1905, lines 4–7
Domenico’s petition for naturalization, 19 September 1922
Naturalization file cover, 18 September 1922
Naturalization certificate, 8 January 1923, no. 1759348

[record] Donato’s birth is confirmed in the 1848 San Fele birth register index, act no. 303, Antenati, which names his parents as Pietro Radice and Maria Rosa Lorenzo. That scan is not part of this image collection. Peter’s 1879 act describes Donato as a shoemaker in Fontana Nuova. Maria Michela’s 1867 act names her parents as Domenicantonio and Lucrezia.

[record] The arrival details were shared by the family from the Statue of Liberty–Ellis Island Foundation arrival records. Domenico is indexed as “Domenicantonio Radice,” sixteen, single, born about 1886, from Sanfele, on the Aller from Naples: passenger JFLX-T31, image T715-0309-62, line 17. Vito is indexed as “Vito Radice,” fifteen, single, born about 1889, from San Fele, on the Königin Luise from Naples: passenger JFBT-MZD, image T715-0435-30, line 16. The original 1902 and 1904 scans are not yet included here.

[record] The supplied 1905 Gallia crop shows Rosa on line 4 and three children on lines 5–7: Rosa Fontannesceri, forty-five, a widow; Francesco Radice, fourteen; Maria Rosa Radice (Mamie), nine; and Antonio Radice, five. The children’s passenger IDs are JFQS-SNL, JFQS-SNG and JFQS-SNP.

[record; interpretation] The manifest identifies Rosa’s sons Pietro and Saverio in Washington as the family she was joining. The address is 1344 32nd St., Washington, D.C., as read from the manifest. The handwriting remains open to correction. Rosa’s widow status supports a death before her arrival on 21 April 1905; it does not prove Donato’s death date or place.

[record; family research] The image supplied as the affidavit is the naturalization file cover, upside down in the original scan. It does not show the affidavit’s text. The quoted phrase “in a drawer with the above mentioned papers” comes from family research; the page containing it is still needed. Typed entries beside all scans are selected details and research summaries, not complete verbatim transcriptions.

Questions still open

Teresa’s birth year. Her memorial and the existing family research give 3 June 1891; one family record gives 1894. Check the Newport birth record to resolve the difference. The site retains 1891 and notes the conflicting year.

Reta’s death year. The family papers give 30 September 1981; other sources say 1980. Find the death record or a contemporary notice. The site uses 1895–1981 with the earlier date noted.

Radici and Radice. Family papers say the name was originally Radici and give Daniel’s birth name as “Donato Francesco Radici.” The San Fele birth records we’ve read use Radice. Compare the San Fele and Washington records to establish when each spelling was used.

Donato’s death. Find the exact date, place and cause in the San Fele civil registers, beginning with an inquiry to the town hall. The family places his death in San Fele before Rosa’s April 1905 crossing, but the arrival manifest establishes only her widow status by 21 April.

Maria Ippolita, Giuseppe and Angelamaria. Trace their later lives. Giuseppe and Angelamaria do not appear with Rosa on the supplied 1905 manifest lines. Whether they had died, stayed with relatives or traveled separately is unknown.

Peter. Find his 1890 arrival record, naturalization papers and Washington newspaper reports about P.A. Radice and his Italian-American society. Investigate Castle Garden and the Barge Office without assuming his processing station.

Saverio. Find his 1898 arrival record, ship and exact date. This falls in the Barge Office period after the Ellis Island fire.

Domenico and Vito. Obtain the original 1902 Aller and 1904 Königin Luise scans. Domenico’s list may name a Washington contact or next of kin in San Fele, but neither is known from the index details supplied. His dates differ: Ellis Island index: 19 Nov; his petition: 15 Nov. Both say 1902, unlike the 1906 date in some family notes. Also find the actual 1922 affidavit page.

Francesco “Frank.” The fourteen-year-old in 1905 fits the family research dates of 1891–1915. A different Francesco Radice memorial gives 1882–1943. Establish which memorial and death record belong to Rosa’s son.

Censuses and newspapers. Check the 1900, 1910 and 1920 U.S. censuses for the Washington households. Find Rosa’s 1936 death notice in the Evening Star; it may name surviving children.

The Buffalo Radices. [family research; interpretation] Compare the Buffalo family of Giambattista and sons Pasquale, Sebastiano and Giuseppe with the party indexed as Gio’batta, Pasquale, Vincenzo and Filomena Radice from Sanfele on 1 April 1893. The family research suggests a possible connection. Neither the identification of that party nor a link to this family line is proven.

Other relationships and dates. Determine whether Guglielmo Radice, the fifty-one-year-old farmer witnessing another birth entry on Peter’s registration morning, was a relative. Find Agnese’s surname in the Ricigliano line. Reconcile Maria Michela’s 23 August birth-register date with her memorial’s 24 August date. Confirm any proposed additional Fabrizio siblings before adding those relationships; Jean Fabrizio Lozupone’s supplied photograph remains in the collection without treating the sibling link as confirmed.

Town history. Locate a census citation for the family notes’ figure of more than 10,000 inhabitants in the 1870s, and use a dated official count for any present-day population comparison.

Arrival research context

[historical context] Peter’s reported 1890 crossing predates Ellis Island’s opening on 1 January 1892. Saverio’s 1898 crossing falls during the closure after the 1897 fire, when processing moved to Manhattan’s Barge Office. Ellis Island reopened on 17 December 1900. These facts direct the search; they do not locate either brother’s entry. National Park Service chronology.

[historical context] The Foundation says surviving Customs Lists are available for arrivals before the 1897 fire. Peter’s record has not yet been identified in the family research; its absence here is not evidence that no record survives. Ellis Island history and records.

Family photographs

Most photographs were supplied from Find a Grave memorials, where contributors shared them. Credits and links appear with each image. The 1946 photograph of Big George comes from the family collection, shared by relatives. A supplied caption may identify only some of the people in a group photograph.

Living relatives are not added to the tree. Marie appears only as “Marie Radice Wentzel, b. 1919,” with no death date invented. If you appear in a photo here or know someone who does and would like it removed, please get in touch.

The family photographs and record scans replace the illustrations used in the first design preview. The steamship line drawing is a decorative period motif, not a photograph or an exact technical drawing of the Aller.

San Fele in context

[historical context] The municipality’s territory profile places the town around Monte Torretta and Monte Castello, at an average elevation of 864 metres. It reports 3,125 residents on 31 December 2012. That dated count is used in the story; the page does not verify a current population of “about 3,000.”

[historical context] The regional park’s history describes post-unification brigandage in the Vulture area and identifies Carmine Crocco as from Rionero. The State Archives historical context covers the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. These are context for the family’s period, not evidence of any ancestor’s involvement in the conflict.

[historical context] San Fele’s wider history of emigration is also acknowledged in the Region of Basilicata’s report on the town’s Emigration Day. The specific cities and 1870s population estimate in the master notes remain attributed to family research until matched to a published source.

The emigrants’ monument in San Fele

Monument to Lucanian Emigrants, San Fele (inaugurated 31 July 2016); donors' plaque [record: photograph via Guida San Fele Wiki]. The photographs and plaque transcriptions name the donors, promoter and artists. The Region of Basilicata’s July 2016 announcement confirms the planned ceremony on 31 July in San Vito. Its contemporary festival notice dates the local feast of San Giustino to 30–31 July.

Australian Radice relationship: [not established]. The plaque lists Laura in 1961, Nicola and Angelina in 1964, and Aldo Michele’s San Fele–Drummoyne twinning work in 1985. These are plaque entries, not a verified link to Donato and Rosa’s descendants. No Australian Radices have been added to the family tree.

Photo: Guida San Fele Wiki (rete.comuni-italiani.it). The three supplied images are reproduced unchanged. To be replaced with our own photos after our visit.

New York and Washington in the immigration years

[historical context] Immigrant Landing Station, N.Y., A. Loeffler, published with a copyright date of 24 February 1905. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-37784. The scan was converted from TIFF to JPEG for display, without retouching.

[historical context] Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, William Henry Jackson / Detroit Publishing Co., c. 1902. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection, det.4a09425. The catalogue lists no known publication restrictions; the JPEG comes from the Wikimedia Commons copy of the Library’s scan.

These are period views of the places, not photographs of the family. The home-page frames use a light sepia display treatment; the full images open without it.

A real place

San Fele Vista Panoramica and San Fele Panorama: Aldo Montemarano, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and toned in the design.

Pierno santuario: Nikomicky, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped in the design.

Cascata U Uattënniérë: Aester88, CC BY-SA 3.0. Cropped in the design.

Festival information: Comune di San Fele and Italian Ministry of Culture, confirming festivities around 15 August.

The municipal arms

The crest is the coat of arms of the Comune di San Fele, not family heraldry. The modern treatment follows the historical blazon: three hills and a naked winged genius holding a globe in the left hand. It is a contemporary design interpretation, not a claim to replace the official municipal artwork. The original published drawing clothes the figure.

Official municipal reference · Published drawing retained for reference · Vulture regional park description. The drawing is not represented as openly licensed.