The family
story

San Fele · 1876

A shoemaker’s family

[record] Donato Maria Radice was born in San Fele on 26 October 1848. The index to his birth act, no. 303, names his parents as Pietro Radice and Maria Rosa Lorenzo. Peter’s 1879 birth act later describes Donato as a shoemaker, or calzolaio, living in the Fontana Nuova quarter.

[memorial; family research] Rosa Fortannascere’s memorial gives her birth as 15 June 1859 in San Fele. Family research names her parents as Pietro Fortannascere and Ippolita Frascella.

[family research] Donato and Rosa married in San Fele on 16 November 1876. He was twenty-eight and she was seventeen. They had eleven children over the next twenty-two years, from Maria Ippolita in 1877 to Antonio in 1899. A son named Vito died in January 1888; the next son, born that December, was also named Vito.

[interpretation] The children’s names appear to follow family naming customs: Pietro shares his paternal grandfather’s name, while Maria Ippolita shares her maternal grandmother’s. This is a reading of the names and relationships, not a recorded explanation from Donato and Rosa.

[record; interpretation] Rosa’s arrival record of 21 April 1905 lists her as a widow. This supports the conclusion that Donato had died before her arrival. The family places his death in San Fele, but the manifest does not establish the place or exact date. His death act is still needed.

San Fele → Naples → New York → Washington

A town that emptied

[historical context] San Fele is a hill town in the province of Potenza, Basilicata, in southern Italy. Its houses sit around Monte Torretta and Monte Castello in the Vulture area. The municipal profile gives an elevation of 864 metres, about 870 metres or 2,850 feet. The family’s route later led through Naples, New York and Washington.

[historical context] When Donato was born, this part of southern Italy belonged to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, whose capital was Naples. Italian unification in 1860–1861 was followed by armed conflict in the Vulture area known as post-unification brigandage. The regional park’s history names Carmine Crocco of nearby Rionero among its leaders. These were the years of Donato’s childhood; no record here describes his family’s involvement.

[family research; historical context] The family’s notes describe a town of more than 10,000 people in the 1870s and later emigration to New York, Washington, Buffalo, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Toronto. The historical count still needs a census citation. For a dated comparison, the municipality records 3,125 residents on 31 December 2012; that figure is not presented as today’s population.

[family research] The family’s arrival-index research has found other Radices from San Fele between 1893 and 1916. Those entries are leads to a wider migration from the town; a shared surname and birthplace do not prove that they belong to this branch.

[family research; record] Francesco Fabrizio left around 1880. Pietro Radice crossed in 1890; Saverio followed in 1898, Domenico in 1902 and Vito Vincenzo in 1904. Rosa came with Francesco, Mamie and Antonio on 21 April 1905. The early crossings come from family research; the later three are supported by the arrival references listed on the Sources page.

[historical context] San Fele’s local traditions include the Madonna di Pierno festival on 15 August. Its waterfalls are known locally as U Uattënniérë. The municipality and regional cultural sources describe both places; links are on the Sources page.

1890 · Pietro Antonio Radice

Pietro: eleven, alone

[record] Pietro Antonio Radice was born in San Fele on 8 March 1879. In birth act no. 83, his father Donato, a shoemaker, registered the birth. Another entry that morning names Guglielmo Radice, a fifty-one-year-old farmer, as a witness. Whether Guglielmo was related to this family is not yet known.

[family research] In 1890, aged eleven, Pietro crossed the Atlantic alone and settled in Washington, D.C. In America he became Peter. He was the first of Donato and Rosa’s children to leave; Saverio followed eight years later.

[historical context; interpretation] Ellis Island did not open until 1 January 1892. Peter’s exact arrival date and ship have not been found, so Castle Garden and the Barge Office are places to investigate. We cannot yet say which station processed him.

[family research] As P.A. Radice, Peter later became president of an Italian-American society in Washington that worked for fair treatment of Italians. Newspaper coverage and his naturalization papers are still being sought.

[memorial] Peter’s wife was Adalina Spinelli Radice, 1883–1946. Their sons included Angelo Daniel Radice, 1904–1951, and Dr. Julius John Radice, 1908–1966. Peter died on 12 October 1952.

[interpretation] The family wonders whether Peter went first to work and send money home, and whether people from San Fele helped him settle. Francesco Fabrizio was already in Washington according to family research. That may help explain the destination, but Peter’s reasons, arrangements and first contact there are not documented.

1898–1904 · Saverio, Domenico and Vito

The brothers follow

[family research] Saverio Radice, later known as Sam, was born on 13 August 1884. In 1898, at fourteen, he too crossed alone. His ship and exact arrival date are still unknown. His death is recorded in family research as 21 April 1962.

[historical context] Saverio’s reported crossing falls during the closure of Ellis Island after its 1897 fire. Immigration processing moved to the Barge Office in Manhattan until Ellis Island reopened on 17 December 1900. This directs the search for his record; it does not identify his individual entry.

[record; family research] Domenico Antonio Radice was born on 18 February 1886 in San Fele, according to his naturalization petition. At sixteen he sailed from Naples on the Aller, a North German Lloyd steamer. Family research describes him as traveling alone. The arrival index lists “Domenicantonio Radice,” single, from Sanfele, born about 1886.

[record] His arrival dates differ: Ellis Island index: 19 Nov; his petition: 15 Nov. Both refer to November 1902. Some family notes say 1906, but the two record references agree on 1902. The index reference is passenger JFLX-T31, image T715-0309-62, line 17; the scan is still needed.

[record; family research] Vito Vincenzo was born on 28 December 1888 according to family research. He arrived on 10 March 1904, aged fifteen, on the Königin Luise from Naples. The index lists “Vito Radice,” single, from San Fele, born about 1889: passenger JFBT-MZD, image T715-0435-30, line 16. His arrival scan is not yet in this collection.

[record; interpretation] By April 1905, Peter and Saverio were in Washington: Rosa’s manifest names them as the sons she was joining. Their address is read as 1344 32nd St., Washington, D.C., as read from the manifest. The street reading remains open to correction.

1905 · Rosa Fortannascere Radice

The mother comes to her sons

[record] On 21 April 1905, Rosa arrived on the SS Gallia from Naples with Francesco, Mamie and Antonio. Line 4 lists her under her maiden name, “Rosa Fontannesceri,” forty-five, a widow, last resident in San Fele and going to Washington.

[record] Lines 5–7 list her son Francesco, fourteen; daughter Maria Rosa, nine, known in the family as Mamie; and son Antonio, five. Their passenger IDs are JFQS-SNL, JFQS-SNG and JFQS-SNP. Vito had arrived the year before; Domenico was already in Washington according to family research.

[record; interpretation] Rosa was joining her sons Pietro and Saverio Radice at 1344 32nd St., Washington, D.C., as read from the manifest. Francesco’s age points to a birth around 1891, consistent with the family research dates of 1891–1915. A different Francesco Radice memorial gives 1882–1943; its connection to this family still needs to be checked.

[family research] Filomena Mariarosa, known as Mamie, was born on 6 May 1895; Antonio, later Anthony, on 21 November 1899. Giuseppe, then twelve, and Angelamaria, then seven, were not among the children on these manifest lines. Their later lives, and Maria Ippolita’s, remain unknown. We do not know whether they had died, stayed with relatives or made other journeys.

[memorial; family research] Rosa lived in Washington after the crossing. Her memorial records her death on 28 April 1936 and her burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Family research gives Anthony’s death as 7 July 1973 and Mamie’s as 27 May 1988.

[interpretation] The family sees Rosa’s crossing as a decision to join her sons after Donato’s death. The sons may have paid the fares, but no payment record is known. The manifest shows her traveling with three children; it does not tell us who arranged the journey or how the family reached its decision.

San Fele · Newport · 8 August 1910

The Fabrizios

[family research] Francesco Fabrizio was born in San Fele on 6 February 1865, the son of Michele Fabrizio, born in 1842, and Teresa Ricigliano, born on 12 November 1844. Teresa Ricigliano’s parents were Vincenzo Ricigliano and Agnese, whose surname is not yet known.

[family research; interpretation] Francesco left for America around 1880, described in the family research as about fourteen, and became a barber in Washington. Castle Garden is a possible arrival station; his entry record has not been established. On 6 October 1887 he returned to San Fele to marry Maria Michela Pietropinto. She followed him to America in 1888.

[record; memorial] Maria Michela’s birth act, no. 385, gives 23 August 1867 and names her parents as Domenicantonio and Lucrezia. Her memorial gives 24 August. She died on 13 December 1945. Family research gives Domenicantonio’s birth as 19 April 1823 and names his parents as Sebastiano Pietropinto and Margherita Gerardi, the earliest named ancestors in this Italian line.

[memorial; family research] Francesco owned a barber shop, served for twelve years as president of Barbers Union Local 239 and worked as an interpreter for the Immigration Bureau during the First World War. He died in 1949.

[memorial; family papers; family research] Teresa Maria Fabrizio, known in the family as Gram, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on 3 June 1891. One family record gives 1894. She and Domenico married in Washington on 8 August 1910. Her great-grandchildren remembered her saying, “You don’t like my cooking? Eat, eat!” That line comes from family recollection. She died on 22 May 1990, aged ninety-eight using the 1891 birth date.

[memorial] Domenico and Teresa’s first child, Rosemund, was born on 10 December 1911 and died of pneumonia on 3 March 1913, at about fifteen months. Her brother Daniel Francis had been born on 8 February, less than four weeks before her death.

[family research] Their daughter Marie was born in 1919. She appears in this archive as Marie Radice Wentzel, b. 1919; her husband and children are not included.

Work, records and citizenship · 1910–1923

Washington: work and citizenship

[record] Domenico’s petition for naturalization, dated 19 September 1922, lists his occupation as tailor and his address as 313 I Street NE, Washington, D.C. It gives his arrival as 15 November 1902 on the Aller; the Ellis Island index gives 19 November. Both dates remain visible here.

[family papers; record] Family papers say the name was originally spelled Radici. The San Fele birth records we’ve read spell it Radice.

[family research] The family says Domenico worked at The Young Men’s Shop, remembered as “the best shop in town,” and belonged to the Knights of Pythias. These details have not yet been matched to employment or membership records.

[family research] Domenico filed his declaration of intention in 1918. Family research describes a 1922 affidavit about losing it after putting it “in a drawer with the above mentioned papers.” The supplied scan shows the file cover, not the affidavit text. The page containing his statement is still needed.

[record] Domenico became a United States citizen on 8 January 1923, certificate no. 1759348, renouncing allegiance to King Victor Emmanuel III. The record describes him as five feet three inches tall, with brown eyes, brown hair and a scar on his left cheek.

[record; memorial] Vito Vincenzo’s 1963 Washington Post obituary says that he began work at the Metropolitan Club in 1908 and barbered there for fifty-four years. His customers included Presidents William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The club was two blocks from the White House. His wife was Gabriella Scalia Radice, 1890–1980, according to her memorial. Vito died on 10 June 1963.

[memorial] The family knew Domenico as Pop. He died in Washington on 8 October 1970, aged eighty-four, and is buried with Teresa at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Maryland.

The next generation · Dentistry, music and art

The dentist, the singer and the Ghost Army

[memorial; family papers] Dr. Daniel Francis “Big George” Radice was born in Washington on 8 February 1913. Family papers give his birth name as “Donato Francesco Radici.” They record his graduation from Georgetown University in 1932 and Georgetown Dental School in 1936. Also called Doc, he worked as a dentist, with an office behind the Capitol.

[interpretation] As Pop and Teresa’s first son, he was likely named for his grandfather Donato, following the southern Italian custom.

[family papers; family research] He met Laurel Katherine “Peggy” Taylor on a blind date on 6 January 1939. They married exactly one year later, on 6 January 1940. Relatives remember his Washington football team and his skill at Scrabble, calling him “the mightiest Scrabble player.” He died in Poolesville, Maryland, on 20 September 2001. Family papers say his ashes were spread around Kakie’s lilac tree.

[memorial; family papers; family research] Laurel Katherine “Peggy” Taylor was born in Elkins, Randolph County, West Virginia, on 22 October 1916; her family moved to Washington when she was two. Family papers say she was the Daily News’ Inquiring Photographer; her memorial remembers her singing in Washington’s nightclubs and jazz clubs. She was Peggy to her husband and relatives, Kakie to her grandchildren and Piggy to her father. She died in Poolesville, Maryland, on 31 December 1994 and was buried in West Virginia.

[memorial; family papers; family research] Peggy’s father, Guy Taylor, was born on 4 March 1893 and died on 6 February 1980. He worked in the food industry. Family papers name his parents as Samuel L. Taylor and Seba Stalnaker; earlier family research records them as Samuel Lee Taylor and Luceba Stalnaker. Peggy’s mother, Reta Ray Thompson Taylor, 1895–1981, owned a Washington hair salon. Family papers give her birth as 2 July 1895 and her death as 30 September 1981; other sources say 1980. Peggy’s sister, Vera Taylor Kolley, 1914–1971, died on 17 October 1971. Family research traces the Taylor line through Randolph County to Isaac Taylor, born in Kentucky in 1781.

[memorial; family research] Big George and Peggy’s eldest son, Daniel F. Radice Jr., was born on 19 September 1940 and died on 13 January 2010. In the 1941 four-generation photograph, Maria Michela, Teresa, Big George and baby Daniel Jr. appear together. Their living children are not shown in the family tree.

[memorial; family research] Pop’s nephew Donato “Dante” Radice was the son of Vito Vincenzo and Gabriella Scalia. Born in Washington on 12 December 1913, he studied at George Washington University, Columbia University and the Art Students League of New York.

[family research] During the Second World War, Dante served as a private in the 603rd Camouflage Battalion, part of the Ghost Army. Its deception work used inflatable tanks, sound effects and false radio traffic. Afterward he ran a Washington gallery for Caresse Crosby, founded Georgetown Day School’s art department, taught at the Hawthorne School and trained as an architect.

[memorial] Dante died in Washington on 5 December 1983.

An archive in progress

Finding them again

[family research] The family used Italian names as well as American names and nicknames. Pietro became Peter, Saverio became Sam, and Domenico was Pop. Knowing those names helps when comparing documents and identifying photographs.

[record; family research] The archive brings together San Fele birth registers, arrival references, Domenico’s naturalization file, memorials, family papers and photographs shared by relatives. The source labels show where a detail comes from. Readings of handwriting and ideas about the family’s decisions remain marked as interpretations.

[research questions] The next searches are Donato’s death act; the later lives of Maria Ippolita, Giuseppe and Angelamaria; Peter’s arrival and naturalization papers; Saverio’s arrival; and the original 1902 Aller and 1904 Königin Luise scans. Peter’s newspaper coverage, the 1900, 1910 and 1920 Washington censuses, and Rosa’s 1936 Evening Star death notice may fill other gaps.

[interpretation] Another question concerns the Radices from San Fele who settled in Buffalo. Family research has found a party indexed as Gio’batta, Pasquale, Vincenzo and Filomena Radice arriving on 1 April 1893. They may be connected to the Buffalo family of Giambattista and sons Pasquale, Sebastiano and Giuseppe. Neither that identification nor a link to this Radice line is proven.

[research questions] Frank’s conflicting memorial, the missing affidavit page and the possible wider Fabrizio family also need checking. The complete questions are on the Sources page. If you have family photographs, documents or corrections to share, we would love to hear from you.