Giovanni Baldori (b 1826) was the son of Sabatino Baldori and Santa Lalli. Lucia Nicoli (b 1852) was the daughter of Gregorio Nicoli and Antonia Amici. Giovanni and Lucia were married on October 5, 1880 in Arquata del Tronto, province of Marche, Italy. They had four children -
Sabatino - 1/28/1875, Santa - 1/25/1877, Luigi - 4/13/1882 and Giuseppe - 7/8/1886. If the marriage and birth records are correct, they had Sabatino and Santa before they were married, when Giovanni was 49 and Lucia was 23.
Records at the Ellis Island American Family Immigration History Center document that Luigi Baldori (b. 1882 d. 1930) first arrived at Ellis Island November 7, 1899 at the age of 17 on the ship Hesperia which departed from Naples. His final destination can't be determined from the ship manifest, although his interim destination is Philadelphia. Family lore says he was headed for Morgantown, W. Va, probably to join a cousin.
Luigi made at least three trips back to Italy, returning to the US in 1900, in1905 on The Madonna and in 1912 on the Duca D'Aosta. The Madonna ship manifest states that in 1905 Luigi came over with his older brother Sabatino and that their destination was Coraopolis where their brother Guisseppe lived. There are two Sabatino Baldori's listed on the ship's manifest, on lines 12 and 16. The Sabatino on line 12 is stated to be married and headed to Pittsburgh to visit a brother in law. The Sabatino on line 16 is listed as single and headed for Coraopolis. It is also noteworthy that many other passengers on the Madonna were from Arquata del Tronto, including a Gerardi and a Ricci, both names that appear in other places in the Baldori family tree.
Eventually, Luigi Married Rosa Tomassini (b Nov 9, 1893) in Uniontown, PA in 1912. By this time he was apparently running a little grocery store in Kimball, W. Va so its not clear why he went to Uniontown to get married. Their first daughter, Virginia, was born in 1913 in Kimball. Alma was born in 1914 in Kimball.
Virginia Sep 20, 1913 -Alma Oct 10, 1914 - Stella May 14, 1916 - Lucy Mar 17, 1918 - John Feb 2, 1920 - Albert Dec 8, 1923 - Pete April 26, 1927
Rosa didn't like Kimball, W. Va and the family moved to Point Marion, Pa from Kimball. Then they moved to Newborough, Pa where Luigi bought a lot and put up a "shanty". Actually, he bought two lots in 1919 and eventually built two houses. They were hand built and one had three rooms, paid for out of Republic Construction Pay. Rosa actually took the fire brick from coke ovens to build a foundation and raise the house.
The first house built was a two-story. Luigi then sold it to people named Johnson. On the next lot he built a ground level "shanty" which became the family home. Two bedrooms, kitchen and living room. All the kids slept in one bedroom. There was a cistern for water and an outhouse that is now used as a squash planter. Eventually, a bathroom was added. Luigi became a naturalized citizen in February of 1920 and put his residence down as Fairbanks, Pa.
Rosa was the daughter of Luigi Tomassini and Angela Bellini who were married on October 4, 1879 in Arquata del Tronto. The Tomasini's had 11 children. Angela had a brother, Vincenzo, who had three sons, Ettore, Caprielli (Gabraelle?) and More. Ettore was a close family friend of the Baldori's in Pennsylvania. Ettore's brother, Gabraelle apparently stayed in Vezzano, near Arquata del Tronto, but has descendants living in Republic. Rosa came to the US with Mrs. Brunetti and Mrs. Calveresi in 1912 at the age of 17 as Virginia remembers it. Some notarized documentation states various conditions of Rosa's passage and who she came with. This document is dated 1912.
Virginia remembers that her mother Rosa was born in 1895. She also remembers another of her mother's cousins, Giovanni Bellini. Virginia says Giovanni was a "moonshiner" and "gambler" who came into the United States through Mexico at Tijuana.
Luigi died Aug 9, 1930 from complications from peritonitis, which he apparently contracted after an accident at the Republic Construction Company lumberyard owned by DeGregorio. Its not clear whether he was working for DeGregorio, running the company store, or running his own business. He injured himself in the side while pulling boards out of a pile and peritonitis or gangrene set in. His tombstone is in Uniontown near the hospital.
He died leaving Rosa with seven kids and a Model A truck. Apparently there were some financial death benefits that went to the Baldori family, which Rosa put in the bank. Shortly thereafter, the bank failed, probably as part of the great crash of '29, and all the money was lost.