Americans by Choice (Hi story of th e Itali ans i n U ti ca ) GEORGE SCHIRO m ‘ ‘ Member of th e New fgi'f stat e B ar ’ F orsan et haec olim memznisse iuvabi t . —VIRGIL Gratefully D edicated to my father SCHIRO g enerous made ossible m education p y . C O NTENTS e For word Honorable William F . ofth Dowling , Justice e Appellate Division , N . Y . State — An Appreciation Roy C . Van Den bergh , President of the Savings Bank ofUtica Preface I — ’ Chapter —Utica s First Italian Family Pioneers of Utica Chapter II —Utica ’s Italian “ Found ” ing Fathers — Chapter III Italian Progress in Utica A . Italians in our Schools B . Italians in the Professions C . Italians in Public Service D . Italians Play Politics s E . Italians in Busine s Conclusion Appendix Sources ofInformation Testimonials An Acknowledg ment Index FOREWORD v . In this olume the author , Mr Schiro , has added an interesting and valuable f chapter to the history o Utica . Few resi dents of Utica are aware of the fact that the connection of the Italian people with 1 8 1 5 Utica dates back to . Mr . Schiro has ‘ given us an interesting account ofthe Ital ian pioneers who laid the foundation for the “ ” s - o called Italian Colony in Utica . The early struggles ofthese men are graphically related . He has also drawn aside the veil so that the reader may appreciate that these fine people had an interesting and o enj yable home life . They loved music , dancing and singing when the day ’s work n f f was do e . The story o the rise o the Italian people in Utica from one Italian in 1 8 1 5 1 9 8 n No to in 3 is a moving o e. one can read this volume without feeling a sense of pride and satisfaction in the achievements of the Italian people in Utica and in the nation as well and without reaching the conclusion that the Italian 8 AMERICANS BY CHOICE - a people of this city are a law abiding , p triotic e , progr ssive and intelligent people of and a credit to the City Utica . My con tact with Italian people began in the late eighties . I then formed the impression that they were a splendid people and more in timate contact with them for the past thirty-six years has fully confirmed that i ticans mpression . U in particular should find a great deal of pleasure and profit in w . reading this revealing , orthwhile book I LLIAM W . W F . DO LING 1 1 1 940 e . Septemb r , AN APPRECIATION I have read Americans by Choice with much interest because of m y personal ao quaintance with members of most of the of Italian families mentioned . The author this book is well qualified to write it b e cause he came here from Italy himself as a small boy and I well remember him as a young student at B randeg ee giving promise of e the success he has since achi ved . When I came to Utica in September 1 9 1 1 to be the principal of the new school on B rande ee Jay Street , known as the g School , i t seemed to me that I had entered a for ei n g city in East Utica . The Italian peo ple were a unit unto themselves with very n little i tercourse with the rest of the city . Seven years ofclose contact with these peo ple gave me ample opportunity to witness the trials , troubles and handicaps under which they labored in establishing them selves in a strange land with a difficult new language . How these have been overcome and the contributions which these people 1 0 AMERICANS BY CHOICE have made are related in this little book which , as far as I know , is the first attempt to give to the people Of Utica a real pic ture Of the background Of their Italian neighbors . Because Of my personal interest in hun dreds Ofyoung people OfItalian parentage who were children when I first knew them and who are now counted among Utica ’s useful and successful citizens , I find a strong desire to amplify the brief state ments contained in the book regarding this au younger generation , but I am not the thor . Needless to say it is my opinion that thi s book will be well accepted and Widely read . May it accomplish the mission for which it was prepared with so much time and effort on the part Of the author . ROY C . VAN DENB ERGH . PREFACE Many able pens have recounted the vast contributions made by the Italians to the physical and intellectual development of n this the greatest country o earth . Some Of these Italian contributions have so pro foundly affected the destiny Of our United / States th at the writer deems it a duty to help disseminate knowledge ofthem among all true citizens Of our wonderful country . For that purpose and with that hope I dwell for a moment upon a few such out standing and undisputed Italian aids to American growth . We permit ourselves a short digression to say that : World-wide is the fame Of many Italians Whose learning and deeds have substantial ly enriched civilization and advanced h u man knowledge . We are , Of course , familiar with Galileo ’s discovery Of the law Of the pendulum , which makes possible the clock that stands on your shelf or thewatch on i e your wrist . We profit from h s inv ntion 1 1 1 2 AMERICANS B Y CHOICE re Of the telescope . The world will long member and appreciate the Madonnas Of Rafaello ; the Mona Lisa and the Last Sup per Ofthe genius Leonard Da Vinci ; the medallions Of Benvenuto Cellini ; the sculp ture of the peerless Michael Angelo . Man kind owes much to the immortal poetry Of i e Dante , Petrarca , Carducc and L opardi ; th e literature Of Boccaccio , Goldoni , Man ’ zoni and D Annunz i o ; the philosophy Of Giordano Bruno ; the law Of the Romans ; the discoveries and explorations Of Marco P0 10 and Columbus ; the music Of Verdi , ' Mascagni and Toscanini ; the voices and art Of Patti , Caruso , Tetrazzini and Gigli ; - the life saving wireless Of Marconi . The enumeration Of Italian names and ’ the contributions to the world s progress infinit m could be prolonged ad u . Lord By ron acknowledged this debt by writing “ a It ly , Mother Of Arts , thy hand was once our guardian and it is still our ” guide . This line very appropriately adorns the frontispiece Of La Casa Italiana at Colum bia University . AMERICANS B Y CHOICE 1 3 out But let me return quickly to point , for in brief , what the Italians have done the United S tates . It is a commonplace that the Italians have built our railroads and bridges and have constructed many Of r ou buildings . We know that every indus try in the United States today feels the ef fect and influence Of Italian capital and energy ; that Americans Of Italian descent recently have made great progress in the Of : LaGuardi a field politics , Poletti , Rossi Maestri are familiar names in high places n in government . Everyone k ows that Cristoforo Colombo discovered America (the first that Giovanni Ca b‘ ota (John Cabot) first explored its main land ; that Amerigo Vespucci provided its —L name all three Italian men ; that Giovanni ’ D Verraz z ano discovered New York Bay ; that Alessandro Malaspina was the first white man to explore Alaska , Vancouver , and the coast Of California . I am more interested , however , to cata logue at least some Of the less widely known contributions to America by the Italians because they will engage the atten 1 4 AMERICANS BY CHOICE tion Ofall people seeking the welfare Of this country . How many Americans have known or know that an Italian , Filippo Mazzei , was among the very first men - in the American Colonies to urge publicly that they Should throw Off the enslaving yoke Of England ? Filippo Mazzei was intimately acquainted f with Je ferson , Washington , Franklin , Pat rick Henry and other famous Revolution 1 7 73 ary patriots . He came to Virginia in 1 8 after a stay in England Of years , and at the invitation of Jefferson and Franklin . “ Of Under the pen name Furioso , he wrote articles in Italian exposing the tyranny Of the English rule . Thomas Jefferson trans lated them into English and had them pub lish ed and scattered throughout the col ni n f o es . o e O In these articles , published ’ “ Pinckne s 1 7 74 in y Virginia Gazette in , “ Mazzei first penned the phrase : All men are by nature created free and independent it is necessary that all men be equal to ” each other in natural rights . Thomas Jef ferson himself has acknowledged translat ing this phrase and incorporating it into our AMERICANS BY CHOICE 1 5 Declaration OfIndependence in the form Of “ ” the immortal all men are created equal . v After the Re olution , Mazzei was sent to Europe by Virginia as its delegate . Later the Virginia legislature passed a resolution Of thanks to him and voted him a sum Of money . While in Europe , Mazzei was asked by the United States Government to find and send on to Washington some Ital ian interior decorators . Mazzei did this . Much Of the interior decoration Of the Capi tOl Building in Washington was done by those Italians . The records Show that several hundred Italians gave their lives in the Revolution i' fr a y War o Independence .