Christina Prinzo Famoso - A Wonderful Mother

Christina Prinzo as a young lady around 1906

Christina and her brother Charles 1905

Christina Prinzo Famoso and her son John 1911

Christina Prinzo Famoso

On her birth certificate, her name is listed as Crestina Maria Giuseppa Luisa Prinzo.  Christina was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York on June 16, 1892.  She was my grandmother.  I never knew her but by all accounts she was a wonderful mother and grandmother.  Sadly, she only got to know one of her grandchildren.  She died on April 24, 1943.  Her life was short and heartbreaking.  She was a beautiful young girl who met her husband to be at a funeral before she was even 16 years old. Luigi and Christina were married on April 23, 1908 when she was not quite 16 years old.  Her parents were from “the other side” but she was a ‘Merican.  Grandma Christine only went to school up to the 4^th grade.  That was probably quite a bit more schooling than either of her parents had. Francesco Prinzo and Maria Giuseppa Luisi were farmers back in Italy.  Her father Frank became a laborer to support his family in the United States.  When she met and married her husband Luigi she actually gave up her citizenship for him. For a very short period of time, that is what happened when an American woman would marry a foreign-born man. Christina must have thought he was so handsome and well-educated.  I’m sure she must have admired him, at least at first.  I don’t believe that her love could have lasted too long because he turned out to be a selfish husband.  She gave birth to ten children but only 9 survived to become adults.  That was pretty good for the times they lived in.  Her 4^th child, Joseph, died of enteritis at the age of 7 months.  

I know that Christina could sew and cook.  I also know that she worked hard and was a very good mother. She did not have much extra time to tell her children stories or play games with them.  She simply had to make sure they would survive in the world. 

According to a story my mother heard at Christina's husband Luigi's funeral, Christina had to go to her sister-in-law Loretta and beg her to get money from Luigi for food.  This story was told by Luigi's sister Loretta.

My father told me that he helped his mother wash clothes on a washboard.  I can’t even imagine how difficult and time-consuming that must have been. Especially, when you were washing clothes for 9 children and two adults!

Dad also told me that his mother always said that she could put sauce on rocks and her 9 kids would eat them!  Her boys were always hungry.

Grandma Christina fought for my father to stay in school so he could get his high school diploma because his father Luigi wanted him to quit school to get a job.

She worked in a factory making snowsuits for a few years to make money so she could support her family. 

She saved pennies in a cup for insurance for each one of her boys.  When they grew up she was able to give each of them $500 which was a whole lot of money in those days.

Her sons liked to think they protected her from their father. I asked my dad if Luigi was a violent person and he said they didn’t know because he would not have taken on any of his sons who were all bigger than him.

Christina taught my father how to sew and use a sewing machine to turn a collar.  That was a good way to save money on clothing at the time.  When your shirt collar wore out, then you could turn it and get several more years of wear out of it without looking like a hobo.

In her later years, when her kids were all grown up she would sometimes sit outside on their front stoop (porch) to watch the neighborhood kids play.  My dad says that she knew all their names and would try to make sure they did not get hurt.  I guess that proves she was a mother at heart and was taking on the village approach to raising kids.

Her death was probably not sudden or unexpected.  She had gotten hit by a trolley car and sustained injuries from that accident.  The actual cause of her death was congestive heart failure.  She was only 51 years old but looked at least a decade older than that due to her hard life.  I know she would be happy to know that all her kids got married and most of them had children of their own. 

Christina Prinzo Famoso, Luigi Famoso, Sam Famoso and Catherine Prinzo
Wedding 1908

Christina and her mother Josephine Prinzo - 1940

Christine Prinzo Famoso - 1940

Christine Famoso Prinzo 1940

Great Uncle Brasso Famoso KIA WWI

My great uncle Biagio "Brasso" Famoso was born in Bari, Italy in 1891. I found his birth record and several census records with his name on them. I also found his name on a ship's manifest when he came to the USA on November 30, 1901 with his mother and siblings. The ship was Citta di Torino. He is listed on the NYC 1905 census as "at school". Wouldn't I just love to get hold of his school records. The closest schools to his home were P.S. 83 and P.S. 172. He is listed on a later census as being a telegraph delivery boy. I don't know if that means he was a bike messenger or a driver delivering the telegrams. He may even have been a walking delivery boy since they lived in Harlem, NY at 326 East 109th Street, NY, NY.

My problems begin with my uncle's service in WWI. He was inducted into the army in May of 1917. He was not drafted so there is no draft card in existence. Why would he sign up for the military during wartime, you ask? I may have some idea. He could have been caught up in the propaganda of the time or he thought he would get U.S. citizenship or he may have just needed a job. I have found his military record through the New York State Archives (SARA). Without their help and some assistance from Fold3.com and findagrave.com, I would not have found any information about Brasso. I know that he was a member of the Expeditionary Forces, he was an MP for a short time and he was in the 1st Infantry (The Big Red 1). He was only 25 and 9 months old when he was killed in action. He was a young man. It is the saddest thing to me that every trace of him (or almost) has disappeared. I found out that there had been a photograph of him when he was in his military uniform that was in his brother Alphonse's house for many years but Alphonse gave it to his youngest sister Loretta who lived in Boston at that time. Both Alphonse and Loretta have passed away many years ago. Alphonse has descendants but I have never found any of Loretta's grandchildren. Her married name was Loretta Famoso Galeota Esposito. Loretta died in 1986. Both of her sons have passed away in 1999. I am literally at a dead end with finding that photo. Brasso's military record seems to have disappeared in the fire of 1973 at the National Archives. That is such a huge loss to me. I feel that it is a disgrace to our WWI heroes to just ignore them. I want this to be my memorial to my great uncle.

Here is what I have found:

He is buried at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in France.
He was killed in the battle of Chateau Thierry.
His obituary
The original telegraph message reporting his death.
He was entitled to a Purple Heart and Silver Star plus a medal from France

What I am  hoping to find is someone who has experienced success in researching military records of American soldiers who died in WWI.  I am also selfishly hoping to find some photo, dog tags or some other record of Brasso from while he was alive. I can't imagine that he lived totally in a vacuum.  Someone must have known him.  For all I know, he may have  had a girlfriend or fiance.  I know he wasn't married at the time of his death but a girlfriend is not outside the realm of possibility. In fact, he might have had many.  He could even have had children that he did or did not know about. I am hoping the universe will send me something of his. A letter to a girlfriend or family member that is owned by a collector, finding anything like that would be a great success for me.

Intriguing Story...But is it true?

The first story that I uncovered in my genealogy search is quite a compelling one. It is also quite confusing.  We all know that back in the 1800's and for a long time after that, people got married before having children.  What my search uncovered is that my great grandparents may have had their first child before getting married.  It appears that way at first glance, anyway.  My great grandparents got married on November 5, 1891.  That is a fact.  I am waiting (im)patiently for a certified copy of their wedding certificate from the New York State Bureau of Vital Records.  That is not in dispute.  The confusion comes in with their children.  Their oldest son was named Charles and he was born on February 29, 1890.  That is interesting.  The question is whether he is my great grandfather's son or a son from another marriage?  We don't know.  I can't find a birth or baptismal certificate for Charles.  I would love to see that.  Their second child, my grandmother was born on June 16, 1892.  I did find her birth certificate.  I am awaiting the certified copy of it.

I also can't quite figure out when they came to the United States.  I haven't found anything for Frank (my great grandfather) except for on a census he says he came to the United States in 1886 and in another census he say 1887.  He also said on the 1900 census that he was married for 15 years which is obviously not true.  The marriage transcript that I saw states that they were both single.  That means nothing really but if they had been married in Italy and come over to the United States together they would probably have said so.  I wonder if they were married to other people back in Italy.  I can't be sure but they were about 39 and 29 respectively when they did actually get married. That is fairly old for those days.  It would seem that they might have been married to others before.  Maybe they were both widows?  It is so odd.  I have written to at least 10 different churches in Manhattan and New Jersey trying to find out if that was the church they got married in.  I haven't found anything yet.  I have even tried non-Catholic churches.  You never know.

Update:  I found what I think may be my great grandfather Francesco Prinzo and his brother Luigi on a ship's manifest!  The ship was The Burgundia.  It would be hard to believe but both brothers had their last names spelled wrong on the manifest and differently wrong.  How odd is that?  Apparently not that odd.  My mother's friend from Brooklyn says her father and his brother came to the USA on the same ship and had their last names spelled wrong and differently on the manifest.  Pretty common then?  Who knows.

I also found a woman named Giuseppa Luisa (perhaps my great grandmother) on a ship in 1887 called The Brittania.  The mystery continues because if that is her she had a child of age1 traveling with her.  The child was called Rosaria Luisa.  Is that another of my great grandmother's children?  I have no idea who she was or what became of her.  I only know that on one of the census reports I found, she states that she had given birth to 4 children but only 3 are living.  The plot thickens.  .  .  The ship she supposedly came on seems to have encountered 3 hurricanes on the way to the USA.  It took them 34 days rather than the usual 14 days. I found reports on this sailing from several different newspapers including the NY Times, Herald Tribune, etc.

Luigi Prinzo dressed for Halloween in 1920's on rooftop at 322 East 109th Street, NY, NY

Christine Prinzo Famoso, Maria Giuseppa (Josephine) Prinzo and Katherine (Katie) Prinzo Famoso