Salvatore Sullo and Pasqualina de Minico

Salvatore Sullo was born 5 February 1868 in Torre le Nocelle to Aniello Sullo, a sculptor and Basilia di Iorio.  Salvatore had four full siblings and two older half-siblings. 

Father Aniello's first marriage to Angela Raffaella Luongo (1833-1861) produced two sons: Alfonso Virgilio (1859) and Francesco Paolo (1861). 

His second marriage to Basilia produced five children: Nicola Maria (1865), Salvatore, Giuseppe (1870), Raffaella (1874) and Carmela (1877).

Below is Salvatore's birth record:

1868 Birth Act of Salvatore Sullo

#7 Filed 6 Feb 1868
Name: Salvatore Sullo
Birth: 5 Feb 1868 alle ore ventiquattro, Strada Trinita
Father: Aniello Sullo fu Michelangelo, 46, scalpellino
Mother: Basilia di Iorio fu Giuseppe
Witness: Giovanni dello Iacono fu Federico, 38, caffettiere
Witness: Giuseppe Todisco fu Giuseppe, 42, calzolaio
Sindaco: Giovanni de Dominicis

Salvatore married Pasqualina de Minico, daughter of Federico de Minico, a tailor and Alessandra de Angelis - both also of Torre.  Below is their marriage record:

1897 Marriage Act of Salvatore Sullo to Pasqualina de Minico

 #8 Filed 18 Marzo 1897
Sposo: Sullo, Salvatore, 29, scalpellino, nato e residente in Torre le Nocelle, figlio di Aniello Sullo  Basilia di Iorio, residenti in Torre le Nocelle.
Sposa: De Minico, Pasqualina, 19, sarta, nata e residente in Torre le Nocelle, figlia di Errico De Minico ed Alessandra de Angelis, residenti in Torre le Nocelle.
Witness: Saverio Pizzano, 22, falegname
Witness: Beniamino Capone, 28, scalpellino
Sindaco: Beniamino Rotondi

Shortly after they married Salvatore and Pasqualina emigrated to the States, boarding the Werra in Naples and arriving in New York on 19 May 1897.  Below is the original manifest showing them on lines 17 and 18.  Just above them on lines 15 and 16 we also find Beniamino Capone - witness to Salvatore's marriage - with his wife Maria Amalia Pizzano.

The Werra

19 May 1897 Werra Manifest

By 1902 Salvatore and Pasqualina had settled at 78 Prince St. in Boston MA.  They stayed in Boston up until the 1920's, moving to Medford MA in time for the 1930 Census which shows them at 89 Kenmere Road.

The couple had at least seven children ... possibly eight.  It appears that at least three of the Sullo daughters were talented in both the arts and fashion industry.

1. Norma Aida Sullo was born 22 February 1898 in Boston.  The 1920 census shows Norma working in a hat factory.

2. Basilia (Elisabeth) Sullo was born 5 October 1899 in Boston.  The 1920 census shows Basilia working as a dressmaker.  Between the years 1921-1924 she was an art student in Naples, returning home to Medford in 1925 to become a portrait artist.

Basilia (Elisabeth) Sullo in 1921

3. Adelina Sullo was born 5 October 1899 in Boston.  I found Adelina's birth information on the Family Search site, however since it did not include a photo of the actual record ... I'm not quite sure what to make of it.  She's likely the same child as Basilia (perhaps Adelina was a middle name?), but it's also quite possible she and and Basilia were twins.  If this is the case, Adelina more than likely died in infancy as she doesn't show in any of the census records.

4. Alessandra Sullo was born 30 October 1900 in Boston.  Little Alessandra died a few months later on 17 May 1901.

5.  Enrichetta (Henrietta) Sullo was born 20 February 1902 in Boston.  The 1930 census shows her as an interior decorator.  She died in Somerville MA in February of 1964.

6. Americo Aniello Sullo was born on 4 July 1904 in Boston.  I can't help but wonder if Americo's birth date didn't account for his name :-)

7. Adalgisa Giulia Guglelmina (Alice) Sullo was born in Boston on 13 May 1906.  She died in Chelsea MA on 22 January 2000.

8.  Salvatore Sullo was born in Boston on 7 February 1908 and died in Chelsea on 22 January 2000.

Salvatore was naturalized in Boston on 10 September 1902.  Below is his Petition for Naturalization Index and 1921 passport application from Ancestry.com

Petition For Naturalization Index - Salvatore Sullo

 1921 Passport Application - Salvatore Sullo

(They're just teasing me with that passport photo...it's so dark I can barely make out their features.)

There are a couple of things I find interesting on Salvatore's passport.

The first is that his occupation is listed as "extract manufacturer."  I wasn't sure what to make of that until I set eyes on the 1920 census, which clarifies that he is a "manufacturer of flavor extracts," and the 1930 which claims he's a "chemist working with extracts."  So I'm thinking vanilla, anise ... baking related, no? 

What prompts a man to go from sculpting works of art to manufacturing baking flavors?  I'd love to hear some family stories on this guy, as I'm  betting he was a fascinating character.  I'm picturing a cross between Michelangelo, Albert Einstein ... and Emeril Lagasse.

The other interesting thing is the witness - Luisa P. Ardolino, agent for the Italian Immigration Society. 

So I did a bit of checking on Luisa P., as I've come across her as a witness on several other documents.  As it turns out, she married into the Ardolino family.  Her maiden name was Louise Postal and she was born 1869 in Austria to George and Catherine Cavagnao.

In 1905 she married Emanuele Ardolino (1857) in Chelsea.  Emanuele, also a sculptor, was the son of Celestino Ardolino and Maria Antonia Caggiano.  I'll go more into Emanuele's history in another post, but for right now here's his 1921 passport photo.

Emanuele Ardolino circa 1921

So back to Luisa P.  From the 1920 passport of Giovannina di Iorio (another of our Torresi) I learned that Luisa was not only an agent for the Italian Immigration Society, but also a tranlator, notary public, and teacher of English.  Sounds like a busy woman ... and I definitely plan to look for more background on her and the Immigration Society.

So there we have the family of Salvatore Sullo, sculptor and Pasqualina de Minico, tailoress.  I'm still on the hunt for death records for these two, so if we have any Sullo descendents out there ... drop me an email :-) 

I'll leave you with Salvatore's pedigree chart...

Pedigree Chart of Salvatore Sullo

Search Massachusetts Naturalization Records At Footnote