The Grilli Family tree has been traced back to Giuseppe Grilli who was born in Savignano, a small town in the Province of Forlì in the region of Emilia Romagna, on the northeast coast of Italy. This particular area was under the jurisdiction of the Papal States at the time of his birth (approximately 1810). He was married to Caterina Santini. She gave birth to two sons, one who’s name and date of birth, despite much investigation, are still unknown. This "unknown" Grilli is believed to have immigrated to America, but it is unclear if it was to "South America" or to the "south" of America, meaning the southern United States. As of this writing, the only thing known of him is that he was born to Giuseppe and Caterina, left Italy and was never heard from again. Therefore, somewhere out there is a whole other branch of the Grilli family who probably do not even know that this branch of ours exists. We are descendants of the "known" son of Giuseppe and Caterina. Francesco Grilli was born Dec. 2, 1832, and it is with him that our story truly begins.
Francesco became a traveling tailor whose work took him to the surrounding towns. He came to Verucchio from the town of Gatteo to make vestments for some local priests. He found lodging at a boarding house operated by Brigida Pellegrini. This is where he met Angela Gai, Brigida’s niece. Angela was born in the nearby tiny Republic of San Marino, had come to live with Brigida and helped with the household chores.
Francesco and Angela eventually married and lived in the house, which was willed to Angela when Brigida died. This house, located at 16 Via San Agostino in Verucchio, was the birthplace of Francesco and Angela's three children. They had two sons and a daughter. Marino was born May 25, 1866, Secondo, was born Nov. 3, 1868, and Lucia, whose birth date is not known, lived only 28 days.
The first family member to leave Verucchio was Secondo who entered the seminary to study for the priesthood. He was ordained a priest in 1895 at age 27. Secondo served at a parish church named San Gaudenzo, in Montefiore, a small town 6 miles from Verucchio. Approximately 13 years later, when the older priest who was the pastor there died, Secondo became the pastor.
Marino worked with his father in his tailoring business along with the assistance of a local girl named Marianna Pazzini who introduced the new foot pedal-powered sewing machine which helped their production.. The tailoring business was mainly conducted during the winter months and the summers were spent working for local farmers for a portion of the harvest, i.e. wheat, vegetables, eggs, etc.
Marino and Marianna fell in love and married. Their wedding date is not known but was probably sometime late in 1887 to early 1888. They took up residence with Marino's parents, Francesco and Angela, at the house in Verrocchio where Marino was born. Between the years 1888 to 1904, their family grew with the addition of eight children. All eight where born in the Verucchio homestead: Giuseppe (Pino), born December 29, 1888; followed by Luigi, September 14, 1890; Brigida, November 11, 1892; Caterina, January 15, 1895; Maria, June 16, 1897; Francesca (Chichina), May 2, 1899; Paolo (Dino), April 5, 1902; and Innocenza (Cincia), February, 8, 1904. Grandmother Angela helped care for the children while Marianna was kept very busy with the tailoring responsibilities.
Eventually the tailoring business became slow and the family of twelve began to struggle financially. Marino opened a cantina (wine bar) at the house in an attempt to generate some extra income for his large family. Because of the financial difficulties Don Secondo, the priest, convinced his father, Francesco, and his brother, Marino, to bring the family to live at the rectory in Montefiore. In October 1908, most of the family moved from their beloved home in Verucchio and joined Don Secondo at the rectory of San Gaudenzo in Montefiore. The move included turning over all of their possessions, personal and household, to Don Secondo for his use to maintain the church and gave him a full, unpaid staff to help with everything. Although the move was a financially good choice, it was the beginning of an unhappy era for the Grilli family. Pino (Giuseppe) and Luigi did not move to the rectory. Pino was called to fulfill his commitment to serve one year in the Italian army. Luigi went to live in Rimini, where he found work in the veterinary field. When Pino completed his army duty he planned to return to the seminary to complete his education, where he had studied for six years.
In the spring of 1911, Brigida Grilli, 18, met Nicola Betti, a native of Montefiore who had immigrated to America in 1907. He was back in Italy on a brief vacation trip and they married just prior to his return to America. He made arrangements for Brigida to join him shortly thereafter. Brigida's parents were concerned about her traveling alone, so older brother Pino was asked to accompany her on the trip to her new home.
In August of 1911, Pino and Brigida sailed to America on the S.S. Cretic. They arrived at Ellis Island, N.Y. and then continued on to Boston where Nicola met them and took them to their home on Exchange St. in Worcester. Upon arriving in Worcester, Pino received a letter from his father advising him not to return to Italy because the War of Tripoli (1911-1912) had begun and he risked being re-inducted into the Italian army. Pino replied directly to the Italian military authorities explaining his plans to remain in America and therefore was not available to serve in the Italian army.
Because Pino had been a student, he had no trade yet, so he worked at several jobs. One of those jobs was as a waiter in the Boston area. During this time he traveled often to Worcester to visit with Brigida and Nicola. Nicola was making plans for Maria Libretti, an orphan, born in Urbino and living with his family in Montefiore, to come to America. Pino thought this was a good opportunity for his sisters, Caterina and Maria, who were close friends with Maria Libretti, aka Marietta, to join him in the U.S... Back in Italy, Grandmother Angela Gai passed away in late February of 1912 at age 71. Pino encouraged his sisters to travel with Marietta to America. Maria, however, was denied a passport. She was only 15 years old and would not turn 16 until two months later in June. Therefore, Caterina and Marietta left Montefiore without Maria, arriving in Charlestown, Massachusetts, in April of 1913.
Courageously, Maria traveled across the ocean alone, arriving in Charlestown, on Sept. 6, 1913. She joined Pino, Caterina, and Marietta, where they all resided on Neptune Rd. in East Boston, MA. Pino was happy to have more of his family come to America and start a new and better life. Soon they all found jobs and supported themselves accordingly. At this point plans began for getting the rest of the family members to join them.
After her arrival, one of the first things sixteen year old Maria did was to go to Worcester to help her sister Brigida, who was awaiting the birth of her first child. On Sept. 17, 1913, Brigida gave birth to a daughter, and Anna Betti (Giarusso) became our first American-born Grilli descendant.
Sixteen months after arriving in the U.S., Marietta married Pino August 15, 1914. Caterina watched over the family while Maria met Dino Ricardi, a young man who was born in Montebello Orciano, Italy, a town just south of Verucchio. He arrived in May of 1913 on the vessel, S.S. Devonian, which departed from Liverpool, England. He had been living in London at the time. After a two-year courtship, they made plans to marry in June of 1915.
Meanwhile, in Italy, Luigi had met and married Maria Rossi in 1911 (?). Their first child, Emilio, the first of his generation, was born in August 14, 1912. With World War I (1914-1918) beginning, Luigi was called to serve his country. During the war, one of Germany’s weapons of choice was the use of mustard gas. Luigi was one of many soldiers that had the misfortune of being gassed by the Germans. This resulted in him being sent home as an invalid.
His wife Maria cared for him along with their four children. His health improved enough for him to return to earning a living for the next several years. Gradually his health began to fail and he became ill once more. His concern for his young family's welfare prompted him to accept his brother Pino's offer to care for the two older sons in America, being assured that there was no military draft. Luigi succumbed to his war-related condition at age 29, on June 5, 1920.
As Maria and Dino were making plans for their wedding, the family received the tragic news of their mother, Marianna's unexpected death from the complications of diabetes, a condition she was not aware of. She was 56 years old. When Maria's father Marino heard she planned to postpone her wedding, he wrote and urged her to carry out her plans, as her mother would have been pleased to know that she was married. On June 14, 1915, Maria and Dino were married in a quiet ceremony at St. Lazarus Church in East Boston, Mass. It is thought that the tragedy of Marianna’s death, along with the war, may have postponed any plans for other family members to immigrate to America.
The next Grilli to marry and settle down was Caterina. In the fall of 1916, while attending a family gathering Caterina met her future husband, Elpidio Lazzari. He was from Fano Italy and had immigrated to America in 1912, the same year that Caterina and Marietta had arrived. Elpidio and Caterina were married on January 20, 1918.
Four years after their mother's death, the Stateside Grillis welcomed their father, Marino and youngest brother Paolo, to America. In 1919, the two left Italy. Marino, 53, and Paolo (Dino), 17, arrived at Ellis Island aboard the S.S. Giuseppe Verdi. They lived with Pino and family until other arrangements were made. Marino went to Worcester, living alternately with his daughters, Maria and Caterina.
Paolo married Elizabeth Bertini on September 12, 1926. They probably met when both were living on Pearl St. in Everett. Elizabeth was born in New York City.
By late 1919, only the two youngest children, Francesca and Innocenza, were left at the rectory in Montefiore, living with Don Secondo, their uncle-priest, and their elderly grandfather, Francesco. Life obviously became even more lonely and difficult for the two motherless girls, without the love and support of all the family members who had left for America.
After Luigi died, Francesca and Innocenza became very close to his wife, Maria, and children who were living in nearby Rimini. Maria, a war widow with extremely limited means, finally relented to her late husband's wishes to have the two oldest boys, Emilio, 8, and Eugenio, 6, immigrate to America. Ten months after Luigi’s death, the boys traveled with their aunts Francesca and Innocenza to join Pino and his family in Everett, Mass. Maria must have felt comfortable trusting her children to travel with their aunts. Apparently, they had to wait for Innocenza to reach the age of 16 (Feb. of 1920) when she would become eligible for a passport. The following year, the four departed from Genova on the S.S America, and arrived in Philadelphia on April 21, 1921. This date marks the end of the Grillis exodus from Italy.
Left behind in Italy were, their grandfather, Francesco, 89, and his son, the priest, Don Secondo, 53, at the rectory of San Gaudenzo, in Montefiore. Francesco lived to age 92, passing away in December of 1924. Don Secondo died at age 77 in September of 1945.
The years that the Grilli family lived at the rectory with Don Secondo were not the best of times. However, galvanized by their values, faith and love of family, the Grillis came to America seeking to improve the quality of their lives and they did just that! The quality of our lives today, as their descendants, reflects the love, care and nurturing these remarkable people shared with not only their blood relatives, but also with those they married and the others around them who were fortunate to have been touched by them.
This unique family is your heritage, of which you should be proud!
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