Before marrying Guiseppe Lombardo, Maria Rizzo was married to another man in Marsala, Italy. She had a child with him but the child died at birth. Maria was so upset that she cried and cried and eventually went to the orphanage to see if she could get a child. Giacamo (born in 1897) was an infant and Maria was still able to nurse him from her recent childbirth. At the orphanage, the birth mother and the adopted mother were both given a piece of ribbon. If the 2 pieces of ribbon matched, then the birth mother could take back the child. Maria became so attached to Jack that she destroyed the ribbon so he wouldn’t be taken from her. Shortly after this, her first husband was killed by a horse drawn cart. She then married Guiseppe Lombardo and Jack became their adopted child.
Author Archives: Joe
Lombardo, Maria Rizzo – “the dirty one”
Rose’s Mother called her grandmother Francesca “the dirty one” and wouldn’t let her children sit on her lap.
Ciaccio Family Stories – To be added…
The following are Ciaccio Family stories that still need to be added ….
- Uncle Jimmy Ciaccio
- Pies on the windowsill
- Joseph Ciaccio
- Park a ship in any port but can’t drive around the corner…
- Couldn’t trust his son … The will from hell….
- Anthony Ciaccio
- Joe the handyman
Talk about Anthony being “helpless” and “frightened” to touch anything on the house and Joe becoming the “handyman”… e.g., killing the front porch “onion patch”, fixing faucets, etc. - The light fixture filled with water
- Joe the handyman
- Rose Ciaccio Ragucci
- Baby Rose
- Cellar Covers on street
- Christmas tree for birthday
- Jimmy Ciaccio
- Atlantic City…
Ragucci Family – “family pools”
Recollections of Joe Ragucci.
As I was growing up we always had a backyard pool. This post is about the 2 major pools, one in Port Reading as I was growing up and one in Carteret at Rose & Joe’s first home. Continue reading
Ragucci, Dominic – “The well in the basement”
Recollections of son Joseph.
My dad, Dominic, has always been someone who wanted to save money. At every chance he did improvements and repairs himself rather than hire someone. Saving money on water usage was no exception. Continue reading
Ragucci, Joseph – “College Schooling”
This is a collection of stories related to my school attendance through the years. This post is on my college years.
I knew for a long time that I wanted to be an electrical engineer. I think it was a love of math and science combined with seeing and hearing what Warren, Uncle Tony, and my father did in this area.
Ragucci, Joseph – “High School Schooling”
This is a collection of stories related to my school attendance through the years. This post is on my high school years.
When I started high school, the Township of Woodbridge was undergoing tremendous growth in schools due to the “baby boomers” that came when the families started after World War II. I was part of that generation. As a result I moved around a lot from school to school.
Ragucci, Joseph – “Elementary Schooling “
This is a collection of stories related to my school attendance through the years. This post is on my elementary school years. Continue reading