Third Generation
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6. Ettore Giovanni Lorenzo ROMAGNANO. Born 18 Aug 1879 in Postiglione, Italy. Died 21 Sep 1962 in Bronx, NY. Buried 24 Sep 1962 in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, NY. Occupation Laborer, laundry worker. aka Ed.
Notes:
During a conversation in July 1994, Alphonse told Tony: In Camden one evening, my father, Ettore, went into a bar after work. He got into a fight with a person he overheard say, in effect - they're letting Italians in here now! The police were called and he was escorted to the (Delaware) river, put on a Ferry to Philadelphia, and told not to return to Camden. That's when and why he moved to New York.
Alphonse = "He came [to America] in 1898 and was 17 years old." [Actually, if he came in 1898, he would have been 19; or, if he came when he was 17, it would have been 1896].
Per Elaine & Donna: He had 3 wifes (LaDonna, ...); was a snappy dresser; very demanding. Elaine knew and remembers him.
Excerpt of letter written by Elaine Romaine to Tony Romaine undated (circa17 Aug 1994) "Ettore and Elissa had two boys. The other two sons mentioned were Elissa's by another marriage which she fled from ... [Italy] to America with Ettore. Elissa was called La Donna, [in Italian 'the lady'], by neighbors and by my mother who said she was red-headed, tall, the wife of someone rich from up north, and very educated. Ettore had two other 'wives' after Elissa died: Sylvia and Marie who bore no children." "My father's family was not close knit but Ettore and his sons were literate, brainy, and cosmopolititan. Ettore, my grandfather, was vain, dashing and imperious. And had a mind like my fathers, quick and devastating. He had many jobs but ended up working at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan as a shirt presser! I imagine his temper (famous) and arrogance lost him many jobs. I never met Elissa, the woman who fled Italy with him and after whom I am named. But I met Sylvia and Marie who were like mice...what else could they be with Ettore, and survive?"
A photo, circa 1937, provided by Donna M. Romaine-Raftery, of a 'Dominic Romagnano' who she states is a "cousin." He appears to be in his 20's, has a receding hairline and a dimple in his chin. Written on the photo is; "A ziro Ettore xxx xxxxxx" and signed "D Romagnano" and dated "22 IV g 37" (or VI). {'A' means 'to' and 'Zio' means 'uncle'}. Another (undated but well before 1957) photo provided by Donna M. Romaine-Raftery shows Ettore standing with an unknown man about the same age as Ettore (possibly a little younger) with a receding hairline and a dimple in his chin.
SSN = 084-01-6202 (Issued in New York)
Died at Fordham Hospital, Bronx
Soundex = R525 "Romagnano" AFN: 1QKZ-P9R
He was 5 feet, 8 inches tall; dark brown hair; brown eyes
Per Alphonse; "My father was the youngest and firey (he was a problem - so they told me)."
Sources:
He married Elizabeth LOMBARDO, daughter of Thomas LOMBARD[I] & Fiore ZINGARELLA. Born Circa 1875 in Italy. Died 18 Apr 1936 in Bronx, NY. Buried 20 Apr 1936 in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, NY. Occupation Housewife. aka Elissa, Elisa, Elise, DonnaLise.
Notes:
Excerpts from letter from Alphonse Romaine to Tony Romaine, dated 2 Feb 1994: [New York City] "That's where my father met my mother. He had cousins living in New York and he travled back and fourth, no doubt to see my mother. Once he married her, he brought her to Camden and then back to New York."
Excerpt of letter written by Elaine Romaine to Tony Romaine undated (circa 17 Aug 1994) "Ettore and Elissa had two boys. The other two sons mentioned were Elissa's by another marriage which she fled from ... [Italy] to America with Ettore. Elissa was called La Donna, ['the lady,' in Italian], by neighbors and by my mother who said she was red-headed, tall, the wife of someone rich from up north, and very educated."
Died at Fordham Hospital
AFN: 1QKZ-D5D
Sources:
21. i. Alphonse P. ROMAINE
22. ii. Louis "Aloisius" ROMAINE