Origins 1

I was looking through some of my maternal grandmother's papers today. When she passed away most everyone wanted the furniture, jewelry, etc. I on the other hand wanted everything that related to family history. Letters she exchanged with my grandfather, with her relatives, her nursing license. Basically anything that spoke to me from the past. In reading through the material today I was reminded how a family's destiny is never set in stone but flows through time.

My great-grandfather Quinto emigrated from Italy to South Africa in 1899. He was a miner by trade and went to work the diamond mines. He left his family behind with the intention of having them move to South Africa once he was settled. He was not there very long before the Boer War broke out. He wrote to my great grandmother and asked her to remain in Italy until the war had drawn to a close. Once the war continued into its second year he decided that South Africa was not the place he wanted to raise his family. He discussed this with some of his fellow emigrants and found that several Italian families he knew were leaving for Lexington, Missouri. So he abandoned the diamond mines and headed home. He talked it over with my great grandmother and they decided he would head for the America first and find a home and she would follow. So Quinto left Italy and arrived at Ellis Island in 1901. From there he went to Lexington and found work in the coalmines.

My great grandmother Maria followed in 1902. She sailed with two children from Port Le Havre, Seine-Inferior, France on the La Lorraine. Being a relatively poor family they did not have a private room. They traveled in what was basically steerage class with blankets hung from the ceiling to offer some degree of privacy. Her children were Eligio 2 and Adriana who was just 4 months old. Adriana was miserable for most of the trip being both seasick and teething. The little family arrived at Ellis Island on June 7, 1902 and took a train from New York to Missouri. Where Quinto met them and they began a new life. My great grandparents had five more children that were born in Lexington. Most importantly (to me at least) my grandmother Elda was born there in 1906.