“Love is only the dirty trick played on us

to achieve continuation of the species.” 

[W. Somerset Maugham]

At the time of the newlywed’s arrival in the U.S., Rocco had relatives already living in the Buffalo, NY area. He had one uncle who lived in Silver Creek, NY, and another uncle, whose surname was Celeo, who owned a tavern in Buffalo. It was Uncle Celeo who sponsored Rocco into the U.S., which is why Rocco and Mariantonia came to Buffalo. Rachel, the ninth of Rocco and Mariantonia’s ten children, was named after this uncle’s wife. Rocco had a first cousin, also named Rocco, as well as the Vastola cousins who lived in the area. [It’s not surprising that many immigrants were drawn to the Buffalo area; at the turn of the century, Buffalo was a bustling port city with a strong economy and plenty of work.]

When the Lucchinos first came to Buffalo in 1893, they lived on Scott St. and belonged to St. Lucy’s Parish. Family stories also place the family at Swan St. and Chicago, as well as Burwell Place. Over the years, Rocco and Mariantonia had the following ten children: Theresa, Mary, Joe, Michael, Anna, Angeline, Anthony, John, Rachel and Frank.

Other branches of the family have been located in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, PA, and one in NY City. The Lucchino family based in Pittsburgh can trace their family back to the towns of Contisaro and Nicastro, both in Calabria. Mary-Ann has talked to them, and they are going to send her the research on their family.

Despite the way things had gone in Campomaggiore, there were no hard feelings between Rocco and Mr. Lorenzo; once settled in the U.S., they re-established contact and remained close friends. Some time later, Mr. Lorenzo married a woman named Wilamena, and when they had children, he invited Rocco and Mariantonia to be godparents to one of them. Many years later, his daughter, Anna, married Rocco and Mariantonia’s son Michael. And his other daughter married Tony, brother of Mary, wife of Frank.

The census of 1900 reveals the following: “The family of Rocco A. Lucchino, laborer, aged 32, living at 36 Beaver Alley in Buffalo, NY, with wife Mariantonia, aged 25, daughter Theresa, aged 6, daughter Mary, aged 4, son Joe, aged 2, son Michael, aged 8 months, and Frank Iasco, aged 27, boarder, brother of Mariantonia.”

Original Characters

Rocco was a serious and stern man, but one who occasionally enjoyed kidding around. When he came to the U.S., he became a railroad man on the New York Central Railroad and worked for them until he retired. Like most southern Italians, he was a Roman Catholic; nevertheless one day his Vastola cousins convinced him to attend a Jehovah’s Witnesses meeting. He was so impressed by what he experienced that he quickly converted, and became a devout Bible student for the rest of his life. Every Sunday morning, he would deliver sermons to his family, and once he took his children to Kingdom Hall.

Mariantonia was a beautiful and loving woman with long dark brown hair, which she wore in a bun. She loved to laugh, was a great cook, and had a wonderful singing voice. She was a devout Catholic and refused to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses with her husband. Every Sunday she would take the children to Mass.

Rocco’s brothers, Silverio and Michael, stayed in Italy, while his sister, Carmela, emigrated to Argentina. She married a wealthy Argentinian (surname Blasi), who owned a sizeable ranch. Their desire to have children, however, went unfulfilled. Knowing that her brother Rocco had ten children in Buffalo, she wrote him asking if he would send his two youngest (Rachel and Frank) on a vacation to visit her. Suspecting that she might want to keep them, he decided not to write, but rather to personally deliver his response. So on September 22, 1925, at the age of 58, he boarded a ship that would take him all the way to Argentina to tell her, “No.” Her reaction was so impassioned (perhaps hurt by his suspicions, certainly disappointed by the outcome) that she never spoke to him again. She and her husband died without heirs, and left their ranch to their servants.

Also in 1925, Grandpa Lucchino thought the world was going to end, so he took all the family money out of the bank and spent it. [Editor’s note: Oh that Rocco – What a kidder!] Grandma Lucchino was furious!

From the Old World, the Lucchinos brought many of the southern Italian social traditions, as exemplified by how they managed the marriages of their oldest daughters, Theresa and Mary. When Theresa was a young woman, she fell in love with a young man in Buffalo. Rocco and Mariantonia, however, had other plans for her; they arranged a marriage with a young Rocco living in their hometown in Italy. This young man came from Campomaggiore to Buffalo in 1905, and married Theresa in 1910. [The arrangement must not have been too bad, for they stayed together for more than fifty years.] And Mary wanted to marry a man who was moving to Ohio, but again the parents intervened; they arranged her marriage to Amico [again with successful results]. Rocco Lucchino died on July30, 1940 (age 73), and Mariantonia joined him less than a year later on June 21, 1941 (age 67). They left a legacy of a large, loving family firmly planted in the New World – so firmly planted, it turned out, that the ties with their homeland would be permanently severed. The family has prospered and proliferated throughout America, and now we can look to each branch to continue with their respective stories.

Angeline

“Where does the family start?  It starts with a young man falling in love with a girl – no superior alternative has yet been found.” [Winston Churchill]

The following are excerpts from a letter from Marie to Irene, dated 8/17/92.

… I can remember when we were all over to Grandma and Grandpa’s, and your Mom and Aunt Rae and our aunts put on a play in lace curtains. It was in Italian, so I didn’t know exactly what they were saying, but I kind of got the drift. It brought tears to Grandma’s eyes. They were all such a bunch of actresses – I remember how everyone loved it. There was such love there.

On special occasions all our aunts and mothers would get together at Grandma and Grandpa’s and make all that homemade raviolis and good food. It was such fun to get together and have such a good time.

And all the times you and Rita and your Mom came to our house, and you guys would stay for the weekend. We always had a good time. I remember one time, it was my birthday and all of you were coming over. We lived on a farm in Orchard Park, and Mom baked a birthday cake. It was my birthday and I wanted a piece of cake so bad I walked in my sleep and got a knife and was ready to cut the cake when she came up and took the knife and led me back to bed. I didn’t even know I did that, and she saved the cake!

 All is well here. My David is getting married Sat. the 22nd in Bakersfield. We are all going. My girls are here at Kathy’s now. They will be here tomorrow, and we will leave from here. Well, I better close for now.

Love and God Bless,Marie & Tim

Anna

“Love is not looking into each other’s eyes, but looking together in the same direction.” [Antoine de Saint-Exupery]

Anthony

“When I was fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have him around. When I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” [Mark Twain]

Anthony Lucchino died at the tender age of 6, so there are no offspring from that branch of the family.  [Although the Lucchinos tended to be prolific, no one started THAT early.

Frank

“Friends are God’s apology for relations.” [Hugh Kingsmill]

“Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.” [Erma Bombeck]

John

“Love: a temporary insanity curable by marriage.”  [Ambrose Bierce]

“Insanity is hereditary.  You get it from your children.” [Sam Levenson]

Joseph

“Marriage is always popular because it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity.” [George Bernard Shaw]

Special Bonus Photo Quiz: Can you match these little angels (being watched by their doting parents) with their adult counterparts in the above photo?

Mary

“Marrying a man is like buying something you’ve been admiring for a long time in a shop window.  You may love it when you get it home, but it doesn’t always go with everything else.”  [Jean Kerr]

The following are excerpts from a letter written by Lucy (seated, center) to Irene, dated May 26, 1992.

… My sister, Anita, and I quite often went with our mother to Grandma’s house at 317 Fargo Ave. The Lucchino sisters and their children all went to Grandma’ house, mostly on Sundays. The adults would play cards upstairs at Grandma’s, and we children would play cards downstairs where Aunt Carmel and Uncle Joe lived with their four daughters.

Grandma had a butler’s pantry off of her kitchen. We kids would go in and help ourselves to the homemade bread and the cream cheese. Grandpa bought 5 lbs. of cream cheese, which was packed in a long wooden box. This cheese was sooo good.

I remember going to Grandma’s on Easter Sunday when I was a small child. I would kiss Grandma’s hand and Grandpa’s hand, and they would give me some change. That was the custom, and all the grandchildren and Grandma’s children would do this. Then I would go downstairs to see Aunt Carmel and Uncle Joe. Uncle Joe would get down on his hands and knees and give me a piggyback ride.

I remember sitting at Grandma’s kitchen table with Aunt Rae, while Aunt Rae was still at home, saying the “Hail Mary” prayers. We would have to say 4,000 Hail Mary’s, starting at the beginning of Advent and finishing on Christmas Eve. Would you believe we still do this, Aunt Rae and I?! It is called a “novena.” [Editor’s note: “Novena” comes from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”; originally, prayers were repeated for nine consecutive days.]

I remember when I was working at the American Palace Laundry, which was a few blocks down from Grandma’s on Fargo Ave. One year we had a terrible snow storm; I think it was in 1935. The city was at a standstill. We had street cars at that time, and they didn’t run for about a week. I lived on Swan St. and had no way to get to work, so I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. Aunt Anna and Irene and Rita were living with Grandma then. Aunt Anna worked at the Laundry and that is how I got my job.

I remember the roses and the pear tree in the backyard on Fargo Ave. I also remember that Grandpa invented some kind of hand soap which was packed in a can. Frank could tell you more about this.

When we kids got a little older, we still went to Grandma’s with our parents. Our parents would allow us to go to the show; I think it was on Connecticut St.I remember when I was about 17, I lived on Swan St. and we had a grocery store. Uncle Joe came with one of his buddies to see us. Before he left, he kissed my sister and I good-bye. That same night he had the auto accident and died about 3 weeks later.

This is a prayer that Aunt Angeline wrote:

My Prayer

by Mrs. Marie Angeline Polichette Douglas

To You my God, I give my thanks, as on my knees I pray,
For all the blessings that You gave to me upon this day.
To You I look for guidance, to help me on life’s way;
Please keep this heart of mine from all the evil ways.
Give me strength, Dear Lord, to face whatever the future brings,
And please forgive this heart of mine for all my earthly sins.

Of course, everyone knows that the sisters – Theresa, Mary, Anna and Rachel – were all very talented with their knitting and crocheting, and also all very good cooks.

Sincerely with love,

Lucy

Michael

“There is no reciprocity. Men love women, women love children, children love hamsters.” [Alice Thomas Ellis]

The following is an excerpt from a letter written to Irene. [Editor’s note: The letter was not signed, but the author did a great job of sketching this branch of the family tree. I would appreciate it if someone would tell me who wrote it.]

Michael, our Dad and Grandfather, was the best father, friend, and considerate and compassionate listener. Life was very precious to him, people were very important to him, and he was never too busy to give a helping hand to anyone who needed it. Dad liked to bowl, golf, play cards, checkers, and was a master at Chinese checkers. He was the head of a very happy and loving family.

Rachel

“Baby: a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.” [Ronald Knox]

Theresa

“Marriage is the alliance of two people, one of whom never remembers birthdays and the other never forgets them.” [Ogden Nash]