Today, July the 4th, 2003, the Marchese Family is here to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Grandfather Mario Marchese arriving in America. According to Naturalization papers, Mario sailed into New York Harbor on the ship “ 3rd Prince” {part of Prince Line} and passed the 17 year old Statue of Liberty on July the 4th,1903.

    25 year old  Mario would be part of a small contingency of Marchese’s. Sister-in-law Maria Marchese, her 3 young children: John, Charles and 9 year old Rose, and sister Teresa. Many years later, Rose would tell her son Paul Nicolini about passing that statue. Aunt Maria’s first husband, Giovanni, was Mario’s oldest brother and had died in Palermo in 1897, so Maria was coming to America to marry the next Marchese brother, Salvadore. Salvadore was already here, having arrived in 1902. Mario’s mother Rosalia Anello had died when he was only 2 months old. His father Placido had married again when Mario was 6 years old.

     Most of these Italians settled in the lower Manhattan area. Mario would live in this area, 114th St. and work as a furniture hauler for the Pavia Family. In 1907 he would marry one of the Pavia daughters, 14 year old Domenica. They would give birth to their first child, Rosalia, in 1908, then by 1910 have a 2 month old boy, Benjamin, recorded on the 1910 census. He probably died at a young age. Their next hope for a better life was a move to California! California was considered the “El Dorado” of the New World. Their Mario could live, work and raise his family away from the crowded city of New York.