Andrea Bacigalupo, born 1844, married Catterina Costa, born 1852, on 14 January 1869. Farmers, they were both born in Cicagna and married there. We do not know exactly when they emigrated to the United States, on which ship they sailed, the departure and arrival dates. But we do know, confirmed by US documentation, that their first born son, my grandfather Louis Leo Bacigalupa was an infant of one year when they left Italy. Family oral history claims that the family later numbered 13 children. We do not have dates of death for Andrea and Catterina.
Louis Leo, born 24 July 1869 Cicagna, Italy; died 5 September 1947 Baltimore, Maryland.
Angela Louise Cuneo, born 18 June 1871, Baltimore, MD; died 7 March 1947 Baltimore, MD.
Louis Leo's baptismal name, according to the Cicagna letter, was Louis Giovanni, although he always used Leo and it was his legal name in the United States. He and Louise were married in Baltimore, lived at 824 Eastern Avenue until their deaths. They had 10 children: among them Andrew Leo, Anthony Leo, John Baptist, Louis Leo II, and Crescentia. Louis worked for the US Mint, commuting by train to Washington DC, and also as a craftsman of fine book binding.
Andrew Leo Bacigalupa, born 22 July 1893, Baltimore; died 11 September 1966, Baltimore.
Maria Laura Merolla, born 27 October 1901, Baltimore; died 20 September 1981, Baltimore.
Although the spelling of his surname ending with "a" instead of "o" had been used for his father, it was not incorporated into legal records until Andrew Leo's generation. Andrew and Maria Laura were married in Baltimore, lived at 1616 Cliftview Avenue. Andrew served Stateside in the US Army during World War I, later worked as a Cooper for Pennsylvania Railroad until retirement. Maria Laura played the piano at Army camps during that war, was later a homemaker widely celebrated for her skills at dressmaking and cooking, and most notably for her warm nurturing of family and a wide circle of friends. They had four children:
Andrea Bacigalupa, born 26 May 1923, Baltimore MD.
Ellen Wilcox Williams, born 24 April 1929, Brooklyn, New York
Married at St Patrick's Cathedral, New York, on 9 October 1952, Andrea and Ellen relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1954, and have lived there since.
Andrea served in the European Theater, World War II, was awarded campagin medals for the Battle of the Bulge, the Rhineland and the Central Europe campaigns. Following the war, he attended Maryland Institute College of Art, graduating in 1950, then did a year's graduate study at L'Accademia di Belli Arti , Florence, Italy. He has been a professional artist/writer all his life.
Ellen graduated from Elmira College, New York (1950), later earned her master's degree from St John's College, Santa Fe. Art studies also included a summer (1949) at The Art Students League, Woodstock, New York, where she and Andrea met. Her interior home designs have won national prizes, and her work with civic and church committees widely recognized. A lifelong interest in travel has taken her throughout Europe and Asia, with particular interest in later life in the peoples and cultures of Central Asia.
Andrea and Ellen have five children:
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