Grandfather Gaetano Merolla

According to his daughter Maria Laura Merolla, Gaetano even as a child displayed strong religious fervor and commitment to family. At some time in early life he was a seminarian, hopeful of entering the priesthood. Family oral history claims he eventually had to leave the seminary because of poor health. Perhaps, but the reason for leaving seems dubious, as he later served in the Italian Royal Navy (of course, he could have been conscripted into military service regardless of health status). Gaetano's brother Giacomo, older than he by 10 years, also served in the Royal Navy, and might have influenced him. So far as we know, Gaetano's service was as a deep-sea diver, in those longago days when divers wore the steel helmets, heavy suiting and weighted boots necessary to descend depths. Seminary and the navy provided Gaetano a good education. He also had an interest in traditional Italian arts, painting, sculpture, opera. He had a keen appreciation for the beauty of his native campania, Sorrento, the Bay of Naples, the Amalfi coast. He remained religious, devoted particularly to the patroness of Meta di Sorrento, Santa Maria del Lauro.

Gaetano met and courted Vincenza Esposito, daughter of Giuseppe Esposito and Maria Giovanna Lauro, this family also living in Meta di Sorrento. We do not know what prompted him to emigrate to the United States (it's possible brother Giacomo had preceded him), but when he did sail it was with the understanding that he and Vincenza were engaged, that once established in America, he would send for her.

We have not yet located records of when Gaetano sailed for the United States, on which ship or from which port in Italy, at which port he debarked in the United States. But is most probable he sailed in 1888 when he was 26 years old, probably from Naples, arriving at New York or the port of Baltimore. On 23 September 1892, he made Declaration of Intention to become a citizen of the US and to "renounce and abjure forever all allegiance and fidelity to every foregin prince, potentate, state and soverignty whatever, and particularly all allegiance and fidelity to the King of Italy of whom he was heretofore a subject."(State of Maryland, Baltimore City Court, 8th Judicial District). He received the Certificate of Naturalization from the same court on 1 October 1894.

Gaetano sent passage money to Vincenza Esposito, anticipating his fiance's arrival in the US and their marriage. Vincenza had had a change of mind, fearful of the ocean voyage, and not wanting to leave her family. When she confided this to her older sister Concetta, Concetta asked to see a photograph of Gaetano, concluded that he was handsome, declared she'd go in Vincenza's place. Apparently Gaetano agreed to this, as Concetta used the passage fare, came to America, and married him. It's family history that at first sight of him, she conceded that Yes, he was as handsome as the bust photo had suggested, but that he was too short -- shorter than she. The civil marriage register (Maryland State Archives) lists the date as 8 November 1894, only 5 weekss after Gaetano had attained citizenship. We've not yet located records of lthe religious ceremony, the Sacrament of Marriage.

Gaetano's seminary and naval education in Italy did not serve him well in the US, possibly because he was not fluent in English, the skills he'd learned were not applicable, or simply because -- as a non-aggressive man -- he couldn't compete well in the labor market. He became a laborer for the City of Baltimore, working in the sanitation department as a street-cleaner. This, at the turn of the century, meant wheeled-cart with brooms and brushes, clearing the streets of manure from horses hitched to private carriages and public vehicles. If work not commensurate with the skills he'd acquired in Italy, the daily physical activity kept him lean and strong throughout life.

And the work apparently insured wages adequate to support his growing family. The Baltimore City Census of 1900 records that he and Concetta had three children: son Mariano, born 1895; daughter Josephine, born 1898 (her twin sister died shortly after birth); and daughter Anna, born 1900 (she, too, died in infancy. Maria Laura would not be born until 1901). The family lived at 228 South Bond Street near Baltimore's Little Italy close to the port and the great harbor leading to the Chesapeake Bay. Obviously frugal and good managers, Gaetano and Concetta owned their home, had a horse and carriage, and Concetta, renowned as a seamstress, was reputed to have the best-dressed children in the neighborhood. They had close family members living nearby: Gaetano's brother Giacomo, and Concetta's brotherl Francesco Esposito.

Concetta died an early death in 1911 at age 44. Gaetano never remarried, fearful -- his daughter later said -- of exposing his children to a "step-mother." He was never to make a return visit to Italy, and though he often spoke of the beauties of Sorrento and of how he missed his native land, remained forever grateful to the United States for providing the opportunity to earn a living and raise a family. He knew anguish as his three surviving children matured, their rapid assimilation to American ways, heightened by the advent of World War I and the Flapper Era, often incompatible with the strict morality he'd embraced throughout life. Daughter Josephine's marriage resulted in her leaving Baltimore to relocate in Massachusetts with her husband. Son Mariano, following military service, was a man-about-town, often away from home. When Maria Laura married, she and her husband Andrew Bacigalupa made their home with Gaetano on Bond Street, and it was there that three of his grandchildren were born.

Of all his grandchildren, Marie Clare probably had the most vivid memories of Gaetano. The old man and the small girl spent a lot of time together, he walking hand-in-hand with her through the neighborhood, sharing private moments with her in the crowded home and on the sidewalk fronting that home. A lovely old photograph of them together on that sidewalk still rests among family treasures.

Though very young when he died, and retaining too few memories of this fabled man, grandson Andrea nevertheless throughout life retained a constant consciousness of him as a "presence," a definite influence on his life. This was at least partially due to the many stories about him told the child by his mother, who frequently spoke of her beloved father as "a saint," the man against whom she measured all others. But Andrea considered actual memories, not tales told him, evenings in the home on Bond Street when Gaetano would take the child with him into the living room, free of domestic discourse in the crowded kitchen, close the door, stoke up the fire in the pot-bellied stove, seat the boy on his lap to listen to music. He'd crank up the Victrola, place early Caruso recordings on the turntable, sip a glass of wine, and the two would silently listen. Andrea attributed those elvenings to his first awareness of the arts, as no one else in the family exposed him to such amendities.

When daughter Maria Laura and family moved to a neighborhood "uptown" in one of Baltimore's newer residential developments, Gaetano remained on Bond Street with bachelor son Mariano. Though never acknowledged by the family, this separation from his "favorite" child -- who, following her mother's death, had kept his house and cared for him since she was 9 years old -- may have contributed to his sudden illness. Reportedly, the small and wiry 65-year old ("he has the strong body of a youth," his doctor commented) was feverish and delirious during the brief time spent on his sickbed. His son-in-law said Gaetano behaved like a "religious fanatic," seeing visions, referring to those at his bedside as demons or saints. His daughter said he "merely drew closer to God" in those last days. Hospitalized, Gaetano died of pneumonia on 3 January 1928. Daughter Mlaria Laura was to speak lovingly -- even reverently -- of him the rest of her life, instilling in her children, particularly Marie Clare and son Andrea who'd remembered him, irrevocable bonds to a grandfather briefly known during their early childhood years.

More than two decades after his death, when all Gaetano's ties to Italy seemed to have been permanently severed (his children and grandchildren ignorant of the language, customs and cultural heritage he'd once embraced, now thoroughly American), the Old Country resurfaced among his descendants. Grandson Andrea, having completed art studies in Maryland, sailed to Italy for post-graduate work at L'Accademia di Belli Arti, Firenze. He was at that time approximately the same age Gaetano had been when he boarded ship for America. What goes around comes around? The old man took the young one's hand, in spirit accompanied him on the ocean crossing, and once in Italy reopened the doors to the incomparable wonders, splendors and treasures of reclaimed heritage.