The Alfieri Family

My grandfather Domenico Alfieri lived in Santa Maria in Calabria, Italy. Here is a photo of him. Photo provided by Ugo and Ornella Alfieri.

Domenico and Maria Magro were married in Santa Maria di Catanzaro. Here is a picture of Maria.

Domenico came to the United States in December 16,1897 aboard the ship "Kaiser Wilhelm II".

He was 31 years old at the time and went to the home of his sister-in-law, Mary Dorio, in Austin , PA.

He worked in the woods cutting logs and boarded with his sister-in-law for a little more than 10 years. He became ill and couldn't work in the woods anymore so he returned to Italy on June 12,1911.  Before he left Mrs. Dorio told him to send his oldest son to Austin so he could earn some money to send home. Two years later my dad Tony Alfieri sailed from Naples and arrived in New York on March 26, 1913. He sailed on the ship called "The Adriatic ".

Tony Alfieri arrived three days later at Austin and began a job cutting logs for 10 cents an hour and working 12-hour days.  After 2 years he got a job at the paper mill near Austin and worked there until enlisting in the United States Army on February 13, 1918. He was placed in the Army Engineers and was sent to France . He was awarded the following medal, which has 3 battle stars.

After his discharge from the army on June 11, 1919 he returned to Austin , PA. Here is a photo of his army discharge papers.

He went back to work at the local paper mill in Austin . When a flood washed out the paper mill, my father and his cousin Francis's husband Mike Valenti went to Clermont and got a job at Clermont Clay Products Company. My dad boarded with the Spadafore family who lived in this house.

The house burned down the next year so my dad went with the Spadafore family to their new house that the railroad company had built for them. In 1921 my dad decided to return to Italy with the intention of staying there. He sailed on this ship.

Here is a Photo of him taken in 1921 at Catanzaro .

Shortly after he returned to Italy he met Maria Artese and began courting her. They were married in 1922. They opened a small restaurant in Catanzaro Lido . There were two children born in the next three years but both died within a year of their birth. In late 1926 my dad decided to return to the United States since the restaurant was failing because of the political presence of the Fascists in Italy at that time. My mother was pregnant at the time and I was born in January of 1927 and was named after my grandfather. My mother and I came to the United States in June of 1929 and my dad came to Ellis Island to get us.  We came aboard the S.S. Conte Grande seen here.

Here is a portion of the manifest of that trip listing my mother as Artese (her Maiden Name) age 27 and Domenico(me) at age 2. We sailed from Naples on June 12, 1929.

Mrs. Alfieri and Dominic in 1929

We traveled to Clermont by train with a stop in Philadelphia to order furniture. For the next month we stayed with the Carmen Grillo family while the house that my dad had rented was being repaired. The next photo shows the buildings on the road to the house as it looked in 1929.

1. The Harry Hafner House 2. Odd Fellows Hall 3. Jacob Amend House

They rented the house for several years and eventually bought the property and is still owned by some Alfieri family members. The house has been remodeled with new vinyl siding and extensive improvement inside the house.

Two more children, Joe and Mary, were born and a picture of the family is shown here. 

The following photo is of Mrs. Mary Alfieri, Dominic, Joe and Mary taken in 1941.

The following photo is one taken in 1957.

The following photo is of my sister Mary Taken in 1947

The next one shown here was taken of Mary in 1948.

Tony was working at Clermont Clay Products Company at a job firing kilns where clay products were being baked. He continued to work there until the depression years. During the depression there was no work available for 3 years.

In 1937 Tony got a job at Quaker State refinery in Farmers Valley and worked there until his retirement in 1961. My brother Joe worked for Kaul Clay Products Company in Clermont until his induction into the United States Army. He served in the army in Korea during the Korean War. After the War he attended  the University of Pittsburgh and graduated as a Medical Doctor in 1961. After serving a residency at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh , he established a medical practice in St Marys Pennsylvania . Joe and his wife had 7 children. In 1991 he passed away and is buried in St Marys, Pennsylvania .

Here is a photo of Dominic And Joe taken in 1960.

My sister Mary attended Lock Haven University . She married Harold Hull. Since by various corporations employed Harold it was necessary that they move to various cities. They have four children: Ingrid, Michael, Robert and Susan. Robert is a medical doctor near Atlanta , Georgia and Mike is an Attorney in Dallas Texas . Susan and Ingrid are both college graduates, are married and live in Texas . Since Harold's retirement, he and Mary live in Dallas , Texas. Robert has a box that his grandfather Tony Alfieri owned where he kept important papers like his army discharge and his passport.  Here is photo of the box. 

Photo provided by Robert Hull.

I, Dominic, the oldest child of Tony and Mary Alfieri worked on the Pittsburgh Shawmut and Northern Railroad in Clermont until I was drafted into the United States Army during World II. After being discharged from the army in 1946 I returned to work on the railroad until it closed in 1947. Then I went to work for Kaul Clay Products Company in Clermont until 1948.

After graduating from Lock Haven State Teachers College in 1952 I worked in education as a teacher for many years. I finished my service in education as principal Of Smethport Area High School by retiring in 1989. There are seven children, Anthony, Mary, Thomas, James, David, Michael and Elizabeth, in the Alfieri family. Tony Mary and Mike are attorneys and the other four are school teachers. There are thirteen grandchildren and they are: Alexandra, Felicia, and Dominic R Alfieri, Jonathan and Allison Richmond, April, Steven and Laura Alfieri, Connor, Preston and Jocelyn Alfieri, and Cecelia and Sophia Duda.

Dominic R Alfieri was born on January 12, 2000 and thus became the great grandson of Domenico Alfieri who came to America in 1897. Here is a photo of Dominic R Alfieri. 

 In 2005 Dominic and Shirley celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Here is a photo of the entire family.

Here is a photo of Tom Alfieri with his father-in-law

Jerry Givan and his sons Preston and Connor

Here is a Photo of the latest Alfieri.

She is the daughter of Tom and Kim

Alfieri and is named Jocelyn.