From The Peopling of New York City
I was able to find much more information on the lives of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire victims than I thought I would. I enjoyed this project and gained much from it including invaluable research tools.
Upon beginning my research, I immediately found Rosie Bassino in the 1910 US Federal Census on ancestry.com. I then proceeded to search for her husband, Joseph Bassino, in subsequent censuses but did not succeed in finding any information on him. I continued my search on Rosie and found her death certificate number on italiangen.org. Again, I searched for a death certificate and even naturalization petition number for her husband with no luck. I was able to find Rosie's death certificate at the Municipal Archives and learned about her parents, how long she had been in the United States before she died, and when and where she was buried. At the library I was able to determine indirectly how much money her family received in relief aid after her death from a pamphlet printed by the Red Cross Emergency Relief Committee of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. Rosie's name was also listed in a newspaper article about the Triangle victims in the New York Times.
In the 1910 census, Rosie's last name is spelled Bassano. According to the census she was a dressmaker in a factory (Triangle Shirtwaist Factory). She spoke English. Her husband, Joseph Bassano, was 38 years old in 1910. He was a salesman who spoke Italian. Rosie and Joseph emigrated from Italy in 1905. Rosie died at age 31 of multiple injuries. Rosie jumped from the ninth floor of the building. She lived at 57 W. Houston Street with her husband Joseph who identified her. Rosie's sister, Irene Grameatassio also died in the fire. Rosie Bassino was a shirtwaist maker at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. She was born in Italy where she married her husband Joseph Bassino. They lived in the United States/New York City for nine years before Rosie was killed in the Triangle Fire. This means that the Bassinos arrived in the United States in 1902 and not in 1905. Rosie's father's name was Sirando Buona. Her mother's name was Catherine Buona. Both Rosie's parents were born in Italy. Rosie was buried in Calvary Cemetery on March 28, 1911. G.B. Perazzo served as her undertaker. He resided at 195 Bleecker Street. Rosie and Joseph lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Housing was a big problem during those years. Families were packed into tiny one room tenements with only one toilet per floor. It was extremely unsanitary and illness spread quickly in those conditions. Rosie and her husband may have lived in a tenement like most new immigrants who could not afford anything better. The Bassinos lived in a neighborhood that was inhabited by other Italians but also by many Jews. In 1902, food riots broke out. Orthodox Jewish women rioted because the price of kosher meat was too high. In the end, they won. Within a month, the price of kosher meat fell.
Joseph Bassino was a good workman, earning $13.00 a week as a presser when employed. He was in good health, and expressed no desire for any money in compensation for his wife's death except the amount of the funeral bill. After the fire he went to live with his wife's parents. Joseph received $125.30 in relief aid.
Rosie's sister, Irene, was also married and left behind her husband and two small children. She worked because her husband was not inclined to contribute largely to the family expenses though he was a machinist earning $15.00 a week. Funeral expenses were paid and $110.00 was given to Irene's mother for the benefit of the children and to enable her to move to a larger apartment which would accommodate Irene's husband, Irene's children and Rosie's husband. Irene's husband was not satisfied with the action of the Red Cross Emergency Relief Committee. He took his children away from their grandparents, and demanded that the money which had been given to Irene's parents be turned over to him. It was found that the children were suffering from neglect and Irene's husband was advised to restore them to the grandmother's care. In October a satisfactory state of affairs was found: the father working regularly, paying the grandmother for taking care of the children while his is way, and taking care of them himself at night. Irene's family received $235.30 in relief aid.
I had much difficulty uncovering the life of Morris Bernstein. I search for him on ancestry.com and became frustrated because the search revealed many men with the name Morris Bernstein and after looking through many of them I found none of them were the Morris Bernstein that I was looking for. I also searched for his brother, Herman Bernstein who identified him, but I had the same problem. I did, however, find his death certificate number on italiangen.org and did learn about his family from viewing his death certificate at the Municipal Archives. I was unable to find any other information on Morris though I searched tirelessly for her name on passenger manifests through stevemorse.org.
Morris Bernstein was born in Russia to his parents Louis Bernstein and Sade Prauve. Both parents were born in Russia. Morris was a shirtmaker at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. He had only been living in the US/NYC for 18 months before he died. Morris was unmarried at the time of his death. Morris lay dead on East 5th Street. He was buried on March 26, 1911 at Baron Hirsh Cemetery. J. Stein served as his undertaker. Stein lived at 53 Pratt Street. Morris died of multiple injuries. He lived at 309 E. 5th Street. He was identified by his brother, Herman. Morris lived in the East Village (Greenwich Village) in Manhattan
I also had much difficulty uncovering the life of Rosie Grosso. I searched for her on ancestry.com to no avail. I also searched for her cousin, John Zingalo who identified her, but I could not find any information on him. I did, however, find her death certificate number on italiangen.org and did learn about her family from viewing her death certificate at the Municipal Archives. I was unable to find any other information on Rosie though I searched tirelessly for her name on passenger manifests through stevemorse.org.
Rosie was an operator at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. She was born in Italy to Carmelo Grasso and Marie Pelromalah (?- handwriting on certificate was hard to read). Rosie lived in the US/NYC for only 5 years before she died. Rosie was unmarried at the time of her death. Rosie was buried on March 27, 1911 in Calvary Cemetery. Rosie died of asphyxiation/burns. She lived at 174 Thompson Street. She was identified by the style of her slippers by her cousin, John Zingalo. Rosie also lived in Greenwich Village in Manhattan.
Pauline Horowitz was not easy to find information on either. I, again, started to search for her story on ancestry.com and found nothing. The Paulines that came up did not match her country of origin, her year of birth, or place of residence. I found her death certificate number on italiangen.org and thus found some useful information upon viewing her death certificate at the Municipal Archives. I tried searching for her brother, Samuel Horowitz who identified her, but I came upon so many results with the same name that it was extremely difficult to decipher if any of the matches were really the match I was looking for. Like Morris and Rosie, I was unable to find any other information on Pauline though I searched tirelessly for her name on passenger manifests through stevemorse.org.
Pauline was a shirtmaker at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. She was born in Russia to Gregory Horowitz and Charna (possibly Channa- handwriting on certificate was hard to read) Isenberg. Both parents were born in Russia. Pauline had only been living in the US/NYC five years before she died. Pauline was unmarried at the time of her death. She was found at the morgue on March 26, 1911 in the 21st Ward. Pauline was buried on March 27, 1911 in the Ocean View Cemetery, Sect. MR. Her undertaker was A. Livingston who lived at 245 Grand Street. Pauline died of multiple injuries and burns. She lived at 58 St. Mark's Place in Brooklyn. She was identified by Samuel Horowitz, her brother. Pauline lived in Brooklyn (possibly in Park Slope).
I was able to find an abundance of information on the Maltese family, mostly because the family's descendents are in public service. I was able to find much information on ancestry.com including Vito's military draft records for WWI and WWII, Serafino's naturalization petition, passenger manifests, and death information. Italiangen.org was also helpful with numbers of naturalization petitions, death certificates, and marriage certificates which I found at the Municipal and National Archives.
Catherine was born in Italy. She was an operator at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Catherine was married to Serafino Maltese. They had lived in the US/NYC for four years before Catherine died. Catherine died of asphyxiation/burns. She was identified on December 18, 1911 when her husband, Serafino, finally recognized her by one of her possessions. The Malteses lived at 35 Second Avenue.
Lucia, daughter of Catherine and Serafino Maltese and sister of Rosaria Maltese, was an operator at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. She was born in Italy as were her parents. Catherine's maiden name was Caurrio (handwriting on certificate was hard to read). Her maiden name is actually Carimo or Canino. It is interesting that Lucia's death certificate states her mother as Catherine Caurrio while Rosaria's death certificate states her mother as Catherine Maltese. Lucia had only lived in the US/NYC for four years before her death. She was unmarried at the time of her death. Lucia was buried on March 28, 1911 at Calvary Cemetery. Domenico Bonomolo served as her undertaker. He lived at 294 Elizabeth Street. Lucia died of asphyxiation/burns. She was identified by her father, Serafino.
Rosaria was the daughter of Catherine and Serafino Maltese and the sister of Lucia Maltese. She was born in Italy and worked as an operator at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. She only lived in the US/NYC for four years before she died. She was unmarried at the time of her death. Rosaria was buried on March 28, 1911 at Calvary Cemetery. Her undertaker was Domenico Bonomolo, the same as for her sister Lucia. Rosaria died of asphyxiation/burns. She was also identified by her father, Serafino.
Two women were found crouched in a narrow space behind the toilets in the Triangle building. Von Drehle believes them to be the bodies of Lucy and Sara Maltese.
The Malteses also lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Housing was a big problem during those years. Families were packed into tiny one room tenements with only one toilet per floor. It was extremely unsanitary and illness spread quickly in those conditions. They most likely lived in a tenement like most new immigrants who could not afford anything better. The Malteses lived in a neighborhood that was inhabited by other Italians but also by many Jews. In 1902, food riots broke out. Orthodox Jewish women rioted because the price of kosher meat was too high. In the end, they won. Within a month, the price of kosher meat fell
The father, Serafino Maltese, born in 1868, was supposed to arrive at Ellis Island on May 19, 1906 on the Italia. He was a shoemaker and arrived with only $20 in his pocket. He had family in the US and upon arrival was to live with his brother-in-law Nicolo Mirolilo (handwriting on certificate was hard to read) at 25 Alabama Avenue in Brooklyn, NY. On the passenger manifest, Serafino's name was crossed off, indicating that he was not aboard the Italia. Serafino, though, was aboard the Algeria. He departed from Palermo, Italy on July 25, 1906 and arrived in New York on August 6, 1906. He was born on November 4, 1868 in Trapani, Italy. He declared his intention of becoming a U.S. citizen on January 15, 1923. He was the widower of Katherine and had two children, Vito, born on August 24, 1892, and Paolo, born on June 22, 1905. The number of his Declaration of Intention is 299778. He was 56 years old when he filed this document. He was a shoemaker. He was a white man with a fair complexion. He was five feet six inches tall, weighed 140 pounds, and had gray hair. He was then residing at 97 East 3rd Street. The two witnesses that signed his petition for naturalization certifying that Serafino was an upstanding person were Peter Benente, a real estate broker who lived at 95 2nd Street, and Vito Maltese, his son, a barber, who lived with him at 97 East 3rd Street. He was then residing at 97 East 3rd Street.
While searching on ancestry.com I came across two passenger manifests. Both manifests included the names of Catherine, Lucia, Rosaria, Vito, Maria, and Paolo. On the first manifest, the one of the Sofia Hohenberg that arrived in NY on July 2, 1907, the names are all crossed off. On the second manifest, the one of the Francesca that arrived in NY on August 3, 1907, the names are not crossed off and next to some names is a stamp reading ADMITTED. The Francesca manifest also shows that Maria died in the hospital upon arrival (on August 5, 1907). She did not make the journey. Catherine was treated at the hospital and then released. Could it be that the Malteses were sent back the first time they arrived at Ellis Island? Apparently Catherine, Lucia, Rosaria, Vito, Maria and Paolo were supposed to be on the Sofia Hohenberg but never made the trip. They arrived one month later on the Francesca. The Francesca departed from Palermo, Italy on July 16th, 1907 and arrived in New York on August 3, 1907.
Paolo (Paul) Maltese was born on June 11, 1905 (the date of his birth on his father's naturalization petition is June 22, 1905- I find this interesting) in Trapani, Italy. He arrived in New York aboard the Francesca on August 3, 1907. He was 18 years old when he petitioned for naturalization. Paul worked as an upholsterer. He was a white man with a fair complexion. Paul was five feet six inches tall (like his father) and weighed 145 pounds. He had brown hair and blue eyes. Paul filed his Declaration of Intention to become a U.S. citizen on January 5, 1924. The number of the declaration is 340114. The number of the petition for naturalization is 150947. The witnesses who signed Paul's petition were Serafino Maltese, his father, who resided at 97 East 3rd Street in NYC, and Pietro D'Angelo, a grocer, who lived at 97 East 3rd Street NYC. Paul Maltese died on November 3, 1988 in Pasco, Florida at the age of 83. He last lived in Holiday, Pasco, Florida zip code 34691. His social security number was 068-03-3598. It was issued to him in New York before 1951.
Vito Maltese Vito Maltese and Francesca Zerilli were married on July 27, 1913 by Rev. Zpcacci at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. This was the first marriage for both the bride and the groom. The bride and groom both lived at 208 Forsyth Street before marrying. Both were also white and single before the marriage. Vito was a barber and Francesca had no occupation. When they were married, Vito was 20 years old and Francesca was 18 years old. The groom was born in Marsala (Trapani), Italy to Serafino and Caterina Maltese. The bride was also born in Marsala (Trapani), Italy. Her parents were Sebastiano Zerilli and Maria Maltese. The witnesses to the marriage were Melchiorre Guastella and Giuseppissa Lisitra who lived at 263 Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Vito died in June of 1970 in Flushing, Queens, New York in zip code 11368. His social security number was 079-05-8644. It was issued to him in New York before 1951.
One of the grandsons of Catherine and Serafino Maltese, Serphin (Serf) R. Maltese, is a Republican New York State Senator for the 15th senatorial district (Queens, NY). He was born on December 7, 1932. Serf was first elected in November 1988 and was elected in 2006 to his 10th term. Serf is married to the artist and pianist Constance Mary DelVecchio Maltese, born in 1933. Her father was an Italian American and her mother was a German immigrant. Serf and Constance married on August 27, 1955 and have been married for 52 years. Serf and Constance have two daughters, Andrea Maltese Spanarkel and Leslie Maltese McGill, from whom they have 4 grandchildren. Andrea and her husband Arthur Spanarkel have a daughter, Genevieve Frances Spanarkel. Leslie and her husband Jim McGill have three children: Sondra Elizabeth, Eva Daly, and James Francis McGill III.
Serf's brother, Vincent Maltese is the president of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire Memorial Society.
Finding information on ordinary people is not easy feat, but it is rewarding. After a dry spell, finding even a tidbit of information makes all the hard work worthwhile.
