My grandparents were noblemen and
originated in France. Count Leon Rossell
of Belfort, France was where I traced
them in the 1400`s. The crest you see
was later made for the Rosselli family,
which the name came to be, with "i"
added.
They left France traveled to England,
and finally went to Italy, and much
later moved down to Sicily. Some of them
also migrated to Monte, Buenos Aries,
where most were govorners and senators.
I have no idea why they were sent to the
Argentina area, but there is a large
Italian population there.
My grandparents, the Baron and
Baronessa
Vincenzo and Rosalia Rosselli came to
America in the late 1800`s, where they
met and married.
The crest today hangs on a gold chain,
and was given to my oldest nephew Ed, on the day of his ordination of Deaconship. My mother would have wanted him to have it. The year was 2010.
For whatever reason they went straight
to Chicago, where they set up home in
the Oak Park section of Illinois. The
same neighborhood the Hemingways lived
in. Old Victorian homes. Here they
resided together, my grandfather`s
brother, Joseph, married my
grandmother`s
sister...two brothers married two
sisters, had one child each, my mother,
Rosina being one of them.They all lived
harmoniously in the same 13 room house.
My grandfather taught adults how to read
and write in Italian. My mother and her
cousin William were privileged children.
Both took violin and piano lessons, and
had to learn how to waltz correctly.
Then the Black Hand came into existence
in the area, better known as the Mafia.
My grandfather was a true gentleman, and
would not succumb to that way of living,
and took the family east. Guess they
must
have been pressured in some way.
Here he became a writer for the IL
Progresso Italian newspaper, which is
still in existence today.
The year was 1918, my mother was eight
years old, and the year her father died.Vincenzo was born in 1869, Jan 5th. He was 49 years old when he died.
She tells me she still recalls all the
circumstances of that sad time.
Shortly after a marriage was set up for
my grandmother, matchmakers if you will.
They felt it was improper for a young
widow to be alone. So, they brought this
man to her, and they did marry. This
union produced two girls and one boy. Of
whom are my wonderful aunts and uncle.
Sorry to say, her stepfather was very
unkind to mother. She went to work at
an early age, to escape the tension in
the household. Her days of privilege
were over. Also the beginning of a whole
new life for her.
Rosina went to a social, and a young man
asked her to dance.
