The Menotti’s
Luigi Menotti & Victoria Bianchi Gambini Menotti arrived at Ellis Island after a nineteen day voyage on the Citta di Torino. The ship sailed from Castelferretti, Ancona, Marche, Italy on September 5, 1905, arriving on September 24, 1905. Along with the couple were their ten children, ranging in age from nineteen and a half, to 2 months. Records are inconsistent as to whether Ceresa (Teresa), the youngest, survived the trip. The arduous expedition was spent in the hull of the ship, near the engines. Upon arrival in the U.S., the entire family was quarantined because Cesare (Jack) 2y, 2 m, had some sort of eye infection. Upon their release, Luigi and his family traveled to Lufkin, TX to meet with their sponsor.
All eligible members, 7, worked for a family there for 3 years. A drought caused the sponsor to release the family because he couldn't afford the weekly wage amount of $35.00. Of this quota, $17.50 was the debt reduction. Additionally, $11.75 was withdrawn for fines, transportation, medicines, & house rent (ONE ROOM). Net income, $5.75 per week. Luigi rented a truck, loaded with their only belongings, & traveled to Dickinson, TX. There, a farmer took them in to do sharecropping. Not long after arriving, a storm came & destroyed the crops & the house. All of their belongings were lost. They moved again, this time to Mississippi. They worked on a farm there & once again a drought destroyed the crops. Luigi passed away from pneumonia & was buried in Greenville, MS on May 7, 1909 at the young age of 45. Victoria was left alone with the family.
Many of the children were too young to work. Being a hard working, God-fearing woman, she contacted a man from Dickinson who said he would help her and her children. This move would be the last for most of the remaining 9 children. Over the next several years all of the children married. Grocery stores, bars, meat markets, cattle, rodeos and rental properties were associated with the Menotti name. In October 1928, the youngest surviving child, Cesare (Jack), married Angelina Vitanza. Victoria lived with Jack & Angelina until her death in 1948 at the age of 85. The Menotti name is still highly prevalent in Galveston county and surrounding areas. Luigi & Victoria would be proud of the legend they left behind.
By Theresa Swindell McNutt, great granddaughter of Luigi & Victoria Menotti