60.

Sarli Home in Laurenzana (part 2)

by Dr. Joseph Mott

After seeing the Sarli land in the country, we returned to the cars. I removed my muddy shoes and climbed into Giovanni’s Audi. He announced that we would now go to the “Sarli house." This surprised me, as he had never before mentioned a Sarli house to us before.  He told me he had been in the house when his aunt lived there with his Uncle Luigi De Carolis.  He loved his great-aunt Maria Carmela Sarli.  She was a daughter of Grandpa Mott's brother, Vito Sarli (1855-1944). This house is located in the village, on SS92, which weaves its way through the village. The house is not far into the village. When you look out over the hill below, there is a lot of green countryside.  The house itself has two levels.  The house has been reconstructed on one end, so that only part of the original remains as it was. That part has steps up to the upper level, and the old original arch of the front door, and a broader entrance through an arch into the lower level. The key of the arch of the door has the date 1839. The building to the right is an old school, apparently built in 1809, and there is a plaque on the front wall commemorating an event. Walking down through the front arch, there are some stairs to  the right leading upstairs to a door, and two more large arches, one through the back wall, and overlooking a valley, and and the other toward the left, with a double gate or iron door that you can easily see over the top.  

Giovanni told me that the Sarli's kept their animals on the lower level.  He said it was a large space before the construction modifications.  I asked him how many animals it might hold. He said “40." Adam and I think that Grandpa Mott may have herded the sheep to pasture each morning from this area. This house is on SS92, but that is the modern name. I will do a little research and see if the street name was possibly strada Trojana, where Grandpa Mott was born.

In a letter written by Gwen Mott, Uncle Elmer's 2nd wife, she says that Uncle Elmer remembered that his father said he lived in a house that was big and white. That leaves the possibility that this was the house where Grandpa Mott was born and lived.  It looks like it was a substantial house and could easily be described as white. Once the ground dries out, Giovanni hopes to explore a second rural area property connected with the name Sarli.

 59.

The Sarli Home in The Country (part 1)

by Dr. Joseph Mott

On Saturday, June 10, 2023, Giovanni De Carolis led us to a rural property just outside of the village of Laurenzana.  Adam, Fernanda, Christopher, Julieta, and I got out of the car. It had been raining some, and we climbed over what looked looked like an electric wire fence, but we didn’t get shocked.  We started up a little hillside.  The ground was pretty wet, and there were a lot of clumps of grass, but dirt between, sort of a slippery clay, making it difficult to walk or climb up the hill. We all  managed to reach the top of the hill, but did not find any buildings or ruins of buildings. Lower down on the hill, it looked washed out, and there was water seeping from the ground.  Someone had put a new black plastic hose, about 1 1/2 inch in diameter, into the hill where the water was seeping. The hose ran down the hill further, across a little stream, and then up onto the property beyond a fence on the other side.  I surmised that someone had tapped a spring for water.  I was interested in seeing this because Grandpa Mott reportedly lived close to a spring or stream in a rural area.  One account mentioned the possibility of a spring running under the house.  In any event, we did not see any ruins of a house in the washed out area.  In fact, it was not a good locale for a house because of the rough terrain.  The stream was small, but probably could carry a lot of water in the wet season.  Someone had constructed dams (we saw two), out of large masonry blocks, each with a broad spillway in the middle. Perhaps they wanted to form small pools. 

 58.

Dr. Joseph Mott visits Laurenzana

Dr. Joseph Mott, his son Adam and daughter-in-law Fernanda with their two children, visited the Province of Potenza June 8 -11. On June 8, they stayed overnight in Viggiano. During the day, Giovanni Antonio De Carolis, his wife Antonietta, and translator Annalisa Pisillo drove from Laurenzana and met with the Mott's for the very first time at their hotel in Viggiano.

L to R: Dr. Joseph Mott, Annalisa Pisillo, Antonietta Martoccia, Giovanni De Carolis, Adam Mott

Giovanni is the grand-nephew of Maria Carmela Sarli (1898-1990), daughter of Vito Maria Sarli (1855-1944) who was the brother of Rocco Vincenzo Sarli AKA Joseph Louis Mott (1857-1894). As a boy growing up in Laurenzana, Giovanni knew and dearly loved Maria and her husband Luigi Policarpio De Carolis (1899-1980).

Now Giovanni works for the city of Laurenzana and his wife is a math teacher. They are the parents of two grown sons, Rocco and Marcello, who  both live and work in Potenza. Rocco is a security guard and Marcello is a high school music teacher who is gaining fame as a classical guitarist and virtuoso of the chittara battente.

 

Mary "Kathleen" (Mott) Jefferson of Grand Junction, Colorado passed away peacefully at the age of 85 on April 5th in the presence of loved ones. Kathleen was born May 31st, 1937 in Alamosa, Colorado to her parents Elsie (Sowards) and Jacob Mott. She was the 9th of 12 children.

Kathleen was raised in Alamosa and attended Adam State College, where she proudly represented the school as a cheerleader. While at Adam State, Kathleen met her husband of 66 years, Jay Jefferson, and they were married January 26, 1957.

In 1966 Kathleen and Jay set roots in Grand Junction. She began her first years in Grand Junction as a homemaker raising her 2 children. In 1972 she began her career with Mesa College as a Residence Hall Director. Later she was assigned the duties of Assistant Housing Director and ultimately served as Housing Director until her retirement. In retirement, Kathleen enjoyed spending time in her home, working in her flower garden, and being visited by family.

Kathleen was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints where she graciously and proudly served others in their times of need.

Kathleen is survived by her husband John W. "Jay" Jefferson of Grand Junction, CO; son Kendall (Jennifer) Jefferson of Lindon, UT; their four children: Lindsey (Justin) Reed, Andrew (Claire) Jefferson, Parker Jefferson, Samuel Jefferson, and 6 great grandchildren; daughter Jill (Deryl) McKinnerney of Hondo, TX; their 3 children: Taylor Rae McKinnerney, Monty McKinnerney (deceased), and Nathan McKinnerney. She has three surviving siblings: Donna "Betty" Turney of Alamogordo, NM, Dr. Joseph Mott of Chandler, AZ, and Jeannie Brandis of Flagstaff, AZ.

A memorial service will be held at a date to be announced.

Please express your condolences at this site: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/grand-junction-co/mary-jefferson-11237284/add-memory

 56. 

Article: "The Slave Children"

Marie Abrams of the Pavese and Martoccia families has shared with us an article, "The Slave Children of New York," written by David McCormick and published in the Winter 2012 issue of Italian America. Thank you, Marie! I can only share excerpts due to copyright restrictions.

The New York Times published on June 17, 1873: "It has been learned that at the present time there are between 7,000 and 8,000 children kidnapped from Italy held in this state of slavery in the large cities of the United States, New York being the great central entrepot. The children are brought here and sold daily by private auction, prices varying from $100 to $300 for boys, and from $100 to $500 for girls."

The article says that "most of these children were from small towns in Italy, snatched from their beds or given freely by their parents to Italian agents called padroni." They were given one outfit and were given basic lessons playing the triangle, harp, or violin.

In 1873, one Italian mother from Basilicata sailed to America with her two young children to search for her other four children who had been kidnapped.

Once resettled in crowded poor neighborhoods in Brooklyn or Manhattan, they were expected to wake early, eat a small piece of brown bread or some pasta, and ordered to go out and not return until they had filled their quota of 50 to 80 cents.

In 1873, a New York Times reporter who spoke Italian came upon three young boys around a garbage can in an alley. He learned that six-year old Francesco and his friend Pietrovito had been kidnapped and sent to America. The 12-year old's name was Rocco and he gave Laurenzana as his place of birth.

"The New York Times played a pivotal role in unmasking the plight of the young Italian street musicians. . . it took the combined efforts of the biggest Italian American fraternal organization, the Italian government and finally the U.S. Congress to end it."

"In December 1873, the Italian parliament passed legislation making the selling or employing of abducted children a felony. . . on July 22 1874, the U.S. Congress passed the 'Padrone Act' forbidding the use of children under 16 in public entertainments. The laws greatly diminished this slave trade. By the late 1880's the Italian street musicians had all but disappeared from the sidewalks of New York City."

 55.

The stream that ran under the house

54.

Land for grazing sheep on Sarli homestead