32.

MYSTERY PERSON: Rocco Pecora

Who was Rocco Pecora? Rocco Pecora is a name listed multiple times in court documents related to the 1876 Denver murder trial. This person signed a complaint against several of the suspects in the murders of "Uncle Joe" Pecora and three youths. There is no record of Rocco as being a son of Giuseppe Pecora and Mariantonia Pavese, however, a Laurenzana birth record has been located for a nephew.

This nephew, Rocco Giuseppe Pecora, was born September 16, 1862, to Egidiantonio Pecora (Uncle's Joe's brother) and his wife Mariangela Cristallo. There is also a June 28,1888, Laurenzana marriage record for this same Rocco Giuseppe Pecora to Maria Carmela Sansone, daughter of Innocenzio Sansone and Mariantonia Graziadei, suggesting that if this is the same Rocco Pecora mentioned in the court records, he must have returned to Italy to marry.

A newspaper article of an incident a week before the murders refers to Rocco Pecora:

Denver Daily Times, p. 4, Oct 25, 1875
"A son of old Joe's came down from Georgetown (CO) yesterday, and states that some time before he went to the mountains two men raised the window of the Lawrence street house and attempted to get in. His father took a pistol and drove them off. There was a light in the room, and his father recognized them as Galotti and one of the Italians who lives in the country."

Some newspaper articles of the time listed the victims as "Joe" Pecora, his two sons Giuseppe and Giovanni, and a cousin named Luigi. Another listed the old man "Uncle Joe," two sons, "little Joe" and "Nic," and "a cousin whose name no one had ever heard." 

The chapter in the book HANDS UP! which provides an account of the 1875 Denver Italian Murders says "It was . . . learned that the children who called Pecorra 'father' and 'uncle' were not united to him by any tie of kindred."

Court documents obtained by Dr. Joseph Mott, contributor of articles to this blog, and his sister Donna Mott, list the three young victims as John (Giovanni) Pecora, Domenico Fanelli, and Domenico D'Onofrio. 

Strong possibilities I've found are:

(1) Giovanni Pecora b. 12 Sep 1863, son of Sebastiano Pecora & 2nd wife Maria Carmela Abbate

(Sebastiano's 1st wife was Angela Carmina Sarli, granddaughter of Saverio Sarlo & Geronima Bianco)

age 12 in fall of 1875 

(2) Domenico Egidio Fanelli b. 18 Oct 1856, son of Francesco Fanelli & Rosagnesa Cafarella

(younger brother of Maria Vittoria Fanelli who was the 1st wife of Vito Maria Sarli (brother of Joseph Mott) age 19 in fall of 1875

(3) Domenico D'Onofrio, b. 19 Nov 1857, son of Rocco Giuseppe D'Onofrio & Maria Giovanna D'Esopo; almost age 18 fall of 1875

31.
                           PAVESE CONNECTION 

A big discovery! Giambattista Pavese and Vittoria Manzi are the great-grandparents of Franklin Pecora, John Davis (Giovanni Pavese), and Joe Castle (Giuseppe Antonio Casella).

It is now evident that at least some of the musical troupe of boy musicians were cousins.
Marco, Francesco and Egidio are three of Giambattista's and Vittoria's sons.

                                                        *Giambattista Pavese
                                                                1764-1815
                                                             Vittoria Manzi 
                                                                  1771-
                                                                     []
*Marco Pavese    ---------------          *Francesco Pavese   -------------      *Egidio Pavese
   1785-1842                                             1793-1855                                    1793-1855                                            
 Maria Milano                                     Vita Maria Motta                  Maria Maddalena Martoccia       
  1796-1864                                              1799-1841                                       1806-                         
        []                                                           []                                                    []                      
 Giuseppe Pecora                         *Rocco Vincenzo Pavese              Rocco Vincenzo Casella        
    1827-1875                                           1830-1914                                        1830-                                  
*Mariantonia Pavese                Maria Maddalena Martoccia             *Anna Teresa Pavese           
    1833-1918                                             1838-                                              1833-                     
        []                                                           []                                               []                    
Francesco Antonio Pecora                 Giovanni Pavese/Pavis              Giuseppe Antonio Casella             
     1865-1941                                        1862-1950                                       1859-1936                           
  (Franklin Pecora)                               (John Davis)                                     (Joe Castle)   
                       
  Alice Sorensen                                   Ada Pearl Allred                    Mary Alice Siler (div)                   
     1879-1961                                       1878-1960                                          1885-                   

30.

BOY MUSICIANS KNOWN 
TO ROCCO VINCENZO SARLI/Joseph Louis Mott

1. *Giovanni Pavese AKA John Davis  b. 9 Apr 1862, Laurenzana, Italy (familysearch #85)
    d. 27 Sep 1950, Sanpete County, UT -  violinist
    son of Rocco Vincenzo Pavese (1830-1914) & Maria Maddalena Martoccia (1838-1898)
    Immigrated: 1872  (age 10) Citizenship Application: 1897
    Married Ada Pearl Allred 2 Sep 1902 

2. Giuseppe "Joe"  Larocco  b. 5 Sep 1859, Calvello, Italy (familysearch #191)
    d. 15 Apr 1896, Dingle, Bear Lake, ID - violinist
    (son of Rocco Vincenzo Larocco (1831-) & Maria Dell'Aquino (1837-) or
    Francesco Larocco & Hannah S. Gerold)
    married Abigail Quayle 20 Dec 1888

3. *Giuseppe Casella AKA Joe Castle b. 4 Oct 1859, Laurenzana, Italy (familysearch #257)
    d. 17 Mar 1936,, Price, Carbon, UT - violinist
    son of Rocco Vincenzo Casella (1830-) & Anna Teresa Pavese (1833)
    Immmigrated: 1868 (age  9) Naturalized: 1882
    married Mary Alice Siler 28 Oct 1899 (div)

4. *Francesco "Frank" Pecora  b. 9 Aug 1865, Laurenzana, Italy  (familysearch #211)
    d. 9 Jan 1941, Boise, Ada, ID  
    son of Giuseppe Pecora (1827-1875) & Mariantonia Pavese (1833-1918)
    Immigrated: 1868-1870 (age 3-5) Naturalized:1886
    married Alice Sorensen 28 June 1899

    Brothers:
5. Rocco Giuseppe Motto  b. 9 Jan 1854 Laurenzana, Italy (familysearch 1854 #4)
    Lived in Trinidad, CO - harpist
    son of Giovanni Antonio Motta (b. 31 May 1823- son of Michele Motta 1780 & Gaetana Nigro              1786) & Maria Carmela Martoccia (b. 9 Mar 1827- dau of Giovanni Martoccia 1796 & 

    Donata Galgano 1797)
    Immigrated: 1871 (age 17) Naturalized: 1894
    married Christina Benitez 4 Feb 1885; 

6. Michele Santo Motto b. 2 Nov 1860, Laurenzana, Italy  (familysearch 1860 #219)
    Lived in Trinidad, CO
    son of Giovanni Antonio Motta (1823-) & Maria Carmela Martoccia (1827-)
    Immigrated: 1871 (age 11) Naturalized: 1903
    married Mary Buster 8 July 1884; Eliza McBride 16 Nov 1893;

Michele Motta, listed on the passenger list of the ship The Spain along with brother Rocco, applied for passports for himself and his wife Clementa in 1914. The document states that he was born in Laurenzana and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1903. He settled in Trinidad, Colorado along with Rocco by 1880. They began as fruit dealers and musicians and later became jewelers.