41.

The Musical Thread

The love of music, whether it is appreciating the hearing of it, or the playing or singing of it, might be considered universal by many. The need for music is varied. It may fulfill the need for employment, or enough for a loaf of bread. It might fill lonely hours with solace or soothe the weary or troubled soul. It may be as beneficial to the provider as to the listener. The need to give of one's self, the need to create. The need to imagine or tell tales of the road or of the past or the future.

There seems to be a musical thread woven through many of the Sarli family ancestors and their associated family lines down to their modern day descendants. Is it in more abundance in comparison to the general population? Hard to say, but what a nice thing!

It is apparent that more than a handful of towns in Potenza fostered young musicians, especially stringed instrument players, including Viggiano, Laurenzana, Marsicovetere, Marsiconuovo, Calvello, Corleto Peticara, Brienza, and Montemurro (p. 37, Little Slaves of the Harp by John E. Zucchi).

 40.

The Sarli - De Carolis Connection

Maria Carmela Sarli (1898-1990), daughter of Vito Maria Sarli (1855-1944) & his second wife Angela Mastro (1862-1930), married Luigi Policarpio De Carolis (1899-1980) in Laurenzana in 1921. They had at least one child, Angela, who was born in 1823 and died in in 1843. Luigi was the son of Policarpio De Carolis (1860-) & Maria Lucia Parente (1867-).

I am happy to say that I have made a connection on Facebook with a grandson of a brother of Luigi Policarpio De Carolis. This grandson still lives in Laurenzana. I don't speak Italian and he doesn't speak English, but there are translating tools, so we are working to communicate.                                                                                                                                                                                          Below is a family tree showing the Sarli - De Carolis connection:

      Saverio Sarlo (1750-1810)                                 Geronimo  De Carolis                                       Geronima Bianco (1755-)                                Donata Di Abbondanza                                                           []                                                                              []                                                      Michele Sarlo (1774-1828)                                Policarpio De Carolis (1795-)                                Angelina Asselta  (1787-1821)                           Carmela Martoccia (1802-)                                             []                                                                               []                                                     Egidiantonio Sarli (1817-1860)                           Francescantonio De Carolis (1832-)              Maria Carmela Marone (1921-1869)                     Rosagnesa Manzi (1830-)                                               []                                                                               []                                                       Vito Maria Sarli (1855-1944)                              Policarpio De Carolis (1864-)                              (2) Angela Mastro (1862-1930)                          Maria Lucia Parente (1867-)                                                                                          []                                                                                                                                         Luigi Policarpio De Carolis (1899-1990)                                                                                           Maria Carmela Sarli (1898-1990)                                                                                                                        []                                                                                                                      Francesco De Carolis c.1930 (currently living in Turina, Italy)                                                                           Angela De Carolis (1923-1943)                                                                                                  Policarpio De Carolis (1925-1996)                                                                                                      Vito De Carolis (1927-2011)                                                                                                     Amelia De Carolis (1929-2011)                                                                                                     Aniello De Carolis (1930-1977)

                                                                                  

 39.

Sarli Journal's One Year Anniversary

So it has been an entire year since the first post of the Sarli Journal. 

This Journal was started to herald the revelation that our ancestor Joseph Louis Mott was born Rocco Vincenzo Sarli in Laurenzana, Italy on August 12, 1857. He was the needle-in-the-haystack that was found by a lot of prayer and research by many, and advances in dna testing, .

While Rocco/Joseph lived, he was a son, a grandson, a brother, an orphan, a nephew, a cousin, an emigrant musician, a wanderer, and then a settler, a farmer, a husband, a father of sons, a son-in-law, a brother-in-law, and a San Luis Valley harpist. Then he died at age 36.

How about some "shout-outs" and "birthday wishes" from anyone and everyone that reads and appreciates these posts. The way to do so is to click on the pencil icon at the bottom of this article -- and write your comments.

Also, if you have any questions to ask, or photos or information to share, please do so! Remember, just click on the pencil. I'll get it started.

38.

Tracing Joseph Mott's Journey from the West to Antonito

by Dr. Joseph D. Mott


I went to Colorado for a few days with my youngest daughter and my son, along with his wife and two children. We rode the Cumbres & Toltec railroad from Antonito into the mountains and back. Then we drove up the Conejos Canyon and camped one night at Aspen Glade campground. The Conejos River was a favorite fishing, picnicking and camping place in the southern part of the San Luis Valley for the early settlers. Going there was a special treat for the pioneers.

As we were driving north, close to the New Mexico-Colorado border, we drove by San Antonio Mountain (Rio Arriba County, NM). After arriving in Antonito that evening, we could see the same mountains to the south. It was nice and cool and we stayed there the first night. The second night we camped at Aspen Glade. On the third and fourth nights, we stayed in Santa Fe.

We know that my grandfather, Joseph Louis Mott, arrived in Antonito, Colorado, October 31st, 1880, driving livestock with the Robert H. Beers family in a wagon train from Idaho and Utah. It was very close to the time President Garfield was elected President of the United States. We know this from the history related by descendants of the Beers family.
The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad was completed from Alamosa to Antonito in March of 1880. Construction proceeded over Cumbres Pass to Chama, New Mexico, from March to the end of December of 1880. Joseph Mott would have seen the construction somewhere between Chama and Cumbres Pass. The Beers wagon train and stock would have passed right along several parts of it. 

At that time in Antonito, the population was about 800. Joseph would have found a new railroad depot and other buildings. The railroad bypassed the old town of Conejos, which featured the oldest church in Colorado, and instead laid out and sold lots in the railroad town of Antonito. This was a pattern common to railroad building since the inter-continental railroad.  The train traveled about 15 miles per hour, so the trip from Alamosa to Antonito would have been about two hours. New settlers in the southern end of the San Luis Valley were able to find work cutting timber and making railroad ties for the railroad.  Sounds like hard work, but it was all hard work settling a new country.

The Denver & Rio Grande and Western Railroad, led by General Wilson Jackson  Palmer, had plans to build the railroad all the way through New Mexico to Old Mexico. They got as far as Santa Fe, New Mexico. The construction to Santa Fe from Antonito started in March of 1880, the same time as the construction to Chama. They reached Espanola and beyond to White Rock Canyon by Dec 31, 1880. There they met the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad.

The route went from Antonito, skirted San Antonio Mountain, established railroad depots at Tres Piedras and Taos Junction, and then headed east to the Rio Grande Gorge, where it descended to the Rio Grande River. it then followed the Rio Grande to Espanola, New Mexico. It continued to White Rock Canyon. This is where it met the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe.

There was a woman named Edith Warren who came from the East for health reasons and was hired to be the postmaster at Otowi, NM.  She lived there for a long time and built a little cafe or teahouse. The scientists from Los Alamos and their wives had several get-togethers there to get away from the laboratories. Edith became friends with the Oppenheimers and other scientists. 

The train went on to the center of Santa Fe, where there was a depot built. The train ride from Antonito to Santa Fe was sometimes called the “chili line,” since many of the houses along the route were decorated with ristras or strings of red chilis.  It took 5 hours to travel from Antonito to Espanola.  

After Joseph Mott died in 1894, his wife Emmeline worked in Espanola for about two years, according to their son Elmer.  She undoubtedly rode the train to get to Espanola and back.

37.

Maria Carmela Marone's First Husband

I was looking for something else in the Laurenzana civil marriage records, but stumbled across some important information.

Today I discovered that Egidiantonio Sarli was not Maria Carmela Marone's first husband, but her second. Maria's first husband was Giovanni Laraja (1811-1841), son of Gerardo Nicola Laraja ( a carpenter) and Gaetana Marone. 

I also discovered that Giovanni Laraja and Maria Carmela Marone had a daughter in 1841 whom they named Maria Giovanna. She was born two days after her father Giovanni died. She died in 1844 at the age of 3. 

Here is the documentation:

familysearch: Laurenzana birth record 1811 #220 
Giovanni Laraja b. 31 October 1811, Laurenzana
parents: Gerardo Nicola Laraja age 57, carpenter, & Gaetana Marone

familysearch: Laurenzana marriage record 6 Oct 1839 #38 
Giovanni Laraja age 28, son of Gerardo Nicola Laraja, carpenter & Gaetana Marone
to Maria Carmela Marone age 18, dau of Vito Nicola Marone & Rosa Robortaccio.

familysearch: Laurenzana death record  23 Sep 1841 #244
Giovanni Laraja age 30, son of Gerardo Nicola Laraja & Gaetana Marone; husband of
Maria Carmela Marone.

familysearch: Laurenzana birth record 25 Sep 1841 #204
Maria Giovanna Laraja b. 25 Sep 1841, Laurenzana
parents: deceased Giovanni Laraja & Carmela Marone age 20.

familysearch: Laurenzana death record 11 Oct 1844 #230
Maria Giovanna Laraja age 3, dau of deceased Giovanni Laraja & Carmela Marone.

He

36.

July 2020

It's been a while since I've posted anything. A lot has been going on in the world.

I think a lot about the upheaval going on in our world and equate it to that of our ancestors. 

I am still doing research, attempting to make new connections through Ancestry.com  matches. Last week I was able to link in with the tree of someone with the D'Onofrio and Martoccia surnames. It takes a lot of persistence to compile and study the siblings and in-laws to finally document true links. I'm always excited when I can make connections and see where they live.

On familysearch.org, I keep adding to the family tree. Many, many diverse surnames. It is common for young people to marry within their own clan or profession. It would be interesting to create a list of surnames with their professions. We know that many of our line married musicians, but sometimes they had an alternate line of work also.

As for the Sarli line, one lives in Rome, Italy (born in Potenza, Italy). Several live in Illinois. Another lives in Indiana, after moving from the Chicago area. One lives in El Paso, Texas, after moving from Connecticut. I have been delighted to speak with several on the phone, and most are Facebook friends.

I wish all of you the best! Let Freedom Ring!!!

35.

Giovanni Urga (1864-) 
son of Francesco Urga & Maria Carmela Marone

Best wishes to all in this time of the Covid-19 epidemic.

I am pleased to report that I have discovered some new information on Giovanni Antonio Urga, son of Francesco Urga and Maria Carmela Marone, and half-brother of Vito Maria Sarli and Rocco Vincenzo Sarli.

Egidiantonio Sarli died in 1860 in Laurenzana. In 1862, his widow Maria Carmela Marone married the widower Francesco Urga. In 1864, Giovanni Urga was born. He married Mariantonia Laraja in 1892, but she died a year later in 1893. There were no children from that union.

I always wondered what happened to Giovanni after that. Today, I discovered that he married again. On April 15, 1894, He married Palma Antonia Donata D'Elisi of Anzi, a village 5 miles from Laurenzana. Her parents were Rocco D'Elisi and Maria Caterina Santomassimo.

Children born to this union:
1- Salvatore Urga born 1 Feb 1895, Laurenzana (born dead)
2- Carmela Urga born 2 Feb 1896, Laurenzana; died 10 Feb 1896, Laurenzana
3- Rocco Urga born 4 Apr 1900, Laurenzana; died 2 July 1901, Laurenzana
4- Rocco Urga born 28 Oct 1902, Laurenzana; died 12 Oct 1903, Laurenzana
5- Maria Carmela Urga born 29 Nov 1904, Laurenzana; died 4 Dec 1904  
6- Rocco Salvatore Urga born 17 May 1906, Laurenzana
    married Rosa Renna 25 Sep 1926, Laurenzana
7- Rocco Carmelo Urga born 11 July 1909, Laurenzana; died 29 July 1910, Laurenzana

I have searched the records through 1910. So far I have found 7 children. Only one, Rocco Salvatore Urga, lived to marry. He married Rosa Renna on September 25, 1926, in Laurenzana.