Rosario Vallone

Rosario Vallone was born in Sicily.  He emmigrated to the U.S. with relatives and friends from his home town of Valledolmo.  On October 22, 1902 the S.S. Liguria set sail for America from Napoli.

S.S Liguria Built for Navigazione Generale Italiana Line, Italian flag, in 1901. Italy-New York service carried 1250 passengers ( 56 first class, 1194 third class ).

Rosario, who was 16 years old, was on board this ship traveling with a close friend or relative named Giuseppe Polvino.  Rosario could not read or write English, but Giuseppe could.  They traveled for 16 days at sea for the cost of $12 ticket to arrive at Ellis Island on November 6, 1902.

Rosario later met a young widow named Anna Maria (Mary) Manuele who had a son just a year old.  They probably met at the annual picnic that reunited  all of the townspeople who lived in Valledolmo.  They were married on May 4th, 1907 and bought a house at 270 Pennsylvania Avenue in Rochester.  Guiseppe attended the wedding.  A formal wedding photo below shows Rosario and Anna Maria with son Joe Chimera, and Guiseppe Polvino with presumably his daughter and son Thomas taken on the same day.  A third photo shows another man and two children taken in the same location (note the chair and background in all photos).  I've yet to identify this third man.  Do you recognize him?

Rosario and Mary's family grew quickly in the new house.  The couple had eight more children together.  The last of the Vallone children to arrive, in 1929, was Donald.  By this time, the family had already sat for a formal family portrait a few years before (thinking that no more children would arrive!).

Rosario's Family, 1925
Top: Mary, Peggy, Joe, Pino  Bottom: Frank, Maria (Mary), Virginia, Tony, Rosario (Sam), Clara

Rosario had a green thumb and loved the outdoors.  His hobby was gardening, and he took pride in his home grown vegetables and ornamental garden in the front yard.  In the picture below, Rosario is planting the snowball bush that became the centerpiece of the front garden.  Through the years, he took cuttings from the bush and planted them at the homes of his children where they thrived.  As far as I know, the original bush still grows on the property many generations later!

Below, Rosario shovels the sidewalk after a blizzard

He enjoyed being outdoors, whether is was in his garden, or washing the cars.

He also love his grandchildren.  He is shown below with ME as a baby and at around 3!

Below: In April, 2012 Goole Maps Street View captured these images of 270 Pennsylvania, which was built in 1903.  The house was sold in 1977 by Rosario's wife Maria and daughter Virginia after most of their Italian immigrant neighbors had passed on or moved away and the neighborhood had become less friendly.  Maria and Viriginia left the house pretty much the way it was all of the years during which Rosario had raised his family.  Within a few short years after selling, grafitti began to appear on the garage doors and windows began breaking - never to be repaired.  These sad images taken in 2012 show that little care has been given to the old homestead since the last Vallone walked through the threshold.  While updates have been made to other homes in the neighborhood, the only new addition at 270 seems to be a security fence across the driveway.

Descendants of Rosario VALLONE-39 
09 Dec 2007
==============================
1. Rosario VALLONE-39
sp: Anna Maria MANUELE-40 (b.1888 m.1907 d.1977)
|-2. Josephine VALLONE-45
| sp: Joseph FORTE-60
| |-3. Peter FORTE-61
| |-3. Peter FORTE-62 (d.2004)
| |-3. Joseph FORTE-63
| | sp: Rosalie -65
| | |-4. Joseph FORTE-66
| | +-4. Unknown FORTE-67
| +-3. Mary FORTE-64
|-2. Mary VALLONE-42
| sp: Raymond CORTESE-73 (d.1980)
| +-3. Anne Marie CORTESE-74
| sp: Michael BALCANE-75
| |-4. Allen BALCANE-76
| +-4. Gene Paul BALCANE-77
|-2. Frank VALLONE-43
| sp: Angelina FERRARA-50
| |-3. Russell VALLONE-51
| | sp: Joyce -53
| | |-4. Frank VALLONE-54
| | +-4. Michelle VALLONE-55
| +-3. Robert VALLONE-52
|-2. Clara VALLONE-46
| sp: Joseph PIEKUNKA-68 (d.1998)
| +-3. Mary Ann PIEKUNKA-69
| sp: Robert MILLER-70
| |-4. Caroline MILLER-71
| +-4. Roberta MILLER-72
|-2. Joseph VALLONE-44
| sp: UNKNOWN
| |-3. Russell VALLONE-47
| | sp: Jean -56
| | |-4. Gina VALLONE-57
| | |-4. Unknown VALLONE-58
| | +-4. Unknown VALLONE-59
| |-3. Richard VALLONE-48
| sp: Lucille SAVORINO-49
|-2. Anthony VALLONE-78
| sp: Grace WEBSTER-79
| |-3. Russell VALLONE-80
| | sp: Charlene UNKNOWN-83
| | |-4. Michael VALLONE-84
| | |-4. Anthony VALLONE-85
| | |-4. Russell VALLONE-86
| | +-4. Mary VALLONE-87
| |-3. Toni VALLONE-81
| +-3. Debra VALLONE-82
|-2. Virginia Genet VALLONE-41 (b.1925 d.2001)
+-2. Donald Joseph VALLONE-2 (b.1929 d.2006)
sp: Dolores Mildred MONTGOMERY-3 (b.1934 m.1962)
|-3. Donald Joseph VALLONE Jr.-1 (b.1963)
| sp: Amy Elizabeth THORN-5 (b.1974 m.1998)
| |-4. Samantha Rose VALLONE-4 (b.2005)
| +-4. Maranda Laurel VALLONE-6 (b.2005)
+-3. Stephen Russell VALLONE-93 (b.1965)
sp: Stephanie Marie MCPHERSON-94 (b.1971 m.1994)
|-4. Andrew Douglas VALLONE-95 (b.1992)
|-4. Russell Stephen VALLONE-96 (b.1998)
+-4. Christian Erich VALLONE-97 (b.2004)
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