Angelina Ruffino

Angelina married Gaetano Ruffino, a shoemaker Caltavuturo Sicily, a remote village in the Madonie mountains, 30 miles SE of Palermo, Sicily. It was the site of a violent insurrection of peasants against the absentee Spanish ruling class in 1893. That year, Gaetano left for NYC. Angelina, and her two children "Josie" (Giuseppina?) and Antonio followed afterwards. In NY, English became the language of the household, so the children learned to speak without an accent.

They had six more children in NYC. Gaetano had a shoe store in a Jewish neighborhood (Henry Street), and served Braodway celebrities of that era, like Joey Brown and Jan Pierce.

They sold the store and retired when Gaetano was 60. Angelina lived to be 73. Her offspring no longer in our network of communication include surnames of Fiorentino, Mazzarese, Cusamano, Leone, Diodati, Gambella.

Her maiden name spelling is uncertain; this is the best I could decipher from a marriage certificate. The more certain letters are: (if spelled correctly; the immigrants were illiterate): Sp_ _ _ zza