Our Family

The Initial Voyage

The vessel above known as the SS Algeria brought Antonino Bruno to America through Ellis Island. Traveling with Antonino were several closes friends and family that was learned from reading the ship manifest.

Check out the MORE button(s) below to see the Ellis Island Manifests.

The vessel below known as the Transatlantic Conte di Savoia brought Domenico and his bride Agatina to America on December 5, 1937.

More Antonino Bruno More Antonina Bruno More Domenico Bruno More Agatina Bruno

My Bruno Family - words of Nonna (Agatina) Bruno

In the late 1990's I sat down with my Nonna Bruno (Agatina) and recorded her version of how her life was transformed from the modest setting of Nicolosi, Sicily to the grandiose setting of the United States of America. I hope you enjoy reading their story as much as I have enjoyed telling it over and over again. Ciao !

The Short Version

As mentioned in the opening paragraph on December 10, 1923 at the young age of 15, Domenico began his voyage to America, leaving his parents and siblings behind. The day Domenico arrived in the United States was December 23rd and was the same day his relatives received a telegram that they were to pick him up at the train station. When Domenico's cousins arrived at the train station he was sitting with an attendent watching over him until someone arrived. (The family suspects that the letter was on the same vessel that brought Domenico to America). Working for his uncle as a steam fitter, the young Domenico would finish his work and want to go play with his friends, however, the uncle would just pile on more work. After a few years of being taken advantage, Domenico ventured out on his own and put himself through barber school and eventually opened his own barber shop. At the age of 28 he was a successful barber and after thirteen years away from his family he had saved enough money and decided it was time to visit his family in Nicolosi, Sicily. Domenico arrived in Nicolosi in February 1937. In January of that same year, Agatina's mother Maria Spina had passed away from what she believes was stomach cancer, leaving Agatina and her father Vito Finochiarro all alone. Now we fast forward to May where a friend tells Agatina that she has mourned long enough and brought her out on to the terrace to breathe in the fresh Spring air. While outside, Agatina noticed two Bruno men (Giuseppe and Concetto) walking with another man who was dressed in fancy clothing, so she asked her friend,"Who is that man with the Bruno boys?" Her friend replied,"That is their brother, Domenico, from America and the talk of the town is that he is looking for a wife." Agatina thought to herself that a man like Domenico would be looking to receive a nice dalary and she coming from a modest family would be of no interest.

(Let's switch over to Domenico).

Domenico's mother, Antonina, said to her son, "You are 28 years old, you should get married." Domenico's response was, "Momma,if I am to get married, I need to find an orphan". "Why an orphan ?", she asked. "Because I support our family from America and it's only fair that I would support my wife's family and I can't afford to do both". It didn't take long for Antonina to provide an answer. She responded, "Domenico, there is a lovely young girl Agatina Finnichiaro whose mother just passed away and her father is 85 years old - you should meet her". Domenico agreed.

(Now we switch back to Agatina).

In the 1930's in Sicily, if someone sits down behind you, the polite thing to say is "Excuse my back". So the following Sunday in church, Agatina turns around to say, "Excuse my back" and to her surprise she sees Domenico with his two sisters (Domenica and Rosa). Agatina was confused why they were in her church, because the Catholic church the Bruno's attend was across the street. But we now know that Domenico was brought there by his sisters to check her out. Agatina later learned that Domenico stood around the corner with his sisters as Agatina walked out of church, asking him, "So do you want to me her?". Domenico liked what he saw and his answer was, "YES"!

(Now we switch over to the Finichiarro house)

A few days later a mutual friend, Mr. Borzi,knocks on the door of Vito Finichiarro. "What brings you here", Vito says. Mr. Borzi says to Vito, "Don Vito, Domenico Bruno would like to meet your daughter and if it works out and with your permission, he would like ask you for her hand in marriage and bring her back to America. Does he have you permission to meet her ?. Vito replies, "I am 85 years old, how many more years do I have. If my daughter wants to go to America, she has my blessing". So Mr. Borzi calls down Agatina and says,"Agatina, I am going to ask you one question. If you answer Yes, I will tell you more. Do you want to go to America ?". Agatina quickly replied, "YES!". All Agatina knew about America was Domenico Bruno, nothing else. Mr. Borzi responded, "Domenico Bruno would like to meet you and if it works out, you get married and go with him to America".

There is more to come - stay tuned !

The Chosen

We are the chosen. In each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again. To tell the family story and to feel that somehow they know and approve. Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all who have gone before. We are the story tellers of the tribe. All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were, by our genes. Those who have gone before cry out to us: Tell our story. So, we do. In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count. How many times have I told the ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be proud of us." How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love there for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who I am, and why I do the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying - I can't let this happen.

The Bones of My Bone

The bones here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It goes to doing something about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish. How they contributed to what we are today. It goes to respecting their hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving up, their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their family. It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some died to make and keep us a nation. It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that our mothers struggled to give us birth, without them we could not exist, and so we love each one, as far back as we can reach. That we might be born who we are. That we might remember them. So we do. With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a scribe called, I tell the story of my family. It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take my place in the long line of family storytellers. That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and restore the memory or greet those who we had never known before. by Della M. Cummings Wright; Rewritten by her granddaughter Dell Jo Ann McGinnis Johnson; Edited and Reworded by Tom Dunn, 1943.