It was 1907 in New York – a year before Henry Ford introduced the Model T and four years after Orville and Wilber’s historic flight.  Picasso was exhibiting his art in Paris, Pavlov was experimenting with his dogs, and Rasputin was gaining control in Russia.  Theodore Roosevelt was President, a financial panic had hit Wall Street and little Sebastiana was returning home from Italy to re-unite with her family.

Little Italy & The Lower East Side

Between 1880 and 1920, Italian immigration would peak with 7 million Italians emigrating to America. In New York City the Italian population of would zoom from a few thousand to almost 400,000.

Little Italy encompassed a much wider area than it does today, extending between Broadway and the Bowery and between Canal Street on the south side to Houston Street in the north.  It bordered on two other Italian neighborhoods – Greenwich Village (which still houses some of the best Italian restaurants in town) and the Lower East Side, (east of the Bowery) which was both Italian and Jewish. 

Pushcarts and horse-drawn wagons lined the streets with local vendors selling their wares, from live poultry to fruits and vegetables. 

At the turn of the century, almost 70% of New Yorkers lived in tenement houses These buildings were created in the mid to late 1800s to accommodate the enormous demand for housing.  The high cost of NY real estate encouraged landowners to build houses on a single lot that could accommodate as many low wage renters as possible. 

They were usually constructed on a 25 x 100 foot lot with four families to a floor.  Initially, with the absence of legislation governing their construction, many were built without bathrooms, adequate plumbing, light or ventilation.  Only four rooms on each floor had direct access of light or outside air.   In most cases the bathroom was located outside the house.

Lawrence Villiar wrote in 1900 “It has been reserved for New York City, the modern, Rome to duplicate evils of tenement-house structure known in ancient Rome alone among all the cities of the world. In characteristic fashion, she has not only duplicated these evils, but has intensified them to a degree beyond belief…”  Legislation began to be passed in the late 1800s and into the turn of the century to address these issues and living conditions gradually improved.

Two Families on Cherry Street

It was on Cherry Street, in the Lower East Side at the turn of the century, that Ignazio Quartararo, and immigrant laborer from Sciacca, and Liborio Tripi, a tailor from Sclafani both lived for a period of time. *  It had been many years since the Washingtons and his fellow aristocracy abandoned the once ritzy East River street for the northern part of the city.  Now tenements lined the street where mansions once stood. 

At some point during or prior to 1905, Liborio and Ignazio not only met, but arguably became trusted friends.  It was none other than Liborio Tripi, who (we believe) escorted Iganzio’s family (Maria, Antonina and Felippo) on board the Piemonte in May, 1905 while Iganzio returned to America, presumably to continue working after visiting his mother in Sciacca. 

When Ignazio took ill and passed away in April of 1907 from pneumonia at the young age of 43, his widow Maria was left with six children.  With little or no money, Ignazio, like many immigrants, was buried in a “pauper’s grave” at Third Cavalry Cemetery in Woodside Queens, in an umarked gravesite. 

Unable to support her entire family after Ignazio’s death, Maria was forced to place three of her children in homes to be cared for.  Accursia (called Tessie by the nuns who could not pronounce her name) was 9 and Maria 6 when they entered a Catholic home (run by the Sisters of Charity).  Maria remained at the home until she was 16.  Lucy, (Lucia) only two, entered a fondling home on 68^th St.   Antonina (13) and Pietro (10) and Filippo (4) were left at home.  

By some act of fate, Maria, now a widow, and Liborio, a widower who had lost his second wife several years before, fell in love.  They married on September 8, 1907 at St. Joachim’s Church, where Sebastiana had been baptized and where, it is said, Mother Cabrini began her work helping Italian immigrants families in need. When Sebastiana returned home from Sicily with “Mastru” Santo in November of that year, she was surprised to find she had six new brothers and sisters waiting to greet her (or at least the three which were still living at home), in addition to the two she already had!  By this time her brother Salvatore was 12, Sebastiana was 10, and half-sister Giuseppina 7. 

Shortly after his third marriage, Liborio moved his new family of 9 children (minus those who were still in homes) to 40 Hamilton Street, a one block street just east of Cherry, (between Catherine and Market Streets), perhaps to a larger house.  (Interestingly, it is a street no longer remaining on the map.  It was ripped up in 1934 to make way for Knickerbocker Village, an enormous low income housing project). 

Sebastiana recalls the family sitting around the table helping Liborio sew his garments.  They did finishing work – sewing linings into men’s pants.  Although Sam went to school, she never attended, and would hide under the bed when the truant officer came knocking at their door.   This was a fairly typical scene on the Lower East Side as children were recruited into service by the family to do “piece work” where payment was made to contractor workers for the number of garments produced.  New York City was the number one producer of clothing in the US, and the industry provided jobs for thousands of immigrants, especially women.

Shortly after they married, Liborio and Maria (#3) began a family of their own. In April, 1908 Ignazio was born, the first of four children.  Next came Nicolo in 1910, (who, unfortunately, died at a young age).  Antonio was next (1912), followed by Concetta (1914).  Maria Libassi had, by then, given birth to 10 children in total!  She was indeed, a special woman.

Footnote:

* We know that Sebastiana was born at 144 Cherry Street in 1897. In 1905, Sebastiana’s ship’s manifest listed 61 Catherine St as their home. There are no known addresses for Liborio again until 40 Hamilton Street, shortly after marrying Maria Libassi.  So we do not know when he moved from Cherry St.