Prof Angleo Colosi

Professor Angelo Colosi was the father of Lucia Colosi, the husband of Mary Colosi-Bongiovanni, and the grandfather of Angelo and Mary Colosi. He was born in Gualtieri, Italy on May 30, 1851. His parents were Nuzio Colosi and Domenica Bongiovanni. He had dark eyes and hair, and once grown, he was 5ft 3in tall. I don’t know much about Angelo’s young years or how and when he became a professor. His daughter had called him a chemist at one time, and his grandson said he was a scientist.

As a young man, Angelo married a girl named Mary. Her middle name was Inez. Mary was an opera singer. I don’t know how they met or the date of their marriage. But I’m assuming the marriage took place sometime around the late 1860s to early 1870s because they had a child in 1872 when Angelo was just 21 years old. I’m assuming this would have been their first child.

Their daughter’s name was Lucia. Sometime after Lucia was born and prior to her becoming a teenager, Angelo and Mary’s marriage ended. Neither of them died, and divorce was illegal in Italy, so I’m not sure how this came about.

I don’t know anything more about Professor’s Angelo’s life in Italy, but in 1907, at the age of 55, he and his daughter came to America. Professor Angelo was prosperous enough that he was able to purchase second-cabin tickets. This allowed them nearly all the luxury and advantages as first-cabin. They left the port in Naples, Italy and traveled on the SS Deutschland. Professor Angelo had $150 with him on the trip. From what I’ve seen in most ship manifests, the average amount that most money that people had with them was about $25.

They arrived in New York Harbor on March 3, 1907. Professor Angelo had listed his nephew Antonio Bongiovanni as the person he was planning to join upon coming to America. He said his Nephew lived in Newark, New Jersey at 339 21^st Street. In order for his Nephew’s last name to be Bongiovanni, it would mean that Professor Angelo had a sister who married a Bongiovanni.

Angelo lived with his daughter in Manhattan, New York. Lucia had married her cousin Dominick, and not long after, Dominick died. Lucia was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death, and in June 1909 Professor Angelo became a grandfather when his little grandson Angelo was born. At that point they were all living at 443 E 13^th Street in Ward 17, which was at the north end of Lower Manhattan.

Lucia quickly married again, and soon gave birth to a little girl. Professor Angelo’s granddaughter, Mary, was born in September 1911. At this point the family had moved farther uptown to 444 E 20^th Street.

Little Mary’s father died in WWI, about 1917, and shortly after the family moved to Pennsylvania; closer to where Lucia’s half brother, Anthony Bongiovanni lived. I’m not certain if they lived at more than one place, but the address I’m aware of is 4 Bridge Street in Beaver Falls. The town was located about 31 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.

As Beaver Falls entered the 20th century, it became known as one of the most well-established manufacturing towns in Western Pennsylvania. It had both a railroad line and a trolley line. The Carnegie Library in Beaver Falls, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places, was the first public library in Beaver County.

On the 1920 Census, Professor Angelo was listed as a Professor by trade and the industry listed said “doctor”. He was just a few months away from his 69^th birthday when the census was taken. Lucia had referred to her father as a chemist just a few years later, so I’m really not sure what he was doing. Chemists and chemistry were primarily a European science during the 1800s, but had not started becoming popular in the United States until after WWI ended in 1918.

Professor Angelo had been helping to raise his grandchildren ever since death of Lucia’s husband, Albert. His granddaughter had even believed that he was actually her father. In 1923, when his grandson, Angelo, was 13 and his granddaughter, Mary, was 11, Professor Angelo went into heart failure.

I’m not sure if he had been ill for a while or if the condition came on suddenly, but just days from his 72^nd birthday, Professor Angelo went into heart failure and was dying. He was taken to Providence Hospital and seen by Dr Bruce Snodgrass on May 18, 1923. Professor Angelo Colosi died the next day at 3:30 in the afternoon.

His funeral was held at the JH Spratt and Bros mortuary four days later on May 23^rd at 1:30pm. Blessing services and interment were held at St. Mary’s church at 2:00pm that same day. The notice about the funeral was in the Beaver Falls Tribune shortly after.

Professor Angelo’s funeral had cost $242. It had all been cared for by the Spratt Funeral Home, whose office was at 1901 7^th Ave in Beaver Falls. His grave is number 670 at St Mary’s Cemetery on Darlington Road.