Origini One man's quest
to trace his Italian heritage
BY EDWARD HORGAN CHAMPION CORRESPONDENT
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Ernest Caponi of Leominster can trace
his roots to the Italian town of
Pretare. (Inset) Arthur and Rose Caponi
on their wedding day in 1915. PHOTOS
COURTESY OF ERNEST CAPONI
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A Leominster man with more than four decades experience
in industry and education is now completing a 400page
manuscript chronicling his
Italian roots.
Ernest S. Caponi, 73, of 29 Causeway
Terrace, has produced a story he
calls "Arthur and Rose" in honor of
his parents. It will be published as a
book this fall, probably in September,
by AuthorHouse of Bloomington,
Indiana.
The work is a genealogical epic
presently contained in two loose-leaf
volumes. Caponi carries these with him
several mornings each week to the
Leominster Public Library where he continues to
refine his research at one of the library's Internet
stations.
The primary target audience for the book will be
Caponi's six grandchildren plus anyone interested in
doing ItalianAmerican genealogy.
The book carries the subtitle "The Caponi/Mosca
Union, October 21, 1915, in search of my Italian roots,
ninth child, fifth son."
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Ernest Caponi does research on his
computer. |
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Caponi wants to share "how I did it" by recording his
methods, strategies, successes and failures, and joy and
disappointment in what has been a labor of love - his
fifth career as he calls it.
Caponi is a Leominster native and a graduate of
Leominster High School. He attended Boston College
School of Management and has a bachelor of science in
business sdministration. Over the years, he climbed the
management career ladder with jobs in Worcester and
locally at Fitchburg Paper Co., Simonds Cutting Tools,
American Environmental Laboratories, Leominster, and
Select Engineering Inc., Fitchburg.
He is a lifelong learner.
Caponi obtained an M.B.A. from Anna Maria College
specializing in accounting and marketing and received a
bachelor's degree from New England College in computer
information systems.
His involvement in academics also included stints as
associate professor at Central New England College and
adjunct professor at Mt. Wachusett Community College.
He and his wife, Annette, have three children and six
grandchildren. Caponi also found time to get his private
pilot's license.
In 1997, Caponi embarked on his quest of family
history. While growing up in Leominster, young Ernie had
heard many stories of his father Arthur's childhood in
Pretare, Italy, and about his mother Rose's early years
in Clinton. The Caponi children also had memories of
their maternal grandmother, Concetta Sulprizio Mosca Del
Signore. With such basic information, Caponi began
exploring sources in Massachusetts including the
National Archives in Waltham and Pittsfield, the State
Archives, the O'Neill Library, Boston Public Library,
North End branch, and Judicial Archives where he
obtained naturalization records. Caponi had found his
father's name on Line 10 of the S.S. Romanio ship's
manifest at the Waltham archives.
Despite this progress, Caponi realized he needed to
become more conversant in the Italian language to move
forward. Since his parents never spoke Italian at home,
except privately to each other, Caponi's only foundation
in the language was a course he took in high school with
Lucia Piermarini, a teacher whom he credits in his book
and whom he recently was reacquainted with through
correspondence.
Caponi began a self-study of Italian and wrote to
officials and relatives in Italy, simultaneously in
English and Italian. He had addresses for cousins in
Rome and elsewhere, which he had obtained from cousins
in the United States.
He determined it would be necessary to visit Italy
and specifically the Marche region where his father once
lived, and Abruzzo, where his mother's people came from.
These adjoining regions are located mid-calf on the
Adriatic side of the Italian boot.
Ernest and Annette Caponi departed for Italy on
September 23, 1997, the couple's 30th wedding
anniversary.
Caponi tells of meeting with Mario, a cousin who
provided travel guidance and introductions to other
relatives. Caponi harvested information and copies of
documents, many of which he reproduces, of births,
baptisms, marriages, and deaths. They visited public
buildings, churches and cemeteries. Several photographs
will illustrate the book. Caponi noted, "Civil records
are inherently easier to obtain than church records."
The Caponis made a second trip to Italy in 1999 and
plan a third trip this fall. The result of these labors
is a vastly expanded growth of the family tree.
Additionally, Caponi was able to pick up peripheral
information, which has helped other researchers to have
their own "eureka" moments of discovery.
The book has a chapter entitled "Unsolved Mysteries,"
not the least of which is a conflict in the vital
records of Arthur Caponi's birth date, which the family
always celebrated on May 1. In any event, the year of
Arthur's birth was 1891 and he came to this country in
1909 aboard the S.S. Romanio.
Also unresolved in another chapter is Caponi's futile
attempt to establish if Rose's father may have been
involved in construction of the Clinton dam, an issue
suggested by the proximity of the family's residence at
278 Grove St. to the reservoir site.
The book's dedication page required a recent revision
due to the birth of a sixth grandchild.
The Caponi grandchildren are Lauren Caponi, daughter
of Robert Caponi, 30 Revolution Dr., Leominster; Alyssa,
Joseph, and Angela Caponi, children of Richard Caponi of
Brooklyn, Conn.; and Owen and Ryan Caponi, sons of Lisa
(Caponi) DeMars of Marlboro. Ryan is the most recent
addition.
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