1859 – 1935
Various Spellings for Bernardino Di Crescenzo
The names for both Bernardino and his wife, Antonietta, go through many evolutions, showing perhaps a lack of concern by whoever was taking down their information, combined with both of them speaking only their native language, Italian and perhaps never learning to read and write, themselves.
- 1897 – The passenger list on the SS Victoria lists him as Bernardino De Crescenzo – laborer
- 1898 – Marriage record in Wappingers Falls, NY, he is Bernardino Crescenzi -.
- 1899 – Birth record for son Guido – Bernardino Dicrescenzo
- 1901 – Birth of Giuseppe – Bernardino Di Crescenzo
- 1905 – The New Jersey Census lists him as Bernardino Crescienze. (There is also a Carmine listed under the Crescienze last name. He is 22 years old, born on Feb. 1883. He is young enough to have been son of Bernardino – from a pervious marriage in Italy or a much younger brother by 23 years. I found one Carmine Crescenzo who applied for Naturalization in 1937 when he was 55 – born July 5, 1885). See notes for Antonietta for more information from this census.)
- 1910 – The Census has Bernardino listed as Ben Cercsenzo. The other names are also butchered, so one can only assume the census taker was tired, hard of hearing, or didn’t give a damn about Italian workers.
- 1915 – The New Jersey Census lists him as Benarrdino Criscemzo
- 1920 – The Census has him as Benardo Criscenzo and shows that he not only owned his home, but it was also mortgage free! At 60 years old, Bernardo is working as a dyer in the silk mill, as are three of his sons: William (20) is a weaver, Joseph (18) is a dyer helper, Tony (16) is a weaver, and Frank (14) is going to school. It’s also interesting that his neighbors all seem to be from Holland.
- 1930 – The Census lists him as Bernard O Criscenzo. He has worked as a dyer in the United Piece Dye Works for 30 years.
- 1934 – Obituary and gravestone Bernardo Di Criscenzo.
Bernardino’s Origins
I could find no record of the birth of Bernardino Di (or De) Crescenzo. His birth and baptism do not come up in searches for Italy in the Antenati Italiani database or FamilySearch.com. Even his name on the passenger list for the S.S. Victoria, which arrived in New York on Feb 26, 1897, offers no evidence that this is the same Bernardino Di Crescenzo who is my great grandfather, except that the age matches with the age and immigrations date shown for him in the 1910 Census.
In Antenati Italiana, there are 1,036 records for the name Di Crescenzo between 1780 and 2000. The majority are in the Abruzzo region, east of Rome. In the Chieti province, south of Pescara, there are 1,162 records for Di Crescenzo, including 1,004 for Guardiagrele, a town of 10,000 in the foothills of the Maiella mountain, some dating back to 1821.
The proximity of Chieti to the Pescara region where his first wife, Antonietta Faricelli most likely originated, gives weight to the possibility that Bernardo and Antonietta both came from that region and met and were betrothed prior to coming to America.
But, there is also a cluster of Di Crescenzo’s south of Naples, in Cetara, a town in the province of Salerno in the Campania region of southwestern Italy on the Amalfi Coast. There are 34 records between 1838 to 1895 including a Bernardo Di Crescenzo, but none of his three sons, born 1858, 1861 and 1872 (Bernardino was born 1859) were named Bernardo or any variation. In fact, there are very few records of Crescenzo with the first name Bernardo.
There is a record of the death of a Bernardo Di Crescenzo recorded in Aversa, Italy on Feb 14, 1860. (Italia, Morti e Sepolture, 1809-1900 database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRBG-N19 : 7 February 2020), Bernardo di Crescenzo, 1860). This would have been exactly 3 months after Bernardino was born. Because the name Bernardo is somewhat uncommon in combination with Crescenzo, and it was common practice to name the firstborn son after his father, (the addition of “ino” differentiating the son from the father is a possibility). However the numbers make a stronger case for Bernardino originating in Guardiagrele.
So, despite considerable effort, the ancestry of Bernardino Di Crescenzo and Antonietta Faricelli remains a mystery.
Bernardo’s Second Wife, Elvira Pavonne
According to the 1910 Census, by April 26, 1910, Bernardino (misspelled as Ben on the Census) had bought the house at 117 Westervelt Ave, Hawthorne and was working as a weaver in the silk factory (a position that required more skill and was paid better than a dyer’s helper. The Census states that he doesn’t speak English, but he can read and write. Per her gravestone, Bernardino’s first wife and mother of his four sons, Antonetta, died in 1910, so Bernardino wasted no time remarrying.
Elvira Pavone (misspelled as Levat on the Census) is listed as 22 years old and had taken on the responsibility of raising his four young sons, William (10), Joe (9), Tony (7), and Frank (5). In a 1910 Census for 26 Cross St. Paterson, NJ, the Pavone family shows a daughter who was 24, had immigrated in 1908, and worked as a weaver in a silk mill. This census is dated 22 Apr. 1910 – so it’s possible that 4 days later, Elvira was married to Bernardino and shows up in 2 census locations. Or, maybe she just moved in and they never actually got married. In any case, she was recognized as the mother of Bernardino’s four sons in her obituary and remembered with fondness by my father, Bernardo Criscenzo.