Zia Tina's Story

In 1894, Rocco Giacoia came to the US.  I have not yet found the information about the ship, exact date, and destination.  I’m guessing he may have come from Forenza.  He settled in the Boston area.  In 1900, Maria Michelina Masi (Michele’s older sister) came to the US from Forenza.  I have also not found her immigration information.  On April 14, 1901, she and Rocco Giacoia were married in Boston. I suspect this was an arranged marriage.

On Aug 24, 1907, Michele sailed from Naples on the SS Romanic and arrived in Boston on Sept 5.  According to the ship’s manifest, Michele was sponsored by his brother-in-law, Rocco Giacoia, and went to live with him and Maria in Wakefield, Massachusetts.  Michele’s name on the ship manifest is spelled Masi.  He signed his immigration card with an “open” i which was probably mistaken by the clerk as an e, thus making Masi into Mase.  He continued to sign his name Masi, and his naturalization papers show Masi, but somehow Mase stuck.

On July 20, 1910, Michele’s mother, Philomena Libutti, and his younger sister Erminia sailed from Naples on the SS Romanic and arrived in Boston on August 1.  Philomena and Erminia were sponsored by Michele and Rocco.  So now the Masi family is in place in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

On January 15, 1913, Donata (Tina) Mancaniello departed Naples on the SS Canopic, travelling alone.  She was 18. Her occupation was listed as housewife, and her nearest relative in Italy was listed as her oldest sister Lucia.  She arrived in Boston on January 29.  She was sponsored by her cousin Michele Albano, who was the son of her father’s sister Filomena.  The address listed for Albano was the same address in Wakefield that the Giacoia’s and Masi’s lived at.  Also of interest is that Donata’s godparents, George and Josephine Marmo, also lived in Wakefield.

Clearly this was an arranged marriage.  Donata and Michele were married in Boston on January 30, 1913 – the day after she arrived!