My father, Adamo Attillo Albertini (Abram) was born in the country of Italy. He was born in the month of February , on the 23rd day, and in the year of 1889. (1) He was born in the city of Sassoferrato, the providence of Ancona. His family owned a small farm on the outskirts of Sassoferrato, in an area called Vera Cove. The farm is located about five miles from the city limits, When you leave the city you take a road which leads you up into the mountains. The farm is located on the side of a small hill, Sassoferrato is located down into a small valley. When you come in the city by train you come into a small valley with hills on both sides. The city is located on the side of one of these small hills, The city is just one street long with several side streets. It has a very small park (or park) in the middle of the city. The city is about two miles long and about one mile wide.
My father comes from a family of five children, His fathers name is Albertino Albertini and his mothers name is Gentile Turbessi, (2) The children are as follows: Adamo, Francisca, Alfonso, Pasotina (Dosotina) and Teresa. (for complete family see enclosed pedigree chart attached)
Italy in the nineteenth century was a society divided by class. The aristocrats, the smallest class, consisted of great land barons and titled families. These people live primarily in the large cities. The largest class, contadini (peasants) consisted of laborers and farmers. The Albertini family comes from this group. There was very little interaction between these classes of people. A member of the contadini could never even consider aspiring to improve his or her position and move up to a higher class.
Although education was made available to everyone, the poor could not afford to send their children to school since they were needed to work and provide income to help support the family. At five of six years old, many children were already working.
Although the Albertini family, contadini, were small landowners, they were still poor and would always be poor. Their plot of land was only large enough to support the family, so only the first son could inherit the land. This land was to pass to my father, but since he stayed in America, the land was then passed on the second son Alfonso. Since the family was poor, they could only afford a small dowry for the first daughter. Because of this situation, frequently only the first male and the first female of these families could afford to marry. The other children often remained unmarried until they entered their thirties.
Even among the poor, marriages were often arranged. Love was often less important than convenience. During the emigrations from Italy to North and South America, daughters were frequently shipped off to marry a friend or a cousin or another complete stranger who had established himself in the new land
The typical house of a common family was small stone, brick or mud construction, usually one story. Of course there was no running water or drainage. This tiny abode often housed the entire family. Because of this crowding and lacy of privacy, the streets and piazzas of the town were the living rooms of the community. Almost all socializing, celebrating and recreation occurred in public.
Family was a major focus in the lives of the people. Although the family structure appears to be patriarchal to the outsider, there is a hidden, but strong, matriarchal influence. The father’s public role was to act as the ultimate authority over all family matters, but his will was usually a reflection of the mother’s wishes. In public, the women usually held a subservient role, catering to the men and taking care of the home and family..
Religion also played a major role in the life of the family. They were not religious, but prayed and went to church out of fear, superstition and obligation. All the family members were Catholic. Each town had a patron saint, whose feast day was celebrated annually with feasts, parades, and parties, with the hope that the saint would protect the town throughout the coming year.
A typical day in the life of a member of the Albertini family consisted work. Since there was not electrical lights, the sun was their light. Workdays were shorter in the wind and longer in the summer. I arrived in Sassofferato by train in the month of September 1954. I had just completed my mission in France. I took the train from Marseille, France directly to Acona.I took the train in the evening and travelled all night . I had a small envelope that my mother had saved from a letter from dad’s brother Alfonso, I misunderstood the address. It said Alfonso Albertine Via Cove, Sassofferato, Ancona, Italy. I thought Ancona was the city, Sassofferate was the street, and via cove address. When I got to the city of Ancona, I went to the train ticket office and asked for directions on how to get to this address. To my shock, I was told that I had come to the wrong city. They then explained to me the address on the letter. I then purchased a train ticket to go to Sassofferato. I took me about two or three hours to get to Sassofferato. I arrived in the mid morning around 11:00 am. As I walked out of the train depot hoping to find this address, I thought I would ask a taxi cab driver if he knew the address. Much to my suprise, he knew who Alfonso was and where he live. The taxi cab drive could not speak English and I could not speak Italian. But with sign language, he motioned me to get into the cab, which I did, and away we went down through Sassofferato and took a small road leading out of the city and up a small mountain road. The place he took me is two to three miles out of town. The cab driver then stopped the cab and motion by hand to a place across a field. The cab driver pointed to a man walking across the field about two hundred yards away and pointing the name on the envelope and pointing back to the man. I then got out of the cab and started to walk toward the man. The man started to run toward me. The field had weeds and grass from a few inches high to weeds about 8 to 10 inches high. When I got about 4 to 5 feet from the man I could see tears in his eyes and tears running down his sun tanned face, He then open his arms wide open and wrapped his arms and hands around me. He pressed is face against me .Alfonso then gave me three kisses. Kissing me on one cheek then on the other. Alfonso had not shaven in many days and his beard was like sand paper. He held me in his arms for what seemed like an hour without saying anything. The time was probably about 5 to 10 minutes. He then in his broken English he told me who I was. That I was Adamo’s son and that I looked like my dad. Alfonso said he knew the minute he saw me who I was. With his arms around me we walked back toward the house. He spoke in his broken English, for Alfonso had come to America a year after my dad and spent a couple of years working with dad , and Italian. I had a great difficultly understand him. But I did not say much. I just let him talk and hug me. When we arrived at the house (see picture) his wife, Gentile, met us. She gave me a hug and kiss. She tried to talk to me, but I could not understand her Italian. There home was a small one floor stone house. There was a small kitchen and two bedrooms. They had a small barn attached to the back of the house. This barn housed the small amount of farm equipment. They has a plow that they hooked up to the oxen, wooden rakes, shovels, and many other types of farm hand tools. Uncle Alfonso took me into their kitchen. This kitchen had a wooden table about five feet long by about three feet wide. They had wooden hand made chairs. There was in the corner of the room a wood stove. This is where they cooked their meals. They had no refrigerator There was only a small light hanging from the middle of the ceiling. The kitchen also had a small radio. The main bedroom, when uncle Alfonso and aunt Gentile live, had only a bed with a mattress was made of straw and a heavy cotton slip case with held the straw in place. The bedroom had a window with faced the East. When the sun would come up the sun would shine directly through the window on to the bed. This would awake the parents and this would start their day. The bed had a wooden frame and a small box spring which the mattress rested on. Next to the bed was a small night stand which had a wind up clock. You could hear the ticking of this clock all over the bedroom. They also had a small dresser with a mirror on it. It had three drawers. On the other side of the room was a large wooden closet which housed their coats, suits , dresses and other clothes. This closet was about thirty inches deep, four feet wide and about 6 feet high. The room also had a small table which had a wash basin and water pitcher on it. The floors in the house were all made of wood. The walls were plastered and painted a light tan. The other bedroom, where the children slept, was a smaller room. The room had three small bed. There was a window which faced toward the back of the property, The bedroom had one night stand and a small wooden closet. This closet held the children clothes .
About the time they were finished taken me through the house, which was about 20 to 30 minutes, a lady came into the house very excited. It was aunt Teresa, She lived a couple of blocks a way. She ran up to me talking in Italian and threw her arms around me. Tears came to her eyes as she hugged me. She was about five foot four inches and weighed about 120 lbs. Uncle Alfonso was about 5 ft 10” and weighed about 180 lbs. Uncle Alfonso had his son and daughter their. About an hour later an neighbor, who live about a mile away, came over. He had gone to America about the age of 18 and spent 25 years working and retiring. H they decided to return to Italy and live out the last of his days in the place where he was born and lived as a boy. He spoke very good English. He had not spoken English for many years, but could still speak very well. He then translated my English into Italian and the family Italian into English for me. Now that many years have passed, I cannot remember all we talked about, but I can remember telling them every thing I know about dad, mom and all of us children. I told them a history, of what I knew, of our family in Utah. I told them of dad meeting mom in Burley Idaho. Where they live in Oregon and California and their life in Utah.
They in turn told me all about dad’s life here in Sassofferato. Since light was necessary in order for them to work, the sun was their alarm clock. Workdays we shorter in the winter and longer in the summer. Rising from bed , they would get dressed, and go immediately and feed the animals. Uncle Alfonzo had two oxen, some chickens, and a milk cow. All animal droppings were save and used as fertilizer in the fields.
The water for drinking cooking and washing had to be carried from a well close by. This well was used by everybody in the area. The wells was a popular meeting place for the exchange of news, gossip, and family activities.
Breakfast usually consisted of bread or a bowl of polenta (cornmeal mush) . in most cases breakfast was not eaten upon arising, but at mid-morning breaks from work. Many of the men and young boys would work as day laborers. These bosses would come to the town square with a wagon looking for men to spend a day or so hauling wheat, corn, rock or picking fruit. Some times the bosses would have them work in the fields harvesting the crops, or clearing land. The day laborers never knew if they would be working from one day to the next.
The women would work in the family fields harvesting their crops, taking care of the animals, and children. Even the children worked, from as young as five years old and up. The children would pick the crops in the fields, pick grapes, or rice. The children has chores around the home and was expected to work when they were not attending school .
At lunch time they would consume a potato, bread, wine, salami or cheese and then go back to work. As the sun began to set, and it became too dark to see, the workday was over. The evening meal would be a little more substantial than the noon meal. The meal would have meat, bread, wine, soup, potato, pasta or polenta. They would have beans, salads, and some fruit. Wood and coal were too valuable and expensive to use as heating the house. They were only used for cooking.
The evening finally allowed time for socializing. People would walk through the small roads, and gathered and talked to the friends and relatives. Children would run around and play games together. When it was time to retire, the family would return to their homes and go to bed, often with the whole family sharing these two bedrooms the Albertini family had. The next morning the day was repeated. The people had few goals nor long-term ideas. They lived a day-today existence for six days and on Sunday they had the day off. Sundays would be spent visiting family, friends, and doing many other things. Alfred M. Albertini Abram
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