Home Riceviamo da Jeffrey Vitti Hayes  il testo e le foto che presentiamo, ringraziando Jeffrey. 6 giugno 2011.

Jeffrey Vitti Hayes
habitathanalei@yahoo.com


My partner Greg Sovey & I made our first trip to Settefrati in May of 2010, trying locating the land my Great Grandparents owned in the early 1900's.

 They were Cesidio (Jesse) & Orazia Vitti, and had a daughter, Pasqua while living in Settefrati. When my Grandfather passed away, my Aunt found documents pertaining to the sale of my Great Grandparents land & home in Settefrati. Unfortunately it was written in Italian & I wasn't able to translate it.

In 2010, we arrived in Settefrati for the first time. It was a magical place. I could feel the presence of my family there & I felt immediate peace & calm. While we were not able to gain any information that year, I was at least fortunate enough to stand on the ground of my ancestors & develop an understanding and an appreciation for where I came from. We stayed at Valle dell’Aquila, and Paola Vitiello and Patrizio made us feel welcome & became like family to us both.

In August of 2010, several months later, Greg & I decided to surprise my Mother, Philomena Vitti Rowlands, with a trip to Italy for her 70th birthday. We gave her the trip for Christmas that year & she was extremely excited to see Italy & the town her Mother & Grandparents came from in the 1920's.

2010: Recap

On our first visit to Settefrati, while Greg & I were trying to figure out where we were, I met Giacomo Sciarra on the road while we were looking at a map. He was on a motorbike & stopped to offer assistance. He spoke little English, but right away asked me if I was a Vitti. He told us to follow him & he accompanied us to the Piazza in the center of the town.

He brought us to someones door who wasn't home. I found out the following year, that this person was Domenico Vitti, the former Mayor of Settefrati. Because Domenico wasn't home, he took me to another house. A man answered the door, identifying himself as Domenico. He lived part time in Settefrati, part time in Stamford, Conn., Settefrati's sister city in the U.S. He couldn't really help with the documents, but invited us in for a drink. We had little time left, so we departed & continued trying to find any information we could.

2011: Recap

When my Mom had little luck with finding someone to help translate my Great Grandparents land sale documents, I asked for help on the Facebook page. Sal responded within 10 minutes. I had met Sal Cucco on-line on the Settefrati Facebook Page & we became friends, but I had never spoken or corresponded with him. I scanned the documents & emailed them. As it turns out, Sal was having dinner the following night with Riccardo Frattaroli, the current mayor of Settefrati, who was visiting New York & Stamford at the time. He & Ricardo were friends & Sal said he'd show the documents to Riccardo & ask him for his help. Riccardo offered his assistance in showing the documents to Domenico Vitti (the same person who wasn't home the previous year), because he was the "knowledge bank" of the town. Sal told us that if we had any problems while in Settefrati, we should contact his cousins, Domenico & Lina Rustici for assistance. They would be notified of our visit & would assist us where & how they could on behalf of Sal. Keep in mind, I had never met Sal Cucco, and here he was offering his time and sincere effort to make sure we had the trip of a lifetime. Rarely have I ever come upon such a selfless person, generous to the core of his being.

Once we arrived in Settefrati, Riccardo Frattaroli met us for dinner at Valle dell’Aquila the first night. We found out through Ricardo that my Uncle, Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) accompanied my Great Grandparent's to Settefrati in 1962 & there were photos of him with the people of the town. We were shocked. Apparently, my Uncle Raymond gave money to the Church & had a statue of the Virgin commissioned that still stands there today. Ricardo was stunned to find this out (as were we) because we had never thought to mention Raymond had been there.

Following dinner & a very revealing meeting, we agreed to meet the following morning in the Piazza, attend mass, meet Domenico Vitti, and see what we could find. At 10 AM the next morning, we met Riccardo & Domenico in the Piazza.

Unbelievably, two people met us at the same time, Domenico & Lina Rustici. These were the two people Sal Cucco told us to contact should we have a problem. They were his cousins & spoke English. They would intervene & help us with whatever we needed & Sal had asked them to be in the Piazza that morning to look for 3 Americans. Domenico Rustici was the SAME man I'd met the previous year! Domenico was Sal's cousin.

We went to Mass. Domenico Vitti didn't come to mass; rather, he sat outside for over an hour studying the documents with great interest. Turns out he knows just where to go to find the land & has already researched information, has the land plot plan, the name of the owner, purchase transactions, birth, death & marriage records. He wanted some additional time to gather information, so Riccardo offered to show us around Settefrati.

Riccardo was a great guy. He spent NINE hours showing us all over Settefrati, insisting we stop everywhere, get out of the car & pose for photos at important places. We drove to Domenicos' daughter, Ausilia's hotel (a former school), were treated to an amazing meal of fettuccine with sauce, roasted chicken, potatoes, peas, bread, wine, pastries.



Following lunch, Ausilia showed us a very modest room where Pope John Paul II stayed when he showed up unannounced for a 3 day retreat in the early 90's. We saw the old fireplace/ovens that were still in use to roast meats & giant kettles used to make polenta...still poured onto tables without plates the way my family would always prepare it. Ausilia was amazing, gracious & fun to be around. Her father, Domenico at 86 years old, still walked the 5 miles up the mountain to her hotel everday to say hello, dine or help out. I will always remember Domenico & Ausilia with great fondness. They were such generous people, both with sincere & gracious hearts that made us feel celebrated & welcome.

Riccardo took us to Il Santuario Di Canneto, a church built on a sacred site were a miracle occured in 1500. The original church was destroyed & this cathedral was erected in tribute & remembrance. The statue of the Madonna & child was the original....over 1500 years old. Amazingly sereen & beautiful. At the church, I looked for Don Antonio, a priest that Sal asked me to look for. I had looked for him previously that day at another church & finding him was really, really moving. He was an incredibly welcoming spirit with a warm embrace. When I told him why I was there & that we needed to pray for Sal, he pinched my cheek, gave me a long & tight embrace & we prayed. I was moved to tears in his presence because I realized I had finally found the person Sal had asked me to find & pray with. I had not found out initialy, but Sal was very sick. He has diabetes, was in the hospital & on the list for a kidney transplant. I had carried a family crucifix throughout our journey & lit candles & prayed for Sal in the churches. My experience with Don Antonio will always be imprinted on my mind and in my heart.

We left the Connetta & met Domenico & his wife, Lina-along with Domenico Vitti in the Piazza. Domenico walked us down the street to an overlook & pointed to a grouping of 4 old stone homes in the distance. Then he told me this was my Great Grandparents land, where their old home once stood. The original home was destroyed in an earthquake in 1984, but the remnants still stood & the adjacent homes were still in tact. It was late, but I was able to get a photo of the homesite below the setting sun. We agreed to meet the following morning & Domenico would accompany us to the site.. We invited Domenico, Lina & Ausilia to dinner, exhausted from such a long day with an overload of information and "coincidences."

This is where the most amazing part of the adventure happened.

Last year, Greg & I kept getting lost on our way to the Valle dell’Aquila, even though signs were clearly posted everywhere. Strange, but it happened every time we tried to get back to the Inn. We always ended up on this rural road, where I took photos of these two horses just grazing. What was the biggest draw for me was a corralled pasture with horses and their newborn colts. I thought it was amazing to see, and I think because of my love of animals, I kept wanting to get out & see them up close.

As it turns out, when we arrived at the site of my Great Grandparents home site & land, immediately next to it was the corralled pasture & the same two horses that had been grazing on the road the following year. I had a feeling that they were saying, "the land is right here" all along. It was by far the most amazing part of my visit to Settefrati, because I knew these horses had been there for a reason all along.

This time, to Greg's horror, I scurried under the barbed wire & stood among all the horses in complete awe & contentment...so excited to have realized what had happened & where I was. I never had any reason to believe their home was located here below the city. The horses were there both years to unequivocally impart a feeling that something or someone was intervening in this journey to let me know that I was being guided where I needed to go. It was an overwhelming feeling of peace & excitement all at the same time. Not like anything I've ever experienced before.

We met Rita & Bruno, a couple that lived in a 3 story home, with a common wall that was once shared by my family's home. They introduced us to a 76 year old woman named Italia who could remember a Vitti that purchased the land and came from Canada. Italia had lost her Mother a month earlier & was all alone with her 3 dogs. As it turned out later, I found that Italia was Sal Cucco's brother's sister-in-law. Small, small world.

Leaving the land, Domenico brought us to City Hall, where we walked up the three flights of stairs to an immaculate suite of offices, holding all of the records of the town. He patiently pulled out giant books of records, showing us the birth, marriage & death certificates of our family, dating back to the early 1800's, all beautifully hand written & immaculately preserved. It was amazing to see & experience.

As it turns out, my Great Grandfather Jesse (Cesidio) had a younger brother, Domenico. Nobody had ever known his name or any information about him. Domenico Vitti had known Domenico all of his life and gave us a glimpse into what his life was like. He was severely injured in WWI, lost his left leg, and returned to Settefrati & had a child named Antonio. He would have been my Great Grandfather's Nephew. My Great Grandfather had already moved to America, so they never saw one another again because Domenico died in 1950. Antonio Vitti, however, was the person who purchased my Great Grandparent's land in the 70's, while living in Canada. Antonio passed away 4 years ago, but has children that would be our cousins.

When the home was destroyed in the '84 earthquake, it was abandoned for some time. Nobody ever came to take care of the property & the it was claimed by the Tiani family on the adjacent site; apparently, a common practice in Italy. It's quite easy for a person to bring witnesses into a courtroom, have them swear that a land parcel is theirs & receive documentation of ownership. When Antonio's daughter, who lived in New York at the time, tried to claim the land, the Tianis asked her if she had the money to fight for the deed in the courts. Discouraged & not prepared for a international ,lengthy & expensive court battle, she dropped her claim on the land & it was lost to the Vitti family forever.

Domenico was able to provide us with information on Antonio's last address and the names of his children. Now, we have the ability to find relatives we've never met, who most likely have no knowledge of our existence. He also offered to continue his research into our family, telling us that it could take 2-3 months to access records from other cities, but that would most likely answer many additional questions.

Although the journey to Settefrati uncovered virtually everything we we were hoping to find, it also opened new doors that will help in finding links & bonds to people that have significant links to the Vitti family. Our journey continues

6 giugno 2011