28 May Bottieri/Buttieri family
Bottieri/Buttieri family
This story will start by telling the history, as much as has been found, of Giovanni Bottieri and Giuseppe Buttieri and their families. As far back as records can be found, a woman named Rosa Fiorini married Luigi Bottieri. Both of them were born around 1790/1800. Their place of birth is unknown. Together they had a child. There was a rumour in the family that the father of this child was a soldier of Austrian/German descent but in fact he was Italian born. It may be that he was an Italian soldier who fought in the war around this time period or further back in the line another ancestor was of Austrian/German decent, however this cannot be verified. Together Luigi and Rosa had a child, Giuseppe (B: 3.6.1824, D: 8 April 1909) in Castello d’Argile (5 miles from Cento).
According to Giovannni’s memory, as told by his father, Rosa was very poor and after Luigi died she placed Giuseppe in the orphanage somewhere near Bologna or Ferrera, Italy so she could go to work and also to give Giuseppe a better life. There were numerous orphanages and homes that took in children at this time. These children usually stayed in one place all their lives in that they grew up, married and were allotted a piece of land to work on and raise their families. Sometimes when these children grew up, they would move to another part of the country and work for another Land Owner. It was also the custom in those days for the orphans to take the last name of the people that took them in. In Giuseppe’s case, when he was 7 or 8 years of age, a rich landowner came to the orphanage and adopted him to use as an apprentice. It would appear that his Land Owner (Signor Bottieri) had the same last name as Giuseppe; although it is unclear if they were related. As he grew older, Giuseppe had memories of another family that spelt their name similar to theirs (Buttieri). They lived close by and the mail was always getting mixed up between the two families. Although a search has been made, including by Archivio Storico Comune di Cento, we have been unable to find out the name of the orphanage that Giuseppe was placed in.
When Giuseppe grew up, he moved around a lot but eventually met and married Teresa Roversi (B: 29.4.1824 in Castello d’Argile, D: 22.2.1896). Teresa was the daughter of Angelo Roversi and Rosa Grazioli (B.1801, D: 1878). Giuseppe and Teresa moved to Renazzo. In 1868, there are records of them living in Lunga Street.
Together Guiseppe and Teresa had 5 children. Luigi (B: 15.6.1848) who lived in Renazzo but moved to Molinella around 1919, he died there in 1920. Angelo (B: 20.9.1855, D: 10.9.1938) who lived in Renazzo. He was listed as working as a ‘bacciante’ (labourer) and became the groom for the stable belonging to the overseer in that area. Maria (B: 1850), Rosa (B: 1858) and Cesare (B: 1864). Cesare moved to Plymouth in 1892 . Generosa Trocchi joined him and they married on 12 April 1894.
Luigi married Claudia Busi (B:1846). They had five children: Elvira Maria (B:1874), Adelcisa Maria (B:1876), Agata Teresa (B: 1879), Giovanni (B: 24.6.1883) and Raffaele (b.1885). Luigi and Claudi were the parents of Giovanni’s family line.
Angelo married Maria Angelini (B: 13.3.1858 in Renazzo, D: 17.1.1943) and eventually settled in the same road as Luigi in Renazzo. Angelo and Maria also had 5 children: Teresa (B: 11.7.1884), Giuseppe (B: 1.5.1888 in Corporeno and by 1905 was no longer living in Cento), Rosa (B: 17.7.1893, D: 16.11.1893), Vincenzo (B.: 17.7.1893, D: 20.7.1893) and Anna Maria (B:11.7.1896). Angelo and Maria were the parents of Giuseppe family line.
Luigi Bottieri and Claudia Busi met and married (1875/6). They were Peasants in Italy. They worked a piece of land for the Padroni (owners of a property) and got to keep a portion of what they grew to sustain their family. Crops etc were often bartered. For example, if they had a good crop of squash, they would trade it for some potatoes. The peasants would grow corn one year and eat Polenta all winter. The next year they would grow potatoes and eat gnocchi. If they were fortunate enough to raise 2 hogs, they were assured a supply of meat for the winter. They could also sell one to get money to buy other necessities, such as clothing.
Luigi and Claudia had 5 children. Raphael, Marie, Agatha, Adelcisa and Giovanni. Raphael was a priest to his parish and a boy’s orphanage in Italy in the Bologna/Ferrara area . Marie and Agatha were both nuns in Italy. Adelcisa emigrated to the USA and married Ermelindo Pelati in 1899.
It was common at this time for the man of the house to leave home, find work and send money home. It was a bigger adventure to go to America (the Land of Opportunity) to get a job and send money back home to better the standard of living for those in Italy or to immigrate there. A number of this family moved initially to Plymouth, enticed by the Plymouth Cordage Factory.
The Plymouth Cordage Company (established in 1824) initially used people living in the Plymouth area but following the war and the expansion out west, turned to Europe to find employees. They started in Germany but then moved on to Italy where they recruited workers from the Renazzo and Cento area.
Renazzo was a farming community. The growing of hemp started in the second half of the 15th century in the Bologna, Ferrara, Cento areas and became the cornerstone of the agricultural system for many years in this area. The hemp fibre was used for making rope, fishing nets, sack cloths and cloth for sails. By the 19th century, there was international trading of hemp which lead to the Cordage Factory being established.
Due to this area having knowledge of rope making and working with hemp, Renazzo and Cento were two of the areas the Cordage factory targeted and enticed people to move to Plymouth and work for them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Italy and Metropolitan City of Bologna, The Museum, https://www.museociviltacontadina.bo.it). The Cordage company would regularly visit the Renazzo and Cento area and buy the hemp that was grown there. The hemp was particularly good from this area due to the rich soil and the skilled cultivation practices there. The Cordage Factory noted the economic struggles in this area and would offer farmers and families a new future should they come to Plymouth and join their company. This was especially beneficial for the Cordage Factory due to these people having knowledge of rope making and working with hemp. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_in_Italy and Metropolitan City of Bologna, The Museum, https://www.museociviltacontadina.bo.it)
Cesare seems to have been one of the first of the family to move over to work in Plymouth, although he didn’t start working for the Cordage Factory until 1897as a Opening Room Operator. Rosa joined him and they remained in the Plymouth area. Luigi and Adelcisa moved to Plymouth in 1893. Luigi worked at the Cordage Factory in 1893 with Adelcisa accompanying him as his housekeeper. Adelcisa, described as a smart girl, learned to speak English quickly and acted as his interpreter for many local companies wishing to hire Italian labourers from the old country and for many of the Italians in the area; especially those at the Plymouth Cordage personal office, although there is no record of her working for the Plymouth Cordage Factory.
In 1898, when Giovanni was 15 years of age, his father paid for his ticket to join him in Plymouth. Giovanni initially worked in Plymouth loading kegs of nails onto trucks, but it was really hard work, so he soon moved on to another job as a Spinner for The Plymouth Cordage Company in Plymouth until 1904.
Luigi returned to Italy after a few years of working for the Plymouth Cordage Company to re-join his family. Claudia would not leave Italy to join him in the USA. She had heard many tales of hardship in the USA and felt that the USA was too forward and an unholy land thereby refusing to go with him. She was also afraid of boats. She said of their life in Italy; “You are rich, you have a cow”, why would you want to leave. They migrated to Molinella in 1919.
At the turn of the Twentieth century the Italian government required the oldest male child to serve 2 years in the army. Giovanni was the oldest. If he did not go back to Italy and serve, they would have taken Raphael out of the seminary and he would have had to serve for 2 years. Giovanni was drafted in 1904 as a corporal and a bugler. His employer in Plymouth told him he could go and serve in the army and that there would be a job for him at the Cordage Factory when he got back; although not necessarily the one that he left. Giovanni returned to Italy and did his military service in the Italian army in the Battle of Tripoli in 1905. He served in the 63rd Regiment Infantry.
Giovanni was a member of the Land Army in the Italy. He served in the Boer War in North Africa and was involved in a expedition to Libya (Battle of Tripoli, Ethiopia, and Benghazi) since Italy was looking for new colonies. He remembered his officer’s name being Captain Baritary. The expedition was for these troops to go down the African coast, in the hopes of colonizing the land in the name of Italy since they considered these people to be barbarians at this time. These troops, along with equipment and supplies, aimed to set up farming and to educate the natives. The army was there for protection until such times as the natives became friendly. They continued their work until they ran into the English Army who were doing the same thing in the name of England. In the end, both armies declared they had both won the war. Not a single shot had been fired. At this time the Italian government cut conscription time from 18 months to 6 months, in order to reduce their budget. Giovanni was discharged with a rank of Corporal in the Bugle Corps.
Giovanni (John) in his military band uniform. John played the coronet/bugle in the band in the Italian army.
While stationed in Ethiopia, Giovanni met the king and queen: King Menelik II and Queen Taytu Betul. He had his picture taken with Queen Taytu. He was close at hand the day the photo was taken, so was put to service holding some of the Queen’s ceremonial robes since he was tall. Queen Taytu was tall and her husband was short. She apparently liked tall men. This photograph was taken at the signing of the Peace Treaty.
The discharge from the military of Giovanni.
Immediately after discharge from the army, Giovanni returned to Plymouth and his job in the Plymouth Cordage Company (~1906). In regards to his army records, Giovanni was called back to service in 1915 for the First World War. In August 1919 he was finally discharged from the army with his records showing that he was no longer living in Italy in 1921.
According to Patrias & Savage (Patrias, Carmela & Savage, Larry, Union Power, AU Press, 2012) and conversations with Giovanni’s son Joseph, originally the factory was in Plymouth but following Confederation, John A MacDonald (Prime Minister of Canada at the time) imposed tariffs on all American-made goods in order to encourage and protect Canadian manufacturing . In order to combat this, the Cordage Company started a subsidiary factory in Welland, Ontario. Many factories were opened in this area due to the nearby hydro plant and the Welland Canal. Immigrants, skilled and non-skilled workers were hired at low wages for these job. The Cordage Company was known to be one of the better ones; offering incentives, better jobs and housing for their employees; as long as one member of the family continued to work for them. Initially the single men boarded with other families, or lived in a boarding house but once married and had a family, were given houses.
April 1931, Welland Tribune newspaper.
This photo (taken in 1952) portrays the ten top employees at the Cordage Factory. John worked in the Spinning Room for 47 years 11 months and Joe worked in the Spinning Room for 39 years 4 months.
John Botari at 95 years of age. Again the Welland Tribune.
Sent by Lucile in Plymouth, MA. who is the Librarian/Historian re: Plymouth Cordage employees. There are some errors in this narrative such as dates and spelling of Giovaninna’s name.
Giovanni was one of the first to come over and help set up the factory in 1908. He came there initially principally to serve as an interpreter for his compatriots. To begin with he boarded with another family in a Cordage house. Once married, Giovanni and Elvira Corsini were given a home to live in. They had 7 children, two of which died young. Their oldest son, Joseph, also worked for the Plymouth Cordage Factory at one time.
Angelo Buttieri (B: 20.9.1855, D 10.9.1938) became the groom for the stable belonging to the overseer in that area. He married Maria (Mearia) Angelini (B: 13.3.1858, D: 17.1.1943) and settled in the same road as Luigi in Renazzo. They had 5 children: Teresa (married Giuseppe Soatti), Giuseppe (married Giovannina Stefani) and Anne Maria (married Giuseppe Ansaloni). Angelo (B: 20.9.1855, D 10.9.1938). Rosa (B:1893, D:1893), and Vincenzo (B.1893, D: 1893).
Giuseppe’s history of travels to the USA and then to Canada are more complicated to follow. At the time, when people travelled, the spelling of their names was often done according to sound. This meant that both Giovanni and Giuseppe had numerous spelling of their names when their travel, military, marriage and employment were documented. However, through careful investigations, it has been found that Giuseppe travelled and then started work in 1905 at The Cordage Factory in Plymouth. He then moved to the Welland area, to live with his cousin, Giovanni and his wife Elvira and their family. Initially Giuseppe was recorded in the census as working as a Labourer for a Steel Plant but later changed jobs to again working at the Plymouth Cordage Plant, but in Welland in 1912. In 1914, Giuseppe married Giovannina Stefani (B: 24.6.1883, D: 13.11.1965) and together they moved into their own home n Welland. Together they had 6 children.
Like Giovanni, Giuseppe was also called to serve in the army. Although he was enlisted into the army in 1908 and 1915, he was declared a deserter and later acquitted in 1923 due to living abroad.
Both Giovanni and Giuseppe (first cousins) and their families remained in the Welland area, however their parents and siblings either remained in Italy or the USA. Giovanni and Giuseppe have anglicised their names to John and Joseph Botari. They did the name change while living in Welland.
Patrice Marsden