Bleimes Family History
Chapter 2. Sadie
The person probably most responsible for the successes and stability of the current Bleimes family was Sadie. Born Esterina Mormile in Acerra, Italy, she came to the US at age 3 with her mother and siblings. Her father had arrived earlier, gotten a job and established a residence in Bellefontaine, Ohio. When Sadie's mother spoke to her, she would call, "Eh-Stay-Reen", which sounded something like Sadie, and the nickname stuck for good, though in later years she shortened it and would sign her paintings "Sayd".
|
Antonio “Tony” Mormile married Annunziata “Nancy” Contrastata in Acerra in 1902. Both were farm people, working the land in that area. They produced seven children before 1914, the sixth of which, Domenico, died soon after birth. Antonio sailed to the US on the ‘Königin Luise’ arriving 18 May 1905, apparently preparing to establish a home for the family. It appears that he returned to Italy, then made another trip in 1914. |
Preparations made, Annunziata and her children, on one passport, sailed for the US in January 1916 aboard the SS Patria. Children, in order of age: Maria (Mary), Filomena (‘Phil’), Giovanna (‘Annie’), Vincenzo (‘Jim’), Francesco (‘Frank’), and Esterina (‘Sadie’)., their destination being Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Ship: Königin Luise
Here, son Joe was born in 1917 and daughter Emilia (‘Nellie’) in 1918. . Bellefontaine house picture below:
|
Passage stories: 1. Frank spotted a submarine, told the crew, and was commended by the ship's captain.
2. Annie was given the assignment (by her mother) to always stand in the line to receive food and milk because she was the skinniest and most pathetic-looking, and would be given more food than average. |
Anthony had a railroad job and acquired the wherewithal to move his family to Columbus. They lived on Michigan Ave. in the Italian neighborhood known then as “Flytown” in a house that did not have an indoor toilet.
Mormile Grocery Store
He acquired a grocery store at 760 Harrison Avenue in that
area and prospered enough to move the family to 1466 West 1st Avenue in
the more prestigious suburb of Grandview Heights. In this period two more
children arrived, William Gordon, born in 1920 and died in 1921, and Assunta
Marie (Sue), born in 1922. Most of them worked at times in the grocery
while their mother kept house. [Mormile Family
Chart]
Sadie attended public schools, but found it difficult because of the
discrimination shown to immigrants, especially those whose foreign roots
were somewhat obvious. This bias even extended to the Grandview public
swimming pool, where Italians (and some others) were excluded. She wound
up attending The Saint Francis (Catholic) School, graduating in 1930.
19 January 1939 was the date of Sadie’s naturalization after having
attended the necessary formal schooling. I believe she was the only
one in her family to do this.
With the war in Europe heating up, the Hercules Trouser Co. expanded and Sadie got a sewing job there – mainly installing military pants pockets.
Married first to Emilio “Ginger” Churches in 1942, Sadie
bore two girls by 1945.
Also in 1945, Antonio died. Sadie was elected to handle most of the
details of the settling of his estate. She recalled her mother being
advised to put her existing cash in a bank account (for the first time),
and the embarrassment she felt in having to present an amount of musty-smelling
money to the bank official. (The money had been squirreled away behind
a loose block in her parents’ basement.)
With the war being over and many adjustments being made, Sadie took
a job waiting tables in her sister Annie’s newly-acquired restaurant
and bar, called Ann-Ton’s on North High Street near Worthington,
Ohio. About this time she also started divorce proceedings, the final
decree being in 1948. She got custody of the children plus a small amount
for child support.
Marrying George in 1949 was a big change in life style and location(s)
for Sadie. She adapted well, however. They had a boy and a girl to add
to the family in 1950 and 1952, and Sadie molded them all into a workable
group. This was in spite of the fact that her husband often worked at
two or even three jobs.
Of the nine Mormile siblings who matured, all were mostly agreeable
and sociable, though Frank and Joe chose to live permanently in other
states. They had frequent family gatherings for holidays and other events.
Many descendants still live in the Columbus area.
Soon after arriving in Columbus Mary and one or two of the other older
children were given jobs in a cigar factory. Mary was said to have been
the fastest roller there. Of course they were under eighteen and that
would be illegal now.
Mary married in 1920 Nazario “Mac” Palma, a native of Foggia,
Italy and a veteran of WW I. They lived in the Grandview area and had
five children.
Phil married Pete Corrova, a native of Sicily, in 1931. They had four
boys and all were in the restaurant business in various locations in
Columbus. Nine that I can recall.
Annie said her first husband was abusive and so divorced him. The second
try worked better. She and Tony Fracasso, a native of Montreal, Canada
married in 1933. They had four children and three restaurants. The first
restaurant was in partnership with Pete Corrova: the original TAT in
Flytown, established in the 1930’s. . Tony had a stint in the
Navy in WW II, after which he got his own place, The Fox Hunt Tavern,
which they renamed Ann-Ton’s in the late 1940’s. They acquired
a beer/wine carry-out next door, then razed them both and built a new
Ann-Ton’s. It was well attended for years, and the building is
in use today. Annie died of a heart attack at my house in Gahanna in
1966.
Jim’s career was working with hot steel at the Columbus Bolt Works.
He married well and had two children. One was Anthony James –
known as “Skeeter” – who died in Florida at age 40.
Frank was bitten by the horse bug early on and for a while was a jockey.
Then he moved into horse grooming and training, which was his life.
He married a good lady who was also into horses and they had two boys.
The family lived mostly in the eastern US.
Joe, too, liked horses and lived around various tracks. His wife Kay
was also “horsey” for awhile, working for a horse shipper
in NYC. While there, Joe established a business of supplying certain
vegetables for horses to their owners. He later moved to Hialeah where
he did grooming and training. A veterinarian occasionally employed him
partly to help maneuver a horse onto an automobile lift and jack it
up for surgeries. Joe also obtained from this vet horse-sized arthritis
pills, which he ate for his own self- treatment. He carried six heavy-duty
clippers in his car trunk for the purpose of giving race horses haircuts.
He claimed he would barber until the clipper got hot, then switch to
a cool set, thereby being able to work steadily all day. An occasional
sideline was to accompany one or more race horses on an overseas flight.
His goal was to have the horse remain tractable, for if it did not and
started to damage the airplane, tranquilizing or shooting the animal
could be required. - While in the “Battle of the Bulge”
in WW II Joe’s tank was hit by enemy fire and he was wounded,
for which he received the Purple Heart medal, a discharge and $30 a
month pension. Joe died in Florida at 67, not having any children.
Nellie married a Marine Corps combat vet, Sam Gugliemotto, shortly after
the end of WW II. He did concrete work and roofing and was retired,
having lung problems. They had a son and a daughter who now have families. Nell worked at
the Columbus Defense Depot to the point of retirement after getting
her kids started, and retired from there. One excuse for a party at
their house was the annual blooming of her favorite plant, which occurred
at night time.
Sue: The circumstances are vague to me, but Sue found her husband-to-be
in Chicago. His parents were from Acerra, as were the Mormile’s.
They married in Chicago in 1943 and lived there long enough to have
their two children, then moved to Columbus.
