Home | Angelillo Family History - Nicola Angelillo (1853-1920), the father of Raffaele Angelillo (1888-1965)
Death certificate for Nicola Angelo, 19 October 1920
Nicola Angelillo was born in Sant'Angelo d'Alife, Campania, Italy, in 1853, and died in Bristol Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, at the age of 56. He was the husband of Maria (Martone) Angelillo (1860-1930). They had five children, all of whom came to America. The 1900 U.S. Census says that Nicola came to America in 1894, and according to the 1910 Census he worked for the railroad as a gate tender in Bristol Borough. This was a job of high responsibility because the trains used to come through the borough at high speed.
Origin of the Angelo family name
Nicola seems to have come alone to America in 1894 -- although I don't know when Nicola's oldest son Michele (1881-1916) came -- before sending for his wife and children (Raffaele in 1901, Maria and the three youngest children in 1905), and he was the first to use the surname "Angelo". I think this was because, as the Census records show, Bristol Borough which was a river port and factory town -- quite old; Bucks County was created by William Penn in 1682 -- and its residents were immigrants from all over Europe, speaking many different languages, and "Angelo" would be far easier for them to say than "Angelilli" or "Angelillo". And maybe Nicola had the placename of his birth, Sant'Angelo, in mind as well. But then again, maybe "Angelo" was just what others at work and at home in Bristol called him and so Nicola adopted that name. But also, to Nicola the surname "Angelo" may have seemed like an American name and yet still Italian in a way, and I think as Michele's adopting the name "Michael Angelo" and marrying an American girl, Margaret King, shows, they wanted to be part of the country they had adopted, although so far as I know only Raffaele became an American citizen, and that was only because of World War Two, I think, and the possibility of internment as an enemy alien (Raffaele had a wife and five children, all American citizens, to support), despite having lived continuously in the United States since 1901. (In the event, unlike Japanese Americans -- or German Americans during World War One -- few Italian Americans were interned.)
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https://www.roangelo.net/angelo/nicola-angelo-death-certificate.html
Last revised: 24 July 2019 : 2019-07-24 by
Robert [Wesley] Angelo.
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