Day 1: Giovanni Russo was born in Italy in 1889
Giovanni was born in a small mountain village northeast of Naples, Italy
Where the story begins. Our patriarch, Giovanni "John" Russo was born in the Village of Squillani, Roccabascerena, Avellino, Italy. His parents were Nicoletta Russo and Carmine Russo.
Unlike the well-documented San Sossio, where many family members were born, Roccabascerena has very few records online. Giovanni’s birthplace and parents’ names were found on his marriage records and manifest to America (both of which I will share in a future post).
Short History of Squillani
Squillani, also called Squillaci, finds its origin around the sixteenth or seventeenth century. Taking its name from a Lord named Squillaci or Squillano.
From a note from the year 1700 of Cardinal Orsini, then Pope Benedict XIII, preserved in the parish of Squillani, we learn that the same Orsini inaugurated the current Church of this country in the same year; also the old Church of S. Giorgio and S. Leonardo, in Roccabascerana-capital, inside bears a marble inscription of the great Orsini.
This leads us to conclude that, after the earthquake of the year 1688, the Churches of these countries were rebuilt and inaugurated by their benefactor. Previously the town of Squillani or Squillaci, was moved more towards the "Severini" and "li Guerrieri" localities. In fact, evidence has been found between jars and mosaics of ancient workmanship in these places. In the locality "Severini", a stone tombstone has been found, still extant, depicting a man with a child in his arms; it is a "Roman Lare", a protector deity so dear to the home hearth. The name "Severini" denotes its origin from the Severi, emperors of Rome, to whom probably one of those Latin colonies, which came to occupy, after the Samnite wars, these places, named, in their honor, this site.
Translated and edited for clarity from Italian webpage: http://web.tiscali.it/roccabascerana/SQUILLANI/squillani.htm