NameFrancesco Coluccio , G Grandfather, M
Birth25 Nov 1877, Gioiosa Ionica, Calabria, Italy22
ChristenLigonia, Calabria, Italy
Death18 Apr 1946, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
BurialHoly Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
OccupationFlorist, Nurseryman
EducationGrade School In Italy. New Utrecht High School. Night School In U.S.A.
ReligionRoman Catholic
He had light hair, green eyes and a handlebar moustache and smoked a corncob pipe according to Elena and Artilla.
According to Hortense, he first came to the USA at age 13 with another family (Reggiasano?).
24From the Ellis Island records, he arrived in the U.S.A. on the "The Tartar Prince" on September 13, 1899
16 to be with his brother Domenico.
Worked first as a labourer for the public works and went to night school to learn English.
Listed also on the ship’s manifest of the Sicilia, age 25, arriving March 11, 1903. His brother Rocco is listed as a contact at 61st and 14th Ave.
16He went back to Italy and was married. He came back to the U.S. in 1904.
In 1910, the family lived at 1340 65th Street, Brooklyn.
10He took over a nursery business from employer Mr. Schultz, whose son was named Harmon. Harmon was not interested in the nursery business and thus sold the greenhouses to Francesco.
He moved 3 greenhouses with a horse and wagon with the assistance of his wife.
The family residence was 1462 62nd Street, between New Utrecht Ave. and 15th Ave., Brooklyn. They’re listed there on the 1920 census.
15The family started off attending St. Rosalia Church which was an Italian church but Francesco switched the family over to St. Francis De Chantal because he felt the priest at St. Rosalia was a crook and in with the mob. (Later in 1928, when infamous gangster Frankie Yale was gunned down, his $50,000 funeral was held at St. Rosalia.)
There was a fire at the house in the fall of 1927.
He shortened the name from Coluccio to Colucci. All the children’s birth registrations were Coluccio but the name Colucci was used thereafter. Son Albert added the “o” back in when he was an art student after the war reportedly because it had a more artistic ring. His children’s birth registrations say Coluccio but they still used the name Colucci for all other purposes.