Genealogy of Anthony Merola

Anthony Merola born about 4 September 1872 in Roccadaspide, Capaccio, Italy. The information that is being presented about this family comes from Michelangelo De Leo a great grandson of Anthony Merola by his first wife.

A. THE FIRST MARRIAGE:

Antonio and Anna 'Verlotta' had four children. They were I. Angelo, II. Elisa, III. Lucia and IV. Luigi.

I. Angelo Merola born 26 December 1907 in Manhattan, New York. He died 3 July 1997. Angelo and his wife Rochele Ganniello have five children and fourteen grandchildren:

Angelo Merola Picture taken 26 June 1971	Angelo's wife Rochele Picture taken 26 June 1971

1. Anna and her husband Silvio have two children: Giuseppe and Angelo

Anna Merola Picture taken 26 June 1971	Silvo, Anna's husband Picture taken 26 June 1971

2. Maddelena and her husband Luigi have three children: Vito, Lucia and Gerardina

Maddelena Merola Picture taken 26 June 1971	Luigi, Maddelena's husband Picture taken 26 June 1971

3. Antonio and his wife Assunta have four children: Angelo, Lucia, Rachele and Carmine. Lucia and Rachele are twins.

Antonio Merola Picture taken 26 June 1971	Assunta, Antonio's wife Picture taken 26 June 1971

4. Carmine and his wife Novelle have three children: Anna, Antonella and Michelangelo

Carmine Merola Picture taken 26 June 1971	Novella, Carmine's wife Picture taken 26 June 1971

5. Lucia and her husband Mario De Leo have two children: Maria Luisa and Michelangelo.

Michelangelo was the young man my wife and I have met twice, once in New York in 2004 at a Merola family get together and once at a hotel in Paestum, Italy in 2006 two days after attending a Scovotto wedding. As a matter of fact it was the 23rd of July 2006, a Monday. Michelangelo who in 2004 mentioned he was studying to become a lawyer had just a few days earlier finished all of his requirements to become a lawyer. He mentioned he needed to work under a practicing attorney for two years, like an internship program, before he could practice law on his own. We wish him well in his chosen profession.

The following pictures were sent by Michelangelo.

The picture below is of the wedding of his parents in a family group shot.

26 June 1971 Mr & Mrs Mario De Leo and immediate family.

The picture below is of Michelangelo's mother and her father Angelo Merola.

26 June 1971 Mrs Lucia De Leo and father Angelo Merola.

II. Elisa Merola the second child of Antonio, was born 25 January 1912 in Manhattan, New York. She has six children and eleven grandchildren:

1. Anna has two children: Agnese and Giovanni
2. Donato has two children: Anna and one other child
3. Francesco has two children: Anna and Vincenzo
4. Gerardo has one child: Giuseppe
5. Giuseppe has two children: Elisa and Vincenzo
6. Luigi has two children: Tiziana and one other child

III. Lucia Merola is the third child of Anthonio and Anna and has three children and two grandchildren:

1. Gabriele has two children: Giuseppina and one other child
2. Gerardo
3. Carmine

In an additional paper from Michelangelo we were told of the two children of Gabriele, however nothing more was said about Gerardo or Carmine. They may or may not be married and they may never had children. We are hopeful that the future will bring more updates.

IV. Luigi Merola was the last of the four children of Anthony Merola and his first wife Anna Verlotta. Luigi has one child and three grandchildren:
1. Anna has three children: Antonietta, Luigina and Carmela.

B. THE SECOND MARRIAGE:

The second marriage was to Giuseppina Cammarano. There were no reported children from this marriage. The length of time of the marriage is unknown. If anyone reading this has any information they wish to share, please feel free to do so by clicking on the CONTACT button at the bottom of the Index (Home Page) of this web site. Thank you.

C. THE THIRD MARRIAGE:

Antonio Merola married Grazia Lettieri who is reported to have been born 18 October 1894 in Roccadaspide, Capaccio, Italy. We estimate that Grazia may have been about twenty years of age when married to Antonio who was in his young forties. The year was about 1914. Antonio and Grazia have five children: I. Anna, II. Almerindo, III. Vittorio, IV. Rosa, and V. Alessandro.

I. Anna Merola was born 3 February 1923 in Capaccio, Salerno, Italy. She married and has three children and five grandchildren. We have no spouce names:

1. Antonietta has two children: Maria and Giuseppe.
2. Vito has one child Nicola.
3. Maria has two children: Francesco and Antonietta.

II. Almerindo Merola born 11 March 1924 in Capaccio, Salerno, Italy married and has four children:
1. Grazia Merola
2. Antonio Merola
3. Donato Merola
4. Angelo Merola

Again there is no further breakdown of the above four children of Almerindo. Again we must believe some of them married and have children and even grandchildren of their own.

III. Vittorio Merola was born 22 August 1925 in Capaccio, Salerno, Italy. He has three children and four grandchildren:

1. Alessandro Merola has two children: Antonella and Valentina
2. Antonio Merola has two children: Vittorio and Lorenza
3. Carmine Merola

IV. Rosa Merola born 20 April 1927 in Capaccio, Salerno, Italy. She is married and has three children and four grandchildren:

1. Luigi has one child: Fiorenza
2. Mario has two children: Fiore and Rosy
3. Salvatore has one child: name unknown

Again there is no further breakdown of the above three children of Rosa. Again we must believe some of them married and have children and even grandchildren of their own.

Looking towards the Mediterranean from the Madonna della Granato church parking lot.

Looking from the hill top in front of the church of the Madonna della Granato, one can almost see the homes of Alessandro Merola and his wife Rosa and that of his son Vittorio and his wife Carmela. Leaving the church and looking for the home of Gabriel Merola, Ann and I made a wrong turn and ended up at the bottom of the hill not far from where Vittorio lives. We found it after flagging down a truck driver who took us within a couple of blocks of the home. It took a few minutes to explain to Carmela that we were relatives of Beverly Merola and that Beverly and her husband Michael had told us approximately where they lived. Carmela wanted us to meet her father in law and took us to his home a block or so away. When we arrived, Alessandro, Rosa and a neighbor were eating lunch and were gracious enough to invite us to eat with them. Vittorio stopped by for a few minutes. After eating, Alessandro took us to his storage facility where they were in the process of drying oregano. From there we walked to the small store under where Vittorio and Carmela live. There was a small shaded area next to the store were a group of men were playing cards. We were then invited to have a cold and very thick coffee drink. All in all it was a very pleasant visit and afternoon with members of the Merola side of the family. I wish to thank Beverly and Michael of the United States who had paved the way to this chance meeting of another side of the Italian Familia.


Alessandro and Rosa at the store.	Vittorio, Carmela, Alessandro and Ann.

V. Alessandro Merola was born 21 November 1936 in Capaccio, Salerno, Italy. Alessandro had two children and four grand children:

1. Vittorio Merola has two children: Alessandro and Almerindo.

The label to the left was sent by Beverly Merola Dorio who has visited with Merola family's in Italy extensively over the past years. I do not know how many different products that are dried, packaged and sold by this family business, but have been told nearly all of the produce comes from the family farm. Ann and I tried a number of times to visit the fresh food market were Vittorio shares a wholesale outlet for fresh vegetables but we were never able to find it. We later found out that we passed it a number of times, but because it is located off the main road, we never saw it. On our next trip to Italy, I am pretty confident that I will be able to find it. After arriving home, I inquired on a proceedure to purchase some different things from Italy directly. I was told that since I wasn't a business it would be very difficult to acquire things like the dried produce sold by the Merola Family Business; cheese; wine; etc. without being in that type of business here in America but was told if I really wanted any of those things to feel free to come back for a visit and I could purchase as much as I wanted there in Paestum.

I remember as a child helping to package boxes of cloths that were being sent from my grandfathers home in New York to his family in Italy. I also had found memories of helping him remove gallon bottles of wine and pouring their content into quart bottles. The wine was sent as a form of gratitude for the cloths and other things my grandfather Benedetto Rosario Scovotti had sent. I was able to find the home my grandfather Scovotti grew up in as a boy but not the Merola home but am pretty sure one could see the others home if one knew where to look for the other. My grandparents met and married in New York City in 1909 and remained there for the rest of their lives together. The funny thing is their ancestors were born and lived within a mile or two of each other in Italy.

2. Almerindo Merola married and has two children: Vittorio and Andrea.

Again, we are pretty sure there were more than the three children listed above for Gabriel and Maria 'Marchesana' Merola, but as mentioned many times before the information has not been made available to us and so we can not speculate on the what if situation. As data comes in and we are sure we will hear about this line of the Merola family, we will try and expidite the infusion of the new information with what we currently have on the Angelo and Anthony Merola.

As to the brother of Angelo and Anthony, that is Luigi Merola born 15 February 1863 in Roccadaspide, Capaccio, Italy the data on him is quite extensive. Luigi Merola is my great grandfather. He is my grandmothers father and though he died about seven years before I was born, I feel I know him very well. I have over some six years met a number of first cousins once removed. Many I have never met before. Pages that follow had until recently been included in a ScovottiFamily web site. My grandmother Mary Merola the oldest daughter of Luigi and Rosina Merola married into the Scovotti family. I worked on that web site and as I did, the Merola family information just magically took over.

I hope you enjoy reading about all those who came before us and if you can and if you would like to please add whatever you feel would help those who come later down the line to appreciate their heritage. Thank you again.

Top of Page | Home Page |