Bellavigna Family Grave at Holy Cross Cemetery
Last update 5/10/2025
Photo taken October 1994
Located in the St. Joseph section of the cemetery, in Region Rg-19, plots 11 & 12.
The plot was bought and established by Edmondo Bellavigna for the burial of his mother Margherita.
Margherita Tabacchi was born in Ancona, Italy on October 14, 1847, the daughter of Andrea Tabacchi and Caterina Biagini. She married Domenico Bellavigna and they had four children in Ancona. The children were Edmondo Bellavigna (1870), Alfredo Bellavigna (1880), Maria Bellavigna (1882), and Secondo Bellavigna (1886). Edmondo emigrated to America in 1897, followed by Alfredo in 1898. They settled in Brooklyn, New York.
Margherita and her two youngest children arrived in New York City on May 24, 1899 aboard the S. S. Archimede. The voyage took ten days, sailing from Genoa, Italy. Genoa is over 300 miles from Ancona, so just getting to the port must have taken several days. Domenico was not with them. Family lore says he was "lost at sea". No one seems to know what that really means. His name does not appear on the 1899 ship's manifest, so it wasn't while he was sailing with Margherita and the two children. Since Ancona is a coastal town in Central Italy on the Adriatic Sea, perhaps he went for a swim and drowned, or he was on a boat on the sea when tragedy struck. We may never know.
Margherita was living at 128 35th Street in Brooklyn when she died on December 2, 1915. Her cause of death was asthenia, a chronic respiratory disease, plus myocarditis, inflammation of the heart. Margherita was the first to be buried in the Bellavigna family plot.
Margherita and Domenico's oldest son, Edmondo, was born in Ancora in 1870. He attended school through the 8th grade in Italy. He was 27 years old when he arrived in New York City in 1897, where he found work as a longshoreman at the docks in Brooklyn. He was 5' 8" tall, weighed about 160 pounds, with brown hair and eyes. He never married, but when his sister Maria's husband, Salvatore Lanzaro, died prematurely in 1914, leaving Maria to raise three young children alone, Edmund moved in with them to become the father figure in the family and help Maria raise the children. Salvatore died ten days before his son Joseph's 8th birthday. Daughter Alma was 5 years old, and son Dominick 3.
For a while, Edmondo, Maria and the children lived at 263 43rd Street in Brooklyn, then at 1226 72nd Street. Around 1935, Edmondo moved in with his brother Secondo and his family at 33 Van Name Avenue on Staten Island. He waited until he was 71 years old before submitting his papers to become a U. S. citizen in 1941. By 1950, he was back with Mary and her daughter Alma at 1331 Bay Ridge Parkway (also known as 75th Street) in Brooklyn. Several years later, he was again living with Secondo at 307 Pelton Avenue in the West Brighton section of Staten Island when he died at the age of 87 after a long illness, on September 7, 1957.
Another son of Domenico and Margherita, Alfredo, was born in Ancona on April 26, 1880. He went as far as the fourth grade in school and grew up to become a dark-complexioned man with brown hair and grey eyes. He stood 5. 7" in height and weighed about 135 pounds. He had a noticeable scar on his left cheek. For some unknown reason, he was 18-years-old and living in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a while before emigrating to America aboard the S. S. Hevelius, entering New York Harbor on July 27, 1898.
Ten years later, 28-year-old Alfredo was living at 178 West 16th Street in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn. Living next door was 16-year-old Antoinette Vingo. In March of 1909, they applied for a marriage license. While there is documented evidence they applied for the license, there is none to show when and where they actually married.
Antoinette was born June 21, 1892 in Torre del Greco, a suburb of Naples, located at the base of Mount Vesuvius, between Pompeii and Herculaneum. Her parents were Giuseppe Vingo and Raffaella Mancuso. She never attended school in Italy. Shortly after the marriage, they moved to Quincy, Massachusetts, a town near Boston, where the first two of their ten children were born. Besides having a shipyard, Quincy had a thriving granite quarrying industry, where Alfredo found work. He also supplemented the family income as a fruit peddler. When that didn't pan out, they returned to New York.
After returning to New York City, Alfredo found employment at the Brooklyn shipyard, although he was frequently unable to work. As a consequence, they had to move from one tenement to another along the same block in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn. Regardless, they were able to welcome eight more children to the family.
Like his brother Edmondo, Alfredo waited until 1942 before applying for American citizenship (Edmondo did in 1941). Perhaps they waited until feeling urged to do so with the onset of World War II. By contrast, their younger brother Secondo became a naturalized American in 1909.
Alfredo and Antoinette were living at 4709 Third Avenue in Brooklyn with their three youngest children when Alfredo died in 1951 at the age of 71.
Alfredo had two children buried with him at Holy Cross Cemetery. One of them was Alma Bellavigna, born in New York in 1916 and died in Peekskill, New York in 1924. She was barely eight years old. Peekskill is located on the Hudson River, about 50 miles north of Brooklyn.
The other child buried with Alfredo is his son Alfred, born in Brooklyn in September of 1930. He was working as a butcher when he was drafted into the Army in 1952. He was serving with the 279th Infantry Regiment for only six weeks when his unit was returning from a battle in North Korea. Heavy rains caused a flash flood while they were crossing the Inje River and the entire unit was swept downstream. Of the 30 members, 28 drowned, including Alfred. He was 22 years old. His body was returned home and he received military honors for his burial in Holy Cross Cemetery. It was one year after the death of Alfredo.
Margherita was 39 years old when she gave birth to her fourth and final child. This was Secondo, born in Ancona on December 30, 1886. Like his brother Edmondo, he attended school through the 8th grade in Italy. He was 12 years old when he arrived in New York with his mother and sister Maria on May 24, 1899. They joined with Edmondo who was living in Hoboken, New Jersey at the time. They soon moved to Brooklyn.
Secondo married Theresa Montesi around 1913. They had nine children. Secondo worked in the Ship Yard in Brooklyn as a ship caulker and carpenter, eventually working his way up to foreman. He was 5' 6" tall and weighed about 160 pounds. He had very dark brown, some say black, hair and brown eyes, and a dark complexion. He also had a noticeable scar on his nose.
Cousin Richard Bellavigna recalls his childhood visits with "Uncle Secondo." One memory I have of Uncle Secondo is every time he would come to visit usually at my Fathers store (3 Ave and 50th Street) a store he and his brother Joseph had for many years. He would always bring me a little paper bag of candies (My Dad said when he was a little boy he would get the same little bag of candy). Also when I was released young my Dad would visit Uncle Edmondo (he was blind in a home) and sneak me in through a window in his room.
By 1930, Secondo and Theresa were living in the West Brighton section of Staten Island. Around 1958, they were living at 307 Pelton Avenue in West Brighton when Secondo's health began to seriously decline. Five years later, on May 25, 1963, he was injured in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway in Queens involving 7 vehicles. Secondo was a passenger in a car driven by his 57-year-old nephew, Joseph Lanzaro. They were on their way to a wedding reception on Long Island. Secondo suffered a head injury and was treated at St. John's Hospital in Queens. Despondent over his condition, he committed suicide in his home on July 24, 1963. He was 76 years old.
Secondo's wife Theresa Montesi was born in Hoboken, New Jersey on March 13, 1889. Her parents were Francesco Montesi and Palmira Vionelli. Her father was born in Ancona. After her marriage in Hoboken to Secondo in 1913, they stayed in Hoboken until 1921 when they moved to Verplank, New York, located about 60 miles north on the Hudson River. They remained there for just a few years, then moved to Staten Island where they would live for the rest of their lives.
After Secondo died in 1963, Theresa lived on for 17 years. She suffered a stroke and died at St. Vincent's Medical Center on September 8, 1980. She was 91 years old. She was the last to be buried in the Bellavigna family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery.
Eugene was the son of Secondo Bellavigna and Theresa Montessi. They were living at 25 Tomkins Place in the West Brighton section of Staten Island when Eugene was born on June 9, 1933. Eleven months later, he died from marasmus, a severe form of malnutrition.
Maria Concetta Bellavigna was born in Ancona, Italy on December 8, 1882. She was the third of Margherita and Domenico's four children. She arrived in America with her mother and brother Secondo in 1899. On June 5, 1904, 21-year-old Maria married a 30-year-old blacksmith named Salvatore Lanzaro, the son of Giuseppe Lanzara and Petronilla Bonifacio. The wedding took place at Sacred Hearts Church, located at 35 President Place in Brooklyn. They settled in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, at 180 West 16th Street, less than one block from the beach. By 1940, none of the homes for several blocks from the beach still existed.
Maria and Salvatore had three children. They were living at 321 Van Brunt Street in Brooklyn when their first child was born on February 23, 1906. This was Joseph Salvatore Lanzaro. Joseph was followed by his sister Alma M. Lanzaro, who was born on September 2, 1908, and his brother Dominick E. Lanzaro on November 14, 1910.
Salvatore and Maria had their own "soda water" business, S. LANZARO & CO., MINERAL WATERS near their home on West 16th Street. Salvatore was also partners with his brother Ciro Lanzaro in another soda water business in Brooklyn called LANZARO BROS. Salvatore got a job as a projectionist for a movie theater.
By 1913, the business enterprises were proving to be anything but profitable, so Ciro and Salvatore decided to invest in a farm in New Jersey to provide extra income. They eventually bought a 35-acre farm in Morganville, a town in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The plan was for Salvatore to live on the farm and bring the produce (initially chicken eggs) back to Brooklyn where Ciro would sell it. While the sale of the property was pending, Salvatore continued to work at the movie house. On a very cold day in February of 1914, after working in the hot, sweaty projection room, Salvatore went outside in shirtsleeves to change the marquee. He subsequently caught pneumonia and died, according to his death certificate, on February 13, 1914, at the age of 39. It was right before his son Joe's 8th birthday. Alma was five and Dominick three. Maria's oldest unmarried brother, Edmundo Bellavigna, moved in with them to become the father figure in the family and help Maria raise the children. Salvatore was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in the LaMura family plot where his sister Maria Carmela Lanzaro LaMura would eventually join him in 1930.
Family was always important to the Bellavigna's. Alma recalled her mother emphasized love within the family, not only parents and siblings, but aunts, uncles and cousins. Cousin Richard Bellavigna confirmed this by saying the Bellavigna's are still extremely close, celebrating holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. He also pointed out that the family has been holding very popular reunions since 1966 and will hold their 60th in 2026. Bellavigna is Italian for "beautiful vineyard".
According to Alma, Maria's mother Margherita moved her and her brother Secondo to America in 1899 after her husband, Dominico, was lost at sea. "After that happened, my grandmother wouldn't allow any more seamen in the family," Alma said.
For a while, Edmondo, Maria and the children lived at 263 43rd Street in Brooklyn, then at 1226 72nd Street. Around 1935, Edmondo went to live with his brother Secondo, but, by 1950, he was back with Mary and her daughter Alma at 1331 Bay Ridge Parkway (also known as 75th Street) in Brooklyn. Maria was still living there when she died on Christmas Eve in 1960. She was 78 years old. She was buried in the Bellavigna family plot at Holy Cross Cemetery.
