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NORI FAMILY HISTORY
Last update 9/11/2022
Adolfo Nori was born in Fano, Italy sometime around 1880. His parents were Cesare Nori and Adelaide Centiscudi. While we know very little about Cesare, except his name, Adelaide was born in Fano on November 9, 1853. Let's assume that Cesare was born around 1850.
Adolfo arrived in America on February 26, 1898 when he was about 17 years old. He soon adopted the name "Adolph." He married Concetta LaMura in 1909. This page, however, is about Adolph's younger siblings.
As far as we have been able to determine, Adolph had three siblings, all born in Fano. About ten years after Adolph's birth, his sister Ida Nori was born on September 6, 1890. Then came Pasquale Nori on April 17, 1892, and Giuseppina Nori, April 23, 1897. A year after Giuseppina's birth, Adolph left Italy and went to America. Several years later, Ida and Pasquale arrived in New York on October 2, 1907, aboard the "Principe de Piemonte". Ida had just turned 17 and Pasquale was 14. They stayed in New York for two years, then decided for some reason to find their destiny by travelling all the way across the United States to California, most certainly by train. They arrived in San Francisco on September 15, 1909. Each would marry and have children who for the most part stayed in and around San Francisco.
Why San Francisco? We may never know for sure, but California had a significant number of Italian immigrants who had already arrived in the Nineteenth Century, thanks in large part to the development of railroad systems across the country. Add to that, the devastating earthquake and fires that completely destroyed the city of San Francisco in 1906, there were plenty of opportunities for immigrants of little means to make a future for themselves and their families.
Giuseppina and her mother Adelaide arrived in New York City on August 20, 1914, presumably after Cesare died in Italy, but we have no record of that. Giuseppina, like her sister Ida, was 17 years old when she arrived. Adelaide was about 60. They were temporarily detained on Ellis Island until word could be sent to Adolph to come and get them. The ship's manifest says Adolph lived at 359 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn, but was more likely 399 Clinton Street, where Adolph and his wife Concetta LaMura and her parents lived. Adolph and Concetta already had two young children there, 3-year-old Carmella, named after Concetta's mother, and 1-month-old Adelaide, named after Adolph's mother.
Within a short time, Adelaide and Giuseppina made their way across America to join Pasquale in San Francisco.
Adolph's brother Pasquale Nori was born in Fano, Italy on April 17, 1892, although documents are inconsistent about the year. The birth year ranges from 1892 to 1895. In any case, Pasquale arrived in America in 1907, made his way to San Francisco, in California and changed his named to Charles Norry. His sister Giuseppina and their mother Adelaide arrived in New York City on August 20, 1914 and quickly joined Charles in San Francisco. Within a few weeks, Giuseppina married Giovanni Maffucci, while Adelaide continued living with Charles.
In January of 1920, Charles and Adelaide were living at 1375 Revere Avenue in San Francisco. From this point on, Adelaide was sometimes known as "Adeline". Charles was working for a Soda Water company. In December of 1922, Charles married Rosie Basso. Rosie was living with her parents and eight siblings at 305 Edinburgh Street in San Francisco. She was born in San Francisco on September 5, 1895. Her parents were Swiss-born Salador Basso and Johanna Berwit. Salador was a retired liquor dealer.
By 1930, Charles and Rosie had moved to 369 Guttenberg Street, where they would live for the rest of their lives. Charles continued working at a bottling factory. He had brown eyes, black hair and a dark brown complexion. He was a physically strong man. Sometime in his life he had two fingers of his left hand amputated. Another source describes him as a "hard-looking man with an uneven bowl haircut". He was a union beer bottler and coach of a minor league baseball team.
Adelaide, meanwhile, moved in with her daughter Giuseppina "Josephine" and her husband Giovanni "John" Maffucci at 1458 Palou Avenue in San Francisco.
Charles and Rosie had four sons.
The first son was Charles Alfred Norry, born in San Francisco on December 16, 1920. He never went beyond eighth grade in school. On September 17, 1942 he enlisted in the Army and served during World War II. When he returned, he worked as a bottler for a brewery. He was 5' 7" tall and weighed 145 pounds. He had brown hair and eyes and a ruddy complexion. While he may have married earlier, the first evidence is to Edith E. Hastings, or Martinelli. The marriage took place on September 30, 1961 when both were 40 years old and already living together at 504 Valencia Street in San Francisco. There is no evidence they had any children. Charles died in San Francisco on April 28, 2010 at the age of 89.
Charles and Rosie's second son was Laurence "Larry" Joseph Norry, born on November 3, 1922. He grew to the height of 5' 8" and weighed 135 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes and a light complexion. He married a woman named Mary around 1948 and settled across the bay from San Francisco in the town of San Leandro. They raised six children. Larry was President of Mulford Gardens Improvement Association. He was known for controversial views and opinions on many things. He was a regular attendant at City Council meetings and was a member of the RACK Committee (whatever that was). When he died on March 27, 2007 at the age of 85, he had 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
After a gap of several years, Charles and Rosie welcomed their third son, August "Augie" Joseph Norry on August 1, 1930. He served in the Army during the Korean War, in a Light Weapons Infantry unit. On January 25, 1953 he was "wounded in action by missile" and was hospitalized for some time before finally recuperating. After his return to civilian life, Augie became a Pacific Coast League baseball player, the only one of Charles' four sons who showed an interest in baseball. The other sons all worked for breweries. He was also an Arthur Murray dance instructor.
After an unsuccessful tryout with the San Francisco Seals (the team that put Joe DiMaggio on the path to the Yankees), Augie settled down. He still played baseball, but with an amateur team called the Guadalupe Native Sons Of The Golden West (NSGW). He married Darlene Caldwell in 1957, and started his own gardening business. He was mowing lawns at the Lake Merced Golf Club, not far from the home in Daly City where he and Darlene lived. On February 1, 1959, Augie was brutally murdered. He was only 28 years old and Darlene was pregnant with their first child. To read the incredible circumstances surrounding his death, click here.
Darlene was so upset with the intrusive visits from the police and reporters during the investigation that followed her husband's murder that she went to stay with an aunt in Santa Rosa to finish out her pregnancy. On September 17, 1959, she gave birth to a daughter, Cynthia Lee Norry. Less than two years after Augie's murder, Darlene remarried, to ex-Marine Terry Ferguson, on August 3, 1960. They had two daughters of their own and lived together until Terry's death on December 8, 2014.
The fourth and final child born to Charles and Rosie was Robert Clement Norry, on January 10, 1933. After graduating Balboa High School in 1951, he served in the Army during the Korean War. On June 2, 1956, he married Phyllis Irene Mariucci. Phyllis was born in San Francisco on April 29, 1938. Her father was Italian-born shipyard worker named Quinto P. Mariucci and her mother Helen F. Raaen. Five years before Phyllis married Robert, her father Quinto died tragically at the age of 38 when he stumbled into an open elevator shaft at a department store where he worked as a janitor.
Phyllis graduated Balboa High School, Class of 1955. She and Robert moved across the bay to Concord, California, where Robert was a storekeeper and a clerk for the Contra Costa County. He and Phyllis had a son and a daughter. After retiring from his storekeeping career, Robert worked as a janitor at the nearby Pleasant Hill Bowling Lanes. He was 63 years old when he died at home in Concord on June 14, 1996. After cremation, his cremains were placed at Woodlawn Cemetery in Colma, California, back near where he grew up.
Adolph's sister Ida Nori was born in Fano on September 6, 1890. Just after she turned seventeen, she and her younger brother Pasquale arrived in New York on October 2, 1907, aboard the "Principe de Piemonte". They stayed in New York for two years, then made their way to San Francisco on September 15, 1909.
By 1914, Ida was married to Sallustio Augusto Domicilio. Initially, they lived at 1494 Underwood Avenue in San Francisco, then went back to living with Ida's brother and mother at 1375 Revere Avenue, a few blocks away. August, as he was usually known, was a rigger for the Union Iron Works factory. He was of medium height and build with brown eyes and dark brown hair. He was a cousin of John Maffucci, the recent husband of Ida's sister Josephine Nori. He was naturalized in San Francisco on October 14, 1914.
August was born in Vico Equense in Italy on January 28, 1886. Vico Equense lies across the Bay of Naples from the city of Naples, between Castellammare di Stabia and Sorrento. Castellammare di Stabia is where the Lanzaro and LaMura ancestors came from.
On November 3, 1916 their son Luigi Domicilio was born. They called him Louis. Just after they celebrated Louis' second birthday, August died on November 25, 1918. He was 32 years old and Ida 28. There is no record of how he died. He was buried at the Italian Cemetery in nearby Colma, California.
Ida continued living at 1375 Revere Avenue with her brother Charles and mother Adelaide. She found a job as a "can maker". On March 18, 1922 she married Clemente "Sam" Severini. Sam was born in Faleria, Italy on September 20, 1887. Faleria is a community several miles north of Rome. He was 5' 7" tall, weighing 160 pounds, with a ruddy complexion. He had brown eyes and dark brown hair. He arrived at Ellis Island on April 4, 1905 aboard the "Republic". He lived in New York for several years, then arrived in San Francisco in March of 1922 and married Ida. Sam worked several different jobs, including bricklayer and gardener, and was employed by the City of South San Francisco. He was also a member of the Redwood City Moose Lodge.
Sam and Ida lived at 407 Lux Avenue in San Francisco for many years. In addition to Louis, they had another child, Augustina Severini, whom we can only guess was named after Ida's first husband. Louis and Augustina's stories follow.
Luigi "Louis" Domicilio/Severini completed one year at a local college and was pumping gas at a gas station when he was drafted into the Army on June 17, 1942 and served for three and a half years, earning the rank of Sergeant. He was 5' 7" tall, weighed 145 pounds, and had brown hair and eyes and a light complexion. There is no evidence he ever married. He was 78 years old and living in Millbrae, just south of South San Francisco, when he died on March 1, 1995. He was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, California.
Sam and Ida's daughter, Augustina Severini was born in San Francisco on May 16, 1924. The family called her Tina. Around 1948, she married John Joseph Previti, who was born May 11, 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. John was the son of Santo Previti and Josephine Strano. He was 5' 8" tall, weighing 170 pounds, with brown hair and eyes and a dark complexion. He had a noticeable scar above his left eye. Tina and John had a son and two daughters.
Tina was 65 years old when she died on June 1, 1989. She was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma. The town of Colma, which lies between San Francisco and South San Francisco, is unusual in that it contains several cemeteries, besides Holy Cross. There is also the Italian Cemetery where August Domicilio is buried, and Woodlawn Memorial Park, where the cremains of Robert Clement Norry are kept. Several years later, John followed Tina in death, on August 7, 2005. He was 85 and buried with Tina at Holy Cross.
Adolph's other sister, Giuseppina Nori, the youngest of the siblings, was born in Fano on April 23, 1897. To repeat the story narrated in the beginning of this history, Giuseppina and her mother Adelaide arrived in New York City on August 20, 1914, presumably after Adelaide's husband Cesare died in Italy, but we have no record of that. Giuseppina, like her sister Ida, was 17 years old when she arrived. Adelaide was about 60. They were temporarily detained on Ellis Island until word could be sent to Adolph to come and get them. The ship's manifest says Adolph lived at 359 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn, but was more likely 399 Clinton Street, where Adolph and his wife Concetta LaMura and her parents lived. Adolph and Concetta already had two young children there, 3-year-old Carmella, named after Concetta's mother, and 1-month-old Adelaide, named after Adolph's mother.
Within a short time, Adelaide and Giuseppina made their way across America to join Pasquale in San Francisco. In fact, Giuseppina married Giovanni Battista Maffucci in San Francisco on October 24, 1914, just two months after she and her mother landed in New York. Giuseppina and Giovanni changed their names to Josephine and John.
Like Ida Nori's first husband August Domicilio, John was born in Vico Equense, on July 13, 1886. He was eleven years older than Josephine. While still in Italy, he served four years in the Italian Navy. He arrived at Ellis Island on December 7, 1910 when he was 24 years old, and eventually went to San Francisco. John never went beyond second grade in Italy. Josephine got as far as third grade.
On May 1, 1916, Josephine and John welcomed the birth of their only child, Eugene Salador Maffucci. By 1917 they were living at 1957 Stockton Street in San Francisco. John was working as a metal polisher for the Thomas Day Metal Works Company, a job he would have most of his life. He was of medium height and build, with brown eyes and hair, but already bald at the age of 31. By 1920 they were renting a small apartment at the rear of 1380 Quesada Avenue. Josephine also worked in a grocery store.
They bought a home at 1458 Palou Avenue valued at $4000. In 1930, Adelaide was living with them. But, by 1935, they were again renting an apartment, at 47 Latona Avenue for $32 a month.
Adelaide moved to the home of her other daughter, Ida and her husband Sam Severini at 407 Lux Avenue. She never attended school in Italy, and could not read or write, could not speak English, and she never became an American citizen. She was still living with Ida and Sam when she died at the age of 93 on September 8, 1947. She was buried at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma.
In the mid-1950's, Maryann Ward Downs, who was about 15 years old at the time and living in Brooklyn, New York, was called from her room by her mother, Adelaide Nori Ward, to meet a visitor. "Say hello to your Aunt Josephine from California" is the way the conversation might have gone. Josephine would have been about 55 years old. Maryann vaguely remembers saying hello and after a few minutes returned to her room to continue with her teenage life. That is all she knew about any of her California relatives.
Josephine and John's son Eugene worked for the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company in San Francisco. He was 5' 10" tall and weighed 180 pounds. He had brown hair and eyes with a ruddy complexion. He married Ada C. Ferrera. Ada was born in San Francisco on December 6, 1922.
Eugene and Ada had two sons. One of the sons, Steven August Maffucci was born April 17, 1956. At some point, Eugene, Ada and Steven moved to Petaluma, California, located about 50 miles north of San Francisco. Steven was only 34 years old when he died there on January 23, 1991. He was buried at Tomales Catholic Cemetery in Tomales, California, a few miles west of Petaluma. Ten years later, Steven's father Eugene died, on January 9, 2001, at the age of 84 and was buried with Steven at Tomales.
Ada lived on for many more years and was living in San Rafael, back near San Francisco, when she died on March 8, 2020. She was 97 years old. She was buried with Eugene and Steven at Tomales.
Ida and Sam Severini continued living at 407 Lux Avenue in South San Francisco for many years. Ida died there on March 21, 1968 at the age of 77. Sam's health deteriorated after that and he finally succumbed on October 7, 1977 when he was 90. He and Ida are entombed at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
Charles and Rosie Norry lived at 369 Guttenberg Street in San Francisco. On July 28, 1969, at the age of 76, Charles died. Sometime after, Rosie married someone named Billings. She was living across the bay from San Francisco, in San Leandro, probably with her son Larry, when she died on June 7, 1992. She was 96 years old.
Josephine and John lived at 47 Latona Avenue in San Francisco. John was 85 when he died on November 16, 1971. Josephine died several years later on September 30, 1978 when she was 82. They are both entombed in a mausoleum at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma.
