Getting to America

We are here in the United States of America because our grandfather Calogero as a 14-year old got on a ship in Naples, Italy called the Italia and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to New York City.  This happened in 1896.  I have his original passport document, a now weathered and many times folded paper.

I suspect it was folded to fit in his pocket.  I can only imagine how important it was to him and he must have put his hand on it many times a day to ensure it was there.  On it, there is reference to a woman Francesca Rizzuto who was accompanying him.  I have no idea who this woman was or how she came to serve that role.  He would have already traveled around 500 miles from his boyhood home in Caltabellota on the island of Sicily to get to Naples.  Some of that would have been a water trip, but there is no record of that.  Regardless, he arrived in New York City on September 14, 1896. He was processed at Ellis Island.  At that time, the ship manifest did not state who the person was going to be with.

His older half-brother Giacomo had arrived in the USA two years earlier at the age of 23.  Surely there must have been letters back to Sicily stating that there was an opportunity to make a new life in America.  Life was very hard in Sicily at that time and so three of the brothers and one of their sisters eventually left to come to America.

Their father Paolo also eventually came to America late in his life at 54 years old with his youngest daughter Sadie Marie in 1903 and died here in 1923.  On their ship manifest, it stated that they were coming to stay with his son Giacomo in New York City.

The youngest and last of the three brothers Antonino arrived in America in 1906. On the ship's manifest it states that he was going to join his brother Giacomo.  That would have been quite a houseful.

All of the "Paul's"

Paul, or a derivation of it, is a frequent first or middle name in the Sparaco lineage.  I was given that first name, and according to my father, it was in honor of his older brother.  Little else was ever said about family names in our house.

                                                             Paul Strong circa 2007

                                                          Paul Strong circa 1959

                                                             Paul Strong circa 1962

                                                             Paul Strong circa 1986

My Uncle Paul, it turns out, was given the name Paolo Bartolo Sparaco when he was born in 1909.  In census records (taken by English speaking and writing people) in New York City, he was “Paul Sparaco” and he went by Paul his whole life.  His passport, which he acquired in the 1970’s, listed his name as Paul Bertil Sparaco.  Unfortunately, he had no children to whom he could pass on names.

                                                        Paul B. Sparaco circa 1915

                                                        Paul B. Sparaco circa 1922

                                                         Paul B. Sparaco circa 1966

My father’s only sister Ingeborg Jean (Aunt Inga) married Tullio D’Angelo.  While they chose more Americanized names for their three sons (Steven, Phillip, and Russell), Russ got Paul as a middle name.  Despite several sons sired by Russ and Steve, the name Paul disappeared in that generation for those two.  Philip, on the other hand, chose Paul as a middle name for his son Mark.

                                                     Russell Paul D'Angelo circa 2012

                                                      Russell Paul D'Angelo around age 40

                                                                 Mark Paul D'Angelo

My grandfather’s name was Calogero and none of his brothers were named Paul, but his father was Paolo Sparaco of Caltabellotta, Sicily and many grandchildren, great grandchildren and others received his first name.

                                                                   Paolo Sparaco

One of Paolo’s sons was Giacomo (Jack) Sparaco.  He named his only son Antonino Paulo (Anthony Paul).  Anthony named his son Paul James, and he in turn named one of his sons the same.  I met the elder Paul J. in 2013 at his home in Baltimore after finding his son on Facebook.  He had never seen some of the family history and was happy to learn of some family members, locations, and names.  I had the pleasure of meeting his son, Paul Jr. at the same time.

                                                            Anthony Paul Sparaco

                                                           Anthony Paul Sparaco

                                     Paul J. Sparaco, Jr., Paul J. Sparaco Sr., and Paul Strong - 2013

Giacomo’s brother Antonino (Anthony) had two sons, Paul and Vito.  Paul passed along the first name to his only son.

My grandfather Paolo’s other brother Carmelo found the name Paul to be important and gave it as a middle name to one of his sons, Francesco.  His other son, Giacomo, gave it as a middle name to his son Frank who did the same to his son Frank Jr. who did the same to Frank Paul Sparaco III.

                                                                    Frank Paul Sparaco

                                                              Frank Paul Sparaco III

                                       Frank Paul Sparaco Jr. and Frank Paul Sparaco III

Where the first Paul originated remains a mystery as records for older relatives are incomplete.  Giacomo, Carmelo, and Antonino are the common male names on the Sparaco side.  Perhaps it came from great-grandfather Paolo’s mother’s side.  Her side was responsible for my grandfather’s first name Calogero.  A mystery for future family genealogists to uncover.

Where Did We Sparacos Come From?

The Sparaco line of the family has the majority of its known roots from the last five or six generations from the Mediterranean island of Sicily.  In particular, the town of Caltabellota is known to be the home of several generations of male Sparaco ancestors and their wives.

Caltabellotta, Sicily - home of many Sparaco ancestors.

A discovery I made after seeing the pages of a scapbook from a distant cousin's grandfather was that the Sparaco name and family emigrated from an unknown part of Spain around 1700 and moved through Italy over a couple of generations with a few of the namesakes ending up in Caltabellotta.  This jibes with locations across Italy of others named Sparaco.

Unfortunately, the origins of the women who married our great grandfather and their ancestors are not as well known.  But these names - Giorgino, Truncali, Vetrano, Balsamo, Noto, Leo - are equally important to knowing "where we came from."   Perhaps future genealogists in our family will be able to uncover more information about the "Spanish connection" as well as the lines from the female ancestors...

How Did We Become Strongs?


This blog is for those of us named Strong whose surname would have been Sparaco, but for a name change.  I'll be providing information about the Sparaco clan which came to America from Sicily around 1900 as I learn more.  But first, why is our last name "Strong"?

My father, born Charles Wilhelm Sparaco, changed his name as many European immigrants and their progeny did to become Americanized quickly and perhaps to escape from the prejudice so rampant as the United States, and particularly New York City, became a rapidly changing melting pot.

Charles Wilhelm Sparaco - New York City circa 1919

Charles William Sparaco - Springfield College circa 1940

Lt. Colonel Junior Grade Charles W. Sparaco - US Navy circa 1943

He kept the last name Sparaco through his youth, college, a first marriage to Elizabeth Lennon, and World War II although he went by Charles William instead of Charles Wilhelm at some point.  His father died in 1944 and the marriage ended in divorce on October 2, 1946.  On May 12, 1947 he officially changed his name from Charles William Sparaco to Charles William Strong in Probate Court of Kennebec County, Maine.  Only a daughter from the first marriage, Judyann Eleanor Sparaco, retained the original family name of Sparaco.  The rest of us and our children would become Strongs.

So, why Strong and not something else?

We were told little about this as children and not much more as adults.  I recall Dad telling me that he changed his last name so that we children would escape the prejudice he had to endure.  Another explanation he shared with me was that he wanted to live in Maine where there was little ethnic diversity and thought we would suffer in school and other places with an Italian last name.

Regardless of reasons, he chose the name Strong which he said was a rough translation of his mother's maiden name Wankko.  His mother, whose picture adorned a spot in the living room of our home for 50 years, was named Ingeborg Wankko.  

This photo hung in a frame on the wall of the living room of our home in Jefferson, Maine for nearly 50 years.  Ingeborg Wankko Sparaco - New York City circa 1915

She was from a small town in northern Sweden north of the Arctic Circle called Pajala.  That part of Sweden was just across the border from Finland and Finnish was the common language of the area.  Some versions of the last name from immigration papers spell the last name as Vankko.

It was only recently that I ever bothered to research the claim that Wankko meant "strong" or "strength" or something near that.  Using online translators, I tried several spelling versions of the name including substituting a "V" for the "W" before discovering that "vankka" translates to solid, strong, sturdy, rugged, staunch, steady, stout, stalwart, foursquare, strenuous, and lusty.  At last, that part of the mystery is solved!  As to why the name was changed, we may never know.  The court document did not require a reason and all who might have known like our grandparents, uncles, and aunts are long dead.