Family Immigration
My family’s immigration to America, on both my Mother’s and my Father’s side, can be traced back to Italy/Ireland and Luxembourg, respectively. I am going to be focusing on my Mother’s side of the family. My maternal immigration started back with my Great Great Grandparents.
My Great Grandpa, Giuseppe Pelliccioni was born on November 20th, 1894. His parents, Narciso and Agnese, were the first to come to America. It is unknown when the two came over, but it is known that their intentions were to find work for Narciso in the copper mines; it is for this reason that they went to Iron Mountain, Michigan. Many people immigrating during this time period came for this reason. After living there for a few years, Narciso and Agnese had two children, one of which being Giuseppe.
In the few years living in Michigan, Agnese grew sick of the cold and brutal winters of Michigan, so the family packed up and went back to Lucca, Italy, where they had previously lived. Following the ever growing trend of italian Immigration to the States, it wasn’t long before Giuseppe set his sights for America once again. In 1912, at the age of 18, Giuseppe Pelliccioni moved back to America. He traveled aboard a vessel, arriving in New York City. Although being born a US citizen, he had to go through Ellis Island, as his birth records were not properly completed prior to his earlier departure from America.
Once through Ellis Island, he settled in Chicago. After a laborious search for employment, he landed a job at the Illinois Bell Telephone Company. Soon after Giuseppe’s employment had begun, he met Paola Barsi, who would later become his wife, and my Great Great Grandmother. They got married in 1915 in the City of Chicago. During their marriage they had five children, the eldest of which being my Great Grandmother Inez Pelliccioni.
Inez was born February 12, 1916. The young family moved to various homes throughout her childhood. When the depression hit in 1929, all members of the family started working to support the family. Inez was working two while attending high school. Her father had lost his job at the telephone company, and had opened up his own deli. Still struggling to make ends meet, Giuseppe started a taxi cab business and began driving a taxi.
Providing food and shelter was becoming an evermore difficult task. At one point, Giuseppe had traded his old car for a chicken coop. With Inez now working at a lumber store, she negotiated with her boss to receive payment in lumber, so her father could transform the chicken coop into a liveable residence. Times got so rough that Giuseppe had run out of options. He tried his hand at bootlegging, but was unsuccessful as he blew up his distillery, nearly killing himself.
In 1931 Inez Pelliccioni met Giulio Renzetti. Giulio was born in Rignano Flaminia, Italy in 1902. He also came to America, following the wave of Italians, at a young age of 13 with no one but himself. His intentions were to meet up with his brother John Renzetti, who had came the America four years earlier. Giulio too, came through Ellis Island, and had then settled in Chicago.
In the few months following Inez and Giulio’s meeting, the two got married in November of 1931. They had two children, Dorine and Alfred. Dorine Renzetti was born July 31, 1940 in Chicago. She attended Resurrection High School. During her senior year of high school, she met James Kehoe. James was born December 17, 1937.
He grew up in Chicago and attended St. Pats High School. Dorine and James got married as soon as she graduated from high school in 1958, at the age of 18. This was a lot more common back in the day to get married at such a young age. Not long after Dorine and James Married, they had 3 children.
The eldest of them all was my mother Cheryl Kehoe Cheryl was September 8, 1959. She grew up in Chicago, and at the age of five, moved to Elk Grove. She also attended Resurrection High School. After graduating, she attended Northern Illinois University and then Continued her education going to law school at Loyola University. She later got a job as an attorney at Burke Griffen Law Firm; it is here that she met my Father, Terrence Schaul.
Terrence was born September 2, 1963. He grew up on a farm with his eight brothers and sisters in Mundelein, Illinois. He attended Mundelein High School. After graduating, he attended The University Of Illinois and later attended law school at DePaul University. Cheryl and Terrence got married in 1992. They had three children, Kelsey, Madeline, and myself.
