One in a collection by Allen Bachoroski,
Local Historical Writer,
Tales Along the
Highway of Legends
Note: This
is one in a series of historical stories about local families
in the Trinidad region.
Click here to find out more
about how these stories were collected.
Angelo and Mary Caporale (Born in Naples, Italy in 1869
and 1868) and their six year old son, Joseph's, dream
of coming to America became a reality in late 1895 when
Angelo's uncle, Frank Caporale, advised immigration that
he would sponsor them. The fact that Mary was almost eight
months pregnant did not keep them from making the arduous
boat trip from Italy. Their opportunity had arrived!
Their daughter, Rose, was born in New York on February
15, 1896. They moved west and Angelo worked at the Coke
Ovens until he saved enough money to settle on a farm
in El Moro. He worked as a share-cropper for several years
then bought the land he was farming. His first task was
to build a very comfortable frame and stucco 3-bedroom
house with large front and back porches.
Angelo and Mary had five other children, Jeanette (1899-1945)
married Charles Fixek. They had two daughters, Marcella
and Marybelle. Daniel (1900-1966 3 married Marie Dutton
they had a son, Danny, Jr., and two daughters, Dixie and
Polly. Clara ( 1903 - 1983 ) Married Rocco DiPaolo - they
had a daughter, Mary Rose, and a son, Dominic. Elizabeth
( 1907 - 1931) and Florence 1910 - 1943 were unmarried.
One of Angelo's proudest moments was on January 12, 1904
when he, Mary, and Joseph became American citizens. We
must admire the stamina of this pioneer couple. They came
to this country not knowing one word of English - (They
learned it later from their children). All they asked
was an opportunity to live and work in America. They never
asked for welfare or help from anyone. They worked hard,
lived long and happy lives, raised a wonderful family,
and lived on a strictly cash basis; Never charged a nickel.
They lived almost entirely off the land. They raised rabbits,
chickens, hogs, and cattle. Made their own cheese and
butter. Angelo's fantastic orchard boasted six varieties
of apples, three of plums, also peaches, pears, currents,
and blueberries. He grew lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, rhubarb,
strawberries, peanuts, asparagus, cabbage, celery, cucumbers,
beets, carrots, peas, beans, radishes, corn, water melon,
honeydew, cantaloupe, squash, pumpkins, pop corn, parsley,
onions, garlic, fennel, and dill. They had about a dozen
bee hives and made their own honey. They had a cellar
where they kept apples, carrots, melons, etc., far into
winter. They canned, pickled, and dried fruit and vegetables
to last until the next year's crop.
They cured bacon and ham and made sausage which they cured
then cut into 4" pieces and layered in 5-gallon crocks.
They poured melted lard, (which they rendered) over this.
The lard congealed and preserved the sausage until weather
was cold enough to butcher again. None of the hog was
wasted. They pickled pigfeet, dried pig skin and cooked
it with beans, and made liver sausage.
Approximately once in three or four months they drove
horse and wagon to Trinidad for supplies. These consisted
of 1/2 ton of flour, 100 pounds of sugar, 20 pound boxes
of pasta, 100 pound sacks of potatoes, salt, and kerosene
for lamps.
Angelo always grew more produce than he could use. They
would load up their wagon, and in later years their car,
and drive to the coal camps to sell fruit, vegetables,
cheese, and eggs. They had regular Customers eager to
buy fresh produce at reasonable prices. Angelo built an
outside oven for Mary to bake bread once a week. Angelo
would fill the oven with wood and burn it until the brick
was hot. The ash was then cleaned out and bread put in
to bake.
Their farm crops were alfalfa, wheat, oats, corn, beans,
and sugar beets. In those days, (before combines) grain
was harvested with a binder. Bundles were stacked until
the threshing crew came. During the coal miners strike
in Ludlow, the Militia suspected the farmers in the area
would be sympathetic toward the miners and word got out
that they were searching the farm houses for arms and
ammunition. Angelo was neutral, but he did not want his
guns confiscated. He hid them in one of the wheat stacks.
In those days farmers worked hard and did not have much
time for play, however, approximately once a month one
of the families in the area would have a party. Everyone
came. They danced, drank dandelion wine and home brew,
laughed, and told stories. In the spring of 1917 a friend
of the family brought a handsome young man to the farm
to meet the young Caporale ladies. This was when Efisio
(Tony) Simola fell in love with Rose Caporale. They were
married on July 21, 1917.
Angelo and Mary retired and moved to Trinidad in 1941.
They left the farm to their sons, Joe and Dan. Mary died
of a stroke in 1946 and Angelo of a heart attack in 1951.
Joe died of cancer in 1962.
(Note:
if you have Photos of this family or know of anyone that
does, please have them get in touch with us so that we
might share some photos of the family here)