EDITOR’S NOTE: Uncle Michael was always saddened by the following part of Saverio’s life, so out of respect for his feelings, I omitted it. Now that Uncle Michael has passed away, I feel it can be added to this history.
As stated in the first paragraph on page 6, Saverio went to Philadelphia, where he opened a candy store. Business was good and he was doing well. As in New York City, ethnic groups tended to live in their own communities and Saverio lived in a tenement with a small flat. One evening as he was relaxing, he heard a domestic quarrel and ignored it until the wife started calling for help. There was no mistaking the need, as the woman yelled loud and clear, so Saverio ran to the rescue. He found a man, with a knife in his hand, about to attack his wife. Saverio attempted to take the knife away from him; they fought, falling and rolling on the floor, each trying for control of the knife. When it was over, Saverio had the knife and the man lay still.
Believing the man dead, Saverio ran! [We would rationalize that this was self defense, but you must consider the times. He was a foreigner. Police were generally not kind to foreigners and often judged them poorly. and know one knows for sure whether the man was truly dead or not…] Saverio was afraid of the police and fled for his life! He joined the circus, made his way to South America and then over to England.
Saverio never returned to the US as he thought he was a wanted man and Minnie did not travel to America until after Saverio passed away.
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Dad loved to do card tricks and other slight of hand ‘magic’ and when I was older and thought about his harsh young life, I wondered how he ever had time to learn these things. After hearing about Saverio’s tour with the circus, I realized that he probably dazzled his children when they were little, and then taught his young boys some of those tricks.
/am 11/18/96