More from Lafayette Flat official historian, Carl McLaughlin:

As mentioned in my first blog entry, Antonio Gros Janutolo was awarded the contract for the building of the “Stone Building” (Lafayette Flats) by Dr. M.M. Malcolm in August 1904. Antonio began his life in America as an immigrant Italian but became a naturalized citizen in September 1893 at the Circuit Court of Maryland. Before 1904 Antonio had already made at least two shipboard passages from Italy to America. His return trip from Beilla, Italy on March 26, 1904, to the Port of New York, is the one most interesting to me.

S.S. La Touraine, the ship on which Antonio Janutolo made his second voyage to the U.S.

He was listed on the S.S. La Touraine’s Manifest of Alien Passengers for the Commissioner of Immigration as being 45 and single (first wife, Antoinette Grisoldi Janutolo died in Italy). His occupation was listed as a mason and his final destination was Kaymoor, WV. It was noted he had been in Kaymoor before from 1890 to 1904. Furthermore, he was “going home Kaymoor, Fayette to W. Virginia.”

Federal Census gives us more information. In the 1900 census, Antonio was listed as a border with the Joe and Clolibele Janutolo family of Fayetteville. He was 42 and they were 31 and 28 respectively. By the 1910 census, Anthony was the head of his household. Also his children, Fioranzo and Eride had joined him from Italy. They were 20 and 15 at the time of the census and they all lived in Fayetteville.

Later, on June 25, 1910, Antonio married a widow, Maria Dirchia Moro Ongaro. Maria was from Italy and her first husband, Giavachin Ongaro had been a well-known stonemason from Northern Italy. He had died in Fayetteville from a dynamite blast. Before their marriage Maria had taken in boarders, one of whom was “Cleanties” Janutolo.

Cleante Gros Janutolo was Antonio’s nephew. He had come to Fayette County in 1906 to learn the practical experiences of running a company from his uncle. Cleante had just graduated from an Italian Technical School trained in architecture in 1906.

In the late 1920s, Antonio, Maria and their two daughters, Alba and Ennis, left for Italy. Antonio was returning to Biella, Italy for retirement. On January 18, 1933, Antonio would die in his beloved Italy.

However, the Janutolo family’s story and influence in Fayette county would only grow stronger. More entries to come later on this subject. The next entry will describe the role Joseph Tyler Grose played in the Bank of Fayette’s history. From teller to the president and much more in between.

Next Post: Another History Lesson