Famiglia Dalpiaz

This is the story of Costante Dalpiaz, but not your grandfather Costante.  This is your great great uncle Costante Dalpiaz. 

How lucky are we that pictures on tombstones is a common practice in this cemetery in Tassullo? 

Much of what I know about Costante and his family comes from cousin Maria Louisa Dalpiaz Kussman who said "My grandfather like many of the people of that time came to the US and had his family and returned to Italy with the savings he had accumulated by working in the coal mines of Southern Illinois.  He returned to Italy in 1921 with his wife and four sons ages 7, 6, 5 and 1.  They settled in Tassullo and purchased farmland with their savings and built a new house.  They also put some of the money in the bank.  It did not pay for them to buy more farmland because they couldn't handle more than the amount that they purchased - this was before the modern conveniences that make farming a gentleman's work (tractors etc). "

In the time that Costante was in the United States, he applied for and was granted citizenship.  However, according to this little tidbit I came across recently, that citizenship was revoked after he returned to Italy.  This might be considered unusual, but it was wartime and Italy was not an ally.

This was from the Macoupin County Enquirer Carlinville Illinois May 12 1938

obtained using fultonhistory.com

There were four children Marcello, Guilio, Fiorindo and Leonello.  You can see some evidence in the tombstone engraving of their stories. 

 

Again, according to Maria Louisa, " Costante, my grandfather did die while picking apples.  My uncle Marcello his oldest son was in the hospital with a heart attack, and my grandfather was panicked because it was apple picking time.  So he at the age of 77 unbeknownst to everyone else went into a side field and climbed up on a ladder and picked all the apples from the tree.  He was almost done, so the last few apples he stuffed into his shirt - a common practice when you were picking the last far reaching apples.  He then fell.  What we don't know is whether he just fell or had gotten dizzy or light headed or what.  He was found by his grandson, not that long after he died."

 

It's the details in such stories that fascinate and intrigue me and I hope the same for you.  And.....it's so interesting what comes up when "Dalpiaz" is the search term!