Unsolved Dalpiaz Mystery

A while back, one of your long lost cousins included some intriguing information about a great granduncle Ottilio Dalpiaz being murdered in Colorado after overhearing a Mafia murder plot. What self-respecting librarian/family historian wouldn't feel a great urge to research such a story??

Otillio (first name spelling varies greatly from source to source) probably immigrated from home in the late 1880's. Sal Romano's Trento website gives great information on some emigration patterns and I'm guessing Otillio followed this pattern. In 1900 he appears to have been a coal miner in Gray Creek Colorado. If you go to the Colorado Mines link on this website, you will see some Gray Creek mining pictures I think are very interesting. I haven't found him again until he was murdered in 1928.

I imagine it was a warm morning August 20 1928 in the Grand Hotel when Ottilio was shot to death after an apparent struggle in his room in the annex at the hotel. He'd been employed as their night dishwasher but had quit his job and collected his pay very shortly before he was attacked. Witnesses heard some discussion in his room, a struggle, crashing noise and shots. Seven bullet wounds from a .38 were found in his body. SEVEN!!

Otillio was probably around 54 years old when he died. It appears he had no friends or family in the area and was described as "a quiet fellow who did not talk much" . The reports from the coroner's inquest made no mention of any Mafia involvement and the murder was apparently never solved.

For me, this is a sad story of dying alone but perhaps sharing his story bring some justice to the great injustice of an unsolved murder.

Julia Fisher Nevins 1834 (ish) - 1907

For some reason, Julia has always fascinated me.  Lucky for me, I have a pretty full picture of her whereabouts for most of her life, but I'd really love to know more about her character and personality.
Julia is our great great grandmother on the Nevins side of the family.

She was baptized as Judy Fisher in Kells, County Meath August 1 1835 of parents Mathew Fisher and Ann Brien (maybe O'Brien).  Apparently Judith and Julia could be used somewhat interchangeably by the Irish.  Same as well with Ann and Nancy.  There are other examples, but they don't pertain to Julia's story.  We are unsure of her birth and baptisms could take place a couple of years after birth but, in this case, I feel 1834-35 time range is a fair guess as to Julia's birth.  Other children born of these parents were Christopher and Rose.  We meet Christopher later, but Rose is lost.  My theory is that she married and stayed in Ireland when the rest of the family left.

I feel pretty confident this is Julia's arrival in 1854 to Boston with Nancy (probably her mother) and Christopher (probably her brother).  Both Mathew and Christopher were blacksmiths so this is a big handy clue that these are the same people.

Shortly afterward, in the 1855 census, we find the family in Rochester New York rejoined with Mathew.  I try to imagine how they got from Boston to Rochester in 1854.  I don't have a clear picture of that yet.

Five years later, the family is in Ellicottville New York:  Mathew and Christopher are both listed as blacksmiths.  (***side note:  interestingly, Julia's future son Henry married the granddaughter of another blacksmith***)  The Fishers stay in Ellicottville area for several more years.  Julia's mother dies in 1861 and is buried in Ellicottville.  This grave marker was my biggest clue at the beginning of my search for information about this family. Isn't it magnificent?  It's probably the "biggest" clue I ever used!!!

By 1870, Julia has met and married John Nevins and they have 3 children together but are living (temporarily) in Oil City Pennsylvania and John is an oil worker.  One child is born here but all others were born in Cattaraugus County New York.  In 1873, our great grandfather Henry is born. A set of twins follows two years later making Julia the mother of 6 children.

The twins, Mattie and Christy (Mathew and Christopher) die tragically of diptheria when they are about 5 years old.  The remaining children, Frank,  John Jr., Mary and Henry grow to be adults with their own lives.  Julia lives until 1907 when "another good woman departed this life" at the homestead in on Bryant Hill in Ellicottville.  She would have known 3 grandchildren--each Nanny's (C. Paula Nevins') siblings: Margaret, Julia and Joseph.  John lived until 1913, also dying at the homestead. Presumably Nanny wouldn't remember her grandfather as she was only 3 or so when he died. 

This is probably a family who left Ireland due to the famine, Mathew leaving first.  Then Julia, her mother and her brother made their way from Boston to Rochester.  I'm certain they faced hardships we can't even imagine.  But Julia's children were successful:  Henry becoming a prominent lawyer for example.  Joseph also well known in the legal profession.  It's an American story, I guess.  I am very grateful this country allowed refugees such as Julia and her family to escape famine to come to the United States.  This won't be true for many other refugees today.