Gaspare Santangelo of Sambuca Zabt

Gaspare Santangelo, born April 08, 1885 in Sambuca di Sicilia, Italy; died May 09, 1947 in Rockford, Il. He was the son of Michael Santangelo and Vita Cicio, He married Giacomina Maria Marchesano July 29, 1914 in St. Anthony of Padua Church, Rockford, IL.

Giacomina Maria Marchesano, born December 06, 1885 in Monteamaggiore

Belsito, Italy; died June 20, 1952 in Rockford, IL. She was the daughter of Francesco Marchesano and Giuseppa Sciolino.

My grandfather Gaspare (Jasper) was born in abject poverty. He immigrated as a young boy with his father in the early 1900s from Italy because of the severe economic conditions which prevailed there, stopping first in New Orleans and settling briefly in Independence, LA. There his father taught 12 year old Jasper to read and write English as well as the cobbler trade. Jasper was ambitious and wanted greater opportunities. He got a job as a water boy for the Illinois Central Railroad and soon was serving as interpreter for the Italian section hands. After a brief stop in Chicago, he came to Rockford to take a job as a Milwaukee Road section hand under Martin Brennan. While working on a job on Elm Street, Jasper met a mail carrier named Joe Cox and voiced dissatisfaction with his job. Since Jasper knew something about making shoes, Cox suggested that he seek employment in one of the three shoe factories then located here. Jasper went to work for the Union Shoe factory at $7 per week. Asking about opportunities for advancement, Jasper was told that if he could learn how to run a machine he could earn $15 a week-big money in his eye. He spent hours observing the machine operators and asking questions. But he never got promoted and finally quit his job.

At the Hess and Hopkins leather factory he then applied for a job as a cutter-but after being hired he was given the job of janitor. Jasper saved his modest earnings and opened his own shoe repair business on West State Street. After several years he had the opportunity to acquire a bakery on Rock Street which presently is known as the Piemonte bakery. He operated the bakery for five years. He would bake during the night and early morning hours and then deliver Italian bread door to door. One day he delivered to the

new St. Anthony Church rectory, a haven for immigrants because of Father Marchesano’s preaching in the Italian language. He met Giacomina Marchesano, the priest’s sister, who had come to Rockford from Chicago to keep house for him ans assist him in his duties. It was love at first sight for both of them. Jasper asked the priest’s permission to call. They were married

July 29, 1914. Determined to improve himself and learn more about his new country, Jasper enrolled in night classes at Rockford College in business law. He was fortunate in having Dr. Roy Swift as his instructor. Dr. Swift took a liking to Jasper and taught him both English and business law.

After his marriage, Jasper obtained a real estate and insurance broker’s license, opened his own office, and prospered, expanding rapidly to add construction of homes, stores and other buildings. It was during this period that Jasper St. Angel became the accepted leader of the Italian Community. Word got back to Sicily that there were many factories seeking employees in Rockford, that Jasper St. angel would look out for the interests of immigrants arriving here. They soon began to arrive in waves.. Many who sailed from Sicily would reach Rockford with a tag pinned to their garments reading: “Jasper St. Angel, Rockford, Illinois, U.S.A.” Jasper would meet the immigrants at the railroad depot, find them lodging, assist in getting them jobs. His work with the immigrants came to the attention of the Italian consul general consul in Chicago ans St. Angel’s office was designated a branch consular office. It was also through his efforts that the Italian ambassador to the United States visited Rockford in 1924. With his business established, Jasper took an important role in the community’s civic activities. He served on the Rockford library board and was instrumental in having the Montague branch library built. After serving two terms as Fifth ward alderman in the mid-Twenties, Jasper ran for mayor of Rockford in 1931, finishing third in a field of eight. According to his late son, my father Frank St. Angel told us: “ Jasper entered the political arena because of a determination to prove that Rockford’s Italians were not second-class citizens. My father served as unofficial interpreter for all the new arrivals. He encouraged them to become citizens and helped the to learn the English language. He sought to ease the adjustment of the new arrivals to a new land where laws and customs were different. He imbued them with American ideals. He had a great belief in the melting pot, pointing out that the “establishment” wanted them all to conform to certain standards. Now we realize the every ethnic group has something to contribute to the life of a community.” Until Jasper was elected alderman, no Italian had held public elective office in Rockford. Earlier Fifth ward alderman had usually been English or Irish. It was the father of Clyde Weingartner, who later served the Fourth ward in the City Council for many years, who persuaded Jasper to make his successful aldermanic try. This started a sequence of Italian Fifth ward council representation which wasn’t broken until 1971. Jasper made one more try for elective public office in 1936-an unsuccessful one-as the Democratic candidate for state senator. Until his death, however, in 1947, he held a number of appointive political offices.

Story and picture submitted by Jasper St. Angel, Grandson to Gaspare Santangelo