Antonio Urso

Antonio Urso was born 158 years ago in 1862 @ Alessandria della Rocca, Agrigento Sicily to his Father Rosario Urso and Mother, Anna Maria Anzalone.

** Interesting events that occurred around the World during Antonio's birth year of 1862 included.

• On February 22nd, 1862 Jefferson Davis is officially inaugurated in Richmond, Virginia, to a 6-year term as President of the Confederate States of America.

• On March 31st, 1862 Victor Hugo's epic French historical novel Les Misérables is published.

• On May 5th, 1862 in the Battle of Puebla during the Second French Intervention, Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza defeats the French Army. The event is commemorated each year as Cinco de Mayo.

• On July 1st, 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signs into law the Pacific Railroad Acts, authorizing construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

• On September 17th, 1862 in the Battle of Antietam takes place when Union forces strategically defeat Confederate troops at Sharpsburg, Maryland in the bloodiest day in U.S. history, with over 22,000 casualties

• On September 22nd, 1862 President President Abraham Lincoln in the Emancipation Proclamation states that he will free slaves in all states on January first, 1863.

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Rosaria Tinaglia was born 163 years ago in 1857 @ Alessandria della Rocca, Agrigento Sicily to her Father,

Pietro Tinaglia and Mother, Maria Campione

** Interesting events that occurred around the World during Rosaria's birth year of 1857 included.

• On January 22nd, 1857 the National Association of Baseball Players is founded in New York.

• On March 3rd, 1857 the largest slave auction in United States history is held and dubbed "The Weeping Time". Over a two-day period, Pierce M. Butler sells 436 Men, Women, children, and infants, all of whom are kept in stalls meant for horses at a racetrack in Savannah, Georgia for weeks beforehand

• On March 4th, 1857 James Buchanan is sworn in as the 15th President of the United States.

• On March 23rd, 1857 Elisha Otis' first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway, in New York City.

• On December 31st, 1857 Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as the Capital of Canada.

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** Antonio was the third of seven children born to his Mother and Father. Chronologically his elder siblings were Grazia Maria, and Elisabetta. His younger Brothers and Sister were Francisco,, Pietro, . Rosaria, and Salvatore.

** Rosaria was the eldest of five children born to her Mother and Father. Chronologically her younger siblings were Giovanni, Grazia, Maria, and Angelina Tinaglia.

Antonino Urso and Rosaria Tinaglia who were both born and raised in Alessandria della Rocca, Agrigento, Sicily would meet and marry in the early 1880s where they soon start a family together. Between 1882 and 1903 the couple have three children all of whom are born in Italy. Chronologically they welcome Anna, Concetta, and Rosario "Sam" Urso.

Antonino sails to both New Orleans, Louisiana and the New York Harbor multiple times between 1889 and 1906 en route to visiting with relatives in Tampa, Florida. ( This may have something to do with the spacing of their children's births... 1882, 1887, and1903 ) The.entire Urso family would leave Sicily after the birth of their youngest Son, "Sam". and sail to United States aboard the SS Perugia leaving Palermo on May the 10th,1906 and arriving at the New York Harbor 17 days later on the 27th. They permanently settle in Tampa, Florida where Mr. Urso has extended family members and built personal relationships over the years.

Although Urso Patriarch Antonino does not appear in any Census records we do find a single City Directory from 1906 that indicates he was a "Laborer" but through ensuing newspaper recollections we learn that his occupation was actually that of a carpenter.

The Urso's were finally reunited and their American Dream was about to be realized....

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On Sunday December 13th, 1908 i while attending the Christening of their friend Angelo Sardinos infant Daughter at 328 Walnut Street in West Tampa with about 40 other guests a stranger appeared at the front gate calling for Antonio Urso. Upon being told by a fellow partygoer named Antonio Figarota, that someone was looking for him, without suspicion, Urso walked outside and towards the welcoming gate. As he drew closer, the stranger displayed a revolver and leveled three gunshots directly at Mr. Urso. His Wife Rosaria and both of their Daughters, ran towards him, wailing with grief as they did their best to comfort him but alas, he was beyond help. Mr. Urso was dead.

Upon inspection of his body later that day the coroner removed $355.05 in cash mostly in large denomination bills, a gold watch, and a cigar. Investigating authorities were told that he had recently been engaged in a confrontation with another Italian in Ybor City.

Two days later, Mr. Bastiano Dechedue was charged with Antonino's murder and in a shocking twist the party guest, Antonio Figarotta who initially directed Mr Urso to go outside is charged as an accessory to his murder !! At his arraignment on December 17th 1908 Urso Matriarch Rosaria who had sworn vengeance on the accomplice physically assailed Figarotta in the courtroom before being restrained by bailiffs

Mr Dechedue had escaped and newspaper recollections insinuated that he was being protected by "a most powerful organization" and is likely to have been "The Black Hand"

He would never be apprehended...

** Less than two months later in February of 1909 a well known broker of Italian commodities, Mr. B. La Bella who resided on Elizabeth Street in New York City with business ties to Tampa is beaten with a club, murdered and buried in a shallow grave beside the Hillsborough River. A man hunting for hogs would come upon the gruesome scene. Five Italian men are initially rounded up and put in jail for La Bella's murder in what was a seemingly unrelated event to Mr. Urso's assassination. Orniferio Chiramante who had owed the New York businessman $100 is soon found to have been La Bella's killer and later convicted of his murder.

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** On Saturday April 10th, 1909 the weekend of Easter Sunday, wealthy Sicilian born West Tampa baker, Giuseppe Rosario Ficarotta, ( Brother of Antonio, the suspected accomplice in Mr. Urso's assassination ) is without warning shot in the head three times while beside his homes front entry gate. Unbeknownst to most, Mr Ficarotta had received a "Black Hand" letter demanding $10,000 .which was later determined to have been sent to him by Paolo Chiramante the Brother of Orniferio Chiramente the accused and later convicted killer of Mr La Bella in February.

** The Figarotta surname is spelled multiple ways throughout these articles... IE: Figarota, Ficarotta

** Authorities believe that the three West Tampa assassinations in four months are all interconnected although the motive for Mr. Urso's murder are never entirely understood.

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After the loss of her Husband, Rosaria raises her Son "Sam" with the assistance of her now adult Daughters Anna and Concetta. Mrs. Urso never remarries and lives a long life before passing away on October 13th, 1949 at the age of Ninety one. Neither she nor her children ever leave the city of Tampa.

Antonio and Rosaria Urso... Beloved Husband, Wife, Father, and Mother.

The Good CemeterianOctober 9, 2020Comment