The 1919 Flu Epidemic Takes Josephine

Josephine (Alaria) Riva died on February 2, 1919 after having bronchi pneumonia for six days and influenza for three. Statistically, she was a victim of the Great Flu Epidemic of 1918-1919. But on the human side our 33 year old ancestor left behind a husband and three children, the youngest of which was eight year old Peter. It's estimated that between 20 to 40 million people died of the flu in those two years nation wide and 32 thousand just in the state of Illinois.

Her Death Certificate reveals a few interesting details like the fact that her father's family name is spelled the same way as it was on the 1900 U.S. Federal Census---"Olario"---and that she was buried at the Granville Cemetery in Granville, Illinois. This latter fact is interesting because her oldest son, John, had her marble grave marker in his garage for many years. The family couldn't afford to buy one when she died so decades later Josie's three kids had one made. The stone made at least two trips down to Illinois from Michigan but the cemetery location couldn't be found. From my understanding, it was finally left at a cemetery adjunct to a catholic church but the cemetery keeper didn't have any record of her being there. "But," he said, "They'd find a place for the marker."

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Town listed on the Death Certificate:

* Standard where Josephine Riva lived Putnam County

* Granville where she was buried
Putnam County

* Spring Valley where she died
Bureau County

This whole area of Illinois was involved heavily in coal mining. Spring Valley alone was over 6,000 people at the turn of the century and it was one huge mining camp. Saint Margaret's Hospital, where Josephine died, was built by seven French sisters to service those miners. J.Riva © 2008

Click to enlarge map above and below.


The pins on the bottom map shows where all the Granville cemeteries are located today.

Granville, IL coal yards and trains on their way to Chicago, circa ?


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Philadelphia Passenger List 1888 - Alaria

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Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945
Name: Aurelia Alaria
Arrival Date: 27 Jun 1888
Age: 25 Years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1863
Gender: Female
Port of Departure: Antwerp, Belgium
Ship Name: Nederland
Port of Arrival: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Last Residence: Belgium ?
Birthplace: France
Microfilm Roll Number: T840_11

The Philadelphia Passenger Lists of 1800-1945 establishes that Aurelia Alaria arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 27, 1888, just two days after there was a huge fire in the city that started in a kindling factory and spread to a near-by coal yard and school house. She was twenty-five years old and her husband, Pietro Alaria, had come to America the year before. Her birthplace is listed as 'France' and Belgium is named as her last place of residence---but with a question mark.

Milk Woman 1890
Antwerp, Belguim

Also in the index for the Philadelphia Passengers Lists of 1800-1945 was another Alaria: Josef Alaria is listed on the line below Aurelia as a male two year old child. I strongly suspect that the 'Josef' is probably Josephine Alaria and the 'male' was a clerical error. We know from the U.S. Census records that Josephine immigrated the same year as her mother when Josie was very young. J.E. Riva © 2008


Philadelphia, 1800s


1888 Philadelphia (click to enlarge)

Our Riva and the Alaria Ancestors

The first Riva in our family to come to America was Giacomo Riva. He immigrated in 1897. The first Alaria in our family to come to America was Pietro Alaria. He came over in 1885 and he was the father to Josephine Alaria who later married Giacomo in August 19, 1905 bonding these two families together forever. This blog site is an attempt to follow their paper trail across time.

The Riva Family, Circa early 1920s
Margaret J, Giacomo (father), John D, and Peter M

Giacomo Riva was born in Pertusio, Italy, March 26, 1873 to parents Giovanni Riva and Margherita Faletto both of Italy. He died in Kent County, MI, in November of 1944.

Riva Siblings:
-John Dominick Riva
Born Sept. 21, 1906 South Wilmington, IL
Married to Margaret Kane
Died July 14, 1989, Kent County, MI
- Margaret J. Riva - Unmarried (known as Maggie)
Born July 7, 1908
Died June 28, 1994
- Aurelia Riva - Died as infant
- Baby - Died as an infant
(also named Aurelia according to oral history)
- Peter Riva
Born June 5, 1911 Standard, IL (Putman County)
Married to Doris Latimer April 15, 1937
Died Dec. 25, 1999 Kent County, MI

Known Siblings to Giacomo Riva:
- Frank Riva
- Mathew Riva
- Dominick Riva
- Joseph Riva
- Margaret Riva - Married Tony Mandoni

Wife to Giacomo Riva: Josephine Alaria



The Alaria Family, circa 1902-04
Standing: John, Joe, Josephine, Rose; Center: Peter and Rome;
Seated: Peter (the father) Frank, Aurelia (the mother)

Pietro Alaria was born Nov. 1859 in San Giogrio Canavese, Italy, and he married Aurelia Masoero in 1884. He died January 11, 1931, in Kent County, MI.

Aurelia Masoero was born in Italy in January 1862 and died in 1928 in Kent County, MI.

Alaria Siblings:
- Josephine Alaria
Born Dec. 1885 France (near the Italian border)
Married Giacomo Riva on Aug. 19, 1905
Died Feb. 2, 1919, Bureau County, IL
- Romellio Alaria
Born June 8, 1899, Lagrange, IL
Died Sept. 10, 1963
Married Margaret Jane Dyer on Dec. 29, 1926
- John Alaria
Born: Feb. 2, 1891, Coal City, IL
Died May 24, 1965, Kent County, MI
Married Elizabeth Gorden, May 9, 1917
- Joseph Alaria
Born:
Died:
Married Mary Ellen Renn (?)
- Rosa Alaria
Born: Feb. 13, 1895, Coal City, IL
Married August Koepnick, married August Koepnick, Jan. 1913
- Peter Alaria
Married Mabel Marie Harkins
- Frank Alaria
Died: 29 Dec, 1926
Married Laila M. Milthaler


Spelling Variations

Spelling on older records for ancestors don't always match. It happened for several reasons. 1) Immigrants often couldn't read or write and they depended on clerks or others to sound names out. 2) If they did know a name was Americanized or spelled wrong by a clerk they would hesitate to challenge authority. 3) Census records are subject to mistakes in the way the information was gathered word-of-mouth from who ever was home at the time the the census taker called, including guesses from neighbors. Below are the spelling variations I've found in our ancestor's records.

Pietro
Pietre
Peter

Allaria - Used on a passenger list and Josephine's wedding license
Olerio - Used on the 1900 U.S. Census
Alaria - Currently used spelling of the family name

Faletto
Falletti

Josephine
Josie
Jossie

Aurelia
Orelia
Amelia
Ourellia
Eurelia

Masoero - Family used this spelling in later years
Mosvero - Found on older records

James (English)
Giacomo (Italian)

John (English)
Giovanni (Italian)

Margaret (English)
Margherita (Italian)

Romellio
Romer
Rome


J.Riva © 2008

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Alaria Family - 1900 U.S. Census

The 1900 United States Federal Census records reveal a lot of information about fourteen year old Josephine Alaria and her parents, Petre and Aurelia Alaria. One thing we learn from this document is that Josie was born in France in December of 1885 and she immigrated to America as a baby in her mother's arms the following year. Her father, however, immigrated to America in 1885, the year before his wife and first born child, Josie, came over. It's a good guess to imagine that Aurelia was pregnant in 1885 and unable to travel so he went on ahead to get settled so his wife could join him after the baby was born. It should be noted here that despite the fact that Josie was born in France we know from documents and oral history that her parents were from the same northern mountainous Piedmont Region in Italy as the Riva family. (Five years after this census was taken, Josephine marries Giacomo Riva.)

At the time of this census the Alaria family was living in Grundy County, Illinois, in Felix Township. Within Felix Township were the villages of Carbon Hill, Coal City and Diamond. In addition to Josie, the census shows five other children in the family: Romellio, John, Joseph, Rosa, and Peter who ranged in ages from "11 or 12" to four years old.

Below is the exact information found on the 1900 census including all the misspellings. Don't let the misspelling of Alaria or Aurelia throw you. On a 1920 census the spelling for Romellio and Rosa are different as well. The Alaria name has changed over the years as often happened with immigrant families either through clerical errors or Americanization of the names. Several of the earlier documents found show our Alaria ancestors it with two L's. I will note here that I remember my great-uncles and aunt---John, Joe, Rose and Peter---from my childhood days so at some point they had moved up to Kent County, Michigan. © J. Riva 2008

1900 United States Federal Census
about Petre Olerio
Name: Petre Olerio
Home in 1900: Felix, Grundy, Illinois
Age: 39
Occupation: Coal miner
Birth Date: Nov 1860
Birthplace: Italy
Race: White
Ethnicity: American
Immigration Year: 1885
Relationship to head-of-house: Head
Father's Birthplace: Italy
Mother's Birthplace: Italy

Spouse's Name: Orelia
Marriage Year: 1884
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 16
Residence : Carbon Hill, Coal City, Diamond Parts of Villages, Grundy, Illinois
Occupation: View Image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Petre Olerio 39 head, born in Italy, year of imm. 1885
Orelia Olerio 38 wife, born in Italy, year of imm. 1886
Josie Olerio 14 daughter, born in France on Dec. 1885, year of imm. 1886
John Olerio 10 son, born in ILL
Joseph Olerio 8 son, born in ILL
Rosa Olerio 6 daughter, born in ILL
Peter Olerio 4 son, born in ILL
Romellio Olerio 11.12 son, born in ILL

You can click on this census image and it will enlarge the handwriting for easy reading.



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A Riva and Alaria Get Married, 1905

Groom: Giacomo Riva
(also known as James Riva)
From: South Wilmington
Grundy County, Illinois

Bride: Josephine Alaria
(also known as Josie)
From: Coal City, Grundy County

Date: August 5, 1905






At the turn of the century Coal City, Illinois, where Josie lived before getting married was an important coal mining region with a growing population. In 1890 the population was 1,672; in 1900 it had grown to 2,607; 1903 it was about 3,000. For a good overview of the area's history see the History and Genealogy of Grundy County.


Below is a copy of the Marriage Certificate for Giacomo Riva and Josie Allaria. Giacomo and Josephine were married by a judge at the county seat court house in Morris, Grundy County, Illinois. At the time of their marriage he was thirty-one years old and she would turn twenty on her next birthday coming up in December.

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NOTE: Spellings for 'Josephine', 'Alaria', 'Aurelia,' and 'Pietre' varies from document to document which I've read was common for immigrants who either didn't know themselves how to write their names or were afraid to correct officials when they spelled something wrong or Americanized their names. Living relatives, however, spell Alaria with one 'L'. The 1900 census records spells the Alaria household name as "Olerio" but all the other information on the form lines up correctly. So that spelling must have been a "sounds like" guest on the part of the census taker.

As a place marker in case you're trying to figure out how or if Giacomo and Josephine fit into your family tree, the couple went on to have five children: John, Maggie, Peter and two infant daughters who died (one at fifteen months and the other at six months of age). John, Maggie and Peter lived most of their adult lives in Kent County, Michigan. John was married to Margaret Kane and they had five children: Marge Ann, James, John R. (known as Jack), Joesph and Nancy. Maggie never married. Peter married Doris Iona Latimer and they had two children: Gerald (Jerry) and Jean.

© J. Riva 2008

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