Dating : Death in Syracuse NY, August 1920

Giuseppa Graziano ran from the kitchen when she heard the shot. Staggering out of his brother Salvatore’s room was Joseph. He looked at his Mother, too traumatized to cry, or wince. Their eyes locked for a split second. Then, as Giuseppa ran to catch him, Joseph fell into her arms, blood soaking his shirt.

Giuseppa screamed through her tears for help. Melchiore, her husband, ran to them. He scooped Joseph up and together, they took Joseph to the Hospital of the Good Shepherd in Syracuse, NY. There, a .22 caliber bullet was removed from Joseph’s abdomen. He lingered in critical condition before passing away. Joseph was six years old. Why, his mom and dad asked, why?

Their grief plumbed the depth of a sadness no one should bear. Just three years earlier, their beautiful daughter Rose passed away at just three years old. Cancer attacked little Rose’s eye. Her suffering, then her passing. How much grief can one bear?

But here they were. Their beloved Joseph also dead.

His parents didn’t know this, but just a month earlier, Salvatore (15) had purchased the gun from a friend. Salvatore told his parents that he was cleaning the gun with Joseph in the room. He claims the gun wasn’t loaded when he placed the gun in a case. The case was not locked because Salvatore had lost the key.

Salvatore said that while he was not in the room, Joseph must have found a bullet, loaded the gun, and played with it. It had to have gone off accidentally.

The days and weeks that followed were very hard on Giuseppa and Melchiore, the older girls and especially Salvatore. At 15, Salvatore was the oldest boy. He had two older sisters, Clementina was 18, Vita (Clara) was 17, Elena was 12, Constance (Connie) was 10 and Anthony (Tony) was 2. Giuseppa was also pregnant with Dominic, who was born in February of 1921. Dominic was my father.

The story I just related is what actually happened on that sad day in August of 1920. However, that was not the story the family told over these past 100 years. The truth, in this case, was evidently too much to bear, and had to be shrouded for the sake of the family.

The little boy who died on August 12, 1920, was my uncle, and I am his namesake, Joseph Graziano. The story that had been handed down was Joseph drowned while playing with friends in a river.

My Uncle Tony would tell that story. My Dad would tell that story. Uncle Tony was only two at the time of the accident. My Dad would not be born until February, 1921. So they could only repeat the story they were told.

My cousin Anthony Graziano, grandson of Uncle Tony, is very interested in genealogy. He had done a tremendous amount of work on our family history. What he wrote about little Joseph intrigued me:

“Family lore is confirmed on video. Anthony H. tells the story of Joseph (3–4 yrs.) being pushed by some kids into the river, his body pulled from the river bottom as family, neighbors, friends, ‘everyone from the neighborhood watched in horror”.

I was intrigued by this quote. How horrible a sight this must have been. I love history and kept thinking that certainly, this had to be in a local newspaper. So I searched and searched but could not find anything. Finally, I paid for a membership in a genealogy site and a newspaper site. I didn’t know the date, other than 1920.

Then, I found it! But it wasn’t a drowning…