The Rhecche Family: Exploring the Historical Documents of an Italian Immigrant Family

In 1920, the Rhecche family appeared on the U.S. Census for Alexandria, Virginia.[1] Thomas Louis, the head of the household, was around thirty years old and an Italian immigrant. [2] His wife, Annie Mae, née Roberts, was roughly thirteen years younger than him at the age of eighteen.[3] At the time, they were renting their home, which doubled as the location of their shoemaking business, with another Italian immigrant, Bujano Gomdanico, and their two toddlers, Rosalie and Thomas Joseph, ages two and three respectively.[4] There are some discrepancies between the birthplace and parentage of Thomas Louis’ wife and children on this census; however, other records clarify that they are all born in Virginia, and Annie Mae’s parents were not Italian immigrants.[5]

The Rhecche family had undergone some fascinating changes from 1920 to 1940. First, they had purchased a home, where they still hosted their shoemaking business, at 1118 King Street just a few blocks away from where they rented in 1920.[6] Around 1926, Thomas and Annie had their third child, Mary E. Rhecche.[7] Additionally, the Rhecches no longer had a renter, but their eldest daughter had married a man from West Virginia, Thurlow L. Wilson.[8] Though there was no income listed on the 1940 U.S. Census for the Rhecche family,  their home’s value was listed as $3,400.[9]

In many ways, Thomas Louis Rhecche was quite different from other Italian immigrants. First, his was an artisan, and owned his own business as a shoemaker.[10] Second, he lived in Ward 4, where few other Italians lived (most were clustered in Ward 3).[11] Third, he had married an American and not a fellow Italian immigrant or the daughter of Italian immigrants.[12] Finally, he pursued naturalized citizenship.[13]

Despite not being a citizen in 1920, Thomas Louis’ World War I draft card shows that he had already pledged his allegiance to the U.S. When answering his country of affiliation, he penned in “U.S.A.”[14] Under the section questioning his citizenship status, Thomas Louis’ handwriting is slightly illegible; however, it appears to read that he had filed for naturalization.[15] This is interesting because the date of registration was June 5, 1917, three years before the census in which he was still not naturalized.[16] It is possible that this delay could have occurred because of the war or that, like today, the process was rigorous and time consuming. It is also worth noting that despite filing out draft cards for both World War I and World War II, Thomas Louis participated in neither. On the World War I draft card, he requested a draft exemption due to his position as the sole financial supporter of his wife and child.[17] Thomas Louis’ World War II draft registration fell into the category of the “Fourth Registration,” which was also known as the “old man’s registration” for its recruitment of men between the ages of forty-five and sixty-four.[18] Interestingly, the two draft cards claim two different birthplaces. The first claims Rome and the second a smaller town called Segni, in the mountains just south of Rome.[19] Another interesting fact about the Rhecche family is that, even though Thomas Louis did not serve, his eldest daughter, Rosalie, had enlisted in June 1945 with the USArmy. [20]

Rosalie’s registration is also unique because she was married in 1939, as indicated by both divorce records and the 1940 U.S.Census.[21] Additionally, she appears to have had at least once child by around 1937, Michael Lavern Wilson.[22] However, the dates may be incorrect as he was not listed on the 1940 U.S. Census. [23] Though her stint in the military was short, just over a year, she retired as a Private First Class and was buried at Quantico National Cemetery.[24] Ironically, she was granted a divorce from Thurlow L. Wilson in 1972 after two years of separation, but he was still listed as her husband on her grave.[25]

The foremost scholar on Italian immigration, Donna R. Gabbacia, discusses the many waves of Italian immigration in Italy’s Many Diasporas. Thomas Rhecche falls into her third diasporic wave of “millions of laborers migrating in and out of Italy between 1870 and 1940.” [26] Though there are no apparent records of when and where he arrived in the U.S., the previously noted records do indicate that he falls into this category by his birthday and birthplace, his skilled occupation, and how he settled in Alexandria, Virginia and did not return to Italy.[27] It is also supported by his burial at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church with his wife and son.[28] The Rhecche family’s loyalties were quickly aligned to the U.S., as seen by military service and Thomas Rhecche’s early application for naturalization. The Rhecche family, however, is set apart from some of the other Italian immigrants mentioned in Gabaccia’s work. She addressed a disenchantment with the US, calling it the “bitter land” and a place of that made Italians and Italian-Americans feel “uneasy.”[29] This lack of comfort, plus their goal to return home, often ensure that many Italian men returned home.  For Rhecche, that was not the case.

Endnotes

1. 1920 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T625-1877, Page 16B, Enumeration District: 8, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. Note that ‘Bujano’ is an approximation and the name could be Bujans or even Bryano.
5. 1920 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T625-1877, Page 16B, Enumeration District: 8, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.; Virginia Death Records, 1912-2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, Certificate of Death: Annie Mae Rhecche, accessed October 11, 2016, http://ancestory.com/.
6. 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. 1920 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T625-1877, Page 16B, Enumeration District: 8, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Alexandria, Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration: M1509, Roll: 1984206, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
15. Ibid.
16. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Alexandria, Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration: M1509, Roll: 1984206, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; 1920 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T625-1877, Page 16B, Enumeration District: 8, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
17. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Alexandria, Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration: M1509, Roll: 1984206, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
18. U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, Fourth Registration for Virginia, April 27, 1942, The National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis Missouri, NAI Number: 563732, Record Group: 147, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
19. U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Alexandria, Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration: M1509, Roll: 1984206, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, Fourth Registration for Virginia, April 27, 1942, The National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis Missouri, NAI Number: 563732, Record Group: 147, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; Segni is roughly forty miles south Rome.
20. U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006, National Cemetery Administration, Quantico National Cemetery, Section 17, Site 647, PFC Rosalie Wilson, US Army, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/.
21. Virginia Divorce Records, 1918-2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, State File No.: 72-002031, for Rosalie Rhecche and Thurlow Wilson, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestory.com/.; 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.
22. Virginia Marriage Records, 1936-2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, State File No.: 73-009362, for Michael Wilson and Charlotte Houtz, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestory.com/.
23. 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.
24. U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006, National Cemetery Administration, Quantico National Cemetery, Section 17, Site 647, PFC Rosalie Wilson, US Army, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/.
25. Virginia Divorce Records, 1918-2014, Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia, State File No.: 72-002031, for Rosalie Rhecche and Thurlow Wilson, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestory.com/.; S. Veterans Gravesites, ca. 1775-2006, National Cemetery Administration, Quantico National Cemetery, Section 17, Site 647, PFC Rosalie Wilson, US Army, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/.
26. Donna R. Gabaccia, Italy’s Many Diasporas (London: UCL Press, 2000), 12.
27. 1920 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T625-1877, Page 16B, Enumeration District: 8, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; 1940 U. S. Federal Census (Population Schedule), Alexandria, Virginia, Roll: T627-4304, Page 15A, Enumeration District: 101-114, Image 1027, digital image, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.archives.com/.; S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Alexandria, Virginia, National Archives and Records Administration: M1509, Roll: 1984206, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.; U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, Fourth Registration for Virginia, April 27, 1942, The National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis Missouri, NAI Number: 563732, Record Group: 147, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.ancestry.com/.
28. “Thomas L Rhecche”, Saint Mary’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Alexandria, Virginia, Memorial No.: 103362968, accessed October 11, 2016, http://www.findagrave.com/.
29. Gabaccia, 184-185.
30. Gabaccia, 184-185, 190.