The Squitieri of Sarno
The surname belongs to Sarno. In a database of Italian civil records, 125 of the 244 people indexed nationwide as Squitieri come from Sarno, and no other place has more than a handful. In Italy the name is written Squitieri. This book writes the whole family Squitiere, the spelling most of them used in America, including those who stayed in Italy.
The earliest of the family known in Italy are Alessandro Squitiere and his wife, Antonia Sammartino. In 1836 both gave their age as 34 (a doubtful reading), so they were probably born about 1802. They lived in Vico Chiovitiello, a lane in Sarno, and Alessandro was a mason (muratore). Four of their children are known.
| Child | Birth | Death | Married |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaetano | about 1833 | 28 January 1920 | Angela Pastore, 28 September 1862 |
| Raffaele | 17 April 1836, Sarno | between 1888 and 1901 | Maria Grazia Orza, 17 November 1860 |
| Filomena | about 1839 | Antonio Squillante, 1 December 1860 | |
| Andrea | about 1840, Salerno | 12 January 1871 |
Raffaele’s birth act gives a glimpse of the household. On 18 April 1836 Alessandro came before the town’s civil officer to declare a son born the day before to his wife, Antonia. The boy was named Raffaele and baptized that day at the church of San Matteo Apostolo. The witnesses were Francesco Annunziata and Luigi Squittarella (a doubtful reading), a tailor. Alessandro could not write his name.
Both parents lived to see their children marry. Before a church wedding, a couple at Sarno made a formal promise of marriage before the civil officer, with their parents’ names, trades and street. When Raffaele and Filomena made their promises in November 1860, ten days apart, Alessandro was a mason in Vico Chiovitiello and Antonia lived with him. For Filomena’s marriage both of them came to the town hall to give their consent. Both took part again in Gaetano’s promise of September 1862, when Gaetano was a shoemaker (calzolaio). When and where Alessandro and Antonia were born and married, and when they died, is not known.
A second Alessandro Squitiere, also a mason, lived in the same lane, and he was not the father of this family. He was the son of Michelangelo Squitiere and Porzia Siano. He married Mariantonia Sirica at Sarno on 10 May 1817, and their daughter Mariangela was born on 7 May 1818. Mariantonia died on 1 January 1832, and Mariangela on 22 August 1836. On 11 November 1837 Alessandro, 45, a mason born at Sarno and living in Vico Chiovitiello, promised to marry Giuseppa Graziano, 24, the daughter of Salvatore Graziano, a farm laborer, and the late Antonia De Filippo. The church wedding followed on 5 December. The papers for that marriage list the deaths of his father, Michelangelo, on 28 August 1813; his mother, Porzia, on 15 August 1823; his paternal grandfather, Aniello Squitiere, in June 1790; and his first wife.
Giuseppa bore him Marianna in November 1838, Bernardo in January 1841 and Maria Carmina in May 1845. The index of Sarno records adds Maria Antonia (about 1843 to 1900) and Porzia (1849 to 1918), who carried her grandmother’s name, as Italian naming custom expected. It also has the marriage in 1871 of a Bernardo, son of Alessandro and a Graziano, who was born on 16 January 1841. Alessandro died at Sarno on 21 August 1855, and Giuseppa on 12 June 1871, aged 62. The same index names other children of Michelangelo and Porzia: Bernardo, Gabriele Giovanni, Andreana and Lucia.
This Alessandro cannot be Antonia Sammartino’s husband. His only wife before Giuseppa was Mariantonia Sirica. Giuseppa was bearing his children in the same years that Antonia bore hers. And he died in 1855, while Antonia’s husband was alive at his children’s weddings in 1860 and 1862.
The two men shared a lane and a trade, which suggests close kin, perhaps cousins, but no record states a relationship. The naming custom offers one hint. A first son named Gaetano suggests that his grandfather, the elder Alessandro’s father, was a Gaetano. The Sarno index holds several Gaetano Squitiere households between 1808 and 1832, and a Pietro Antonio Gaetano Squitiere, born about 1787 to an older Alessandro and Anna Squillante, who married in 1817. None of them is tied to the family.
On 11 November 1860 the elder Alessandro’s son Raffaele, 24, a mason living in Vico Chiovitiello, promised to marry Maria Grazia Orza, 18. The church wedding followed at San Matteo Apostolo on 17 November. Raffaele’s father was then living with him. Maria Grazia’s father, Aniello Orza, was a mason too, and he had died when she was five. Her birth act, copied into the couple’s marriage file (processetto) with the banns of 14 October, names her Maria Grazia Filomena, born in August 1842 to Aniello Orza and his wife, Rosa Annunziata. Aniello’s death act, of December 1847, calls him a mason born at Sarno, the son of Giuseppe Orza, also a mason. These papers and the promise act all agree, so Aniello was almost certainly her father. Giuseppe Orza was possibly her grandfather, but only one copied act names him.
The weddings of Raffaele and his sister Filomena came in a season of upheaval. That autumn Garibaldi’s campaign ended Bourbon rule at Naples, and on 21 October 1860 the south voted in a plebiscite to join the new Kingdom of Italy. At Sarno, at dawn on 6 October, four young women coming off the night shift at the town’s great spinning mill, the Gran Filanda, were arrested for shouting “Long live the King” (Viva il Re). They were released on 17 October, and on 30 January 1861 the local magistrate’s court (Regio Giudicato) acquitted them, because the shouting had happened inside the factory walls. No Squitiere, Orza, Sammartino or Giugliano is named in that case, or in the town’s disturbances of 1864 and 1866. The weddings fell six weeks after the arrests and within a month of the vote, but nothing connects the family to these events.
Raffaele and Maria Grazia had at least three children.
| Child | Birth | Death | Married |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alessandro (Alexandro) | 9 November 1862, Sarno | 18 December 1930, Radnor Township, Delaware County | Filomena Giugliano, 21 January 1888 |
| Filomena (probably of this couple) | 27 October 1865, Italy | 12 August 1942, Philadelphia | Salvatore Morziello |
| Emilio | 4 December 1868, Sarno | probably 22 June 1901, Sarno | probably unmarried |
Their son Alessandro, known in America as Alexandro Squitiere, was born at Sarno at ten in the morning on 9 November 1862. His father, Raffaele, 26, a mason, declared the birth that day, and the boy was baptized at San Matteo. The witnesses were Leopoldo [Frenteze?], 27, a municipal usher of Vico Chiovitiello, and Pasquale Manfredonia. The act is almost certainly his, since it names the same parents as his marriage of 1888. In it his grandfather Alessandro is entered without the word “the late” (fu), so the grandfather was probably still alive.
Alexandro’s brother Emilio was almost certainly born at Sarno on 4 December 1868. His birth act names his parents as Raffaele Squitiere and Grazia Orza, and his first name is written in the margin. An Emilio Squitiere, a carpenter, unmarried, the son of the late Raffaele, a mason, and of Grazia Orza, died at Sarno on 22 June 1901. He is probably Alexandro’s brother. If so, Raffaele died between January 1888, when he was alive at his son’s wedding, and June 1901, and Grazia was still living in 1901. Alexandro’s probable sister Filomena later lived in Philadelphia, where her story is told below.
References
- Antenati-Italiani.org surname-distribution database.
- Antenati, Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Stato civile della restaurazione, Sarno, Nati 1836 (an_ua1965255, seg. 5831), index p. 17 and act 122, pp. 265–266, the birth of Raffaele Squitieri, 17 April 1836. Read on the image.
- Antenati. Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Sarno, Stato civile della restaurazione. Matrimoni, processetti 1837 (an_ua1964892, seg. 5833), images 1281–1284: processetto 87, promise of Alessandro Squitieri and Giuseppa Graziano, 11 Nov. 1837, church ceremony 5 Dec. 1837, with the list of documents produced. Matrimoni 1860 (an_ua1965066, seg. 5868), images 232–233, act 109, Raffaele Squitieri and Maria Grazia Orza, 11 Nov. 1860 (church 17 Nov.), and images 240–241, act 115, Antonio Squillante and Filomena Squitieri, 21 Nov. 1860 (church 1 Dec.). Matrimoni 1862 (an_ua1965071, seg. 5871), images 235–236, act 108, Gaetano Squitieri and Angela Pastore, 15 Sept. 1862 (church 28 Sept.). antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/. Images read 24 Sept. 2026. The first page of the 1837 file is filed as; the browser’s download limit stopped the other pages from being saved. Read the record
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQY4-JSH6 (marriage, 28 Sept. 1862) and XQRN-GJXC (death, 28 Jan. 1920). Gaetano Squitieri, born about 1833. Index only.
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVC-F3FX. Sarno marriage, 17 Nov. 1860, cert. 109 (Raffaele Squitieri and Maria Grazia Orzo). Index only; image not read.
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVC-XGWC. Sarno marriage of Filomena Squitieri, 1 Dec. 1860. Index only.
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVC-XGDY and XQVC-XGDP. Sarno marriage of Andrea Squitieri, 12 Jan. 1871 (parents Alessandro Squitieri and Antonia Sammartino). Index only.
- Research pass of 24 September 2026 on FamilySearch (logged in) — record of negative and ruled-out results: marriages indexed for Squit- surnames, 1915–1921 (no Emil and Rose); Salerno civil-registration index for Alessandro Squitieri and Antonia Sammartino (no marriage, death or births of the couple), for Luigi Giugliano and Antonia Costabile (no match), with the unlinked Sarno marriage of Alessandro Squitiero, born about 1793, son of Michelangelo and Porzia Liano, to Mariantonia Sirica, 10 May 1817; and the Villanova Digital Library OCR for Squitiere, Squitieri, Squitier and Squiteri (one Squitiere hit, [79]; the Squitieri and Squiteri hits are Villanova College publications naming no one in this line). The Rose C. Rossi O’Neill of Belleville, N.J. (born 1901, Berlin; FamilySearch tree GT3G-W9C, NUMIDENT entry naming Charles J. O’Neill) is a different woman whom the tree merges with the Rose C. Rossi of [117].
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949,” Sarno index entries: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQY4-CKKH (death of Alessandro “Squisiari,” 21 Aug. 1855, cert. 198, age 70; parents Michelangelo and Parzia Siano; wife Giuseppa Grosiano); 1:1:XQVV-4DK9 (death of Maria Giuseppa Graziano, 12 June 1871, cert. 119, age 62; parents Sabato Graziano and Antonia De Filippo; husband Alessandro Squitieri); birth of Mariangela Squitieri, 7 May 1818 (parents Alessandro Squitieri and Mariantonia Sirica); deaths of Maria Antonia Squitieri, 7 Nov. 1900, and Porzia Squitieri, 14 Sept. 1918, and marriage of Bernardo Squitieri, 9 Mar. 1871 (father Alessandro, mother Graziano); marriage of Pietro Antonio Gaetano Squitiero, 22 Jan. 1817 (parents Alessandro Squitiero and Anna Squillante); and entries for children of Michelangelo Squitiero and Porzia Liano, Siano, Fiano or Piano (Bernardo, Gabriele Giovanni, Andreana, Lucia). Index only; the images are viewable only at a FamilySearch center or affiliate library (checked 24 Sept. 2026).
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949,” Sarno index entries: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NK8-G7XG (marriage of Alessandro Squitieri, 45, and Giuseppa Graziano, 24, 5 Dec. 1837, cert. 87; his parents Michelangelo and Porzia Siano; hers Salvadore Graziano and Antonia De Filippo); 1:1:6NKZ-K58N (birth of Marianna Squitieri, 24 Nov. 1838, cert. 326); 1:1:6BW6-6JTM (birth of Bernardo Squitieri, 16 Jan. 1841, cert. 25); 1:1:6NK6-11Q3 (birth of Maria Carmina “Squitini,” 25 May 1845, cert. 164); 1:1:6NKX-N54L (death of Maria Antonia Sirica, 1 Jan. 1832); 1:1:6NKX-JN2Q (death of Mariangela Squitieri, 22 Aug. 1836). Index only.
- FamilySearch Wiki. “Italy Naming Customs.” Naming pattern for first sons and daughters and repeated names of dead children. [reference]
- Antenati, Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Stato civile della restaurazione, Sarno, Matrimoni, processetti 1860 (an_ua1964938, seg. 5867), dossier 109, images 152–159: the banns of 14 October 1860, certified copies of the birth acts of Raffaele Squitieri (1836) and Maria Grazia Orza (no. 283, 1842), and the death act of Aniello Orza (no. 323, December 1847). Read on the images.
- Mazza, Gaetana. “Tumulto popolare femminile a Sarno nel 1860.” vesuvioweb.com, PDF. Accessed 20 Sept. 2026. The text carries no publication details or archival call numbers; cited for the events of 6 Oct. 1860 to 30 Jan. 1861 and the Sarno incidents of 1864 and 1866. Read through a machine summary and a name search; not checked line by line.
- Antenati, Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Stato civile italiano, Sarno, Nati 1862 (an_ua1965322, seg. 5871), index p. 24 and act 430, p. 461, the birth of Alessandro Squitieri, 9 November 1862. Read on the image.
- Pennsylvania death certificates, Ancestry, “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates”: Alexander Squitierie, file 114968 (1930); Filomena G. Squitiere, file 88569 (1944); Ralph Squitieri, file 83767 (1956); Mary Pizzi, file 45457 (1953). Read on the images.
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X793-V7WH. Sarno marriage, 21 Jan. 1888, cert. 6 (Alessandro Squitieri and Filomena Giugliano; parents Raffaele Squitieri and Grazia Orza, Luigi Giugliano and Antonia Costabile). Index only; image not read.
- Pennsylvania death certificate, file 68579 (1942), Filomena Morziello, Philadelphia, Ancestry, “Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates.” Read on the image.
- Antenati, Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Stato civile italiano, Sarno, Nati 1868 (an_ua263236, seg. 4388), p. 317, the birth of Emilio Squitieri, 4 December 1868. Read on the image.
- Antenati, Archivio di Stato di Salerno, Stato civile italiano, Sarno, Morti 1901 (an_ua263210), act 153, the death of Emilio Squitieri, June 1901, and the annual index. Read on the image.
- FamilySearch. “Italia, Salerno, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1949.” familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQRN-L6F3. Sarno death of Emilio Squitieri, 22 June 1901 (parents Raffaele Squitieri and Grazia Orza). Index only.