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In Reply to: Re: Fante (Fanto) in Durango, Colorado posted by Dan/Donato Aspromonte on 01/28/04 at 11:08 PM:
Dan, thank you!
Here's what I have found out. My grandmother Mary Fanto Payne makes
reference to an "Uncle Joe" that owned a bar with his wife Rose. It appears
that there were two brothers, Luigi and Guisseppe that both had wifes named
Rose (Rosa) in Durango. Luigi had started farming there and his brother
came later to join him. We also know that my grandmother's uncle Tony
(Antonio) Fanto settled in Wyoming. With the information that Al provided
me and with notations from my grandmother's book we've established that
family 418 of the ones Al sent to me via email is in fact the right Luigi
and his family. And there is a brother Guisseppe and a brother Antonio! It
all fits. I also stumbled across an oral history section of the Fort Lewis
Durango College Library and have sent away for a transcript of an interview
with a Ken Permien. In a key word search "Rose Fanto" was in it. I am
betting it is Guisseppe's wife as the bar would have been a "gathering
place" of sorts, in comparison to a farm of Luigi's. So I would bet that
the "Ma" Fanto is really Guisseppe's wife also. Feel free to post our correspondance on the message board. I hope it is
interesting and helpful to others like myself who are searching to tie all
of their ancestors together in an orderly fashion! I will share a funny story that my grandmother used to share all the time.
When my grandfather was courting her, and Luigi determined that it was
getting serious, he invited my grandpa over and took him down to the cellar.
There he had a lot of home-made wine. (Surely a talent he picked up in
Italy.) He proceded to get my grandpa VERY drunk. Once he determined he
seemed to be a happy sort of drunk he thought it was okay for his daughter
to be involved with Monte Payne. I'm not sure if that was American
innovation or an old Italian family tradition, but my grandma sure thought
it was funny to remember my grandpa barely able to climb up the stairs while
her dad seemed perfectly in control of his liquor. I'll keep in touch. Thanks again Dan, Maria
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