By Bob Piros
The Chirico name means “of the Lord” and comes from the Greek word for Sunday “KYRIAKE”. The surname is common in Reggo, Calabria in Southern Italy. The name goes back to the medieval period of the 13 th century. This present day Chirico name goes back to the 16 th century. Lots of records are at family search for present day members may search.
Antonino Chirico and Mary Pitsa Menti were born in Italy in the 1800’s. The area had a mezzadria (sharecropping system), harsh living conditions, and lack of land. On December 28, 1908 a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the town of Gallion, Italy where they lived and 75 to 80,000 people died. It’s possible that’s when Antonino and Mary died, no death records were found. Their only child Frank was born in 1886, so maybe they were married in 1885. Frank married Grace Penebene about 1911 in Italy, their children Tony born 1911-1983 and Leon in 1913-1971 were born in Italy. In 1910 migrants came to the area to work as laborers for the reconstruction of the town. Skilled workers were paid $1.50 a day and unskilled 60 cents a day. It’s possible that Frank worked and saved his money to pay for his family’s trip to the U.S.A.
They arrived on the ship EUROPA on April 23, 1913 to Ellis Island. In 1913, Island Creek Coal Company paid Italian men an advancement to recruit them to work where they would meet with the men as they arrived to the port of New York offering immigrant workers housing, citizenship and transported them by the C&O Railroad to Holden, WV. The C&O had built an extension into Guyan Valley in Logan County to the coal operation in Holden. Many immigrants from Calabria didn’t know about the harshness of coal mine work. Frank began working as a coal miner for Island Creek Coal Company in Holden, WV. He was a stout man of medium build with brown eyes and black hair. His Sept. 12, 1918 Draft card shows him as a coal miner for Island Creek Coal Company and 1919 Record of naturalization shows him as a coal miner.
Frank and Grace’s other children were son Joe (1916-1990) and daughter Mary (1918-2006) were born in Holden and the rest were born in Mt. Gay from 1920-1924.
PVT Dominick (1920-1944) he was killed in WWII serving with the 502nd parachute group in the Netherlands. Before going into service he worked as a truck delivery man at the Victory store in Mt. Gay. Jimmie (1922-1990) served in the Army in 1942 as a Corporal TEC5 maybe as a radio operator or medic. Before service, he was a store manager in Mt. Gay.
In WWII starting in 1940 the Selective Service Act required all men ages 21-45 to register for military service. Their names were given a number and put into a national lottery.
Joe Chirico sometime in 1940 opened his store in Cherry Tree marrying Annie Barber June 5, 1940. On November 1, 1940, he signed up for the Draft and card shows manager of the Victory store.
In 1950, Frank opened a store in Breeden Mingo County WV. Antonette (1924-2013) was a bookkeeper at the Breeden store in 1950. There were lots of coal miners working in the area. The town is famous due to the 347 foot long railway tunnel built there in 1896. Frank died in 1959 in Mt. Gay WV due to heart disease. His wife Grace born in 1891 died in 1961 in Mt. Gay.
All the records used in this story were found at familysearch.org and online research. I am not a Chirico family member. I invite all those who are to please write your family history into the story. Family photos of Frank Chirico and other members are needed. To share a photo, please email it to the admin at loganwv.us@gmail.com
Many thanks to my wonderful wife Lupe Piros for helping me do this story.
You may also enjoy: The story of the Chirico family restaurants