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San Pietro Avellana

Dawson Cemetery, Dawson, New Mexico

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On 28 Apr 2004, I visited the cemetery at Dawson. It was my first trip there. I tried to find as many of the people whose names I recognized as coming from my mother's hometown of San Pietro Avellana, Italy. For a full report of the trip that Sally and I took in 2004 to Santa Fe, Raton and Dawson, click here. For the Mt. Calvary Cemetery visit, click here.

Updated with photos taken at the Sep 2006 Dawson Reunion.

Updated with photos taken at the Aug 2008 Dawson Reunion.

My great grand uncle Teridano diTella lived and died in Dawson but he is buried in the Mt Calvary Cemetery in Raton.

The photos here have all been cropped and reduced in size. If you would like a CD with all the photos full size, let me know.

The Dawson cemetery listing helped me get the names of people whose graves I would expect to find. It was prepared by: Vivien A. Andrews©2002, Donated to NMG.org 5 April 2002. She wrote:
"Buried in this cemetery are men and women who worked for Phelps Dodge Corporation and their families. The Coal Mines opened as early as 1899 by J. B. Dawson. J. B. sold to the Phelps Dodge Corp. in July of 1905. Dawson was closed in 1950. All miners who died in the mine explosions of October 22, 1913 or Feb. 8, 1923 are marked with a white metal miners cross. There are about 70 Miners Cross' with no dates or names marking graves in the Cemetery."
Here is a PDF file which lists the plot location for everyone known to be buried in the Dawson Cemetery. This list was compiled by Vivien Andrews and matches what is available at the cemetery. The list may not be complete and may contain errors. Click here for the PDF file.

Here is the turn off the main road to Dawson. This was about 35 miles southwest of Raton.
Road Sign
There was a wooden, hand painted sign at the turnoff.
The road to Dawson was paved for only about 300 meters.
Then it turned to dirt. I could not tell if it ever had been paved all the way.
At the end of the five miles, we reached the locked gate to the Dawson town site.
The site is private property and only accessible during the Dawson reunions.
The cemetery is to the right of and outside the gate.
The entrance to the cemetery.
The small gate on the right is not locked.

Here I am standing next to the cemetery gate.
I went through the cemetery in the time that I had and found many of the possible relatives buried there. All of these people were from San Pietro Avellana. I'll have to find the people I missed the next time I go there.
Carmine Frazzini
July 20, 1881-Feb. 19, 1912 , husband of Maria Antonia Carlini.
Several of the grave sites had this type of metal fencing around them.
This photo was taken during the 2008 Dawson Reunion.
Carmine Frazzini
July 20, 1881-Feb. 19, 1912, husband of Maria Antonia Carlini.
The headstone is deteriorating very badly.
There is more about Carmine Frazzini's ancestors on the Dawson web page.

1912 Carmine Frazzini's Gravesite
Photo sent to me by Marilou Moschetti, wife of Thomas Moschetti, grandson of Carmine.
The family identified the young boy as Angelo (born 1903 - so would have been 9 years old) and the young
girl as Ledora Frazzini (born 1910 - so would have been 2 years old).

Photo taken Sep 2006
Angelo Frazzini
1903-1927
Son of Carmine Frazzini and Maria Antonia Carlini.
Angelo married Pearl Dupont.
Pearl is the daughter of Scott and Pearl Dupont. She was born about 1910 so she was 17 when Angelo died. She and her parents (Scott and Pearl) appear on the 1910 and 1920 census from Dawson and the 1930 census from Los Angeles.
 For more about Angelo Frazzini, look at his web page.

1927 Angelo Frazzini's Gravesite
Photo sent to me by Marilou Moschetti, wife of Thomas Moschetti, nephew of Angelo.
Elisabetta Ricci
March 20, 1885-Aug. 6, 1913 (dates from Dawson Cemetery Index - I can't verify either date)
(Ricci Di Pietro means her family name was Ricci and her father's name was Pietro Ricci.
First wife of Angelo Palumbo)
Angelo Palumbo
Aug. 30, 1881-Feb. 8, 1923 Miners Cross + Tombstone
He was killed in the 1923 mine explosion.
Probably the brother of Domenico Palumbo.
--
I could not find him in the records from the St John the Baptist Church in Dawson.

Angelo Palumbo and his second wife, Olga diFiore
Children, Armando and Elisa
Photo sent to me in Jan 2016 by great-granddaughter, Cristina Perinelli.
From:    Cristina <crisperi65gmail.com>
Subject:    Dawson cemetery
Date:    Sat, 9 Jan 2016 10:11:27 +0100

Good morning. My name is Cristina Perinelli...I'm from Rome. Sorry for my English, but I only wanted to say to you something about my grandmother . Her name is Rosa Palumbo and her parents' names were Angelo and Olga. She is now 94 , she has one sister , her name is Elisa and she is older than her. She doesn't remember a lot about Dawson....she told me that she was two or three when her mother came back in Italy after the death of her father in the mine. Olga left Dawson with her four children Armando, Elisa , Rosa and Angelo. I hope sometime I could go to Dawson to visit the cemetery. Thank you to have showed the cross of the tomb of my great grandfather . I send to you a picture of Angelo Olga and their children.

I asked some questions and Cristina replied:

Mark ...today I talked with my grandmother Rosa. She told my that she doesn't know when her father married Elisabetta Ricci. They haven't children. Her brother Armando      has died, he was born in Dawson in 1917 ; her sister Elisa (Elisabetta) was born in Dawson 22/4/1919 and she is alive and lives in Piemonte ; She (Rosa) was born in Dawson 11/03/1921 and her brother Angelo was born in Dawson a few days later the mine explosion  (I think his name was Angelo because  his father was just died) 19/02/1923. Olga was born in Roccaraso. She came back in S.P.A with her children and with the money she received for  them.  They were baptized in S.P.A because my great grandfather wanted soon come back in SPA.    Olga remarried some years later with Attilio Colaianni and had another three  children: Emilio Giuseppina and Ugo. A presto. Cristina
Domenico Palumbo
1884-1946
Husband of Maria Capone
In the 1910 census, my great-granduncle is listed as sharing a house with Domenico.
By the 1920 census, Domenico is married and has 4 children.
In the 1930 census, he has 8 children.
--
From the SPA microfilms:
Film 1448676 #68
Nati 3 Oct 1884
Domencantonio Palumbo
    f: Giuseppe  46y
    m: Giuseppa Mariani

From:    "Monty Stratton" <mstratton4413charter.net>
Subject:    San Pietro  Avellano
Date:    Fri, 4 Jul 2008 14:07:40 -0700

I am writing this for my wife because she is "allergic" to the computer!  My wife's name is Laura Palumbo Stratton.  She was born in Dawson in 1916 to Domenico and Maria Palumbo. Her parents both came from San Pietro Avellano and were married there in New Mexico. There were eight children in the family, three boys and five girls.  There are now only three of the girls left , my wife, Laura , and two of her sisters, Emily and Sara. We have been to San Pietro Avellano several times; our first time was in 1969 when Laura was able to locate many of her relatives.  Although Laura does not speak Italian, she is able to understand it fairly well. We have Italian friends in Rome who usually accompanied us to San Pietro and served as interepters. Our daughter in Boise, ID , found your web site when she was researching her relatives and passed the reference site number to me.

Photo taken Aug 2008
Maria Capone
July 8, 1887-March 20, 1936
Wife of Domenico Palumbo, daughter of Michele Capone, sister of Urbino Capone.

Photo taken Aug 2008
Antonio diLudovico

From Death Certificate:
Date of death:  10 Sep 1924
Age at death:  58 years, 10 months, 4 days
Date of birth: 6 Nov 1865 (Mark's note: really 1876)
Lived in Dawson for 1 year, 9 months
wife: Maria
father: Valentino Ludovico
mother: Maria (? surname)
occupation: Miner for Phelps-Dodge Corporation.

Date:            Sun, 9 Dec 2007 19:18:18 +0100 (CET)
From:            <giuliano.colajannifastwebnet.it>
Subject:         R: Re: R: Re: dawson news

Caro Marco
The SPA's mayor Antonio Di Ludovico confirms that his granfather was born in 1876, father Valentino and mother Maria Musilli and wife Maria Carlini. On 1927 the info of death of Tony Lodovico arrived in SPA with birth data wrong.
Ciao Giuliano

For more details, click here.
 Joseph "Jiggy" Palumbo
1913-1936
Son of Domenico Palumbo
Died from a lightning strike while playing baseball.
See the story on the Dawson page.

Photo taken Sep 2006
Lorenzo, Emma
Dec. 18, 1916-July 16, 1922
    "Emma figlia di Domenico e Maria D Lorenzo"
    Emma daughter of Domenico and Maria D Lorenzo
(Domenico and Maria (Colaianni) diLorenzo)
(This is Emma diLorenzo)
I could not find a mention of her death in The Dawson News.
Rosa Iannachione
June 11, 1885-July 4, 1924
Wife of Florindo Fraini.
Announcement in the 10 Jul 1924 Dawson News:


From the:  The NMDI (New Mexico Death Index) Project 
Last First MI Date(MM DD YY) County Age (YYM)
FARINO ROSA 07 04 24 COLFAX 386
Phyllis Fraini (12 Feb 1941-12 Feb 1941)
No tombstone found
Daughter of Joseph (K.O.) Fraini and Myra Jo Welsh.
Granddaughter of Florindo Fraini and Rosa Iannacchione.
Jerry Joe Gonzales 1941-1942
Henry M Gonzales 1914-2006 (father) Wife of Violet Fraini.

This photo was sent to me by Elaine Gonzales, wife of Nick who is grandson of Florindo Fraini and Rosa Iannacchione. She said the family "put his ashes at the foot of his sons grave."
Pasquale A. Capone
Feb. 21, 1890-Oct. 18, 1918
Brother of Maria Capone, wife of Domenico Palumbo.
According to a report by the Phelps-Dodge Co., Pasquale was listed
as a "Fatality at Dawson Mine 17 Oct 1918".

From:            "Monty Stratton" <mstratton4413charter.net>
Subject:         Re: Pasquale Capone
Date:            Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:24:28 -0700

Hi, Mark,

Laura says "Yes", that Pasquale Capone would have been an uncle, her mother's brother.

Odorino Gatti
1 Nov 1887 - 8 Feb 1923
Died in the mine explosion of 1923.

Odorino Gatti is my 2nd cousin 2 times removed.
Our common ancestors are Giuseppe Giulio Frazzino and Felicia Colajanni.

His wife is Elvira diLorenzo.
Elvira diLorenzo and I are 3rd cousins 3 times removed.
Our common ancestors are Giuseppe Frazzino and Constanza Mariani.

From the records of St. John the Baptist Church:
8 Feb 1923 Odorino Gatti, 36 years old
father: Gaetano Gatti
mother: Cristina diLorenzo
wife: Elvira diLorenzo
--
Odorino's brother Gennaro was also killed in the mine explosion. I could not find his tombstone.
From the records of St. John the Baptist Church:
8 Feb 1923 Gennaro Gatti, 26 years old
father: Gaetano Gatti
mother: Cristina diLorenzo
wife: Loretta diMartino
Vincenzo diLorenzo
3 Mar 1881 - 8 Feb 1923
Miners Cross + Tombstone
Died in mine explosion of 1923
(there are 41 death entries for 8 Feb 1923 in the St. John the Baptist Church records)
---
From the records of St. John the Baptist Church:
8 Feb 1923 Vincenzo diLorenzo,  40 years old
father: Luis (Luigi) diLorenzo
mother: Angela Colango (Colorosa)
wife: Maria diUlla (diIullo)

In the microfilmed records from SPA, there are three Vincenzo Amico diLorenzo. The first two died as children and this is the third. Here are the other two:

Vincenzo Amico diLorenzo
born 17 Apr 1877, SPA
    f: Luigi diLorenzo
    m: Angela Colarosa
died 16 Dec 1877

Vincenzo Amico diLorenzo
born 22 Mar 1879, SPA
    f: Luigi diLorenzo
    m: Angela Colarosa
died 30 Jan 1880
 
There are no microfilmed records for 1881 so I can't confirm the birth date. I am pretty sure that it is the third Vincenzo that is buried here. His wife must be Maria diIullo, a common name in SPA. He is the brother of Maria Cristina diLorenzo who married Gaetano Gatti. Gaetano is my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Vincenzo is not related to me.
Alice diLorenzo Howard
1930 - 1994
Daughter of Domenico diLorenzo and Maria Colaianni
Panorama from a hill next to the cemetery. Click on the image for a much larger (600Kb) image.
Panorama from near the cemetery gate. Click on the image for a much larger (600Kb) image.
Within the cemetery is a area surrounded by a white fence.
Inside this fence are the miners killed in the 1913 and 1923 mine explosions.
At the entrance to the Dawson town site and near the cemetery is a historic marker.
The front tells a little about Dawson.
The back tells a little about the Dawson Cemetery.
Another  marker shows that the Dawson Cemetery is listed in the "National Register of Historic Places"
Along side the dirt road to Dawson is the railroad. These tracks looked well maintained but not recently used (there was a lot of rust on the top of the rails). The dirt road to Dawson crosses the tracks two times.
To read more about this rail line, here is an article by Gary O. Ostlund. Used with Permission.

Here is the listing for the Dawson Cemetery at Find-a-Grave.


Older photo of the Cemetery

This photo was sent to me by Roseann Panichi Rutar. Roseann lives in Hibbing, MN. Her mother was Rose Maracchini Panichi and she lived in Dawson.

Notice that the Miner's Crosses were black. They are now white.




 A gentle reminder, the spelling is Cemetery (there are no "a's").
This site prepared and maintained by Mark DiVecchio

email :  markd@silogic.com
 
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