Giuseppe “Joe” Mancini was born in Casino, Italy, in 1879. He became a shoemaker and, after joining the Italian army to serve his mandatory one-year service, left in 1902 for America. Mancini’s wife, Carolina Cosentino, and their 4-month-old baby boy remained in Italy.
After arriving from Naples in New York in March 1903, he traveled to California and eventually settled in the sawmill community of Weed in 1906.
In 1908, Mancini sent for his wife and their son, Francesco, nicknamed Frank. The family settled in McCloud at the house numbered 196 in Tucci Camp, where Mancini worked at the box factory run by the McCloud River Lumber Company. Carolina and Joe became naturalized citizens in 1909.
By 1910, the young family had grown to include Carolina’s brother, Giuseppe Cosentino who traveled from Italy with his twin sons, Vincenzo and Rosario, as well as infant Luigi Erminio. Carolina’s brother soon returned to Italy with no desire to remain in America.
Eventually Giuseppe Mancini became known as “Joe” and moved his family to Weed where jobs were plentiful.
Source: Silva, E. Mary S. "Mancini, J." Siskiyou County Italians: Cultural & Economic Contributions. Book II ed. McCloud: E. Mary Silva, 2010. 118. Print.
