Maria Scrugli
Maria Scrugli was the youngest of the Scrugli sisters that we know of. She was born in Tropea. At some point, she married a man with the surname of Mungo and gave birth to a daughter Caterina Francesca Mungo. Shortly after that her husband died.
Her brother Gaetano had immigrated to Chicago some time earlier. He wrote his sister and told her he had found a potential husband for her in his friend Teodoro Bertuca. At first Maria refused because she would miss her sisters too much. But when her brother's next letter to her revealed that Mr. Bertuca agreed to pay for her sisters to come to Chicago too, she reconsidered.
Journey to America
In 1904 Maria, her daughter Francesca and her sister Carmela prepared for their journey to America. They packed steamer trunks with their most prized possesions and said their final, tearful goodbyes to family and friends, They would have made their jouney to Naples with other friends, family and neighbors on their ship. They boarded the ship The Columbia enroute for New Tork. Below is a list of other people from Cortale that sailed on the Columbia.
- Staglunio, Paolo
- Provenzano, Antonio
- Rocca, Raffaele
- Russo, Bruno
- Pazza, Pietro
- Provato, Giovanni
- Saraceno, Domenico
- Saraceno, Domenico
Once they arrived in this country, the betrothed Maria married Teodoro Bertuca. She moved into his home with her daughter Francescina Mungo. Teodoro had a son a little older than Francescina named Anthony. Maria Scrugli Bertuca gave birth to a daughter and named her Rose. At some point some gossips on the block decided it was inappropriate for teenagers that were not actually blood related to live in the same house. Teodoro and Maria decided Tony and Francis should marry. So, Anthony and Francis Bertuca married. Evidently it worked out because they had at least 8 children together. Maria Scrugli Bertuca died on May 25, 1943 and is buried in Mount Carmel Cemetary.
Maria Bertuca cared for her grandchildren
while their mother worked in the family businesses