The following narrative is about the lives and family of Philip Vito Cappitelli (born Nov. 28, 1884) and Katie (Kirst) Cappitelli (born Feb. 12, 1891) however this family tree contains information that comes our way on all of the extended family members...

It was in the early 1800's, in the village of Marsala, Sicily, located on the rocky Mediterranean island off the southern coast of Italy, that the towns folk gathered to celebrate the wedding of the beautiful Rosa Casano and the handsome Francesco Cappitelli. On November 28 of 1884, Rosa and Francesco had a son, and they named him "Filipo" Philip. (Over the years Francesco and Rosa were blessed with a total of ten children: Gugliermo "William" 1889-1977; Laura 1893-1989 - married to Mario Punito; Paul 1896-1990; Vincenza 1901-1990 - married to Pasquale LaCommare; Eleonora - married name Mistretta); Angelo 1892-1918; Antonetta died 1972 - married to John B. Giacalone; and Vito 1883-1911.

A few years after Filipo's (Philip's) birth in Sicily, in the picturesque town of Uj-Verbasz, Hungary, nestledin the Eastern valley of the Austrian Alps, Julien Hubchen married Philip Kirst and they began a family. Among their children was a daughter, born on February 12, 1891, who they named Katie Elizabeth.

When Filipo "Philip" Vito Cappitelli was 23 years old he decided to see more of the world. So he said his good byes to Mama Rosa and Papa Francesco to fulfill his dream of moving to America. Unable to afford passage, he signed on with the Hamburg American Lines as a ship's barber and on May 9, 1908, the Hamburg docked in New York at Ellis Island. Later that same month (May 20), Philip made his way to Chicago.

A year after Philip left Sicily for America, Katie Kirst, now an 18 year old teenager, also decided to move from her home in Hungary and travel to America. So in the spring of 1909 (April 25) she boarded the steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse in the port of Bremen and docked in New York nine days later. Two days after that, on May 4, 1909 she found her way to Chicago.

Fortunately, especially for their future descendants, Philip and Katie happened to meet and decided they were meant for each other (thank goodness!). The chance encounter took place at a small delicatessen where she worked, which happened to be nearby a shop where Philip was employed as a barber. On April 18, 1913, they were married.

For a while Philip became a letter carrier for the US Post Office and the young couple lived in several different areas of Chicago. Their first apartment was in a strong Italian immigrant neighborhood, on Taylor Street. It was here that their first son was born and they named him Frank after Philip's father Francesco.

The following year was a busy one. On January 7, 1915 Philip became a Naturalized Citizen and took his oath at the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago. That same year they moved to Blue Island Avenue and their second child, a daughter they named Rosa after Philip's mother, was born. A few years later and they moved again, this time to Mason Avenue out in the country, but it soon became the outskirts of the city's west side. It was here that their third child, Philip Vito Jr., was born at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning in 1918.

In 1920 Phil and Katie built their own three story home on a large piece of property at the corners of Austin and 
 Belden Avenues (2308 N. Austin Avenue), just a few blocks from their Mason Avenue home, in the west side 
 neighborhood they had grown so fond of. Their dream home had room for vegetable and flower gardens, chickens and rabbits. Eventually Philip opened his own barber shop, complete with a lighted red and white striped 
 barber pole,that fronted the Austin Avenue home.

Philip and Katie's children were: Frank Frederick (Feb. 24, 1914); Rosa Katherine "Graumann-Simonsen" (Oct. 10, 1915); Philip Vito Jr. (July 14, 1918); Paul Angelo (Feb. 22, 1922 - the first of the children born at the Austin Avenue home); William John (Feb. 16, 1923) and Gloria Ann "Graves" (Aug. 19, 1927 - the only one of the six children born in a hospital, Lutheran Memorial).

Many of the Cappitelli children seemed to follow a tradition of moving back into their childhood home when they began their own families. Philip Jr., wife Josephine and their three children lived on the second floor for a period of time and had one of the first televisions in the neighborhood (a 9" screen). At that time Rose (Cappitelli-Simonsen) and Howie Graumann lived on the top floor with her sons, and periodically his sons, while Grandpa and Grandma, Phil and Katie, occupied the basement apartment behind his barber shop.

Living on the back of the property in a smaller residence were Josephine Cappitelli's brother and sister-in-law and their children. And eventually, Frank Cappitelli bought a parcel of the land from his parents and built a home adjacent to theirs where he and his wife Marcella lived with their children. The three story brick house next door and to the north of Phil and Katie Cappitelli's home was owned by William Cappitelli, Philip's brother, and was also occupied at various times by his children's families. Today, all the old Chicago family homes are gone and the property has become the sight of the St. John Bosco Catholic Church.

Fond memories of days gone by, and the relatives who have now departed this life, are being kept alive by stories passed down through their grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren, their descendants, and in part through this "family record", or as Grandpa Philip Vito Cappitelli Sr, would have called it, the "annotazione della famiglia". Much of the ancestral information contained in these records came from his hand written journal of names, births, baptisms, confirmations, marriages and deaths.

All family members are invited to participate in the "Albero di Famiglia" (Family Tree) by adding photos and sharing information about their families, places and events as occasions arise. ENJOY!