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Show THE HISTORY BLAZER , IrEI1' S OF IrTAH'S PAST FROAI THE Utah State IIistorical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake Citv, L'T 84101 ( 801) 533- 3300 FAX ( 801) 333- 3503 Gabriella Clerico Found the Good Life in Carbon County AT THE AGE OF 13 GABRIELLA LEFI' HER FAMILY'S FARM to work for a prominent industrial family in Turin, Italy. For five years she served the Patrona or lady of the house. The young Italian farm girl quickly absorbed " the charisma and finesse of her beautiful, wealthy, and well- educated Patrona, " Margaret Turcasso later wrote. She also learned the cooking, cleaning, marketing, and economizing skills that would help her achieve la dolce vita, ' the good life," in Carbon County. At 18 Gabriella married Battista Clerico in a lovely ceremony supervised by her imperious Patrona. Like so many Europeans at the turn of the century, Battista was determined to make his fortune in America. The newlyweds, full of high hopes, booked a third- class passage for the U. S. and then traveled by boxcar across the country. Battista had contracted to work in the coal mines at Diamondville, Wyoming. As for Gabriella, she believed herself capable of succeed-ing in business in her new country, given her recent training and some schooling in arithmetic and reading - skills many immigrants lacked. Strong and energetic, Battista was disappointed in the opportunities available in Wyoming, and they moved on to Castle Gate, Utah, where he hoped prospects would be brighter. They had to live in a dugout in Gentile Wash up Willow Creek. After the birth of their first child the couple agreed that Gabby, as she was called, would return to Italy to work until they could accumulate enough money to buy some land. They thought it might take five years before they could be reunited as a family. Just when Banista thought he had saved enough money " he was crushed in a cave- in.. . . [ and] told that he would never be able to work in a mine again." Gabby returned with their daughter to Carbon County with surprising news of her own. In those days before Work-men's Compensation, most of Battista's hard- earned savings had gone for medical bills. But Gabby arrived at her husband's side with a large sum of money. She had worked for three families in Turin, not just one, and had saved every lira possible. Determined to buy a farm for her family, she set off on foot to look for one. Gabby had not spent her teenage years with the Patrona for nothing. She found ' choice acreage for half the going price, with a water well." She had cash to pay for it and the sawy to know she should consult local experts before signing any papers. She sought advice from her banker, lawyer, doctor, priest, and the marshal. For a family that would ultimately include five children, Turcasso wrote, " The farm was a bonanza. Besides the flowing water well, there was a beautiful orchard of peaches, apricots, several varieties of apples and pears, cherries, walnuts, plums, and nectarines.. .. a garden plot of strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus. Gabby had gone to heaven.. . . If her Patrona wuld only see her now. " ( more) The family quickly became self- sufficient. In addition to the garden, they kept chickens, wws, and pigs and made their own butter, cheese, sausage, salami, soap, and lard. A horse and buggy was included with the farm, and Gabby used it to set herself up in business. She ran regular routes to the Carbon County towns with loads of fruits, vegetables, and eggs. She charmed her customers by adding little gifts to their purchases- a shiny apple or a couple of eggs- and always offered a sparkling smile and a compliment. " Then another catastrophe," Turcasso wrote. " Their [ log cabin] home burned to the ground. ' Sempre Avante!' [ Always Forward] Gabby may have been happy about it. Now she wuld build a fine brick home. " The Clericos continued to prosper. They invested in a hay baler and then contracted to bale hay for farmers throughout the county. The family's two daughters worked alongside the three sons in the family enterprise. Through it all, Turcasso said, Gabby urged them on, clapping her hands and calling out " Presto! Presto! " [ Quick! Quick!] The family was able to invest their earnings from the fm in a few commercial buildings and rental properties. The outgoing Gabby was generous, fmancing farms for several friends and eventually helping the Clerico sons establish businesses of their own. Although the Clericos worked hard, they also knew how to relax and enjoy the good life in America. Sunday was ' a day to honor the Sabbath, to rest, to dress up, to have a splendid dinner, to have friends visit. . . . to toast America for all the blessings it made possible, like their gramo-phone on which they played operatic arias and sang along in mirthful relaxation, each trying to sound like Caruso." It was a simple life, but one that made Gabby feel rich. She loved to cook and to bake bread in her outdoor oven or fourno- one of the enduring symbols of southern European immi-grant life in Carbon County. She sang as she sewed flour sacks into petticoats and bloomers for her girls on a Singer treadle sewing machine, a marvel she was proud to own. She decorated the outhouse with photographs of current movie idols. She knit sweaters and socks for anyone she could think of, although she only knew two patterns. In later years one of her great pleasures was to take an elderly woman neighbor to the Saturday night dance so they could enjoy the music of the band and watch the young people dancing. Battista died in 1941 following the amputation of a leg. Gabby lived for 18 more years, to age 81, dying in 1959 after a series of strokes, " the only time," Turcasso said, that " it was not, ' Presto! Presto! ' " Source: Margaret Turcasso, "' Gabby'- the Go- Getter," Carbon County Journal, fall 1983, copy in Utah State Historical Society Library. THEH ISTORYB LAZERis produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone 533- 3500. 960302 ( MBM) |
