I am the great-granddaughter of Joseph and Angela Tavern. My grandmother was Teresa and her daughter, Doreen, was my mom. My memories of Grandma Tavern are very sweet. We visited Sault Ste. Marie every other summer. During the summer of 1961 my family spent a week at Uncle Sam Lavorato's cottage on the St. Mary's River near the Soo. Grandma spent a couple days with us and I smile as I think of her driving the riding lawnmower with a fancy hairnet on her head, worn as a hat! She showed us her special mushroom picking place and we picked carrots and beans out of her garden. It was a special summer.
The story of Giuseppe Taverna and Angelina Cerra.
The Taverna family (known as Tavern) was from Colosimo, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Italy. Giuseppe Taverna (born 1871) sailed to the US arriving sometime around 1895. Angela Cerra arrived in the US from Decollatura, Catanzaro, Cosenza, Italy on January 11, 1899. She was 14 years old. Her mother's brother, Vito Perri, met her at the ship in New York. Her final destination was Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Grandma Tavern told the story that when she was 14 she went to a Gypsy fortune teller in a valley near where she lived. The fortune teller told her she was going to cross a large body of water and marry a man twice her age. She married at age 15 and Grandpa Tavern was 28.
Grandma had two siblings from her father's first marriage to Orsola Sirianni - Chiara and Saverio. After Orsola's death, Pietro married Maria Perri and they had three children - Angelina, Vito and Mary Concetta (Connie Talintino) who came to the US and Guilio, Rosario and Rosina who remained in Italy. Grandpa Tavern had three brothers, Nunziato, Gabriele and Angelo who also settled in the Soo.
Elaine, Gilda, Lil, Clara
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