Emigration from Mortale How villagers began to move away from the region It was in the 1880s that some of the Mortalese decided to move away from the area in search of prosperity. It is said that the first to leave was Pacifico Forte, who like many of the other contadini worked hard but decided to brave a journey which would take him through Europe and right up to Scotland. The reason for venturing so far north is unclear, but it is likely that he met someone en route who suggested that Scotland was the best place to head for. Once established there, he set up a shop selling confectionery and tobacco, before meeting a chef from Dundee who taught him how to make ice cream. He opened a cafe and sent for other Fortes to come from Mortale to help him run the business.
Pacifico Forte was the great grandson of Andrea Onorio Forte and was Many of the Mortalese ventured as far as the United States of America, setting off by rail from Roccasecca station and making their way to Naples. Here they would board ships bound for America, a journey which, at the time, would often take weeks on relatively primitive vessels slowly making their way across the Atlantic towards New York. Once there, they would disembark at Ellis Island, stay in boarding houses and seek out other Italians who had also braved this long journey into the unknown. Many returned, but several stayed and settled in areas such as Pittsburgh, Boston and New York itself. Records for many of these journeys still exist and the names of many Mortalese appear on ship manifests in the Ellis Island records. On the 11th May, 1895, a group from the village arrived in Ellis Islan on SS Bothnia having left Naples two weeks earlier, sailing via Gibraltar. The ship and the relevant page from the manifest are shown below.
Passengers from Mortale included my grandfather, Alfonso (age 15, later father of Giovanni, Aquilino, Annino, Carmine, Teresa and Mariannina), Rocco Forte (age 15, later father of Anna, Michael, Charles and Giulio), his father Carmine Forte (age 42), Salvatore Forte (age 56, father of Francesco, Alessandra, Don Crescenzo, Maria Carolina, Domenica and Donato), Crescenzo Forte (age 16, later father of Giuseppe, Margherita and Elena, his father Antonio Forte (age 51). All travelled to Philadelphia but few stayed for long. My grandfather, Alfonso, returned to America some years later in 1907 to visit his older brother Vincenzo in Pittsburgh. This time just he and Crescenzo Forte travelled on board SS Königen Luise, leaving Naples on 31st May and arriving in New York exactly a fortnight later on 14th June 1907. Alfonso was soon to return but Crescenzo settled in the New York area for many years. The ship and the first page of the manifest are shown below.
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