More Tropea information

Joseph Tropea, retired George Washington University professor who has done exhaustive research on the 1907 Monongah mines explosions and the untruths about the information provided, provided me with additional details about the Tropea family.

I did not know that Tony and Rose, who was from my uncle Frank Loss’ family, moved briefly from Monongah to Argentina. Rose didn’t care for Argentina, so they returned to Monongah and became a vital part of the town’s fabric and history.

Joseph’s email to me (the previous article about the Tropea family is right below this one):

John:

I interviewed and taped Nick Colanero in Monongah in 1981 and children of the Monongah miners in Italy (Abruzzo, Molise, Campania) in 1983.  I have yet to release those tapes.   I am sending a copy of this e-mail to my cousin Rose, granddaughter of Tony Tropea, and Janet Salvati, with whom you may want to check with about some of the substance of this e-mail.  Their families never left West Virginia!

Now, I will disappoint you:  I was born and raised in Detroit.   We visited West Virginia quite often, particularly Monongah, Star City and Morgantown, the place of my mother's family (Ferrara) and I lived in West Virginia for a year during WWII. 

My grandfather, Domenico Tropea, was in Monongah on December 6, 1907, though he quit working in the mines before that time.  It was from him that I gained knowledge of the disaster, which did not prove reliable.  Grandfather Tropea (born in Gioiosa Ionica), the brother of Tony Tropea, married the niece of Frank Martin (Martino), Domenica Trupo (born in Noepoli).  Joe Fuccy (Giuseppe Fucci) married Frank Martin's daughter, Domenica (Minnie), who was my grandmother's cousin. 

Of course, Joe Fuccy ran the store in Monongah for many years.  (Frank Martin sold the store to his daughter Minnie for one dollar, who was then married to Joe.)    

Grandma Tropea (Trupo) was the sister of Leonard (Leonardo), whose sons, and my cousins, Zeke and Joe, many of you may know; they were jointly honored at the festival in Clarksburg.                                            

The Tropea family’s origins and reasons for departure from Italy will likely prove to be most interesting.  (I am working sporadically on that.)  Tony Tropea's father fought in the military under Garibaldi in the successful fight to unify Italy.  

Tony and grandpa Domenico's father and mother and all of their siblings emigrated to Argentina, though I have some evidence that suggests two of the brothers were in West Virginia for at least a little while.  

Uncle Tony Tropea married Rose Loss and moved with her and two of their children (Vincent and Margaret) to Argentina for a short while.  They returned to West Virginia when Rose said she preferred Monongah to Argentina – a smart woman. 

Uncle Tony was the proprietor of a store for many years in Monongah.  From this, you should know that I have many cousins from West Virginia from both sides of the family, some of whose names may be recognized. 

Also, we should recognize that the history of Monongah connects to many parts of the world and many histories, beyond our knowledge and memories