Nellie Wool was born in New York on April 21, 1890 to Nicholas and Antoinette (Maggie) Wool. She was to be known by quite a few different combinations of names throughout the course of her life, but the Social Security Death Index has a record for her death in June 1968 under the name Nellie Morrow.
Nellie's parents had 10 children by 1910, Louis, James, John, Nellie, Mary, Joseph, Frank, and Tony (three are missing from this record). Nellie was not a member of this household at this time and this is a mystery.
The name Nellie Morrow comes from her marriage to Charles Morrow when she was about 17 years old. Charles was 20 years old when they were married. In June of 1910 both she and her husband Charles reported to the census taker that they were living in the "rear of East Main Street" in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Only their son Nicholas lived with them at the time, he was a year old and looking forward to his second birthday in four months. Charles was employed as a bleacher in a cotton mill.
We know from her grandchildren that she had three children in her lifetime; Mary, Nick and James. However, the 1910 census only mentions Nicholas and has his birth date as 1908. Nicholas was my namesake.
James was my grandfather, and on his death certificate we find his mother listed as Carmella Wool. Another document, which was taken from the baptismal records of the "Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel" at 447 East 115th Street, New York, New York, lists a "Vincent" Di Mauro (probably my grandfather James) as the son of Angelo and Carmela Di Viola. This is a very confusing document, as this is the only record of the surname "Di Viola" associated with the family that I can find. Interestingly the document was created from the baptismal records on Oct. 31st 1934, which probably means that it was produced for the marriage of my grandfather James DiMauro to my grandmother Katherine Pelliccio.
There is some controversy. In March of 1934 one James Morrow, possibly my grandfather, sued a Fred Yannantuono for $50,000. The case is MORROW v YANNANTUONO 152 Misc. 134 (1934). The defendant in the case tried to have it dismissed using the following grounds .. "The defendant moves to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint upon the ground that it fails to state a cause of action. The complaint alleges that the plaintiff is the son of one Charles Morrow and Nellie Morrow and that his father and mother had lived happily together for twenty-two years until about the year 1929, at which time the plaintiff was an infant, and about that date the defendant knowing that said Nellie Morrow was the wife of another and the mother of the plaintiff, maliciously and wrongfully deprived the plaintiff of the affection, comfort and motherly love of his mother by enticing her away and harboring her; that he has been deprived of such affection, comfort and motherly love and has suffered great distress of body and mind; his reputation is affected; he is shunned, etc., and asks damages in the sum of $50,000." "
The SSDI lists Nellie's place of death as Great Barrington in June of 1968, she would have just been 79 years old at the time.
Nellie's possible names:
Nellie Wool
Nellie Morrow
Carmella Wool
Carmela Di Viola
