In 1922, Antonietta Cacchioli married Ettore Fenaroli. Both were immigrants from Northern Italy. Ettore died on March 10, 1975 at the age of 84. He was born November 2, 1887 and was from the town of Porcigattone. Antonietta was born to Guisseppe Cacchioli and Margherita Piscina in a small town, Posso, near Borgo Val di Taro, Province of Parma, Italy. The area is situated on the slopes of the Italian Apennine Mountains.

Antonietta was the second daughter of a family of nine. She was born to the first wife. There were three children from a second wife. Antonietta's journey to America was in 1914, (Ellis Island records, see below, indicate she arrived Apr. 8, 1916), just before, (USA entered) WWI. Her intent was to join her eldest sister, Gina, in New York City. She left Italy with a cardboard valise that included a dress, cheeses, and four bottles of homemade wine. To the best of her recollection, the boat was called Conte Rosso, (Ellis Island records indicate the ship was the Guiseppe Verdi, see Ellis Island record below), She was just 18 when she made this voyage. She celebrated her 19th, (Ellis Island records indicates the 20th), birthday while still at sea.

On her first day of the trip, she was examined by a young, male doctor and was extremely embarrassed. She stood in line and received a dish and a blanket which was dark and dirty. Also, for the first time, she saw black people. She enjoyed the food and ate stew with very little meat, bread, and milk. She slept in a bunk bed. There were three bunk beds stacked on top of one another.

To avoid enemy submarines during WWI, the boat traversed the Atlantic in a zig-zag pattern, so the voyage took much longer than expected.

Since there was very little fresh water, bathing was done using salt water. The ship had mostly young adults and very few children.

Antonietta spent many nights in the stairwell, fully dressed and ready to immediately run to an assigned lifeboat. This was done in preparation for a submarine attack, but this never happened.

When Antonietta finally reached Ellis Island, there was no one from her family to meet her there. This terrified her. Because of the war, her oldest sister, Gina, never received the letter she had sent saying she was coming. After many hours of waiting and moving from line to line, she was sent upstairs to a section with many cots. She was asked to leave her belongings in a separate room. This terrified her even more.

After the longest night of her life, she discovered her belongings. They turned a bright pink color. Apparently, the valise was left next to a heating unit all night and the wine bottles exploded destroying everything. Although the valise included papers with Gina's address, Antonietta had committed it to memory, 916 49th Street. Unfortunately, she was not able to communicate this vital information to the authorities on Ellis Island. Because of the language barrier, she was taken to an Italian priest, Father Moretta. He tried to contact the neighborhood store but wasn't successful. Antonietta was then brought to what she believes was an orphanage. A very kind nun gave her clean clothes. At this point, she confessed to the nun that she had lice. The nun thanked her over and over for sharing this embarrassing fact, and then she dunked Antonietta's head in kerosene. Antonietta was put to work washing and ironing. She prayed constantly that her sister would find her. She cried all of the time. The compassionate nun spent a lot of time soothing her distress. The nun kept saying there's a nice, rich family that will take you in. Antonietta wanted no part of that arrangement. She just wanted to be with her sister. Ultimately, she was rescued by a gentleman that took pity on her and after many attempts, he was successful in finding Gina.

Her first impression of her sister's apartment on 916, 49th Street was not a happy one. As a farmer, she loved clean air and having her hands in the earth. New York smelled and it was very dirty. She said the roofs seen from 2nd Ave. elevator line were extremely dark and dingy. The buildings all appeared burned, like the entire city had been in a fire. Her sister's apartment was on the third floor. It was dark and it stunk. All of the rooms were in one single line, referred to as railroad rooms. The bathroom was in the hall and shared by many other tenants. Antonietta immediately decided that New York City wasn't for her. She promised herself that she would save her money and return to Italy the first chance she got.

Time passed. Things happed and events occurred that changed her course. She stayed in the United States until she passed away at the ripe, old age of 93.

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