This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

ALESSI FAMILY
Mary Ann Alessi McManus describes her family?s life and the accomplishments they have made since their arrival in Independence.
The Alessi name is of Greek origin. Mary Ann?s grandparents, George and Giovanni, migrated to Sicily from Greece. They were married in a Greek Orthodox Catholic Church but changed to Roman Catholic when they moved to America.
In 1887, George and his family (five children) left Palazzo-Andriano, Sicily and moved to the United States. They settled along the Mississippi River in Burnside, Louisiana, and worked building the levee. Dominic, the third child, was eleven years old when he became a waterboy ? carrying water from one worker to another.
The Alessis heard of Independence when Joseph DiBenedetto married Josephine Alessi. Joseph was the only Italian living in Independence at that time. He encouraged the Alessi family to move there to farm.
In 1889, after living in Burnside for two years, the Alessi family moved to Independence and started strawberry and truck farming. They lived in an old rundown plantation home until 1937. Dominic inherited the home that is now remodeled and lived in by his daughter Mary Ann.
George moved to Slidell to work at the sawmill, while
the others continued strawberry and truck farming. Nickola, the last son born in Independence, was the first Italian to graduate from Independence High School.
Dominic married Lena Bruno; they had one daughter, Jeanette. Lena and her second child died during child birth.
In 1909, Dominic remarried. He chose Rose Buzzetta, one of the tenants hired to pack strawberries, as his new wife. They had six children. They moved southwest of Lallie Kemp Charity Hospital. All the children went to Independence High School and graduated. Dominic continued to farm strawberries.
Dominic?s children have chosen other professions outside fanning. Carlo Alessi was a medical doctor in Hammond for thirty-five years. George traveled throughout the United States, working for the United Fruit Company. Joe lived in Hammond and owned the largest chicken farm in Louisiana.
Mary Ann Alessi married Frank McManus in 1940. She has been teaching in the Tangipahoa Parish School system for fifty-two years. She has one daughter, Mar-rian, who is married and lives in Baton Rouge.
Five Generations
Baby George W. Hutchinson, Mrs. Joseph Alessi, Mrs. Lindsey Hutchinson. Back Row: George N. Alessi, Father-Dr. George W. Hutchinson