An Immigrant's Story -- Raffaele Di Guglielmo, a.k.a. Rafael Julian

Pasqualina and Raffaele
di Guglielmo

This should be obvious, but pretty much every local resident ever mentioned on this blog was either an immigrant, or the descendant of immigrants. Almost all of them were products of the so-called First Wave of immigration, arriving anywhere from the 17th Century through the mid-19th Century. In MCH we have 17th Century Swedes, Fins, and English; 18th Century Scotch-Irish and English; and 19th Century Irish, English, Germans and others. These were all from northern and western Europe.

The Second Wave consisted of late 19th and early 20th Century immigrants (think Ellis Island) from more "exotic" locales in eastern and southern Europe -- Poles, Slavs, Eastern European Jews, Greeks, Russians, and, probably most impactful to their new country, Italians. Since most of these Second wave immigrants stayed in cities (often the ones they first arrived in), Mill Creek Hundred did not see very many of these new arrivals. There is, however, one major exception that was noted in the post a few years back about the Abner Hollingsworth case -- the Italian Colony at Wooddale.

The colony was a community of over 100 Italian immigrants, comprised of stoneworkers at the Wooddale Quarry and their families. It seems to have been a fairly self-contained community, and because there were many single men there, a pretty raucous one. Wild Wooddale, as I call it, had an array of illegal saloons, gambling houses, and places catering to other pleasures. I still don't know very much about the community itself, but I have been able to gather information about one of the apparent leaders of the community. He was mentioned briefly in an article from the time about the Hollingsworth case, noting only that he ran a saloon and was accused of having tried to scam one of the local farmboys. Separating fact from fiction about this era can be tough, but I did find at least part of this man's amazing story.

The article names the Italian as Rafael Julian (and Julian Rafelo), but it wasn't until I was recently contacted by a great-granddaughter of his that I learned his real name -- Raffaele Di Guglielmo. Raffaele was born in 1860 in the Italian town of Andretta, about 50 miles east of Naples. In November 1881, the 21 year old emigrated to New York, working as a cobbler, learning English, and then working as an interpreter. At some point he met fellow Italian Pasqualina Del Campo, and the two were married. A later biography (actually, more like a hagiography) says that he saved enough money, went back to Italy, and met and married here there. However, the 1900 Census says that they had been married ten years and that she had immigrated in 1881. So either the census was wrong, they both went back and met there, or they met in America.

In any case, they eventually made their way to Delaware before 1892, and more specifically, to Wooddale.  If you recall, the Standard Lime and Stone Company was operating the quarry along the west side of the railroad tracks, just north of the Wooddale Iron Works (and later, paper mill). The stoneworkers there were almost exclusively Italian immigrants, and had formed what was probably a pretty self-contained community. It's unclear whether Raffaele began working as a stonecutter, but he soon opened a store and saloon. Family history says he was a foreman at the quarry. That may be true, or it may be that he was more of a leader in the community there.

The Di Guglielmos, in front of one of their Wooddale area homes

What is definitely true is that unlike almost everyone else there, Raffaele eventually owned his own home at Wooddale. A descendant of the family (thanks, Pam!) sent me the photograph seen above, of Raffaele and Pasqualina in front of their Wooddale home. Since I had assumed all the Italians there lived in cheaply-made worker housing, I was surprised to see a very stone, definitely old, house. The next obvious question was....where was it?

Since it didn't look like a newly-built home, I checked the maps to see what houses might have been close to where I assumed the Italian Colony was. The closest was the farm of Joseph Leach, located about where the homes of Spring Valley are today. David Connell, owner of Standard Lime and Stone, leased the land for the quarry from Leach, but I found no evidence that he or Di Guglielmo actually bought property or the house. This is where the information from the family helped.

I was told that Raffaele eventually owned property in Wilmington, in addition to his Wooddale home, but when I searched under Rafael Julian (the name I knew him by), I found very little. It seems that even though he presented himself under the Anglicized version of his name, almost all of his real estate holdings were listed under his given name. I quickly found a transaction from April 1899 in which Di Guglielmo purchased about 30 acres from John and Lizzie Jane Frederick. This was the next farm over, what is now known as the John Bishop House.

Rear of the John Bishop House

I know Raffaele owned this house for about ten years and that it is only a short walk from the quarry, but there are two big questions left to answer. First, was this the house out of which he ran his illegal saloon for the quarry workers? I can't say for sure, but it is fairly close to the quarry. It's possible he had another place closer to the colony, but most reports say it was in his home. There are also reports prior to 1899, so either the Di Guglielmo/Julians rented the house for a time before buying it, or there was another and/or earlier site.

The second question is, is this the house in the old photograph? I don't have a good picture of the front of the house (since it's on a private drive), but I have to say that from what I do see, it doesn't look like it. This got me searching some more, with a surprising result. It turns out that Raffaele didn't just own one property in the Red Clay Valley -- he owned two!

In February 1901, Di Guglielmo bought 14½ acres on the east side of Red Clay Creek a short distance north, between Mt. Cuba and Ashland. He only owned this property for six years. The house that stood there is long gone, and the property itself is now part of the western end of the Fieldstone Golf Club. However, if I were a betting man (and luckily I'm not, because I'm a terrible gambler) I'd say that the old photo was taken of this northern residence.

While Raffaele Di Guglielmo was clearly a leader in the community at Wooddale, he had even bigger plans back in the city. Even while residing along the Red Clay, Di Guglielmo was busy buying up properties in Wilmington.  In November 1902 he purchased the McCullough Building, located on the northwest corner of 5th and Walnut Streets (the parking lot and garage for the NCC Courthouse are there now). It had been built by Col. Peter McCullough as a shoe factory right after the Civil War. The building seems to have been used for many purposes, including as a theater, as the Germans' Turner's Hall, as a home for illegal poker games, and as a Salvation Army barracks.

Rafael Julian's Union Macaroni factory

Pasqualina Julian in front of the family grocery store,
possibly with children Rose and Philip

One report states that it was already operating as a macaroni factory when Raffaele bought it, but I can't confirm that yet. It is clear though, that he soon began running the Union Macaroni Company from the site, and eventually opened a grocery store on the first floor. I don't know exactly when the family (which included seven children) moved from Wooddale to Wilmington, but I believe he purchased what would be their residence (519 Walnut St) in early 1905.

As a leader in the community (Raffaele assisted other new immigrants and even acted as a lender for them), he unfortunately set himself up as a target for those with nefarious intentions. Several times his life and that of his family were threatened by Black Hand extortion schemes, an early Italian organized crime tactic. Di Guglielmo seems to have always stood his ground and refused to pay the extortionists. Soon thereafter, his factory had a series of fires, at least a few of which were suspected of being revenge.

All this must have taken a toll on his health, especially after 1909. In May of that year, Pasqualina tragically died in childbirth while delivering a stillborn son. I have no doubt that the community he helped so much rallied behind him in his time of need. Raffaele continued to accumulate property, owning a number of rental properties around the city.

Obituary of Raffaele Di Guglielmo, 2/7/1916

In February 1916, Raffaele Di Guglielmo, a.k.a. Rafael Julian, passed away at the young age of 55. Having been in the country fewer than 35 years, he left an estate valued at over $150,000 -- the equivalent of more than $3.5 million today. There was an interesting dispute over his will, with two competing versions. The "official" will was challenged by a second document, written in Italian on a Union Macaroni Company billhead. After much testimony and examinations by handwriting experts, it was determined that his signature was authentic, but that the rest of the so-called "billhead will" was filled in later by someone else.

In the end, the story of Raffaele Di Guglielmo still doesn't shed much new light on the Italian Colony at Wooddale, other than the possible location of one of the saloons. However, it does give a feel for the kind of man who became a leader in the community there, and later in Wilmington. Every immigrant has their own unique story, one that deserves to be honored and remembered. The courage that it takes to leave your home and family, board a crowded ship, and try to make a new life in an alien world is frankly beyond my comprehension. Not everyone's story ends up exactly where they envisioned it, but I have to believe that Signor Di Guglielmo was justifiably proud of the life he gave to his family.