Benedetto Maltese was born on December 5th, 1892 in Cinisi, Sicilia to Giuseppe Maltese and Francesca Biundo. (Francesca was the daughter of Giuseppe Biundo and Giacoma Mangiapane, and sister to Giuseppe Biundo who immigrated to New Orleans).
Benedetto immigrated to America and lived in Detroit, Michigan. Below you can get a snapshot glimpse of what it was like there in 1917.
He married Rosalie Camarata on August 18th, 1924. The record below says that he was 32 years old and a merchant, and she was 27.
His cousin, Joe Biundo, of Independence, Louisiana came and worked with him at some point in the 1920’s. It might have been around 1924. Below is a photo of Joe Biundo around that time.
The following two photos show more of Detroit in the 1920s. It was an exciting place!
In the 1930 Census, “Benny” and Rose were listed as living at 4614 Beniteau Ave in Detroit. He was 38 years old at that time, and she was 32. He is listed as a Salesman in Fruit and Vegetable Market. Their daughter wasn’t born yet.
Below you can see a border crossing record from July 31st, 1931 for “Ben Maltese.” He was going to Windsor, Ontario to be a partner in a Fruit Business with John Bolone and LaFata. (It doesn’t state what LaFata’s first name is, but it’s possible that both business partners had the first name John so they only wrote it once.)
Benedetto “Benjamin” Maltese died in Windsor, Ontario on November 21st, 1932. The death certificate states that he’d been an immigrant there for 18 months, and that he’d just moved in to his latest residence 5 days prior. Wholesale Merchant in Fruit. He died at 39 years, 11 months, and 16 days of cardiac issues. His wife, Rose Camarata, made the report.
New Orleans is where Rose Camarata was from, and she moved back there after his death with their child, Mary Frances Maltese. Mary Frances was a little under 2 years old at the time of her father’s death.
According to the obituary below which was posted in The Times Picayune in New Orleans, his funeral was a month after his death, on December 22nd, 1932. He was buried at St Vincent de Paul cemetery in New Orleans.
Below is the 1940 Census for Rose and Mary F who were living with her family at 937 Marigny St in New Orleans. Rose was listed as 43 and widowed, and Mary F was 9.
In October 1949, Mary Frances Maltlese married John Lucas Sacco. Below you can see the photo that was in her marriage announcement.
Their children were Suzanne and John Stephen (1952-1958).
John Lucas Sacco died in 1961, and Mary Frances Maltese Sacco died in 1996.