Early Traverso History In Louisiana and Texas
Antonio Traverso was born in Northern Italy ( Liguria ) about 1824. According to his great grandson, Louis B. Traverso, Antonio came to the U. S. and became a citizen and then returned to Italy to marry his childhood sweetheart, Columba. Columba was born about 1826. They lived in Italy and had a son, Peter S. Traverso, in Ripallo, Italy, on Sept. 27, 1846. Louis "L.B." Traverso said Antonio then returned to the U. S. and later sent for Columba and his son, Peter.
The ship’s passengers’ list from the S. S. Mississippi, that arrived New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 26, 1857, lists 33 year old Columba Traverso and her 9 year old son, Peter, as Italian residents that had embarked the ship in Marseilles, France. Antonio Traverso is neither listed in the crew or the passengers. This may substantiate L. B. Traverso's assertion that his great grandfather had already returned to the United States. According to L. B. Traverso, “even though my grandfather, Peter, was born in Italy, he was an American citizen from birth because his father was already a naturalized U. S. citizen.”
The Traversos lived in New Orleans through the Civil War. Sometime before 1870 they relocated to Galveston, Texas which had a small Italian community. The family is listed in the 1870 U. S. Census as residing in Galveston:
Antonio Traverso ( listed 1870 Census - Page 108 line 16 - 20 ) in Galveston aged 45 // Columba - aged 43 // Peter b. Italy as 22 yrs., // Mary b. New Orleans, LA as 10 yrs. // and Tiva b. N.O., LA listed as 8 yrs. ( Tiva would have been born in 1862 in New Orleans during the Civil War. )
Louis B. Traverso says that Antonio ran supply sloops on Lake Pontchartrain before moving to Texas. Antonio is listed In Galveston City Registers as being at various times an importer of olive oil, a charcoal dealer, and a grocer.
Rosa Puppo arrived New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 11, 1873 aboard the SS. Marsala with her father, Stefano. The ship’s passengers’ list has her as aged 21 and her father as aged 57, both residents of Genoa, Italy and having embarked at Marsailles. France. Previously several of her older brothers and her only sister had immigrated to New Orleans. Her older sister was married and living by this time in Galveston and since her father returned to Italy, it seems she decided to reside in Galveston with her sister.
Antonio’s son Peter S. Traverso married Rose Marie Puppo in Galveston October 9, 1875. They are residents of Galveston in the 1880 U. S. Census. They later moved to Chambers County Texas where they are listed in the 1890 and 1900 censuses. They had several children: Peter S., Jr. (1876), Antonio (1879), Louis (1881), Willie L. (1884), Stephen S. (1887), Harry S. (1891), Henry J. (1892), Rose (1894).
Danny’s grandfather, Peter, was the oldest of Peter’s and Rosa’s children and born in Winfree, Texas in Chambers County. His father had already bought land in Chambers County and seems to have been moving back and forth from island to mainland before he permanently settled in Winfree. This was probably due to his business ventures. In Chambers County he cut trees to make charrcoal which he then brought across the bay to sell in Galveston. He also used his sloop to freight supplies and U. S. Mail from the Galveston Post Office back to the more rural settlements in Chambers County. Later he had a general store in Winfree where he died. Some of Peter, Sr.'s children remain with
him in Chambers County: Louis, Stephen, Harry, and Henry. Peter Jr., Tony, and Rose lived on Galveston Island. ( Willie L. Traverso died young, on the mail boat Folly o n Galveston Bay on Dec. 19, 1906.) Peter S., Sr.'s widow spent her last years in Galveston with her youngest child and only daughter, Rose Traverso Faust. During the 20th Century the family (separated by 60 miles of Galveston Bay) developed into distinct branches, the Galveston Traversos and the "up-country" Traversos or the mainland cousins.