Ruggiero Ricelli was a “Man of Many Jobs”

Ruggiero Ricelli was born in Italy in 1879, and emigrated to Sandusky around 1893. Beginning in 1895, he operated a fruit and confectionery cart at the corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street in Sandusky. Later he ran a store in the Cooke building, and eventually he set up shop at 119-121 East Market Street.

In the early twentieth century Mr. Ricelli served as an advisor to local residents of Italian descent. He helped them write letters to family members back in Italy, and aided them in understanding business conditions of their new town. In the Erie County Common Pleas Court, he served as an interpreter whenever knowledge of his native language was needed. He also was a Notary Public, and by 1911, he was an agent for several steamship lines which traveled from New York to Italy. For several years, he was president of the American Fruit Company, which was located on Water Street. 

Mr. Ricelli’s first wife was Arcangela Carapetta; they had a son, Orlando C. Ricelli. Dr. O.C. Ricelli was one of the founders of the first Memorial Hospital in Sandusky, along with Dr. Lester Mylander and Dr. Carle Koehler. (Note: in later years, Dr. Orlando C. Ricelli changed the spelling of his surname to Ricely.)  Arcangela Carapetta Ricelli died in 1920 at the age of 32. In 1922, Ruggiero  Ricelli married Minnie Augusta Barnett, and they had two children, John and Jeanne.

Ruggiero  Ricelli died at the age of 66 on September 26, 1945. An obituary for Mr. Ricelli, sometimes spelled Riccelli, appeared in the Sandusky Register Star News on September 26, 1945.

Minnie Riccelli’s Three Generation Photograph

Notes on the back of this family photograph indicate that the photograph was taken in 1932, after the funeral of Fred Scheuss. The women in the photograph are: Mrs. Lucia Baird, Maybelle Baird Barnett, and Minnie Barnett Riccelli. Lucia is Minnie’s maternal grandmother, and Maybelle is Minnie’s mother. According to the 1930 Census, Minnie Barnett Riccelli was the wife of Sandusky businessman Ruggerio Riccelli.

By entering the names of these individuals into genealogical databases, more details about these women can be learned. For example, the 1920 U.S. Census, accessed through Ancestry Library Edition, lists the name of Maybelle Barnett, and four of her children living in Sandusky on Market Street. The 1910 Census gives Maybelle’s husband’s name: John W. Barnett. By searching Family Search Labs for the name Lucia Baird, we find that Lucia’s husband was William P. Baird, and her parents were John Tuttle and Philena Bond.

If you have old family pictures, try searching Ancestry Library Edition, Heritage Quest Online, and Family Search Labs, to learn more information about your ancestors. While Ancestry Library Edition is able to be accessed only while in a ClevNet Library, Heritage Quest Online and Family Search Labs are available at home or at the library.