The Barbieris come from a small village near the toe of the Italian boot, Villa San Giovanni, north of the city of Reggio de Calabria, in the province of Calabria. The Straits of Messina separate Calabria from Sicily to the west. One branch of the family settled in Glen Cove, another in Brooklyn after leaving MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village.
Family tradition says that there were 17 children in the family that included Antonino (b.1874) but many of them were killed in an earthquake (12/28/1908). Marie Borella recalls that Josephine Aldore came to the US at age 8, used to write letters to someone in a convent in Palermo, and had two other sons who died, Cosimo and another.
KBJ recalls that her grandmother, Josephine Aldore Barbieri, would often invite a Mr. DiGiacomo to holiday dinners. Mr. DiGiacomo's family was from Villa San Giovanni but they had not come to New York. He worked in the steamer basket business and always brought fresh citrus and candy at Christmas and Easter.