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Tuesday, November 28, 2023
 
 
1893 City Directory Listing for Michael Cauzillo, Native of Genoa,  Who Ran One of This Area’s First Italian Businesses
  Selections from a speech given by Dr. Walter Temelini, published in La Gazzetta February 13th, 1987 (Copyright 1987, Windsor Italo-Canadian Culture Centre)

Thanks to the research carried out by the Windsor Italo-Canadian Culture Centre, particularly by Nevi Rusich, and


1893 City Directory Listing for Michael Cauzillo, Native of Genoa, Who Ran One of This Area’s First Italian Businesses
  the support of your Association, we have been able to discover that by the late 19th century some Italians were already operating small businesses in the Windsor area and that one of them was quite successful.
 
The Ferrari family was one of the first Italian families to arrive in the Windsor area in the late 1800s
 

In the 1891 census, the Italian born Michael Cauzillo was described as a “prosperous commercial merchant”. According to his grandson Leo Cauzillo, his grandfather also sold merchandise in different parts of Canada.

His success appears to have been quick. Michael Cauzillo arrived in Windsor in 1873, at the age of 17. In the 1881 census he was already listed as a fruit dealer and by 1891 as a grocer, who apparently also had a butcher shop. The 1891 census records may offer a further indication of the sound economic and social status his large family was enjoying at this time, for his household included five children and a

The Ferrari family was one of the first Italian families to arrive in the Windsor area in the late 1800s. They had many different businesses. PM687
  domestic servant – the German-born Cecilia Sorensen…

At this point we are certain of only two Italian businesses in the Windsor area before 1900:

Cauzillo's Grocery (at 20/28 Glengarry) and Joseph Bova's Fruit Store and Confectionary (at 39/63 Sandwich St. West - near Ouellette)

 
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The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

 

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