MOUNT VERNON — Browsing through old newspapers, I recently came across a name that stands out among Knox County names not just for its length, but its distinctly national feel: Schiappacasse.
In a county largely populated by people of British or German ancestry, the name sticks out.
Antoni Schiappacasse was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1849. It appears that he decided his home country was not a place that offered him much in the way of opportunity, because in 1866, he left to come to America. Along the way, he picked up a wife, Maria Cuneo, then moved to Canton, Ohio, where they had the first of their nine children.
Relocating to Mount Vernon in the 1890s, Tony Schiappacasse and his wife invited Maria’s mother to join them. Their nine children were put to work in Tony’s confectionery store at 103 West High Street — today the empty lot on West High across from the post office.
Though competition was fierce, they must have done well, for they opened a second shop later on public square, though it only lasted for a few years.
It’s not easy to determine exactly what a confectionery shop was. We tend to associate the word today with candy, but Mount Vernon’s leading candy store in the early 1900s was Candyland, at 116 South Main, and they even received their own directory listing as a candy store.
“Confectionery” was a more general term for sweets that might include pastries or even more general drug store type goods, even going as far as cigarette stores!
What exactly the Schiappacasses sold wasn’t clear to me at first, though general newspaper searches of the late 1800s turn up a legacy of Schiappacasse families throughout the Midwest running fruit stores. Following that lead, I found that was indeed what the Schiappacasses sold in Mount Vernon, at least at first. And that led to a story of a near-disaster that took place in the store on May 24, 1899.
A woman described only as Mrs. Jenkins in the newspaper article was at “Schiappacasse’s fruit store.” Mrs. Jenkins was wearing a fashionable hat with decorative finery attached to the top of the hat. When she bent over and leaned in to inspect some of the fruit on display, that brought the frippery on her hat up against the open gaslight flame on the wall — remember, this was before electric lighting was widespread and affordable.
The unfortunate woman’s hat immediately burst into flame when it brushed against the gaslight, and the fire spread quickly to the woman’s hair, burning her face and scalp badly before it could be put out.
Though badly wounded, she survived. Amazingly, the fire did not spread to anything in the store itself.
In addition to fruit and fruit products, the store featured a soda fountain. The process of making a fountain drink is the same today as it was in the early 1900s, the difference being that today’s pressurized cannisters of carbon dioxide are far less dangerous.
In 1906, Tony’s 27-year-old son Charles was working at the store’s soda fountain, changing over a cannister of the pressured gas when it suddenly exploded.
The force of the blast mauled Charles’ face terribly, and he was expected to die. The worker standing near him, Harry Eggleston, was injured badly, but survived. To the surprise of the doctors, Charles survived the blast as well, and lived until 1930.
Another one of the family’s children was Earnest. He worked alongside the rest of the family in the store, along with his wife, Muriel. In 1909 he took over the main store from his retiring father, according to a probate court filing. The store by this time was known as The Palace of Sweets, suggesting that the Schiappacasses had moved beyond selling just fruit and soda.
The first few years of Earnest and Muriel’s marriage seemed to go well, but in November of 1911, Muriel met Thomas Murray, and the sparks flew.
We don’t know the details about exactly what happened, but a newspaper report in January of 1912 tells us that Earnest filed a lawsuit against Thomas Murray for the sum of $10,000 for “alienation of affections” of his wife.
Remember, inflation has ballooned figures considerably — $10,000 in 1912 is the equivalent of more than $250,000 in today’s money. So, it seems that Earnest was intent on wreaking serious revenge on the rival who stole his wife away.
According to the report in the Mount Vernon Democratic Banner, Schiappacasse accused Murray of “wickedly debauching” Muriel on Nov. 1, 1911.
The break was quick and sharp. Muriel filed for divorce in December, claiming cruelty against her husband. Less than a month later, Schiappacasse sued Murray. He said that Murray’s actions had caused him such “shame and humiliation,” that he was entitled to the requested damages. No follow-up appears in the newspaper, suggesting that either the case was thrown out or settled out of court.
At some point, Earnest moved the store to South Main Street, where in 1922 he ran a newspaper ad that said, “One, two; take a chew. / Three, four; eat some more. / Five, six; the goodness sticks. / Schiappacasse’s Famous French Chewing Taffy / 2 S Main St.”
Newspaper ads appear as late as 1940 for Schiappacasse’s confectionery store, but no later than that. Earnest himself had retired by the 1930s, and apparently despairing over ill health, took his own life in 1938.
Many of the Schiappacasses are buried in the Mount Calvary Cemetery, the Catholic cemetery which adjoins Mound View Cemetery. Anthony’s mother-in-law, Angela Cuneo, is there, too, with her 1815 birth date making her one of the oldest in that cemetery.
A short distance away, in Moundview, can be found the gravestone for Thomas and Muriel Murray, for Muriel did indeed marry Thomas after she left Earnest. I don’t know if they lived happily ever after or not, but they share a single stone.
Do any Schiappacasses remain in Knox County today? If so, drop us a line and let us know, and we’ll follow up accordingly.
