Orphans

While researching the Campuzano family in Los Angeles, I stumbled onto some names I'm not sure where they fit, but I do believe they are connected in some way to the Campuzano family. A news clipping from May 1892 refers to "half-orphans" admitted to the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum. One child was Filomena Campasano.

LA Herald, 8 May 1892.

Even earlier, two more Campasano children were admitted to the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum. This clipping is dated 10 April 1889:

LA Herald, 10 Apr 1889.

Isidora Campasano shows up in other records, placing her birth date as 20 March 1881. She would have been 8 years old when admitted to the Orphan Asylum. In the 1900 City Directory, Isidora was working as a cigarmaker in Downtown LA, not far from Boyle Heights. She would have been 19 then.

1900 City Directory.

Even earlier, she appears in the 1896 City Directory as Ysidora Camposana, working as a cigarmaker for G. Tognetti and living at 665 Upper Main. She would have been 15 then.

In 1901, Isidora was working as a cigarmaker for R. Giovanetti and living at 421 N. Main Street. Frances Campuzano, a daughter of Jose Maria Campuzano, was working for the same employer and living at the same address in 1901. I don't think Isidora was a daughter of Jose Maria Campuzano, but I have a suspicion that she could have been a daughter of Frank Campuzano. By 1902, she was working as an ironer for Anchor Laundry.

On 13 October 1903, Isidora married Italian immigrant Frederico Sulpizio. They had a son, Dominic Sulpizio, on 9 April 1906. She registered to vote in 1916, and listed her employment as a laundress.

Isidora divorced from Frederico and married another immigrant, Anton Surina, on 18 July 1918. In the 1920 US Census, she was working in a cannery in Downtown LA, living with son Dominic. She may have been separated from Anton already by 1920, and they later divorced. Anton remarried in 1926. It is unclear what happened to Isidora after 1920.

KCET's Lost LA series ran a story on the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum last year. The Boyle Heights History Blog has an article on the Orphan Asylum. In 1891, the Orphan Asylum moved into a new building. Isidora, Francisca and Filomena would have lived there.

Source: Ancestry.