A Dream Crushed: The Story of Antonio Lemoni

The story of an Italian immigrant who spent years laboring in Ohio to reunite his family in America, only for a tragic accident to strike just weeks before his dream could come true.

Antonio Lemoni (c. 1875-1910), an Italian laborer born in Milan, began his journey to Tuscarawas County years before the tragedy that would claim his life. Born around 1874 or 1875, he first arrived in the United States in 1904, spending four years working in Cleveland, Ohio. He eventually returned to Italy to see his wife and their young son who lived in the town of Giulianova. The promise of better wages drew him back across the Atlantic in April 1909, when the 34-year-old boarded the S.S. Chicago at La Havre, France, arriving in New York with his sights set on joining his brother in Cleveland.

Settling into the industrial landscape of Ohio, Lemoni (occasionally referred to by the surname Lamona or Lamone) found employment through his physical labor. After a stint with the Pennsylvania Railway Company at Dennison, he moved to Canal Dover to work at the blast furnace of the Penn Iron and Coal Company. For six months he worked as a laborer, diligently saving every cent he could. His fellow workers knew him as a man with a singular goal: he had recently shared that he finally had enough money to pay for the passage of his family. He planned to bring them from Italy to join him in America the very next month.

The evening of February 15, 1910, shattered those dreams as Lemoni worked to unload coke at the plant. Around 6:30 PM, a heavily laden limestone car broke free from its moorings on a trestle and plummeted down a grade, crashing into a string of empty cars where Lemoni was standing. The impact threw him beneath the wheels, and he was mangled by the moving cars. Despite a quick medical response and a race to Union Hospital, his injuries, including crushed legs and a severed right hand, were fatal. He passed away roughly ninety minutes after the accident.

The tragedy left a void not just in Ohio, but across the ocean in Italy, sparking a legal effort to provide for his family. While Coroner W.A. Romig investigated the scene and noted a faulty brake as the likely cause, the Italian community in Cleveland took action. On March 4, 1910, Nicola Cerri, an administrator often associated with the Italian Consulate, was appointed by the Tuscarawas County Probate Court to oversee Antonio’s estate. The primary asset of the estate was a wrongful death claim against the Penn Iron & Coal Company and the Pennsylvania Company.

The legal battle concluded in June 1911 when the administrator successfully recovered a judgment and settlement of $2,000 (around $68,000 in 2026 dollars) for the wrongful death of the laborer. This sum, combined with Antonio′s final $50.85 in unpaid wages, was used to settle his affairs and provide for his heirs. After deducting costs for the coroner’s inquest, legal fees for the attorney, and funeral expenses, a significant portion of the funds was prepared for distribution to his family in Giulianova.

The court determined that the distribution of the remaining funds was fair and equitable according to the laws of descent. His son was awarded $200, while his widow received $999.65. While no amount of money could replace the husband and father who died just as his family’s reunion was within reach, the settlement provided a measure of security for the loved ones he had worked so hard to support. Antonio remains buried in Saint Joseph’s Cemetery in Dover, his legacy preserved in the somber records of the probate court.

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© Noel B. Poirier, 2025.