 santini family santini family ray sun 9182011 1028 image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  santini family  the santini family of biloxi mississippi originated at new orleans with joseph santini 18171874 a native of trieste italy here mr santini married margaretha muller 18281931 a native of gutenberg bavaria germany they were the parents of seven children  gabriel santini  18551890 m otelia mccue 18561884  marie josephine ursuline   marietta santini  18561929  joseph santini  b 1859  josephine  a  santini  18601966  rosetta santini  18631949 m emmett s donnell 18531917 and  gabrielle mathilde santini  18681869 image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  joseph santini joseph santini made his living at new orleans as the proprietor of a coffee house at this time a coffee house was a saloon or bar room the joseph santini coffee house was located on gravier street and called the jewel of the south which he operated from 1833 until 1869 he is mentioned in many publications concerning the origin of mixed drinks an example follows  sometime around 1850 one joseph santini took over management of the bar and restaurant at new orleans city exchange right in the heart of the french quarter there he invented the crusta a fancy variation that introduced citrus juice into the list of things that could go into a drink this stayed purely a local drink until jerry thomas who must have met santini and or had his drinks when he was in the crescent city in the 1850s put the crusta in his book this isn t to say the crusta was a huge hit it was always a cult drink one with few but fanatic devotees but it planted a seed that seed would remain dormant until the 1890s when suddenly everyone started putting lemon juice lime juice even orange juice into their cocktails from the crusta evolution brings us the sidecar and life without sidecars would be very dreary indeed if santini hadn t done it first they still might have done it anyway but at least they had someone in the dark backward of time shining a flashlight for them to show the way mr santini we salute you    the timespicayune october 18 1987 p 101 and cocktailconfidentiallatimesmagazinecom joseph santini retired from the jewel of the south in january 1869 he conveyed his coffee house to george b ittman mr santini related to his regular customers that   he  ittman  will keep he old saloon in splendid style and with the best liquors and wines so as to respond to the old reputation of this establishment   the daily picayune january 24 1869 p 4  joseph santini provided excellent education opportunities for his children and offered incentives and awards for the scholars in the schools that his children attended gabriel santini was a law graduate of washington lee university at lexington virginia marietta santini attended the locquet institute a private school for the privileged young ladies of the crescent city and located at 253 st charles avenue marietta and josephine santini matriculated to the virginia female institute at staunton virginia and graduated in july 1872 the daily picayune july 30 1872 p 2 at the locquet institute joseph santini provided the santini medals to the students that excelled in french and elocution in may 1869 miss marietta santini was awarded the palm of excellence in the preparatory department but she declined to compete for her father s medals mr santini was sincerely appreciated by the young ladies of the locquet institute as they gave him a set of gold cuff links they were engraved with an open book on one side and the word education on the other joseph santini was described by the institute s staff as  unweary in his efforts to promote zeal in scholastic pursuits   the daily picayune may 1 1869 p 1 and may 29 1869 p 1   joseph santini died at saint christian bassespyrenees france on august 11 1874 marietta santini his young daughter was with him at the time she was studying music in europe mr santini s corporal remains did not reach nola until midoctober 1874 he funeral was held in the crescent city on october 18 1874 and his body interred at st louis no 3 on esplanade  the daily picayune august 12 1874 p 4 and october 17 1874 p 4    biloxi lands joseph santini acquired land at biloxi in december 1867 from henry t lonsdale 18081869 and jane lonsdale 18171884 for 8000 the lonsdale family was domiciled at nola where mr lonsdale a new yorker was a merchant 170 feet on gulf between dr a byrenheidt property and john b byrne and about a mile to the north harrison co mississippi land deed bk 10 p 351  santini house   860 west beach sketch by ray l bellande 1996  santini house the joseph santini was situated at 860 west beach in biloxi it has been described as an american cottage it is believed that the santini house was erected circa 1837 by john bligh byrne of new orleans when it was conveyed to henry the santini homestead on west beach was conveyed for 7000 in november 1939 by josephine a santini and rosetta santini donnell to mrs gus hotstream mary franz and john hotstream 19171998 her son the santini lot at this time had about 57 feet on the gulf and ran north for about 634 feet the santini sisters were domiciled at columbus lowndes co mississippi at this time harrison co mississippi land deed bk 230 p 122 and bk 255 p 315  santini addition in june 1897 the heirs of joseph santini platted the santini addition subdivision in biloxi mississippi it was situated on the north side of the tracks of the l n railroad and ran north for about present day santini street formed the eastern perimeter of the land subdivision harrison co mississippi 2 nd jd plat bk 2 p 4 on the south side of the l n railroad tracks opposite the santini addition subdivision the heirs of joseph santini owned three small lots that ran about 333 feet south to pass christian street west howard avenue and had a 179foot front on biloxi s salient eastwest artery ew morrill surveyed these lots and lot 1 was sold to peter m gillen in october 1891 for 250 harrison co mississippi land deed bk 27 p 184  santini children       family records   courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  gabriel santini    image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  gabriel santini  18551890 was born at nola on july 5 1855 he was a very intelligent and artistically and musically talented man garbriel santini studied the law at washington lee university in lexington virginia he graduated in 1872 and was awarded the robinson prize medal returning to new orleans gabriel studied law at tulane and graduated in 1874 by 1880 gabriel santini had passed the virginia bar and was practicing law at richmond virginia tulane university law school in 1874 source tulane university catalogue 188788 gabriel married otelia mccue  18561884 the daughter of judge john howard mccue and signora ce wells of augusta and nelson counties virginia they were the parents of norita santini  18741932 norita was reared at biloxi by margaretha santini her grandmother and spinster aunts she attended college at the industrial institute and college the precursor to mscw at columbus mississippi in 1893 norita santini would marry william henry martin  18741938 an attorney at woodstock virginia in april 19011880 henrico co virginia federal census r 1371 p 43 ed 82 and the biloxi herald july 1 1893 p 8 and the daily picayune april 21 1901 p 16   santini family bible and mccue family recordscourtesy of diana martin lehmannovember 2013 and catalogue of the officers and alumni of washington and lee university lexington virginia 17491888 norita santini martin and wh martin lived at leesburg loudoun co virginia where they reared two sons  william h martin ii  19121989 and george m martin  19162001 george m martin was the city attorney at leesburg virginia for many years the corporal remains of norita santini martin and her family were interred in the union cemetery at leesburg virginia 1930 loudoun co virginia federal census r 2448 p 15b ed 8 gabriel santini left the legal field and began a career as a thespian and chanteur in light opera and theatre at new orleans with rd mclean marie prescott a tragedy combination he had traveled to san antonio texas with the herbert marsdon troupe as leading man but abandoned there when the musical company failed financially gabriel found work with the san antonio theatre and was employed there when he died on new year s day 1890 his corporal remains were sent to nola for internment  the biloxi herald january 4 1890 p 4 and the daily picayune january 3 1890 p 4    marie josephine ursuline santini   image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  marie josephine ursuline santini  18561929 was known as marietta santini  she was born september 15 1856 marietta never married and expired in 1929 per a letter from catherine donnell that was sent to me by the dunays before the santini house was destroyed in 2005 dianan martin lehmanneedham massachusettsnovember 2013  josephine a santini  image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts miss josephine santini taught public school at biloxi when the school opened in october 1890 she was first assistant to j linn ladd the principal his salary was 100 per month while josephine made 45 per month the other educators and their salaries were mrs s booth 40 per month edna holley 35 per month and mollie rodenburg 35 per month the biloxi herald november 8 1890 p 4 by january 1892 miss santini was teaching piano to kindergarten children of biloxi at the philomathian society of biloxi acquired a dunham piano from philip werlein of nola on generous terms the philomathian society had furnished the school with 400 books valued at not leas than 300 in addition their museum which included the girardin collection was valued at more than 1000 the biloxi daily herald january 16 1892 p 4  rosetta santini  image courtesy of diana martin lehmanneedham massachusetts  rosetta santini   18631949 was born at nola in october 1863 she married captain emmett s donnell  18531917 of columbus mississippi at her mother s residence on west beach at biloxi mississippi on january 26 1895 the donnells had four children margaretha donnell 18961975 m james t matthews 18901981 catherine donnell 18981992 rosetta josephine donnell 19011903 and emmett jack s donnell ii 19031990 the donnell family resided on military road in columbus mississippi the biloxi herald february 3 1895 p 4 and 1900 lowndes co mississippi federal census t623818 p 22b ed 53 lowndes co mississippi federal census and 1930 lowndes co mississippi federal census captain emmett s donnell 18531917 was born in arkansas in november 1853 to captain william preston donnell 18241873 who served with the 12 th arkansas infantry in the war of rebellion 18611865 emmett s donnell s mother had passed probably at his birth and his father remarried mary e austin 18171883 the donnel family relocated from arkansas to columbus mississippi where es donnell made his livelihood as a policeman furniture maker city marshal and was captain of the columbus militia captain es donnell also served the citizens of columbus as their mayor on two occasions he died at columbus mississippi on april 23 1917 rosetta santini donnell expired at columbus may 3 1949 the corporal remains of entire the es donnell family were interred in the friendship cemetery at columbus mississippi the daily herald april 28 1917 p 3 1880 lowndes co mississippi federal census r655 p 17 ed 98 1910 lowndes co mississippi federal census t624750 p 9a ed 43 1920 lowndes co mississippi federal census t625885 p 4b ed 44 and 1930 lowndes co mississippi federal census r1157 p 8b ed 11  references  the buildings of biloxi an architectural survey  city of biloxi mississippi1976  journals the biloxi herald   death of gabriel santini   january 4 1890 the biloxi herald   local happenings   november 8 1890 the biloxi herald   county legislature   december 6 1890 the biloxi herald   local happenings   january 16 1892 the biloxi daily herald   donnellsantini   february 3 1895 the biloxi daily herald     april 6 1901 the biloxi daily herald   city news   may 26 1903 the daily herald   capt donnell dead   april 28 1917 the daily herald   mrs santini celebrates 99th birthday   may 28 1927 the daily herald   old citizens dies   june 13 1931 the daily picayune   opening of the washington hotel   april 5 1842 the daily picayune   commencement exercises   july 30 1872 the daily picayune   death of joseph santini   august 12 1874 the daily picayune   funeral notice   october 17 1874 the daily picayune   at biloxi miss   april 21 1901 the timespicayune   deaths   december 19 1929 the timespicayune   deaths   june 13 1931 the timespicayune   former orleanian 103 years old dies   june 13 1931 the timespicayune   saloon society kept the old city hopping   october 18 1987  communications november 2013 dear mr bellande my name is diana martin lehman and i am the greatgreatgranddaughter of joseph santini founder of the santini family of new orleans and biloxi i have done some fairly extensive research on the family over the years and want to compliment you on the excellent and wellresearched article you have posted howver the article contains a few inaccuracies and omissions that merit correction gabriel santini my greatgrandfather married otelia not ophelia mccue the daughter of judge john howard mccue and signora ce wills of augusta and nelson counties va sources santini family bible mccue family record gabriel santini graduated from washington and lee university in lexington va in 1872 where he was recipient of the robinson prize medal source catalogue of the officers and alumni of washington and lee university lexington virginia 17491888 gabriel santini graduated from tulane university law school in 1874 source tulane university catalogue 188788 i can provide you with pdfs from the university catalogs both are available for download from google books there is no record of a marie santini as a member of this family in any of the documents i have found including the family bible which is in my possession i plan to order the lds microfilm of joseph santini s 200page will and estate documents sometime in the near future orleans parish civil district court docket 12793 lds film 1503233 it is possible these documents will provide clues to his origins and continued business dealings in france and italy family tradition holds that he had to leave europe he arrived in new orleans on the bark amelia on 25 feb 1845 having departed from trieste because of some threat from the black hand family tradition also maintains that his family had something to do with napoleon bonaparte interestingly napoleon s most loyal servant was jeannoel santini a fellow corsican who spent his final years as chief attendant to napoleon s tomb at les invalides in paris i have an interesting picture of gabriel and other members of the family standing in front of the house ca 1872 that i could be of historical interest please let me know if you want me to email it to you sincerely diana martin lehman november 2013 hi ray on more closely examining the photo i sent you of the santini house i ve come to the conclusion that it was probably taken sometime around 1880 rather than 1872 the child sitting on the lawn to the right is probably my grandmother norita santini martin who was born in 1874 she looks to be about 6 or 7 years old in the picture the woman standing directly behind her may be her mother and my greatgrandmother otelia mccue santini b 1853 d 1884 though i see little resemblance to photos i have of otelia in addition gabriel santini looks older than 20 in this picture probably closer to 30 november 2013 hi ray attached are scans i made and tweaked in photoshop of old photos from my grandmother s album i d guess that the picture of gabriel santini and sisters and other household members in front of the biloxi house was taken around 1872 when gabriel was about 20 he didn t marry my greatgrandmother otelia mccue until 1874 and there s no evidence of her in the picture i also included scans of portraits of joseph gabriel rosetta josephine and marietta santini in case you want to use them for the article the references for gabriel s education are as follows 1872 graduation from washington and lee university catalogue of the officers and alumni of washington and lee university lexington virginia 17491888 lexington va board of trustees washington and lee university 1888 p 164 https  archiveorg download  catalogueofoffic00washrich catalogueofoffic00washrich pdf accessed 11162013   1874 graduation from tulane university law school tulane university catalogue 188788 graduates of the law school new orleans la tulane university 1888 p 90 scan of copy from the library of the university of michigan downloaded from google books 1212008 i wish i had been able to visit biloxi to see the house before it was destroyed by katrina is the impression i get from google street view correct that it has been replaced by some sort of enormous hotel complex while i m sure that the reconstruction is good for the economy of biloxi it s still sad to see so much history obliterated and replaced by a las vegasstyle structure many thanks to you for your web site and your efforts to preserve the area s history diana november 2013 hi ray thank you so much for the newspaper story about my greatgreat grandmother s 99th birthday i had always assumed that joseph santini met and married her in europe so the story of her immigration with two brothers was quite a revelation now i need to locate a record of her marriage to joseph around 185051 the santini family page on your web site looks very good but i have a couple of requests the picture of gabriel santini isn t centered on the page whereas the other pictures are would it be possible to realign it and the caption also the marie santini who married john courrege was not a family member so could you delete the sentence about her the marie josephine ursuline santini who was b 15 sep 1856 see attached was marietta santini whose picture i sent you she was never married and died in 1929 per a letter from catherine donnell that was sent to me by the dunays before the santini house was destroyed in 2005 according to catherine donnell s letter marietta s sister josephine santini died in 1966 at the age of 105 i m attaching an image of the bible record with the birth dates for the children of joseph santini in case you wanted to add that information to the entries on them thanks for everything diana 586 views  