ABSTRACT
In 1805 Gaetano Carusi (Caruso), his wife Philippa, and their three young sons, Samuel (Samuele), Nathaniel (Ignazio), and Lewis (Luigi), and a group of musical companions, left Italy and sailed for America. Carusi’s initial impression of Washington was “a desert, in fact, a place containing some two or three taverns, with a few scattered cottages or log huts.” Carusi’s band was well received by Washington socialites. All of the hours of band practice had its rewards. Carusi now boasted, “my band was considered superior to every other in America on account of its well selected music, its good direction and its excellent harmony.” In early 1820, Gaetano, Samuel, and Lewis Carusi joined the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, a group of eighty-five musicians dedicated to the practice and performance of musical works. Carusi submitted a petition to Congress on 16 December 1830. It was a brief two-page handwritten document that was referred to the Committee of Naval Affairs.
