John Pellegrino

JOHN PELLEGRINO. Among the men of high merit that the State of Kansas has called to responsible position, is John Pellegrino, of Pittsburg, Kansas, state mine inspector. From the age of fifteen years to the present, Mr. Pellegrino has been identified with mines and mining, with the exception of two years, during which interval he served faithfully as a United States soldier in the Philippine Islands. He has had a wide field of experience, and by hard, practical work in the mines and by persistent study in different institutions of learning, he has thoroughly qualified himself for the important post he fills.

John Pellegrino was born June 3, 1878, at Coblentz, on the Rhine, in Germany, to which country his grandfather, Giovanni Pellegrino, had brought the family from Italy. He was born near Turin, Italy, in 1814. He was a farmer and died in 1891 in Luxemburg, Germany.

Michael Pellegrino, father of John Pellegrino, was born in Germany in 1847, and died May 2, 1894, at Esch sur L'Alzette, in Luxemburg, Germany. He married Josephine Paulus, who was born in 1851, near Bingen, Germany, and died in 1890 in the same province as did her husband. Michael Pellegrino was a merchant and inn-keeper. He had two sons, John and Peter, the latter being an electrician at Esch sur L'Alzette, Germany.

John Pellegrino attended the excellent public schools of his native land and had high school advantages for two years. He was fifteen years old when he became a coal miner and all through the succeeding years the coal mining business has occupied his main attention, having for him the attraction that other vocations and professions have for other men. He came to the United States and on July 4, 1892, reached Yates Center, in Woodson County, Kansas, later in the same month coming to Crawford County. In 1898 he enlisted in Company F, Twentieth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, in General Funston's command. This regiment was sent to the Philippine Islands and while there Mr. Pellegrino saw hard service. He returned to the United States and was mustered out by reason of the muster out of the regiment.

In the same year of his return, Mr. Pellegrino resumed his coal mining interests. Not satisfied with the mass of practical knowledge gained through personal labor and investigation, Mr. Pellegrino determined to become completely informed in relation to mining science in every branch, beginning his technical studies by taking a course in mining under the direction of the International Correspondence School, at Scranton, Pennsylvania. This he is supplementing through an extension course in mining in Kansas University, at Lawrence.

On February 16, 1900, at Litchfield, Kansas, Mr. Pellegrino was married to Miss Mary Kuplen, who is a daughter of August and Jennie (Oberton) Kuplen, who reside on their farm at Breezy Hill. To the above marriage five children have been born: John, in 1901; Peter, in 1903; Josephine, in 1905; George, in 1908; and Harold, in 1911, all of whom are pupils in the public schools at Pittsburg.

In politics Mr. Pellegrino is a republican. During his residence in Lincoln Township, Crawford County, he served in the office of township trustee. On May 1, 1915, he was appointed state mine inspector but otherwise has accepted no political office. He is a Mason and belongs to the different higher branches of the order at Fort Scott. He is identified also at Pittsburg with the order of Eagles and is a member of Camp No. 23, United States War Veterans.

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