In 1904, Tranquillo Ciotti sailed from Genoa to New York City aboard the Liguria. He was 21. He was carrying $40 in cash. He married Mary Albertoletti in 1905. He bought the farm from the Albertoletti's, who in turn had bought it from the Acklerman's. He started the Monument Works and built a stone house at the farm, along with two Bocci courts and a tennis court. He built a small building in the woods for dancing and card playing (later converted into a chicken coop). He unsuccessfully ran for city council of Jeannette. He built a hunting camp in Elk County at which he spent nearly a month every year. He made his own wine and drank it with every meal.

He was born in 1883 in Luvinate, not far from Lake Como. His parents were Antonio Ciotti & Carolina Bossi. He had six brothers or sisters. One of his sons was my father, Albert Ciotti. Due to Tranquillo's having routinely sandblasted tombstones without lung protection he contracted silicosis and died from it in 1946.