WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

MAGGIONI FAMILY HISTORYMaggioni Family Tree

Developing and preserving the fishing industry in the low country has been in the Maggioni family for 150 years. Innovative thinkers from each generation of this family since 1870 have played key roles in how seafood is canned, harvested, distributed and even cooked today.

Luigi and Natalie MaggioniThe story of how the Maggionis came to call Savannah and the Low Country home starts with Luigi Paulo Maggioni. Luigi was the second son, therefore unable to inherit his family’s lucrative glove business in Monza, Italy. While on the path towards becoming a priest, Luigi’s Betellini Hotel on Cedar Keylife and ambitions took him on an adventure to another world. He ended up becoming a purser on a ship that was wrecked during the hurricane of 1863 off the coast of Cedar Key, Florida. He worked his way over to Jacksonville, FL where he met & married Natalie Betellini from Caslano, Switzerland. She was the daughter of a Florida lumber magnate and hotel owner. Together, Natalie & Luigi settled in Savannah, Georgia and opened a confectionery, selling ice cream, pencils, stationery, and other small items. Later they added seafood and small game to their inventory and the company grew from there, becoming L.P. Maggioni & Company, Inc., founded in 1870.

Their first cannery was an oyster factory on Daufuski Island built in 1883, and by the mid 1900s Daufuski Oyster Factorythey had expanded to include fifteen canneries throughout South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. L.P. Maggioni & Company employed more than 2,500 people, and in its heyday was the largest employer in the state of South Carolina. At one point they provided Caviar and Broad River Sturgeon to the Czar of Russia, and even purveyed low country shrimp to the King & Queen of England!

They branched out their fish & oyster business to include shrimp, crab, clams, citrus, and produce. They packaged scores of products. Some labels were embossed with gold leaf and beautiful scenes, as was the custom of the day. The can labels, all designed by celebrated artists of their day serve as reminders for the Maggioni family of the amazing impact that their family’s business had on the welfare and economy of the coastal region and the rest of the world at that time.

Paul Maggioni at Ladys Island CanneryLuigi and Natalie had three children, Madeline, Philip and Joseph. Joseph was a Captain in Savannah’s Republican Blues, one of the last cavalry regiments in Oysters on a shipGeorgia. He married Rosa Lee Gliamas in 1910, and together they had 5 children. Their eldest son, Paul Maggioni would later run L.P. Maggioni & Company’s main office in Savannah after the death of his father. While Paul was in college at NYU, Maggioni boats were delivering fresh seafood to Fulton Fish Market every two weeks so he sent his laundry home on the company boats. The only cost was 50 cents to transport his laundry from campus to the docks. The Paul Maggionifamily story was that there was always a box of Paul’s clothing somewhere on the intracoastal waterway! Paul ended up managing the marketing, sales and distribution of the Maggioni line of products, and helped to develop their famous canned Daufuski Oyster Stew. He later went on to work with engineers from Clemson University to create an automated oyster harvester in the 1960’s. Paul and his wife Moscelyne Zani had 5 sons and a daughter. Two of their sons, Ralph and Philip took over the business and ran the operation from an office and warehouse in Savannah.

L.P Maggioni & Company was able to contribute to the economy and surrounding communities in other ways as well. The foundation for the causeway out to Tybee Island was built using Maggioni's oyster shells. Ground oyster shells were also sold for chicken feed by the train car load to farms and homes throughout the lowcountry and beyond. 

By the 1980s, L.P. Maggioni & Company canned oyster products exclusively, and operated one of the oldest oyster canneries in the United States. The Maggioni family was instrumental in limiting the development of mega marinas in South Carolina, which helped tremendously to preserve the fishing industries in the low country.

In 1990, Roddy Beasley (husband to Angela Maggioni) created “Maggioni Seafood” under the corporate umbrella of L.P. Maggioni & Co., Inc and transformed the canning business into the region’s premium wholesale supplier of wild harvested oyster bushels and clams. All of his oystermen referred to him as “Mister Joe-nie”.

THE MAGGIONI FAMILY TODAY

Maggioni Oyster Company LogoL.P. Maggioni & Company, Inc. now does business as “Maggioni Oyster Company”, South Carolina’s largest provider of premium quality wild harvested bushels and single oysters. Following in his father’s footsteps, fifthJeff Beasley of Maggioni Oyster Company generation owner/operator Jeff Beasley takes pride in keeping the quality high and the oysters healthy and delicious. Maggioni oysters are harvested from their privately leased oyster beds, which are all located in the clean, salty waters of South Carolina’s Lowcountry. When he is not running the oysters, he plays in the “Jeff Beasley Band”, and for larger crowds, "The Fabulous Clams".

Going back to
their family’s roots Jeffrey is now considering reinstating raw shucked oysters. Plus he has recently added private oyster roasts & catering. One of the keys to the Maggioni’s success was the commitment to always support others in your same business. The Maggionis have been instrumental in unifying the canneries and seafood purveyors along the coasts of SC, GA and Florida over the years, broadening the definition of “family” to include all who work with the ocean’s bounty.


A FAMILY OF ENTREPRENEURS - THE 4TH GENERATION

Maggioni Family 4th GenerationAngela, Ralph & Kathy Maggioni, Philip Maggioni, Joe & Ellen Maggioni, Vincent & Patricia Maggioni, are moving forward by sharing the artful labels of the past generations to remind, protect and promote the preservation of theMaggioni Trading Logo industry that has sustained the Maggioni family for 5 generations.

READ MORE ABOUT MAGGIONI TRADING HERE