After years of dead ends, I recently stumbled upon the very thing I'd been searching for--the name of my paternal great-grandfather. I found it on a post on ancestry.com, but it had been posted four years ago. The lady's email address is no longer valid, so I can't write her for follow-up information. But I'm thrilled with what I have learned from her, which is--
His name was Ettore Filippini, he was born in Italy in 1857, died in this country, Kentucky, in 1912. He is buried at the St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery in Jellico, KY/TN. (It's on the state line, apparently).
He married Virgina Rigney, with whom he had 8 children, one of them being Lee Angelo Filippini, who was the father of my biological father, Bob. (Since both Bob, and myself had been adopted as toddlers, it wasn't until I was grown before I knew anything at all about the Filippinis. And then all I had was the name of Bob's real father, Lee Filippini, and that they all lived in Kentucky.)
Anyway--as wonderful as it is to finally know my great grandfather's name, naturally it also whets my appetite to know more. Both the lady who posted on ancestry.com, and myself had been told that Lee's father (Ettore) came from a town in Italy that began with a B--I'd been told it was Bettisole, she'd been told it was Betta Scalia.
As you might have guessed, neither town exists. So we know it SOUNDS something like either of those names, right?
So my question is--if I have the gentleman's name, date of birth and date of decease...how then do I find his place of birth??
Where on earth do I begin? I have no idea what year he came to this country, although reportedly he did enter through Ellis Island. Problem is, the lady on ancestry.com spelled her name slightly differently, with an "ie" on the end, instead of just "i". Which makes me wonder which spelling to search under? Try several ways...?
I'm green as grass, friends, at this genealogy tracing. I still can't get over finding that post...
Any pointers at all for me?
Thank you very much,
Indie
