Looking for Grandfather Born in Italy

by **ptimber** » 21 Sep 2002, 03:37

It is our pleasure thats payment enough. Peter

by **GloriaBatrano** » 24 Sep 2002, 15:58

Hi Peter: Just wanted to let you know that I have heard back from the Webmaster and he has forwarded my request to both the B&MRRHS Archives and the B&MRRHS Forum. They will be back to me as soon as they find anything, so I will be awaiting this information with great enthusiasm. Thanks, again, Gloria

by **ptimber** » 24 Sep 2002, 17:00

I am looking forward to hearing from you. Peter

by **Rjctds** » 25 Sep 2002, 06:09

Gloria, my great grandfather was also a railroad worker. I wrote to the Rail Road retirement board and requested his employment records. This is where I learned his parents names (my great great grandparents) and exactly where in Italy he was from. Might be worth looking into for you. http://www.rrb.gov/geneal.html Goodluck! Julie

by **ptimber** » 25 Sep 2002, 13:54

Gloria they impose a $21.00 fee for a search of their records. Peter

by **GloriaBatrano** » 06 Oct 2002, 21:09

Julie, I really am sorry I have not responded to you sooner but have been extremely busy. I really appreciate the information you sent me in search of my grandfather from Italy. I will try that site and see what I can learn from that. Are you searching for your family in Italy also? Where are you from? All my life, I have gone under the name Batrano and could never find any of my relatives either in Italy or the United States. Now, I have learned that my last name is Betrano, so the search is on. What railroad did your grandfather work on? Hope to talk to you again soon. Thanks, again, Gloria

by **GloriaBatrano** » 06 Oct 2002, 21:22

Peter, I have not had any luck with the B&MRRHS Archives as yet but I sent away to Boston, MA. for marriage licenses on my grandmother and grandfather. I got the records back and my real grandfather\'s name was Louis Betrano. He married my grandmother in 1915 in Montague, MA. All it gives for his birthplace is Italy. His father\'s name was Gimino Betrano and mother\'s was Temasina DiFiro. I could not obtain a death certificate on my grandfather as Boston did not have one. I have found four Betrano passengers coming through Ellis Island but none of them with his first name; the names are Vincenzo, Domenico, Francesco and Angela Betrano. How can I learn anything more in this search for my relatives? I am going to try the web site that Julie sent me for railroad worker retirement board but would also like to find some relatives with the Betrano name. I look forward to hearing from you.

by **ptimber** » 06 Oct 2002, 23:10

Did the marriage certificate give you his year of birth or age when he got married?? You can calculate his year of birth from that. There are only three male Betrano is the ellis island site and if you click on the ships manifest and look to where they were destined that might give you a clue..Perhaps they were destined to someone you rec ognize by name or address. Perhaps Louis was merely adopted by him asnd he was one of the three> DIG GLORIA!!!. Peter

by **GloriaBatrano** » 07 Oct 2002, 23:52

Hi Peter. I already did my calculating on the three men coming over to Ellis Island. The only one I could guess still would have been older than the marriage license states. According to the marriage license, he was 30 years old when they married on November 15, 1915. The man coming through Ellis Island would have been 40 years old when they got married. Assuming this is my grandfather his residence was Renda and the Port of Departure in 1902 was Bremen, Germany. Why would he have left from there instead of Italy if this is him? I also tried the web site given to me by Julie but it states that if the person was not working for the railroad after 1936, there would be no records. As he deceased in 1917 or 1918, which is one thing I know for sure, no records could be found. I also tried to check the ship manifest on Francesco Betrano, who is the only possible person to be my grandfather, and there was none to view at all. I am still going to dig as much as possible to find him, even going to Montague, MA where they were married and lived. Thank you, again, for your help and if you have any other suggestions, I surely would appreciate it. Gloria

by **cbsmile99** » 23 Dec 2002, 17:03

One thing I found when I was searching Ellis island for my Grandfather is they sometimes have the middle name instead of the first name. :-D

by **ptimber** » 23 Dec 2002, 17:32

Did you ever get a response to the form 81 you sent?? Peter

by **JoBuj** » 26 Jan 2003, 06:20

I submitted to the RR Retirement Board about my grandfather and received a wealth of information. Besides pertinent information, they had pay records, death certificate (that saved me money) and information on my grandmother. The $21 was well worth it! Joann

by **ptimber** » 26 Jan 2003, 06:38

That sounds like a good idea too. Peter