. for the past 5 years on and off i have been working on my family tree, every time i give it all i have got and after a few months of long hours and still no leads i give up for a few months only to find myself looking at the photo of my great grandfather on my wall and wanting to know and not wanting to give up, so here i am. i am young and i am not a expert at this so this could be a very easy find and i am just over looking it. i do use ancestry and family search, i have even sent emails to italy and have had very little luck. here is what i am looking for Salvador "Sam" La Rocca
father
B: unknown
D: unknown
Josephine Marie Fumuso
mother
B: unknown
D: unknown
Vittorio La Rocca
child
B:4 Dec 1873 Gibellina, Trapani, Sicilia, Italy
D:27 Jul 1937 Beaumont, Jefferson, Tx, USA
Vittorio is my great grandfather and when i started my search all i had was his name. through family search i found a death record that gave me the above information as well as his parents name. i also found he was laid to rest right here in the town i live in so i went strait to bring flowers and take notes about what was on the headstone. the same dates where found on it.
i later found a letter written in italian to him from his mother in a box my grandfather had. i have a friend in the Italian Society i am in here in Beaumont who can read italian so i had her translate the letter for me. the town was the same as was the mothers name but she did seem to go by her middle name.
This is where my tree falls silent. i have called every relative that came from the branch of the LaRocca's that Vittorio was on and came to america ( well of coarse i cant call them they have past but i have called any children or grandchildren that i have found through my research) to see if they had any more information and no one seems to know. in fact most have told me that i already know more then they themselfs knew. so i am trying to break through the gap of coming to america. i think if i could find a birth record for Vittorio it would not only confirm his parents names but maybe give me more dates on them, or maybe their marriage record or death record. Vittorio did have brothers and a cousin that came to america as well and i will be happy to add that information if someone trying to help me needs it, just let me know.
also this makes me think i have a clue to be found but not sure how to find it so let me add this, Vittorio also had a Brother Nunzio LaRocca, he came to america but went back home because he missed his parents. Nunzio was a Catholic priest. In fact the story goes that he was the town priest for Gibellina (where my family is from) i am also catholic and i know here we keep records so i am thinking surly being that not only where they catholic but their son was a priest there has to be some kind of record that the local church might have that would help me. but how to get ahold of the right people is what i am not able to find out, i have sent many emails but no luck, i am not sure if it is not the right place or if my italian does not make sence or what but i never get a reply.
another good piece of information to know... there are 2 Gibellina's the old Gibellina and the new Gibellina. my family comes from the old. there was a earthquake in which the city was destroyed. this happened while my family lived there. so i am unsure is records made it through this event and if so where they are now. i also have no idea where my family went after the earthquake.
any help you might can be in any area of this no matter how big or small i am very thankful for. =) if you would rather reach me by email mine is
elisecoupon@yahoo.com
