Looking for Relatives of Salvatore Ruffalo

[nmaritch]

Hello,
I am looking for relatives of Salvatore Ruffalo, also know as Sam. He lived in Wisconsin after immigrating from Italy. He married Teresa Infusino, They both passed away in 1961. They lived in Wautoma, where the farm was and Racine. I can't find immigration records for him. Maybe his name changed spellings.

Any help would be appreciated.

Salvatore is my great great grandfather.

[aliza24]

I did a quick search and saw some conflicting information. I'd have to know more to do a better search.

Here's what a found on Ancestry for that name in Wisconsin:
There's a 1930 census that has a wife listed as 'Divina' but the name is crossed out and another written to the side (hard to read though).

There's a 1920 census that also lists a wife named Divina. Divina could have been a nickname though. Are these your people?

If so, one census lists the immigration year for Salvatore as 1893 and the other 1899. A quick search of the immigration records didn't give an immediate hit but that's not a surprise, especially given that Ruffalo is a pretty common name.

ALSO- one thing to consider is that it was very common for Italians to have double first names, but they often only went by one of the names. For example: I have a great- grandfather that we knew as Antonio but his full name was Domenicantonio. So if I were just looking for Antonio I would have missed him.

These 2 things- the common surname and chance of a different first name- could make your search more challenging. I'd gather as MUCH evidence as you possibly can to make your search easier. When you have something like that, every clue is going to count.

So what town he came from, siblings, street names, etc. is all going to help.

I hope that helps!

[Tessa78]

Have you seen this manifest?

Salvatore Ruffalo
arriving 13 August 1888 on SS Elysia (Line 80)
age 23, laborer, from Italy
destination looks like Hurlsston, or Herleton (hard to read)

T.

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4534 ... st1888.jpg

[nmaritch]

Here is more information.
Salvatore was married in 1905. I dont believe that he was here much before this but as I cant find the correct manifest I dont know. I also think that the spelling of the last name. Think that it might have been Ruffolo. He was born in 1882 in Mirano ( I think that this is supposed to be Marano) He died in 1961, passing away before any of his children (15 of them) His obituary did not list any siblings or parents.

[Tessa78]

Found this 1900 manifest with Salvatore Ruffolo, 15; and brother Giovanni Ruffolo, 12, leaving Marano Principato, Italy; destination Chicago to join father, Benedetto(?) Ruffolo
Sailing on the SS Auguste Victoria, arriving NY, 2 April 1900

T.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3894 ... st1900.jpg

[nmaritch]

According to the 1910 Census record, he arrived in 1904 and it list him as being born in 1885.

[Tessa78]

Well, the age is correct for this manifest.
The arrival dates on census records were often inaccurate, but close.

Could he have traveled more than once?

edit:
During my search for Salvatore, I came across Annunziato Ruffalo. He was also from Marano, was naturalized in Chicago, and when applying for his US Passport was a resident of Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
He was applying for a passport to return to Italy to get his two children to bring back since his wife had died.
Are you familiar with this?


T.

[nmaritch]

It is entirely possible. He died long before I was born and I am not in close contact with any of the relatives. I believe that I know where he is buried.

[nmaritch]

No, I have not seen this. There are many Ruffalo's in Kenosha. I may have found Salvatore in the state archives of cosensza, but the last name was spelled O-L-O. If it is the same person, not sure when or how the name got changed.

[liviomoreno]

RuffAlo does not exist in Italy as a surname, the correct spelling is RuffOlo.

[aruffalo]

No, I have not seen this. There are many Ruffalo's in Kenosha. I may have found Salvatore in the state archives of cosensza, but the last name was spelled O-L-O. If it is the same person, not sure when or how the name got changed.

More than likely that is him. Somehow most of the RuffOlo's that came over had it changed to RuffAlo most likely because o and a can look very similar in a signature/handritten, etc. I had the same issue when looking for my family too.