I did not, of course, stumble upon the site by accident. I'm looking for my Great Grandfather's birthplace. I've tried speaking to all remaining relatives (noone can remember), looking at obituaries, passenger manifests, census documents, etc, all to no avail. My GGF seems to have made a habit out of generalizing when asked about his birthplace/previous residence, etc: "Italy" is all I can find!
The only 'hard data' which I have is: 1) specific birthdate 2) specific name albeit a generic one (I can only hope they're accurate).
The 'soft data' which might offer some clues is: 1) he had red hair and supposedly spoke a Swiss dialect or perhaps Swiss-accented Italian; everyone seems to agree that he was from Northern Italy. 2) His wife (whom he married in the US) was from Genova and supposedly married him, in part, because he was from the same region of Italy as she.
In any case, I was hoping that someone on the forum could give me some help or advice in terms of methodology and next-steps to pinpoint his birthplace. I realize it's a tall task, but I'm hoping there's still some hope!
Regards!
Erik in Salt Lake City






