re:ignoti genitori in messina sicily

[tinagrenier]

i didnt say that.just that i thought there may have been some sort of blood kinship,as i would think not every wetnurse would take a child in as her own,unless they were related-or a close friend of the mother.i'm pretty cetain maria bonarrigo wasnt the natural mother,as my grandmother was born mere hours before maria presented her to the civil registrar.and i doubt,if she had just given birth,would have been in any condition to do that!maria stated that the child was born to a woman who declined to be named-and was to be given the name maria costante.....

Ah, I see. Your situation is only compounded since there seems to be no evidence of the natural parents, written or verbal. I'm sorry, it is frustrating to be at a dead end such as this.

[tinagrenier]

i've had much greater success with my mothers french canadian lines.260 charts going back through quebec and into france

My late husband was French-Canadian (Grenier), his parents both came to the U.S. from Quebec as children. His mother's side was Pelletier. So my children like you are half Italian and half French-Canadian. One of my granddaughters did some research on the Grenier family and found the family line coming to Canada from France all the way back in the 1600's.

[tinagrenier]

the worst possible scenario-and at only my grandmothers generation!!!why couldnt it have been her grandmother-lol.as i said-i'd be happy to just find records for maria bonarrigo and the even more elusive francesco laudino.he was noted as not being of known whereabouts at the birth of his daughter mattia in barcellona in 1880.wotta guy!!!!!

Yes, I can see it really leaves a big hole in your family tree starting with a very recent generation in your genealogy. I looked at the ellis island manifest (1902) for Maria Bonarrigo and Maria Costante - it's too bad that the manifests from that time period don't list the town of birth, which would give you a place to start looking for Maria Bonarrigo.

[tinagrenier]

they came into boston,not ellis island,in 1902.

Oh yes, I see, arrived at Port of Boston on Jun. 1, 1902 on the SS Vancouver, sailed from Naples May 18, 1902.

[tinagrenier]

makes me apprecieate my french canadian ancestry more every day!!! i have virtually every birth,marriage,and death for 10-12 generations back into france.and then some french records from the department of aisne,just north of paris.my mothers lines were desforges and bernier.

There was a Bernier in my husband's family. His grandmother on his Dad's side was Grenier, she married his grandfather (also Grenier), so they had the same last name (they were second cousins). On his mother's side his grandfather was Pelletier and his grandmother was Ida Proulx. We don't have anything on the mother's side, supposedly the Pelletier family had some native american ancestry but no proof of that so it's just a story at this point. When I was first married, it took some getting used to the foods that my mother in law would prepare. She had a pie she would make with chopped meat and potatoes around the holidays. I suppose we both had to get used to a different way of doing things, my hubby was a good sport.

The French-Canadian people are fortunate that there are so many genealogical sources at their disposal!

[tinagrenier]

John, I'm sure I'm covering territory you've already searched here, but I noticed on the ellis site that many Bonarrigos came from a town in Messina called "Gualtieri Sicamino."

I see on the map that Gualtieri Sicamino is quite close to Barcellona (about 15 kilometers). Is this one of the towns you've already searched for Maria Bonarrigo in?