I still remember the first time I "met" Salvatore. I had been bothering my grandparents and various other relatives for months, seeking information about my family history. Where are the pictures? I kept asking. There must be more than this! What about birth certificates???
Finally, one afternoon, I asked my grandpa the right question.
"I just wish I had a passport or something."
"Passport? I got all that stuff." He answered matter of factly, as though I hadn't been screaming for weeks about the fact that I didn't have enough family heirlooms and documents from which to branch my search.
"You do!?" I exclaimed, disbelievingly.
"Yeah. I got it all downstairs. I'll get it for you."
I waited patiently for the next time grandpa decided to go to the basement. As soon as I heard his familiar heavy footfalls on the hollow, creaking steps, I ran after him.
"Grandpa - do you know where all that stuff you said you had down here is?"
I couldn't believe my eyes as he headed straight for his file cabinet and removed a folder, opening it to reveal a gold mine of papers, yellowed with age and falling apart.
"Grandpa, why didn't you tell me about these before?!" My eyes widened as my fingers, shaking with the heart-fluttering excitement that comes with the feeling that you're making a brand-new discovery. "This stuff is so awesome!"
"I didn't know that was what you wanted." He seemed to shrug as disappeared into one of the dark corners of the basement. Moments later I heard him tinkering around with some of the nuts and bolts he kept hidden back there.
My grandfather was never as close to me as he was to my sister. But in that moment, I felt like we were closer than ever. He had this information, these priceless pieces of his father's past, and he turned them over unquestioningly to a decidedly green twelve-year-old wannabe genealogist. I felt so special that day, and I don't think he ever really understood how happy I was to be able to share those "secrets" with him.
My post detailing what I know about my great grandfather inspired me to utilize a new research method: person-by-person detailed exploration, starting with good ole Sal.
So, I made a list of all of the events in Salvatore's life that I thought would be important. These included: birth, immigration, naturalization, marriage, and death. I then went through and made notes about everything that I thought I knew. Finally, I attempted to source all of that info. In a spectacular turn of events, I learned that I had primary source information for every one of those facts.
In the end, my notes looked something like this:
I recommend the dry-erase board method for this - it allows for easy revision and creates a large sight display for quick reference.
My decision to revisit Salvatore's records turned out to have awesome results. Looking back through my sources, I recalled a shipping document written in French that, as far as my elementary understanding of French could tell me, indicated something about Salvatore's passage from Europe to the US. I was always intrigued by this document in particular, as I know that Salvatore is Italian and had always figured that he would have left from Italy. So why then, was one of his travel documents in French?
With the help of an online translator (I used one from appliedlanguage.com), I learned the meaning of this document.
The secret to online translators, I have found, is to keep an open mind, and, rather than translating all content at once, pull grouped words or sentences. For example, with this document, I started by simply translating "Compagnie General Transatlantique" and went on from there.
From this document, I learned that my great grandfather did not depart from Italy and head straight to New York. He actually left Europe from a port at Le Havre, France. I also learned an exact date for his departure: 18 Dec 1920, and was also able to derive the name of the ship he boarded, the Rochambeau.
I had searched for Salvatore on Ancestry.com several times, turning up several close possibilities but no absolutes. Fortunately, I was able to use this new information from the cruise line receipt to conduct a search focused only on passengers on the Rochambeau in 1920. Though slightly more tedious, this search returned excellent results: I found Savator Russo, from Gioiva, Italy (misprint, much?) in just the right spot! The typos explained why my previous attempts had proven futile. Now, I have a photo of the ship he traveled on, along with an accurate image of the manifest. From this, I discovered that Salvatore claimed he would be staying with his brother, Benedetto, and I even found an address!
I wouldn't have any of this new information had I not started this blog and decided to revisit the records I have for Salvatore Russo. Today's lesson? You never know everything. Take time every now and then to look at old information with new, fresh eyes. You might be surprised what you discover.
Happy researching!
~A~
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