A sort of a family scallywag

Of course, I cannot talk about Salvatore Russo without also talking about his father, Benedetto.  From the stories I've been told, some might have thought of Benedetto as a bit of a jerk.

Benedetto was born in Italy in 1878. I was able to determine his name from some of the primary sources that I have from Salvatore, but beyond that, I didn't know much about him at all.

The family story, as told to me by my grandfather, is that Benedetto married a woman, Ninfa Laura, in Sicily.  Together they had at least three children, Salvatore (my great grandfather), Guiseppe, and Carmela.

Now, I'm not sure how Benedetto and Ninfa got together in the first place, but one thing seems pretty certain - they weren't very much in love, at least later in life.  My grandfather told me that he thought he recalled a story that Ninfa cheated on Benedetto and had at least one child with another man - a man with the last name Simeone (the son's name was Catullo Simeone).  Perhaps in retaliation, or maybe just because he wasn't such a great character himself, Benedetto left his family in 1905 to pursue a new life in America.

Bendetto boarded the Prinz Oskar in Palermo on 27 Feb 1905

He was received at Ellis Island on 16 March 1905.  At some point after his arrival, he met and married a woman named Philomena.  The 1920 census shows a happily wedded "Benny" and Philomena Russo living with four children (Lucy, Peter, Frank, and Mary) on Jefferson Street in Brooklyn.

Okay, so this image is really small and cramped... But maybe with super-human eyes, you can find Ben and his family!

Whatever Benedetto's reasons for leaving his family in Italy, he at least kept in touch, and his children must not have held hard feelings; Salvatore listed his father as his "sponsor" of sorts on his immigration record in 1921, and evidence shows that he must have followed through.  Note the next entry below Benedetto's family on the census - look familiar?  Yep - that's the same "Lena" (Antonina) Campisi who would later become Salvatore Russo's wife.

As always, I am left with some new missions for my research.  I would like to know more about Benedetto.  I  plan to search New York City death records to try to determine a date/place for his death and/or burial.  In addition, a more lofty goal is to locate records from his time in Gioiosa Marea, Italy.  I have (so far) not been able to find a way to access or request vital records for his hometown, but I plan to keep looking and, as soon as I find a way, I plan to make a formal request for his birth certificate and marriage record.  I would also like to eventually determine where in Gioiosa Marea he lived and, following, what church he attended.  Through the church, I hope that I will be able to determine more information regarding his childhood, schooling, family, etc.

This is where genealogy gets frustrating for me.  When we're talking small towns, different languages, and having to cross oceans to break barriers, things get challenging.  Even if I was able to travel to Gioiosa Marea now, I would not know what to look for or even where to go.  My path to discover more about Benedetto and, consequently, his wife, Ninfa Laura, lies overseas.  I hope the internet can help me pave some of the way!