Finding Distant Relatives

After several years of doing research and finding out details about the multitude of 3rd and 4th cousins in Italy, I began to wonder why my paternal grandparents migrated to America.  The only person from my paternal grandfather’s family that came was his brother, but as far as I could figure, no one from my paternal grandmother’s family came.  Her last name was Piromallo, which is very uncommon in Italy, and almost nonexistent in America.  My grandmother was quite well off in Italy, and so it really had me wondering.  This is the record of my grandmother’s arrival in 1915.

Doing research on Ancestry.com, I often came across a Maria Piromallo that migrated to NYC in 1904.  She was only a few years younger than my grandmother’s father, and I began to wonder if and how they might be related,  Eventually, I came across an address in NYC on 15th street.  And found that she was connected to the last name Petix.   In the 1950’s and 1960’s, my parents often mentioned that name, and also mentioned an aunt Beatrice.  As it turned out, there was a granddaughter of Maria Piromallo named Beatrice.  I also found another name Della Torre.

As I began to piece this together, I called my cousin that is about 14 years older than me.  I gave him my hypothesis, he told me that he didn’t think so, and that my grandmother did not have any relatives in the United States.  He told me that Petix was a friend of my uncle and no relation ( he wasn’t, but his wife Beatrice was ).  So I hit him with Della Torre, and he said that he remembers visiting an Uncle Aniello in the 1940’s in NJ.  I said, “Well you wouldn’t travel from Queens NY to NJ to visit strangers”.   Slowly, he began to put the pieces together.

A short while after that is when I found the address where Maria Piromallo lived.  I called my cousin and I said do you know this place?  He was shocked that I knew this address and said that his mother lived on the same street as a child.  Bingo?   So know I know that Maria was most likely my great aunt, but still no hard evidence.  Maria Pergamo ( Maria Piromallo) 428 E 15th St NY NY

Luisa Sorrentino (Luisa Piromallo) 419 E 15th St NY NY

Eventually, a fourth cousin her in America, a great great granddaughter of Maria contacted me.  She was also doing family research and wanted to know my connection to  Maria.  I explained my theory and my conversations with my cousin.  She said that sounds plausible, but we still did not have any hard evidence.  Linda was in the process of testing her DNA and so we figured we’ll find out soon.

Shortly before Linda received her DNA she contacted me very excited.  She said, “I have the proof”.  Amazingly she found an obituary that her aunt, that once worked for my grandfather, had left her.  It’s from 1927 and is a paragraph from a local NJ newspaper advising of the death of Count Nicola Piromallo in Italy, and that he left a surviving sister Maria in the United States.  Quite remarkable that Linda had an obituary over 90 years old.  The aforementioned Mrs. Thomas Pergamo is Maria Piromallo.

Linda also had an anniversary announcement from two years earlier, showing my grandmother’s parents.  Count Nicola and Princess Emilia.

A couple of week later, Linda’s DNA came throughand yep, we are cousins.

The evidence is out there, keep searching.  I have found that even when you are just about to give up, you’ll find a piece the puzzle.  Sometimes it’s best to walk away for a while to clear you head and come back later.  But it’s there, I promise.

For some great tools and advice check out my friend Diann’s blog.  My Italian Family Tree.