Ellis Island records tell us Luigi, the Progenitor of this discourse, arrived in the USA, May 1, 1898 from Le Havre France on the steamship La Bourgogne. At the time he was 39 years old. That makes his birth year 1859. I leaned from my Aunt Louise that he returned to the Italy to announce to his family, his plan to migrate the entire family to the USA. Guiseppe, the oldest son, arrived first, May 20,1901. He was followed by Ettore, September 30, 1905. Eugene arrived January 17, 1910 and Nonena, Josie(Jeannie), Camille, Louise, arrived November 12, 1910. However, Nonena is shown as living in New York, whereas the three girls are shown as living in Borgotaro, Italy. This matches up with the information from Aunt Louise who related, Nonena was in the USA when Luigi, still in Italy, died. Nonena then went to Italy to bring the remainder of the family, the three young girls, to join the family in New York. It makes me feel sad to realize Luigi did not make it to the promised land with his family. I was unable to find Ellis Island records on either Albert or Delphine.

The photo above was taken about 1917. The USA had joined the Allies and WW1 was at it's bloodiest stage. Uncle Albert was not yet in the Marines and Uncle Eugene was in France. It appears the photographer cleverly cut in Uncle Eugene using a typical Army photograph. See "Ancestors in the military" for a copy of the photograph used by the photographer.

One last note, according to the Ellis Island Record, the steamship La Bourgogne foundered off of Newfoundland, July 4, 1898 with the loss of 549 lives, just two months after Luigi's voyage.

WE ALMOST DIDN'T MAKE IT.

Move on by selecting a new section from the left side.

Bon Voyage...........