Antonina Allegra

What an exciting few weeks this has been for family history. I don't have a chance to work on it very often but when I do, I feel blessed that I am led to exciting things.

My dad's father, Philip Campisi, turned 40 the year he married my grandmother. She turned 16 that year. They were married in 1960. Because of this huge difference in age, and short-lived vows, it's been difficult finding information about Phil. Especially since he changed his name when he joined the Army to fight in WWII. I knew a few things from talking to my grandma, but I didn't know what all was fact. I knew Phil's mother went by Nina. I knew Phils birth and death dates and places from Army records and other sources, but I couldn't find anything about his mother's maiden name. I did find them in the 1930 census as George and Antonina Campisi, with Phil as a child. But not much else was helpful by itself.

My husband and I are young and needless to say we live "frugally". Actually, we live quite well on his salary, because I like to think we use our resources wisely. Because of that, we don't have a paid subscription to Ancestry.com. and it's just not something we can afford. I was getting desperate enough to find Antonina's maiden name (too "frugal" to spend the 35.00 for a copy of Phil's birth certificate, hoping it would have that info) that I began looking to other cites for marriage records. On italiangen.org I found a marriage request index when I found a Giorgio Campisi and an Antonina Allegra married in the same year that was reported in the census in 1930. You should have seen my reaction. I couldn't believe it. I was both in denial that I had actually found it so easily and wanting to jump for joy that I could now press on and get to work in the italian records, knowing that both she and George immigrated themselves.

Another thing I was able to find. I found their family in the 1920 census. They are listed as George and Alegrill  Campisi with a son, Joseppi. At the time the census was taken (5 Jan 1920), Antonina wasn't quite pregnant with Phil yet. He was born in Dec of that year.

Now comes the hard part. Diving into those italian records. Maybe my Spanish will come in handy...