52 Ancestors, Week 9: Francesco aka Francis Gallacci

 I’m slightly late with my post this week, but here is my week 9 post for my 52 Ancestors in 2017 challenge. This week I want to talk about Francesco Gallacci, a son of Elpidio Gallacci and Fravolina Orsi. There is a little confusion about the name of his parents. I have a death record for Francis Gallacci which lists his parents as Cetechio Gallacio and Frazolina Orsi; close!

Clip from Death Certificate for Francis Gallaccia - 14 June 1919

 The birth date for Frances listed as 4 Mar 1914 on his death certificate, and I have a baptismal record for Francesco Gallacci which gives a birthdate of 3 Mar 1914 with his parents listed as Elpidio/Oppitio Gallacci and Fravolina Orsi. This record is a transcription of the original baptism register, which was proof read and correct in Jul 1979.   The proofreader made corrections and notes that the transcriber often confused ‘a’ and ‘o’. The transcriber wrote the father’s name as ‘Oppitio’ and the proofreader corrected the name to read ‘Elpidio’.  Francesco was baptized 23 May 1915 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, the same church in which his parents were married. His Godparents were Angelo Alfieri and Rosalia Motta.

Baptism of Francesco Gallacci - 23 May 1915 - St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church

Francis died at age 5 on 29 Jul 1919 at Isolation Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. The cause of death is listed as diptheria with acute myocarditis listed as a contributory cause. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, as were other members of the Gallacci family.
​
As with his sister Fara, there are a few records I could search for to confirm his parents’ names. I found Francesco in the birth record index for St. Louis city, so I could request a copy of the record. I could also look for funeral home records or cemetery records, but chances are they would just duplicate the information on the death certificate. As I mentioned when I talked about Fara, I will probably delay searching for these records as Francis is not part of my direct line. However, if you are researching this line and have these records, I’d love to see them!

​Sources

• GALLACCIO, Elpidio - ORSI, Fravolina, “Marriage - Church Record,” 20 Feb 1912, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri, “St. Louis Archdiocesan Parish Records”, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, Missouri, Roll 50, FHL microfilm 1870931, 24 Jan 2017.
• GALLACCI, Francis, “Baptism - Church Record,” 23 May 1915, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri, “St. Louis Archdiocesan Parish Records”, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, Missouri, Roll 49, FHL microfilm 1870930, 24 Jan 2017.
• GALLACCI, Frances, “Death Certificate,” 24024, 29 Jul 1919, St. Louis City, Missouri, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/, downloaded 24 Nov 2016.

52 Ancestors, Week 7: Fara Gallacci

 It's already Week 7 of my 52 Ancestors in 2017 challenge! This week I want to tell you about Fara Gallacci. There isn’t much to tell as she was only two months old when she died. I only have two records for Fara; a death certificate [1043] and a burial permit notice [1061]. I’m a little uncertain of her name. In the newspaper listing of burial permits, the name is spelled as Fora. The death certificate is handwritten and appears to be written over, so the ‘a’ could be an ‘o’. There may even be an ‘l’ before the vowel, meaning her name could be ‘Fara’ or ‘Fora’ or even ‘Flora’ like her mother.

Fara was born April 11, 1918 in St. Louis, Missouri and died just two months later on June 14, 1918. The death certificate states her cause of death as “marassmus-bottle feeding”, or malnutrition. This is of interest because Flora (aka Fravolina) Gallacci, her mother, died of pneumonia just one week after the birth of Fara Gallacci [1040].

I believe Fara was the daughter of Fravolina Orsi and Elpidio Gallacci. I had to make some assumptions and connections to get to this conclusion, but I believe they are logical assumptions. The birth certificate states the mother’s name is Fravonela Orrosi. It’s easy to believe this is a misspelling or mispronunciation of Fravolina Orsi.    Knowing that Fara was bottle fed also makes sense if her mother died when the baby was only a week old, as Fravolina did.The harder discrepancy to explain is the father’s name, Tarquinio Gallacci. Obviously, Gallacci is easy, but substituting Tarquinio for Elpidio is a bit more problematic.

Though I have no direct evidence that Elpidio and Tarquinie are the same person and the father of Fara, I do have supporting evidence. Fara died at 908 High Street in St. Louis. Elpidia Gallaccio resided at 910A High Street [1045] in the 1917 St. Louis directory. Peter Gallacci resided at 1308 High Street [1047] in the 1920 directory. In addition, Ambado Petrinni is shown living at 908 High [1060] in the 1916 directory. This is almost certainly Umberto Petrini, the brother-in-law of Fravolina Orsi Gallacci. No other directory listing has been found for “Tarquinie” Gallacci and or Ambado Petrinni. The families have been shown living with or near each other at various times, so it is logical that Elpidio and Umberto would be found at the same address. Until I find a listing for ‘Tarquinie’ Gallacci, I will assume listing on Fara’s death certificate is a mistake.

There are a few records I could search for to confirm her parents’ names.

• Birth Certificate from St. Louis city
• Cemetery Record from Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis
• Burial Permit from St. Louis city
• Baptismal Record from the St. Louis Archdiocese
• Funeral Home record ​
  

I will probably delay searching for these both because Fara is not part of my direct family, and because she has no descendants to follow. At this point she is only and interesting side story for me. You can read more about the Gallacci family in this blog post. 

Here is a copy of Fara's death certificate, obtained from the Missouri State Archives online database. You can view the full-size copy on the Missouri State Archive website here.

Sources

• GALLACCI, Flora, "Death Certificate," File Number 15285, 18 Apr 1918, St. Louis City, Missouri,  digital image at Missouri State Archives, Missouri Secretary of State, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/d downloaded 10 Jul 2016
• GALLACCI, Fara, "Death Certificate," File Number 21659, 14 Jun 1918, St. Louis City, Missouri,  digital image at Missouri State Archives, Missouri Secretary of State, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/ downloaded 10 Jul 2016
• GALLACCIO, Elipidia, “City Directories for St. Louis, Missouri,” Gould St Louis City Directory, St. Louis, Missouri, 1917, pg 799, Fold3, www.fold3.com/image/135257192, accessed 21 Nov 2016.
• GALLACCIO, Peter, “City Directories for St. Louis, Missouri,” Polk-Gould Directory Co, St. Louis, Missouri, 1920, pg 1268, Fold3, www.fold3.com/image/153624625, accessed 21 Nov 2016.
• PETRINI, Umberto (Ambado Petrinni) , “U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line],” Gould Directory Co, St. Louis, Missouri, 1916, pg 1715, HeritageQuest.com, http://interactive.ancestryheritagequest.com, Image 854 of 1512, accessed 15 Feb 2017.
• GALLACCI, Fora, “burial permit,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Missouri, 18 Jun 1918, pg 7, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, accessed 10 Jun 2016.​

52 Ancestors, Week 6: Maria Fravolina Orsi Gallacci

 It's Week 6 of my 52 Ancestors in 2017 Challenge, and so far I'm keeping up! This week I am going to tell you what I know about Maria Fravolina Orsi, the sister of Maria Aurelia Guglielma Orsi.

Maria Fravolina Orsi was the daughter of Innocenzo Orsi and Maria Domenica di Menco. She was born February 13, 1882 in Compito Sant’ Andrea, Capannori, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy.

Fravolina arrived in the United States aboard the SS Duca degli Abbruzi on August 8, 1909 [1041], about a year after her sister Aurelia immigrated. Interestingly, they both list the same sister, Carola Orsi, as their nearest relative back in Compito Sant’ Andrea.  The ship manifest shows that when she was asked for the name of the friend of relative that she intended to join in the U.S. Fravolina gives the name Vincenzo Miciletti of Chicago, with the notation ‘promised’. I don’t know how to interpret ‘promised’. It may indicate a ‘promise’ of marriage, but it could also mean he promised to help her get started in the U.S. Whatever it means, we do know that Fravolina was married to a different man less than two years later.

 

Clip from ship manifest showin the arrival of Fravolina Orsi to the United States
8 Aug 1909

 The ship manifest shows that Fravolina was traveling to Chicago to join Vincenzo Nicoletti. 

What does 'promised' mean?

Fravolina is found in the 1910 Alton (Illinois) City Directory living at 211 W 13th in Alton. Her brother-in-law, Umberto Petrini, is found living at this same address in the 1910-1911 directory.
Fravolina married Elpidio Gallaccio/Gallaccia in St. Louis, Missouri on February 20, 1912.  At some point, Fravolina adopted the name of Flora, and Epidio became Peter Gallacci. They had at least three, and possibly four children together. I am working to confirm the parentage of the fourth child, but at this time I’m 90% convinced that he is a child of Fravolina and Elpidio.

• Emma (1914-1945)
• Vincent B (1915-1969)
• Fara (1918)
• Francesco/Frances*
  

       *parentage not yet proven

Fravolina died in St. Louis City Hospital from lobar pneumonia at age 36 on April 18, 1918, just one week after the birth of her daughter Fara. [1040] She is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, Missouri.

Sources

• GALLACCI, Vincent B, “Obituary,” Alton Evening Telegraph, Alton, Illinois, 15 Jul 1969, B4, NewspaperArchive.com, 14 Apr 2013, JPEG, Petrini binder, 115948486.pdf; GALLACCI_Vincent_obit.jpg.
• SHORT, Emma, “Death Certificate,” St. Louis City, Missouri, File #42513, 20 Dec 1945, Missouri Digital Heritage, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/, 2 April 2015.
• ORSI, Maria Anastasia Fravolina, “Birth Record,” Cappannori, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy, 13 Feb 1882, Family Search, https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1971-32554-13698-37?cc=2043811, accessed 25 Oct 2015.
• GALLACCI, Flora, "Death Certificate," File Number 15285, 18 Apr 1918, St. Louis City, Missouri,  digital image at Missouri State Archives, Missouri Secretary of State, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/d downloaded 10 Jul 2016
• ORSI, Fravolina, “Ship Manifest,” New York, New York, 8 Aug 1909, microfilm, The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, http://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/ Passenger ID #101653050169, accessed 13 Nov 2016.
• ORSI, Fravolina - GALLACCIA, Elpidir, “Marriage Record,” St. Louis City Marriage Records, Vol. 76, pg 535, License No. 171023, St. Louis City, Missouri, 20 Feb 1912, Family Search, accessed 14 Nov 2016.
• GALLACCI, Fara, "Death Certificate," File Number 21659, 14 Jun 1918, St. Louis City, Missouri,  digital image at Missouri State Archives, Missouri Secretary of State, http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/ downloaded 10 Jul 2016
• GALLACCIO, Elpidio - ORSI, Fravolina, “Marriage - Church Record,” 20 Feb 1920, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri, “St. Louis Archdiocesan Parish Records”, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, Missouri, Roll 50, FHL microfilm 1870931, 24 Jan 2017.