DeLellis Family Connection

It’s been so long since I have posted on my ancestry blog. Sometimes living life just takes over and finding the time or the energy to spend on research is impossible but I am back and I have a DeLellis family connection and picture to share.

To refresh your memory or catch you up if you are a new reader, my great grandmother was a woman named Filomena DeLellis. She was born on 28 October, 1877 in San Gregorio, Caserta, Compania, Italy to Francesco Saverio DeLellis b. 9 Oct. 1827, in San Gregorio and Caterina Loffreda b. 20 Dec. 1853 also of San Gregorio. Francesco and Caterina had three children that I am aware of. Filomena b. 1877, Luigi b. 1880 and Umberto b. 1890

Francesco’s 1st wife was a woman named Anna and they had 1 child, a son named Vincenzo b.1863

In early February I received an email from Bob DeLellis. It turns out we are 3rd cousins with our MCRA being Francesco’s parents Luigi DeLellis and Marianna DiAmico Our great grandparents were 1/2 siblings, Vincenzo and Filomena. Bob wrote to me after finding the blog and wanted to say thank you for sharing information. Additionally he shared a photo with me.

Getting back to Vincenzo, he married a woman named Maria Carmela Iannetti and they had children Maria, Anna, Vingenza (Jenny), and Francesco (Frank) Marco. Frank Marco married a woman named Winifred Cassidy. They were Bob’s grandparents.

Below is the family photo that he shared with me and with his permission I would like to share it with you. Very little is known about this photo and we are hoping with some luck other DeLellis members may have a clue in helping to identify the people in the photo.

Written on the back of the picture is the date 1915 and Bob believes that the short man on the right is his grandfather Frank. Taking a look at the 1915 census (which gave no date for its enumeration) the head of house was Frank age 19, working as a mill man, his mother (written as) Carmina 50, brother Benjamin 17, and sisters Anna 13 and Jennie 8. Frank was the only one working. His father Vincenzo actually passed away January 30,1915, so it is possible if the census was enumerated prior to that date he could be in this photo. Just a guess but could the woman with the child on her lap be his mother Maria Carmela (? ) with Bob believing that is Frank to her side, and could that possibly be Vincenzo (?) his father.

Vincenzo’s father passed away in 1908 so he could not be in this photo. Vincenzo’s mother Caterina died in 1918 but in 1915 was not in Rhode Island but was living in the Bronx so it is unlikely she is in the photo. Could the older man and woman possibly be the parents of Maria Carmela ? I have no information on either of them.

At this point everything is a guess and I don’t want to make any more guesses based on ages and census information at this time. I will add that in 1915 Frank and his mother and siblings still at home were living at 238 Sterling Ave. Providence, R.I.

Thank you to Bob for sharing this picture and giving us this additional peak into our families story. I

Update edit thank you to Amy of Brotmanblog: A Family Journey @ https://brotmanblog.com for pointing out a few things I had missed. First she checked with family search and learned the Rhode Island census was enumerated in April. This most certainly means Vincenzo could not be in the picture. For some reason I was focused solely on January. Amy also pointed out that the clothing they were wearing clearly indicates warmer weather for the time the picture was taken.

9 thoughts on “DeLellis Family Connection

  1. Welcome back to the blogosphere! I will be rejoining the world next week.

    That’s a wonderful photograph. Are you referring to the 1915 Rhode Island census? According to this page on FamilySearch, it lists residents as of April 15, 1915, so Vincenzo would not have been listed on the census. https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1532188

    But I am not sure that the date of the census necessarily is related to the date of the photograph, is it? If Vincenzo died in January 1915, it seems unlikely he would be in the photograph since it appears that the photo was taken in the spring, summer, or fall, given the clothes they are wearing. January in Rhode Island would have been far too cold for them all to be standing outside without coats on!

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  2. Hi Sharon so happy your blogging again. It was lovely chatting with you a few weeks ago. We just got back from St Augustine , Fla. It’s a quick ride for us on Hilton Head Island. Only 3 hours
    We had a wonderful time and reconnected with my cousin , John D’attoma . Have’nt seen him since we were very young. We reminisced over dinner. Since we live so close, we will definitely keep in touch. He and his wife Judy are planning a trip to Hilton head Island soon. Take care keep in touch And don’t forget when you’re in the area visiting your children please let me know, and we will definitely get together at some point Hugs Linda.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thank you Linda – I enjoyed the chat too 🙂 glad to read your visit went well with John ~ so many D’attoma’s and DeLellis’s etc etc, it’s so hard to keep it all straight anymore but i promise to keep trying my best

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