I’ve spent the past month in the “zone”. That’s what happens when you’re deep in research, attempting to find pieces of your genealogy puzzle.
The Genetti Family tree is huge with many branches and multitudes of records to dig through. I love diving into century-old ledgers to tease out the truth! But to focus my concentration and patience on the task of research, I must block out everything else.
It takes weeks to complete an entire line, and so it was with the Wyoming Genetti Family. This branch has many descendants now living in California, Utah, Texas, Mississippi, Idaho, Wyoming and possibly still in Castelfondo, Italy. For over a year, I have attempted to tackle the extensive research required for this family, but always got sidelined with one thing or another. Last month I put my nose to the grindstone (or “mola” as it is known in Italian) and went at it nonstop.
The results: 102 new ancestor names with birth, marriage and death dates, 23 photos and 8 new generations added to the Genetti Family Online Tree! And I still have the current generations to document, plus two side branches to research before the Wyoming line is complete. Want to find the beginning of this family branch on our online tree? Search for Andrea Genetti 1597 – 1660 and follow his male descendants forward in time.
Angelo Genetti (1859-1946) was the patriarch of the modern Wyoming family. He was the first to travel to America in 1887, finding work in the coal mines of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Angelo stayed for five years, earning much needed money for his family back home. In 1892, he returned to Castelfondo, Tyrol. Between 1880 and 1899, Angelo and his wife,Teresa Annunziata Marchetti, had four sons and four daughters.
As they grew into adults, Angelo encouraged his sons: Francesco (Frank), Enrico, Ermenegildo (Herman or Joe) and Dominico (Dominic), to seek their fortunes in America. The brothers began life as immigrants in hard-scrabble Rock Springs, living in a close-knit community of Tyroleans from the Val di Non. Soon all the brothers became United States citizens, married and began raising families on the dusty prairies of the American west.
Angelo, his wife, Teresa, and their four daughters: Maria Domenica, Anna Maria, Maria Virginia and Annunziata – all remained in Castelfondo. The girls married and had families of their own. And so Angelo’s family was split between America and Tyrol.
Eventually the children and grandchildren of the four brothers moved to other destinations in the United States. Today you’ll find their descendants living in such cities as Salt Lake City, Sonoma and Boise.
A big THANK YOU to Alexandra Genetti! An avid genealogist, Alexandra is married to Ken Genetti, the grandson of Enrico Genetti. I met Alexandra a number of years ago through Ancestry.com when I stumbled upon her Genetti family tree. We were soon corresponding and collaborating as “genealogy geeks” – a befitting term coined by Alexandra. Her family research and photos have proven to be an invaluable resource. Most of the information for the last three generations of this branch came from Alexandra and Ken. Many thanks to you both!
FYI – Ken and I are related twice through the Genetti family: as 4th cousins, once removed and as 9th cousins, twice removed (I also think we are distantly related through the Marchetti family!). But wait – this is a story for another blog post!
As I continue to add living descendants to the Wyoming Genetti branch, I hope more cousins from this large family will email me with their own family stats. Are you a descendant of Frank, Enrico, Herman or Dominic and would like your family’s info to be included in the Genetti archive? Click on our Contact Page and send me a message. I’d love to hear from you!
Take a look at our Photograph Page – I’ve added portraits of Angelo, Teresa and their four sons to the photo archive. For more descendant portraits, check out this family in the online Genetti tree (search for Angelo Genetti). There you’ll find many portraits attached to individual descendant listings.
Watch for future posts about the Wyoming Genetti family – I have a number of interesting stories yet to share!
Love hearing about everything.
‘John Conahan just had his composition, “The Three Doors” which is a Requiem performed at St Joseph University Chapel – Chorus and orchestra. He got a standing ovation. John is the son of late Larry and Kathleen Conahan. Kathleen is the daughter of Leona Genetti Hayden, daughter of Raphael and Lucia Genetti.’
Hi Helene – thanks for sharing John’s success! What a wonderful accomplishment. If you are in touch with the descendants of Leona Genetti Hayden, please let them know about our October Family Reunion. If they send me their email addresses I will add them to the Genetti email list. Hugs!