My husband, David, is the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in his family. We had been interested in finding his ancestors for decades and had worked on it to the best of our ability and time. Then, six years ago, we moved into the Little Cottonwood Ward. One of the family history consultants offered to help us. We started from scratch and we found a lot of information about David’s ancestors. We found names and many sources. We found a lot of information. It was wonderful and addicting to find so much information with relative ease.

But then our progress halted for a period of time. His Italian ancestors came to Ellis Island about 1905. We knew his great grandfather, Salvatore, had come as a young man and married an Italian woman who lived in Baltimore. They had four daughters and a son, which was my husband’s grandfather.

One day at the center, I asked a consultant if we could find family names in Italy. We knew they were from Palmero or Trapani, Sicily. We found on FamilySearch Catholic church records from that area. And then what a discovery we found!  

Salvatore had a wife in Sicily also!!! They had three sons. The oldest died as an infant. The second son immigrated to the United States in 1919 and became a citizen of the United States. We believe the third son stayed in Sicily with his mother.

When we asked Salvatore’s grandson (my husband’s father) about his grandfather having two families (one in Italy and one in America), he admitted to hearing about it as a child and verified its authenticity. We also found David’s great, great grandparents’ names and nine children, five of which had died before the age of two.  

I have felt the Spirit of Elijah and the urgency of the work. I’m so grateful for the consultants that have helped me to know where to look to find my husband’s ancestors.

-Brenda Arcilesi, Patron, Granite Family History Center