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I guess this all started about twelve years ago when my Mom’s family held the first annual Griffith Family Reunion. I never really thought about it until I was online one evening, and came across a Family Tree Maker advertisement. The following day I went to my neighborhood software seller, and purchased the deluxe 15-disk version 6 of FTM.
I was really hooked, then in July of that year we had our first reunion, and what a big hit it was when I scrolled out (15 pages) across the picnic table, the first Griffith family tree was presented. I had a little luck when I first started my research; my Mom kept, and updated a list of birthdays, marriages, and deaths for both sides of the family.
I am sorry that I did not start this sooner when the elders of the family were still with us, but with the help of the rest of the family, and the genealogy networks on the internet we are where we are today.
On my fathers side of the family the ancestors were from Eastern Europe, Austria-Hungary, and Romania, and is somewhat difficult to find the beginnings because there are no relatives who still live there. They all had come to America before the turn of the century. Their surnames are Jacowitz, which, the family changed to Roberts in 1927, and Gross. (Austria) The family is scattered all over the United States, from New York, New Jersey, to California, and Florida.
The Ancestry on my Mom’s side begins in Great Britain, and most of the family resides in Delaware, but North & South Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania are also states of residence. I did have some help from other researchers thru the internet, and some of the names go back to the late 17th century in Virginia, Maryland. My line is back to about 1795. Wroten is my Grandmothers maiden name, and my Grandfather is Griffith.
My wife’ family comes from Italy, her Grandfather (Piacentini – Di Cuffa) on her fathers side came here in the mid 1890’s. He was here for 14 years, and worked at the Nabisco plant in Manhattan, New York. He returned to Italy for a vacation, met his future wife, who did not want to leave her home, and they settled in Esperia, Frosinone Italy. His brothers stayed in America and raised families. They live in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
Her Mom’ side (Di Mauro - Forte) all live in Italy, where many of her cousins remain, in the beautiful city of Formia, Latina Italy that lies between the mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea coast, I have been there now five times, and love it.
Though my progress over the past few months has slowed, I am continuing the search for the beginning, yes, that sounds pretty corny, but the more I search the wider the TREE gets, many, many branches with the many new family members I have uncovered over the years.
I will update every so often when more info is available.
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