Hello all!

I'm a newbie and trying to solve the mystery of my Great, Great, Grandfather. He is the missing link in our families history! He is the only one not researched and I'm beginning to understand why. First, the mystery of his surname. It has been spelled several different ways. The first census that I've found for him is 1870 Chicago, his name is Phillipi Perie. The last census in 1920 in Tennessee has his name as Philip Pierie. The latter spelling is also on his headstone.

He came to America in 1856 according to census records, settled in Chicago. Family legend says he came with at least 2 brothers from Italy. One brother was named Joseph. They ran a ice cream/saloon in Chicago in 1870. Family legend also says he fought in the Civil War for the Union. He married my G,G Grandmother from Tennessee around 1865, they had two daughters Gracie b. 1869 and Charlotta (my great grandmother) b. 1871. Their mother died in 1874, I'm assuming in Chicago. The daughters lived with their father for a while but eventually were sent back to Tennessee to live. Philip eventually came to Tennessee to live with oldest daughter Gracie and this is where he died in 1923.

Any help in solving this mystery would be greatly appreciated.

I would say his first name was Filippo, and his surname could be Pieri?

Do you have his death record?

Marty

There is a Joe Pieri who lives in Glasgow in Scotland and he has written many books. His family had an Icecream business. (He's in his 90's ) I'm sure he's on Face Book too
If you type in his name, some of the titles of his books will come up - not sure if it mentions the place where his ancestors came from though, or if others went to USA. I do know he has gone back and visited the region in Italy where his ancestors lived.

Emmy