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do I have American relatives?

AnnaVelsanti

Hello everyone! This is a bit strange since I am from Italy but I've always wanted to know more about my family history (especially since I've always been told that there were only five of us Velsanti living in the whole world). I recently found out about a distant relative with my same last name, and he was in the US Military in 1918. It's been months of finding always the same things but I don't want to give up. I began this project with my grandpa, but unfortunately he's very sick and we don't know how long he still has .. I'd very much love to answer the questions he's had all his life about his family. So if anyone can help, it would really be appreciated! Thanks just for reading this

  • +1

    I'm sure some volunteers here would like to help (I would!). We would need specific information on names, dates, locations, and relationships in order to find records or to suggest your next steps.

  • 0

    FamilySearch.org shows an Antonio Velsanti as being a WWI soldier BUT I've looked into this man and his actual name was Antonio BELSANTI. If you look at the FamilySearch original record you can see both a V and a B, so someone attempted to correct a typed mistake.

    Source: "St. Louis, Missouri, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3HT-7T66)

    Further evidence for "Belsanti" is shown in the published work "The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in The World War, 1917-18 ..." which is available online for free: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112056066415&seq=66&q1=belsanti  The man referenced in the record at family search has the same service number as the man in the published roster.

  • 0 in reply to ASB

    OMG even just for reaching out I thank you so much!!

    Here's the list of what we know: His name was Antonio Velsanti and he was listed as a Private in the US Army in 1918, we know he worked for the 151st infantry regiment that was based in Indianapolis at the end of the Great war. My grandpa says he remembers his family talking about "someone of the family" (Antonio, as we later found out) that went to America through the Military. We also found very few traces of him in Coulans (in France) and it seems that he was transferred from France to the US in November 1918. We also had to consider the fact that, as I said before, our name is very rare and in time it could have been misspelled (Belsanti for example). We also thought that maybe he left Italy to go to France for some reason and there he was recruited by the US Army.

    Sorry for bombing you with all these information, we'll take anything we can get

    Thank you again

    Anna

  • 0 in reply to AnnaVelsanti

    There's all sorts of information re: Antonio Belsanti at Ancestry.com. I believe that he settled in Indiana.  Here is one record that includes his parents' names. Are they familiar to you?

    Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001

    Name Antonio Belsanti
    Gender Male
    Race White
    Age 44
    Event Type Marriage Registration (Marriage)
    Birth Date 24 Oct 1886
    Birth Place Italy
    Marriage Date 27 May 1930
    Marriage Place Indiana, United States
    Residence Place Fort Wayne, Allen, Indiana
    Father Pasquale Belsanti
    Mother Mary Denarda
    Spouse Janie Mccrory Andrews
    Page 555

  • 0 in reply to AnnaVelsanti

    I found an article that Antonio Belsanti wrote to the Indianapolis News!

  • 0 in reply to AnnaVelsanti

    Here is Antonio Belsanti's photograph! Source: U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, Ancestry.com

    That application has his birth information as September 23, 1885 in "Palazzo Gervasio Potenza, Italy."

    (Note: Even though this birth date is different than the one in the marriage record, I still think he's the same man. The day, month, and year are all off by 1 in the marriage record. I think he was concealing his birth date for some reason! All other records that I've seen have September 23, 1885.)

  • 0

    Hello AnnaVelsanti,

    Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

    ASB has gotten you off to a great start.  

    We located a Veterans Affair Master Index Card for Antonio Henry Belsanti, born September 23, 1866.  This is the same man ASB located a photograph of in the Passport Applications.  The Official Military Personnel File (OMPF) for this individual was destroyed in the 1973 Fire.  The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis does have a Final Pay Voucher that can be accessed by using eVetRecs to submit your records request online. See eVetRecs Help for instructions. Alternatively, you may complete a GSA Standard Form 180 and mail it to NARA's National Personnel Records Center, (Military Personnel Records), 1 Archives Drive, St. Louis, MO 63138-1002. If there is any information requested by the forms that you do not know, you may omit it or provide estimates (such as for dates), but the more information you provide, the easier it will be to locate the correct file. For more information see Request Military Service Records. 

    However, he does have a Pension File from the Veterans Administration.  A wealth of genealogical information can be found in these files.  They will typically include documentary evidence to support veterans' claims to various types of benefits and may include military discharge documents, pension and insurance applications, affidavits, medical records, correspondence, birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, and burial expense receipts.  

    To access this file, begin by contacting the correspondence team at the National Archives, St. Louis via email at stl.archives@nara.gov.  Please include his service number (001562579) and his XC File Number (2139493) in your request.  

    We hope this information has been helpful!