I saw my great uncle Philip, older brother (he's 91!) of my grandfather and named after Filippo Giacovelli, today for the first time in several years and he gave me some new information on the Bini family! My mom and I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions, and he was aware of Cosmo having a brother Giuseppe and a sister Maria, but didn't know about his brother Francesco. He thinks Giuseppe went to either Brazil or Argentina. He also said that Maria died during child birth. This would explain why I haven't found her in the 1930 census or found a SSDI for her. She most likely died sometime in the mid-1920s. He said Maria was living/died in Endicott or Binghamton. He also said that Cosmo started his first restaurant in Endicott. I still don't have an Ancestry subscription so I can't do any decent searches and will have to head to the library or FHS soon. I'm hoping I can meet with him again soon or have someone ask him to elaborate more.
While in Utica, I drove past two of Cosmo's old residences. One is now a funeral home and the other has purple trim on the outside and a matching purple fence...EEK! And they no longer appear to be in an Italian neighborhood, but a Spanish one. I didn't have the addresses for his restaurants, but from what I can tell on Google Maps, they've been torn down and are now parking lots (the restaurant in Johnstown was also torn down, back before I even knew it existed). :(
I also met the granddaughter of Angelo Antonio (Tony) Giacovelli (Angelina's brother) and Maria Annese (Cosmo's cousin). Her aunt has done a fairly extensive family history for the Anneses and Giacovellis (from what I hear) and she volunteered to mail me a copy of all that her aunt has. This is perfect because I've been trying to find Tony and Maria's marriage record to get her parents' names so that I can confirm her relationship to Cosmo (didn't have a chance to look at the county clerk's while I was there).
I've ordered microfilm for Locorotondo births so I can find Filippo Giacovelli and his siblings. It's currently back-ordered, but I'll probably update again when it's in or I have some new information.
