Written By William L. Passauer  

January 02, 2002

The Origin of the Grandelis Name

 Members of the Grandelis family share a rare name in the world.  If one uses the available internet telephone book sources as a guide, there are approximately 23 Grandelis households in the United States, none in Canada, two Grandelis families in Australia, at least two families in Belgium, none in the Netherlands, none in France, none in the UK area, two families in Germany, but the largest congregation according to the Italian Infobel telephone directory reside in Italy.  Here there are 74 Grandelis households.

 Thanks to a visit with Silvio Grandelis and his family of Tremelo Belgium on October 24, 2001, I was able to speak with Silvo about what he knows about the Grandelis family origin.  Through my conversation with him, we may have discovered the origins of the Grandelis family name.  His family believes, with good cause, that the Grandelis family name originated in Greece, for two reasons.  The first being the syntax and sound of the name Grandelis.  Over the years, the Pennsylvania Grandelises have believed that the Grandelis name was either Czechoslovakian or Italian.  However, if you look at the syntax and sound of the Grandelis name and compare it to the typical Slovak name such as found on the following homepage, http://www.flick.com/onomastikon/Europe-Eastern/Czech-Slovak/Slavic.htm, you quickly see that there are no similarities between these names and Grandelis.  You can also use the same reasoning when you compare the Grandelis name with the typical Italian name, as most Italian names end with a vowel.  However, if you perform the same test using the Grandelis name against current and past Greek names, you quickly discover similarities in the syntax and sound.

 Even more convincing for the argument that the Grandelis name has its roots in Greece is the story told to Silvio Grandelis by his Italian born father Innocente Grandelis.  He told his family of the story of a Greek Grandelis priest that escaped Greece and settled in Northern Italy.  From here the roots for the Grandelis family quickly change from Greek to Italian.

 Just recently we have discovered proof, via the SS Batavia's ship's manifest, that both Ernesto and his cousin Luigi immigrated to the United States on April 1, 1902 from Belluno Italy.  This city is in the Belluno region of Northern Italy, again in the same area where many Grandelis families are found today.  Also, as of October 2001, it has been discovered by this author that Edith Virginia Colloto, wife of Ernesto Grandelis was born in Cadore of Northern Italy, again the same area where the Grandelis families reside in Northern Italy today.  

Where is the Grandelis Family From?

 In the mid 1970s, Suzanne Grandelis-Passauer and her family lived in Gaeta, Italy.  I, William Passauer, was serving in the US Navy and our daughter, Kristin was 5 years old.  During the Christmas of 1974, Albert and Millie Grandelis came to spend the holidays with us.  During their visit, we drove North to visit Florence and Venice, Italy and a sleepy little village in the Italian Alps called Lozzo Di Cadore.  We were sent there by information from Henry Grandelis, Albert’s brother in search of the Grandelis family roots. 

 While there, we met and had a wonderful time with Egisto Grandelis and his wife.  While none of us spoke much Italian, and they spoke no English, we were still able to communicate the important things.  Egisto had an eyeglass frame manufacturing shop on the ground floor of their home.  We were all given eyeglass frames to take home. We had a wonderful dinner with them of pasta, of course, and spent the night in their warm beds.  They introduced us to flannel sheets, which felt wonderful during the cold night. 

 After leaving their home, Egisto would communicate with Albert Grandelis from time to time via letters and cards.  On one of these occasions, we believe approximately 1981-82, Egisto sent Albert an official Italian family certificate describing the Lorenzo Grandelis family tree.  Since the form was written in Italian, and not understanding what it was, the form was put away.

 In 1998, after Albert’s passing, Millie Grandelis found and mailed the form to Suzanne in Virginia.  At that time, Bill & Suzanne were heavily into genealogy and were communicating with an Arturo Grandelis living in Northern Italy.  Not understanding the form, Bill emailed a copy to Arturo requesting a translation.  Not ever hearing from Arturo again and not understanding the form, Bill scanned it, and placed a copy in the Grandelis family tree.  The form was left there until December of 2001.

 Having recently discovered the Silvio Grandelis family living in Belgium and Bill having visiting them there, Bill was aware that Silvio understood Italian. Upon re-discovering the form, Bill emailed a copy to Silvio.  Silvio in turn, emailed back a partial translation of the form.  It was enough that when Suzanne looked at his work, she realized for the first time that it contained information about the family and grandparents of her grandfather Ernesto Grandelis.  Bill, then understanding what he was looking at, completed the translation of the form.  The results are found below:

 
Trips to the Old Country

During the late 1960s and the 1970s, Henry and Lorraine Grandelis made several trips to Europe in search of the Grandelis family roots.  While there, they med a:

                                             Mr. Ondrej Ulbricht

                A. Mráza 6

                821 03 Bratislava

                Slovak Republic

                Phone: 011 4212 4329 3668

Mr. Ulbricht was still living at the above address and phone number as of November 2001.  He acted as translator for Henry and Lorraine during their visits. 

 While in Slovakia, they met a Stephan Grandelis and his wife.  This Stefan claims that Ernesto Grandelis was born in Poprad, Slovakia and lived there with his mother and father.

 Stefan Grandelis (Henry’s son is named after the European Stefan Grandelis.  The European Stefan Grandelis has a sister Anna Grandelis.  It is unknown if she is still alive in 2001.

 Coming to America

 This is the story of how Ernesto and Luigi Grandelis came to America.  For our branch of the Grandelis clan, they were the first generation to enter the United States.

 Approximately September 2001, this author saw a report on the television news on how the Church of Latter Day Saints recently finished the massive effort of entering all of the Ellis Island immigration records into the Ellis Island internet homepage, www.ellisisland.org.  After seeing the report, Suzanne mentioned to me that she believed her grandfather Ernesto and his cousin Luigi Grandelis entered the United States through Ellis Island.  After logging onto the Ellis Island homepage, and entering the Grandelis name, we discovered information about both Ernesto and Luigi Grandelis.  And along the way learned some surprises.

 The Manifest of the SS Batavia

 The SS Batavia ship’s manifest describes the information that Ernesto & Luigi Grandelis provided the ship’s purser about themselves during their boarding interview.  Before boarding the ship, each passenger is interviewed.  During the interview, each person is asked questions such as their nationality, where they are from, whether they are married, can read or write, and how much money they have in their pockets. 

 For the following discussion, the reader should observe the image of the manifest of the SS Batavia.  Ernesto Grandelis is along row # 2 and his cousin Luigi Grandelis is along row # 3.  Rows 1 thru 4 are displayed because there is evidence that these four people were traveling together.  Note that in column 6, all four persons are “stone cutters”.  There is further evidence that they are traveling together in the following slides.

 Figure 1.  Ship's Manifest Part 1

Figure 2.  Ship's Manifest Part

 Figure 3.  Ship's manifest Part 3

 Figure 4.  Ship's Manifest Part 4

  The following is a typed version of the contents of rows 2 and 3 of the ship’s manifest:

Row 2:

   Block

1.      Name in Full = Grandelis Ernesto

2.      Age = 18

3.      Sex = Male

4.      Calling or Occupation = Stone Cutter

5.      Able to Read, Write = Yes, Yes

6.      Nationality = Italia (Italian)

7.      Last Residence = Belluno [Italy], Ernesto claims he is Italian and from the city of Belluno Italy.  While this seems to conflict with what some family members have been told, this doesn’t mean he was born there.  Ernesto may have been born in Czechoslovakia then later moved to Northern Italy.  One bit of information however, that may confuse matters, is the fact that Ernesto claims his nationality is Italian, not Czechoslovakian. It is unknown whether his mother and father lived in Belluno or how long he lived in there.  Stories have been told that Ernesto was born in Czechoslovakia then ran away with his cousin.  This is probably where they ran to before immigrating to America. 

8.      Seaport for landing in the United States = Unreadable, but we know it was Ellis Island because that is where we found these records.

9.      Final Destination in the United States, State, City or Town = Cresson [Pennsylvania] This was determined, first by comparing the handwriting of each letter in the word “Cresson” which was not clearly written with the same letters in other words on the document where the meaning of the letters were clearly understood.  Example, the “r” in “Cresson” is very unclear.  By looking at the word “Ernesto”, it was determined that the letter was an “r”.  The other letters “esson” seem to be clearer and understood except the first letter of the word.  This could easily be am “E”, “C” or even an “A”.  Even then it was hard to determine what the word was because with each of these letters used as the beginning letter, the word still didn’t look like any word I knew.  I then turned to my MS Streets and Trips software and search for a city using each of the letter combinations.  The only hit I received was for “Cresson”.  Here I found a Cresson, MN, TX and PA.  Knowing that Ernesto married Virginia from Pittsburgh I concluded it must be Cresson PA, especially when I found Cresson located about 65 miles East of Pittsburgh. 

10.  Whether having a ticket to such final destination = Yes

11.  By whom was Passage Paid = Self

12.  Whether in possession of money, if so, whether more than $30, or how much if $30 or Less = $10.

13.  Whether ever before in this United States, and if so, when and where = No

14.  Whether going to join a relative, and if so, what relative, their name and address = The line above appears to say ‘friend’.  There appears to be a ditto sign in Ernesto’s block which means he is also going to a friend.  There is other writing in Ernesto’s block that appears to be ‘do’ which is short for ditto.

15.  Ever in Prison or Almshouse or supported by charity.  If yes, state which = No

16.  Whether a Polygamist = No

17.  Whether under Contract, Express or Implied, to labor in the United States = The writing in this block appears meaningless.

18.  Condition of health Mental and Physical = Good.  The other counting information in the block is meaningless to me.

19.  Deformed, Crippled, Nature and Cause = No.

Row 3:

  Block

1.      Name in Full = Grandelis Luigi

2.      Age = 22

3.      Sex = Male

4.      Calling or Occupation = Stone Cutter

5.      Able to Read, Write = Yes, Yes

6.      Nationality = Italia (Italian)

    7.      Last Residence = Belluno [Italy]

8.      Seaport for landing in the United States = Unreadable, but we know it was Ellis Island because that is where we found these records.

9.      Final Destination in the United States, State, City or Town = Cresson [Pennsylvania], As further evidence that these four men were traveling together, note that three of them are from Belluno Italy and all four of them are going to Cresson, PA.

10.  Whether having a ticket to such final destination = Yes

11.  By whom was Passage Paid = Self

12.  Whether in possession of money, if so, whether more than $30, or how much if $30 or Less = $12.  While $10 and $12 doesn’t look like much today, back in 1902, it was worth much more than it is today.

13.  Whether ever before in this United States, and if so, when and where = No

14.  Whether going to join a relative, and if so, what relative, their name and address = Friend

15.  Ever in Prison or Almshouse or supported by charity.  If yes, state which = No

16.  Whether a Polygamist = No

17.  Whether under Contract, Express or Implied, to labor in the United States = There appears to be a “Y” for Yes in this block.

18.  Condition of health Mental and Physical = Good.  The other counting information in the block is meaningless to me. 

19.  Deformed, Crippled, Nature and Cause = No.

 Where Ernesto and Luigi Grandelis Lived

 Figure 5.  Belluno, Italy

 Belluno Italy, the city where Ernesto and his cousin Luigi Grandelis lived.  City (1991 pop. 35,572), is the capital of Belluno province., Venetia, is located in Northeast Italy, on the Piave River at the foot of the Dolomite mountains, Northwest of Venice. It is an agricultural and manufacturing center. A Roman town, it later belonged to various lords and was a free commune before voluntarily submitting to Venetian rule (1404–1797). The city has a 16th-century cathedral with a beautiful baroque bell tower and a Renaissance city hall.

 Figure 6.  Map Showing Location of Belluno, Italy

  Suzanne and I have also communicated with a Silvio Grandelis of Belgium.  Silvio had discovered a copy of an e-mail message I sent to the Belluno Italy area requesting additional information.  Silvio wrote that there are many Grandelis families living in the little city of Campologo di Cadore, near the Austrian border, in the 'province' of Bulluno. The village is located between Santo Sefano di Cadore and Sappada. There’s even a road called 'Via Grandelis' in Campologo. (the man was a famous artist.)

 How Ernesto and Luigi Came to America

 Ernesto and Luigi journeyed from Belluno Italy North to Bremen Germany, their port of departure. 

You may be wondering why Ernesto and Luigi ventured all the way to Bremen Germany for their departure rather than sail from an Italian seaport such as Genoa.  Not every seaport handled immigrating passengers to US ports of call.  When you research the old seaport maps that are shown to have moved immigrants, Italy doesn't always show up.  Generally, seaports in Germany and France were used the most.  Perhaps this was such a case.  It certainly would have been much easier for them to have gone to Genoa than Germany.  Cost might have been another issue.  We will never know for sure.

Figure 7.  Bremen, Germany

 The port of Bremen Germany is the second largest seaport in Germany and was the port of departure for the SS (Steam Ship) Batavia and Ernesto and Luigi Grandelis on their way to America.

 The SS Batavia

 The SS Batavia, the ship taken by Ernesto and Luigi Grandelis on their journey to America.  The following is information about their ship:

Figure 8.  SS Batavia

 Built by Blohm & Voss Shipbuilders, Hamburg, Germany, 1899. 10,178 gross tons; 517 (bp) feet long; 62 feet wide. Steam quadruple expansion engines, twin screw.  Service speed 12 ? knots.  2,700 passengers (300 second class, 2,400 third class).

 Built for Hamburg-American Line, German flag, in 1899 and named Batavia. Mediterranean-New York, Hamburg-Baltimore and Hamburg-Boston service. Sold to Unione Austriaca, Austrian flag, in 1913 and renamed Polonia. Trieste-Quebec City-Montreal service. Sold to Hamburg-American Line, German flag, in 1913 and reverted to Batavia. Laid-up at Hamburg in August 1914 owing to the outbreak of World War I. Transferred to German Navy, in 1917. Transport service. Transferred to Messageries Maritimes, French flag, in 1919 and renamed Batavia. Marseilles-Far East service. Scrapped in 1924.

 The Arrival

 Can you imagine what it must have been like for our ancestors to have seen lady liberty.  "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"   How appropriate this is for even today.  Here is Ellis Island as it was in the early 1900s.

 Figure 9.  Ellis Island in the Early 1900s

The First American Grandelis Family

  Ernesto met and married Virginia Collato of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

 Figure 10.  Ernesto and Virginia Grandelis