User:Steph
From The Peopling of Astoria, Queens
Family History – Stephanie Lee
I have a kind of “mixed” background that is typical for many Americans. In order of highest to lowest percentage I’m Italian, Norweigan, Spanish, Enlish, Scottish and German. So basically, I really have no strong ties to another country outside the U.S, which is kind of unfortunate I feel.
My maternal great grandfather was Spanish, and my maternal great grandmother was English, Scottish, and Irish. Together they emigrated to the U.S. so my maternal grandmother, Cecilia Dotto was born in the U.S. She married my grandfather, Sevario (Frank) Scileppi, who was Sicilian. He was born in Sicily, but came to the United States as a young boy with his parents. His father came over as a bricklayer, and eventually went on to build his own apartment buildings. My own Grandfather became a civil engineer and worked on several projects in New York City, including additions to the George Washington Bridge. My grandmother worked in the New York City public school system for many years as a special education teacher.
My paternal grandfather was an immigrant from Norway, and my paternal Grandmother was a mixture of English, German, and a few other things probably. Her family went back the farthest in the United States, at least to my great-great-great grandfather who was some sort of sailor on a clipper ship with his brother. My father’s grandfather also worked in construction in New York City.
In terms of the spreading out of my family, it is interesting that all four of my grandparents were born in Brooklyn. Both of my parents started their childhood in the city, with my mom it was queens, and with my dad it was Brooklyn. They eventually moved out to Long Island Suburbs not far from the city. I think my grandparents chose to move in large part due to the fact that living in the city can be expensive and is not the best environment for children. Today I have family in Massachusetts, California, New York City, New Jersey, Florida, and Oregon. Most of the moves had to do with just personal choice or job opportunities.