I have my pick of families with "so many descendants," but I think I'll focus on my grandfather and his brothers and sisters. As Uncle Toot (sounds like the "toot" in Tootsie Roll) recalled, there were more children than he could remember, but he did his best one day to list all of them for my dad. Somewhere, there was a cassette recording of this discussion. I'm assuming it was tossed a long time ago, but maybe it will materialize one of these days.
Including my grandfather, I have recorded 10 children born to Francisco (Frank) and Santa Palermo. My grandfather's oldest sibling was Antonino (Tony) Francisco Palermo born in November 1904. Uncle Tony and his wife, Mary, had 4 children - 1 boy and 3 girls.
Next was Rocco Palermo, born on Independence Day in 1906. Sadly, there is little to tell about Rocco, who was named after his grandfather, Santa's father. Rocco's death certificate relates that he died of typhoid fever in September 1912. He was six years old.
The first girl born to Frank and Santa was Paola (Pauline) in January 1909. She was named after Santa's mother. Pauline was married twice. The first marriage was to Salvatore Vantimiglia, and they had at least one son, Joseph Frances Vantimiglia, in 1935. After Salvatore’s death, Pauline married Archibald Madison. This was a late-in-life marriage, and I don't have any children recorded, but writing this post reminds me that I need to look further into this.
Grandpa Martin was born in 1910. In his brief life, he was married twice. His first marriage to Rose Tomasek produced one daughter, Delores Rose. His marriage to my grandmother resulted in my aunt and my father.
Next came another girl, Francis T., in April 1912. I don't know what the "T" stands for because the only documentation I have that Francis existed is her death certificate. She succumbed to bronchial pneumonia at only 16 days old. Her headstone reads "Francis T. Palermo - Sweet Baby Girl."
Salvatore Rocco Palermo (Uncle Toot) was born in May 1913. Because both Rocco and Francis passed before his birth, I wonder if he knew to include them in his list of siblings. Are there other siblings who died in infancy that came later, and I haven't found them? Once again, writing this post reminds me to revisit the Missouri Digital Birth Records to see if I can locate any additional Palermo children. Uncle Toot married Dorothea Lischer in 1935 and had 3 children with her, 2 girls and 1 boy.
Nicholas Palermo was born in December 1914. Once again, I see that I need to revisit this particular sibling of Grandpa Martin's. I have two marriages recorded for Nicholas, but I don't have any children noted. A quick search for the 1950 census reveals two stepchildren, presumably children from wife, Marie's, first marriage.
Anna Marie Palermo was born in January 1917. She married Richard Wegman and had at least one daughter with him. The last time I researched this side of my family, the 1950 census was not yet available. One of the first things I will do once I am done with this post is seek out those census records. As Richard and Anna's daughter was born in 1937, it is quite possible I will find additional children on the 1950 census. The same goes for many of Anna's siblings.
Anna's sister, Beatrice Rose, was born April 1919. She married Charles Zammit, and they had at least one son. Once again, the 1950 census and/or another scouring of Missouri birth/death records may unearth more.
The final (as far as I know) child born to Frank and Santa Palermo was Francisco Antonio (Frank Jr.) in 1921. Frank and his wife, Christine, had at least 4 children - 2 boys and 2 girls.
That tallies up to at least 16 grandchildren for Frank and Santa. I'm certain I have larger families who produced more descendants, but I'm glad I chose to write about this particular generation of Palermos. I don't know nearly enough about them, but that is something I will try to rectify as soon as I hit "Publish" on this post.
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