Migration

Faythe Purcey I interview my Great Aunt:

**Q**: How did our ancestors first get to America? **A**: Some your great great grandparents arrived here by the Ferdinand ship in May 16th 1881 while others came here by the La Bretagne ship. **Q**: Why did they decide to move from Italy to America? A: Many of them wanted to move from Genoa because of the Ruler Musalini. He began to rise the taxes very high and for every boy child born in the family their taxes would drop some because he was trying to create his army. Musalini was also confiscating land from people where they had no say in what he could take from him because they had very little rights. All in all they were being treated bad by the government and wanted to come to the "Land of the Free" for a better life. **Q:** When they arrived in American where were they relased and how? What happened next?
 * A: ** They were all dropped off by the ship in Elise Island. This is why much of your family lives in New York til this day. When coming off the ship every single person was checked out and if you had any sort of illness you were sent back to Italy no acceptions . It was like cattle, big crowds of people floating around everywhere. Once they were released they were on their own in beggining their new life's.