Hunting History - Finding Family

It would be an understatement to say that Louis Barra launched my genealogy obsession.  At some point, probably some fifteen years ago, I was handed a paper book, the Barra family history.  You'll have to forgive me if this post is not as descriptive as I'd prefer it to be, I've recently moved and said book is buried in a stack of unpacked boxes. It wasn't the most comprehensive of family histories, but considering that Louis had built it in an age before ancestry.com, familysearch, or even the internet, it's a pretty impressive piece of work.  He did what I can't do, went to the source and talked to the older generations of relatives. I bring this up not just to reminisce on my own introduction to the time suck that is family history research, but because I received a rather random email from a Jerry Olivera at the beginning of January about Louis; "I have a photo taken in early 1940s of a Louis (Lou) Barra. My father had the photo from his Army days i...

Two years I've been knocking on a brick wall.  Two. Years. And today, that wall has come Last year I wrote to the Comune Di Asiago asking for records for Valentino Paganin, not the Valentino who emigrated to America and lived a rich, full life, but the Valentino who died tragically leaving my great grandmother Angelina no choice but to move to America herself and start over.  It was quite the process.  Within about a month they emailed me back saying they found 18 records, and I'd need to send $58 american dollars to them for the copies.  They wanted this done through an international wire transfer.  No big deal, or so I thought. My bank does not do international wire transfer, only domestic, and it was going to e pretty expensive anyway, on top of the $60.  Despite my efforts I couldnt locate anyone else to do the transfer.  So another email was sent, asking if theyd do PayPal or credit or debit card.  Another few weeks go by, and I get the res...