The kind volunteer researchers at the Diocese of Pittsburgh dug through their records and, sadly, they came up with very little information.

The results of my search came by email today (two weeks earlier than promised!) and all I was able to glean were the baptismal records of all three kids at Our Lady Help of Christians.

That, in itself, is somewhat interesting. The records revealed:

Maria was born Aug. 5th, 1905, and baptized May 3, 1906. Her godparents were Antonio Esposito and Giusippina Brendisi. Phil, of course, was born March 14,1907, and baptized May 12, 1907. His godparents were Francesco Scalise and Maria Barretta. And finally, Joe, was born Dec. 10, 1908, and baptized on Oct.17, 1909. His godparents were Giuseppe Balotta and Teserina Liberto.

They disappear from the records of OLHC after this. Mary’s confirmation does not show up in the records of the single Catholic church in Sewickley, St. James. They weren’t found in Millvale’s church, either.

Perhaps the most useful bit of this search is where they are not. The church searched their orphanage records. They were not at St. Paul’s, St. Anthony’s, or, as Grammy incorrectly remembered, the Toner Institute.

I’m left with the eternal question. Where did they go? Particularly between their mother’s death and their presence with Pasquale in 1920, and again between Pasquale’s death and their placement with the Brenckles, who was taking care of three preteen children?

There’s a final lever I haven’t pulled, and that’s seeking the adoption file itself. It would take a court order. Yes, even nearly 100 years after adoption, in a situation where both the biological parents are dead, the adoptive parents are dead and the adoption was NEVER a secret, you still have to get a court order to see the records.

I’ll have to think it over. I suppose, in the best light, I can view this real-life plot hole as an opportunity for liberal fiction for the book. But a part of me is sad. Not only because I can’t seem to crack this riddle, but it raises the possibility that they endured hardships beyond what I can even imagine. In an era when religious identity and ritual were community, it’s possible they were so disconnected from people who cared that no one was looking out for their religious education. That is where this story no longer becomes an intellectual puzzle. It is the life of three very real human beings, who experienced this horror with NO assurance things would come out better on the other side.