James LEVER/LEVY I really don't know how to post this information as I am not sure exactly where my great grandfather came from. I guess I will start out with the conflicting stories told to me by different family members, namely his grandchildren and my mother. I DO have copies of his petition to become and American citizen and his papers of Citizenship which DO NOT give the name of the town he was born in. Only that he was giving up his allegiance to the Emperor of Austria. So here is the history as I was told: James LEVER or LEVERS was born June 10, 1861 in Austria. this is the information that matches from each family member. Now here is the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say. James was from 1. The Tyrol area; 2. Near Innsbruck where the Olympics were held; 3. The town he was from was sometimes in Austria and sometimes in Italy because of the war and the boundaries moving. He left Austria to avoid being in the military and came to New York City (1882 as far as we can figure out) where he ran a small business for a couple of years. He changed his name to LEVY but I do not know if that was when he boarded the ship or upon arrival in America. When he left New York, he stopped in Berlin, PA in Somerset County, Pennsylvania and then moved on to Elk Garden, West Virginia. I do not know what years these moves took place. but I think he moved to find work. He received one letter from a sister still in Austria but he did not keep in contact with his family there because he thought the government or military would still come after him and take him back. No one saved the letter. He met Sara C. FOSTER in either Moorefield or Elk Garden, West Virginia and they were married June 26, 1887 in Keyser, West Virginia. Their first 3 children were born in West Virginia and the last 6 children were born in Pennsylvania. They lived in Elco, Pennsylvania and then Twilight Boro, PA. in Washington County. James' parents names were Dominicus and Luciana. The 1900 census for Washington County, Pennsylvania stated that James Levy was born in Poland(Austria). James died March 16, 1933. He died BEFORE social security came into effect; therefore he DID NOT have a social security number. At this point I am lost as to how to find the town he was actually born in. I understand there were Winter Olympics in Northern Italy and I would also like to know where and when they were held.And if possibly James was from that town. I hope I have been clear on the information I have to date. if not please e-mail me personally and I will try to clear any misunderstanding up. Hoping for a miracle: Marian L. Bonacci Virginia ,USA [email protected]