Tim --
Egidio (or James) was my paternal grandfather. He came to America and settled in North Syracuse, N.Y. in the late 1900s. He also came from Lingua Grossa in Sicily. My cousin Chuck's wife started this ancestry board some years ago, and Chuck, my cousin Maria and I have tried hard to find relatives where ever they might be. Apparently the name has "morphed" over the years, and through Ellis Island, but it appears yours is the same as ours. Many spell it Spucces or Spuchesi or in other ways. Chuck is convinced by his research that originally our ancestors were from Basque, Spain. I'm not quite as convinced. My grandfather had many sisters and brothers. Most of them landed in Argentina. Family lore has it that he came to the U.S. to follow his "true love," Josephine Stagnitta, whose wealthy family had sent her here to get her away from our peasant grandfather.
Given the spelling of the names and the home town in Sicily, I am certain we are related. Please write and tell me more about your history. You might also hear from my cousin Maria, who now lives in Las Vegas and to whom I sent the message I rec'd from the ancestry board. She knows even more about all this than I do. I'll try to send it to Chuck, too, but his e-mail addresses keep changing on me.
Eleanor L. Miller (Ellie) (maiden name Spuches)