Ok, so Hexavarate isn’t really a word, but if you’ve seen So I Married an Ax Murderer….

Well we’ve got the same thing going on here — several weeks ago I attempted to untangle the complex relationships between the transplanted Hoboken families:  Pantoliano, Borrelli, Lisa, Monaco and Romano.

Well there was another one staring me in the face, but it wasn’t until I spoke with my cousin Doris and had the other half confirmed by my slightly more distant cousin Peter that I realized it was quite likely that the Fischetto’s & Fischkelta’s were connected.

Like Pantoliano, Fischetto/Fischeklta is another one of those names that invites misspelling, mishearing, mistranslation, and all other manner of misfeasance.  You see it in the plural Fischetti, sans letters Fiscelta and Fishkelta.  As cousin Doris mentioned the name derives from ‘whistle’ — fischietto.  So — strictly speaking, Fischetto is probably the closest to the real name.

On Peter’s side of the family we have brothers Charles & John marrying into the Ripke and Guidice families.  On the Pasquale side, we have Ralph marrying Mary Pantoliano.

Trace it far enough back and you find that Ralph and the brothers are 2nd cousins (once removed).  Ralph’s father Angelo (1867-1935) and the brother’s grandfather Giovanni (1874-1946) were brothers.  Giovanni & his wife Filomena Compitello are pictured.  At the top sits Raffaele Fuschetto & Antonia Gallo.

Gallo?  Oh, wait.  Is there another connection or am I just whistling in the dark…..