The Vissoc Family Mystery

by Anthony Vissoc
(Tipp City, Ohio, USA)

My family too has an uncommon last name. In fact, I believe it to only exist in the United States and there aren't many of us.

My Grandfather, Robert Louis Vissoc, told the story of his father, Joseph Vissoc, being the first born in the U.S. of Italian Immigrants.

He never gave the name of his Grandparents, or I don't recall them. There is also the possibility of a brother of Joseph being born on the way over.

My Grandfather also said that our last name was modified. His claim was it was something like Vizzachi. I now believe that to not be quite right.

I'd begun my own investigation, believing that there was only one family line of Vissoc's in the U.S.

Imagine my suprise 9 years ago to discover someone else doing research on the Vissoc name. Even more suprising to me was to discover that I am not the only Anthony Vissoc in existence. There are two others. A father and son.

What I am still researching is where our family lines converge and whether this family line started pre or post-immigration.

My research comes to a dead-end at census records. I can find two Vissoc families in records as far back as the 1910 census in Stark County Ohio, which is where most all of the Vissoc family resides... with the exception of my father's decendants. I find two Vissocs, both reported to have immigrated in 1888 from Italy.

Based on what I can discover, our last name was more likely spelled Visocchi. This is the most common likeness that I can find on ellisisland.com.

I've reached a dead-end, however. After researching Visocchi immigrants from that time period, I read a report that there was a fire that destroyed records at Ellis Island, which would have included the time period that my ancestor would have immigrated.

Had my family done better at passing down stories - and accurate ones at that - I wouldn't be at this dead end.

I desperately want to know more about where my family came from. What their occupations were. Why they left Italy. How they came to arrive in Ohio of all places.

I've included a picture of the 1910 census report of the Fred Vissoc family, one of two Vissoc households existing in 1910.

The other family is Frank Vissoc, who also reportedly immigrated in 1888.

I hope to continue my research, but may have to seek the help of those on the other side of the pond.

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