Much is being written and on TV about Pope Leo's connection to New Orleans. Little is being noted that one of his maternal great-great-grandfathers, Giacomo Martino, was born in 1806 in San Remo Italy.  Louisiana-Italians are celebrating this connection to the Vatican.

Giacomo Martino’s name became Jacques Martinez in the 1820s after he arrived in New Orleans. He married Marguerite Cadeneth and had a son, Jacques Jr. in 1823. Jacques married Marie Rosa Ramos in 1848 and had a son named Joseph in 1864.

The family, which had six children returned to New Orleans in 1866. Other information connects the family to the Dominican Republic which was under Spanish control at the time. Perhaps this stay in the Caribbean had something do with the War for Southern Independence.

Jacques Martinez would have been 37-years old when the war started, which is an age that would have required military service in the Confederacy. For the safety of the children, they may have left America during the war and returned when it ended.  

Joseph would marry Louise Baquie in 1887. Joseph’s Marriage Certificate states that he was born in Haiti and lists his parents, which allows tracing the family heritage back to Giacomo Martino.

Joseph and Louise moved to Chicago where Pope Leo's mom was born and married another Italian-American, Louis Provost, who served in the Navy in WWII.