Phillippo: My Italian Ancesty

My great-grandpa Phillippo was born in Italy. The following is what we know about his story:

It is believed that Vincenzo Phillippo was born near Florence, Italy. During his life he spoke of two older brothers, who would have been in their early teens when he saw them last. He never mentioned their names, though. By the time that he was nine or ten years old, both of his parents had died. His father had been killed when he fell off a horse and was drug to death. Vincenzo's uncle took him one day and put him on a boat. He was told to wait, that his uncle would return shortly. His uncle never came back before the boat sailed. Half way across the Atlantic, Vincenzo was discovered. They couldn't take him back, so they took him on to New York City and put him ashore. He had no money, spoke no English, and was only a child. He slept in doorways and earned a little cash for food by shinning shoes with a kit he somehow acquired.
After about a month or so of living on the streets, he met and made friends with a policeman. Each day he bought Vincenzo an ice cream cone. One day, after a week or so, the policeman took him to an orphanage instead of giving him ice cream. His first night there, he developed a severe toothache. Since he was unable to speak English, all he could do was cry, scream, and point in his open mouth. The sister was unable to understand what his problem was so she jerked him up and spanked him so hard that he forgot about his toothache!
A couple of years went by and the orphanage became overcrowded. To solve this problem, they put the children on "orphan trains". Mr. & Mrs. Elias Doyle of Wright, Illinois, took Vincenzo in. They gave him the name James, as they had difficulty with Vincenzo.
James said that he had always believed that his uncle got rid of him (and probably his brothers, too) so that he could gain control of the small amount of land and vineyards that they had. He always said that he had wished that he was an educated man so that he could write a book called "Why I Love America".
It has been told that before James's "American father" Elias Doyle had passed away, he asked his wife to make sure the Jimmy would be taken care of, financially. Unfortunately, she died soon after, and since there was no will and James wasn't a blood relative, Luther Doyle received possession of the estate.
About a mile or so south east of Wrights is where the Phillippo children grew up. (Eva Mae was about 18 and Ansell was about 16 when the family moved to Roodhouse.) Next to where the house stood, there now sits to Pinhook school house, where the Phillippo children received their early childhood education.