Vincenzo (Jimmy) Tripodi was born on December 28, 1899 to Ignazio and Giuseppina (nee Morabito) Tripodi in Archi, Reggio Calabria, Italy. He immigrated to the U.S. via the S.S. Rossore, arriving at the Port of Philadelphia on March 12, 1921.
After arriving in the U.S., Jimmy and a brother named Giuseppe (Joe) traveled to Ridgeway, Pennsylvania, where they first settled. Within a few years, he and Joe then moved again to the little town of Steubenville, Ohio.
Steubenville is where the Tripodi brothers would settle and make their permanent home and stomping grounds for the rest of their lives.