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How professionals work together.
I just spent a week working in the Province of Frosinone with Janeen Bjork a professional researcher from America. She was working on a huge DNA project involving diverse families whose patriarchs were recruited to work in a stone quarry in Upstate New York. The families came from several towns around my home base. Some … Continue reading
Inheriting property in Italy- on occasion….meglio di no!
I am occasionally asked about property that immigrant families left behind that may still be ‘inheritable’ by the emigrant descendants. I’d like to tell you this story…. Yesterday at a family luncheon the talk turned to property taxes and Saverio began to talk about his high property taxes. Today your principal residence is tax-free but … Continue reading
Ofelia – a very lucky foundling!
In Rome at 8:30am on April 24th 1908, a baby girl was born to an unnamed woman at 152 Viale Giulio Cesare . She was delivered by the midwife Carolina Zacoma, age 42 and at 1:30pm she was presented to Cavalier Vincenzo Stefanelli at the City hall where her birth was registered and she was … Continue reading
Brick wall in Santa Maria Oliveto – torn down!
Whenever one is presented with a ‘brick wall’ it’s important to scrutinize every document collected so far. Do some historical research of the area and then go out there and break it down. I did the first part and realized I could not go ahead without finding the death record of Tomasina. It was a … Continue reading
A brick wall in Santa Maria Oliveto
Sometimes a brick wall just doesn’t come down easily, even for the professionals! Michele was born in Santa Maria Oliveto (Isernia) according to the family. When I eventually found the birth record, he was actually registered in Conca Casale but they had declared themselves residents of Santa Maria Oliveto. Michele was baptized in the Parrocchia … Continue reading
DNA test results explained
Mike expected to be 50% Italian on his DNA test and was surprised to find it came in at 38%. So he got an Aunt to do the same test knowing that research had showed her to be from Italian parents on both sides for at least a century! Whoops! She came back as 25% … Continue reading
All in a day’s work
It started out as a simple lunch with a client. It turned into something very different! I had done some research for Gino back in 2008 and he was finally making that trip to Italy with his wife and family. He invited my husband and I to join them for lunch in Ceprano. I was … Continue reading
Its been a strange few days
On May 25th the Comune of Firenze called me to say they were mailing the documents I had requested and wanted to advise me who to contact for the rest of the information I had requested. What a nice surprise! It’s now June 5th and I still haven’t received them BUT there was a … Continue reading
On-Site research Tips & Tricks
You are planning a trip to Italy and you want to do some family history research. Here’s how to prepare. First make your plans. Are State Archives on your list? Check with https://www.familysearch.org/ to find out what civil records the State Archives have. If Family Search has filmed at that archive then what they have … Continue reading
Sharon’s search for an explanation?
When Sharon started researching her ancestral line in a small town in Abruzzo she was a little shocked at the apparent comportment of her ancestors. She remarked ‘the women in my family certainly got around!’ After studying the records she found I saw a potentially different story. It all began with Maria Proietta who gave … Continue reading
Customised Italian genealogical research
