Making the connection….with a document from an ancestry contact
David’s family had been to Trasacco many years ago to find the origin of their family and had obtained several certificates and documents that told only a part of the story. It was apparent that his ancestor Raffaele was not born in Trasacco but there was no indication of where he might have been from. … Continue reading
Italian Dual Citizenship Woes
Bob was eager to obtain Dual Italian Citizenship and reclaim his Italian heritage in this very concrete way. He came to me very frustrated after the company he had hired to assist him in obtaining Italian civil documents came up empty-handed after many months and was being very evasive about the availability of the records. … Continue reading
Annalisa’s Story – reconnecting with the past
I am a first-generation Italian-American. My mother was born in the small Comune of Picinisco in Frosinone Italy and my grandparents were married there before sailing to America in 1926. Our lineage on my grandmother’s side dates to 1597 with our ancestors being from this small town. Over the years, my mother kept in touch … 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
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
Search of the week – Reuniting family in Castelliri, Frosinone
This weeks’ search had two challenge’s. Finding living relatives and taking the family tree back to the microfilms so Anthony could do some of his own research. Castelliri is a small town on the border of the Vatican States and was formerly known as Castelluccio. Since they were just over the border, and part of … Continue reading
