On Saturday, January 14, 2006, a meeting was held at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 10:30 a.m.. Those in attendance included:
Members: Jeanne Bieser, Kristin Bushman, Nancy Bushman, Colleen Bettini, Fran Marino Colboth, Vincent D’Orazio (3418 ) Tina Favero (4452), Mave Freyberg, Dani Graf, Arlene and John Jorgensen, Lisa Joecks, Rosemary Joecks, Ruth Baldini Hendrickson, George Koleas (1527), Jackie Maggiore(4301), Marnie (Sibrigondio) Podewils, Jeff Nesta, Steve and Jean Scalzo, Linda Ann Soliz, Hugh Swofford, Marie Roth (766) Margaret Schulz (2149) Joyce Weber(4438) and Susan White
New members include: Barbara Bombaci, Guests include: Larry and Glenna Amateis
Barbara Bombaci is looking for information on her Bombaci and Radicia family from Sortino, Siracusa. Marie Roth (766) translated a number of documents she brought with her.
Larry Amateis is looking for information on his Amateis family from Torino. A relative, Louis Amateis (1855-1913) was a renowned sculptor. Louis Amateis was the son of Gen. Paolo and Carolina Amateis. Vincent D’Orazio (3418) is helping Larry.
Fred Gustin (Ferdinando Antonio Gustin) wrote to us looking for information on his family. Fred came to this country in 1956 when he was 10 years old. His family came from Northern Italy in the Trieste area. His problem is that he lived in Istria. With the fact that Istria has changed hands so many times it is very difficult to track the names. Through the help of cousins that still live in Trieste, he has been able to track his grandfather's family back to Francesco Gustin, born 1871 and married to Giovanna Marussi born 1879 both in Parenzo (Porich) Istria. He would like to go back further. Suggestions are welcome.
Anne Balistreri wrote to us: "My name is Anne Balistreri, I am living in San Francisco, California. I want to find some of my extended family that is living in the Milwaukee area. My mother's maiden name was Alioto. My grandfather was Pietro Alioto. I know he and his bothers immigrated to Milwaukee when they came from Santa Elia. His brother Salvatore and Angelo stayed in Milwaukee and he moved to San Francisco. Later his brother Angelo also came to San Jose, California. Salvatore remained in Milwaukee and raised his family. I remember he came to S.F. in the late 40's. His son and daughter, Sadie (last name Colla) came to S.F. Angelo's son Nunzio Alioto lived in Milwaukee and had two children Angelo and Anna. I would like to get in touch with this part of the family. "
Colleen Bettini used an interesting trick to find her family in San Giorgio Vesale di Sestola Modena. She used Google and selected Images. She found pictures from a family reunion. Her father is now in communication with the new relatives she found.
Fran Colboth has posted pictures from her trip to Italy. You can see them at http://homepage.mac.com/fcolboth/PhotoAlbum1.html
Kay Lorenzato wrote to us to pass on to our members that she edits a quarterly journal for the Anglo Italian Family History Society. This society helps people whose Italian ancestors immigrated to England. For more information see http://www.anglo-italianfhs.org.uk/docs/aifhs.html
Denise Ryan Martin wrote an article for Today’s Wisconsin Woman, volume 6, Number 12, entitled Heritage + Holiday = Tradition: Local Families Bring Old Country Traditions Home For The Holidays. Members Silvana Bastianutti, Marne Krause(4882) and Ann Pitzo supplied information that was quoted in the article. In our last minutes we passed on that Denise thanks those who shared their traditions. Denise commented “…your members are a warm bunch of folks.”
There was a question whether Alito may be a variation on the Alioto name. While this is possible, it appears at this time that the Alito family is a separate family.
We discussed two Italian records. The 'scheda individuale' are kept in the anagrafe's office with the civil records. This is a card with information from the census. When a person's information is needed, it is much easier to look up a file card.
The ‘Situazione di Famiglia’ is a form of a family situation. The first name appearing is the father, followed by his wife, then each of the children listed chronologically. Included are dates of death of any of these individuals. This form also contains the names of the children's spouses if/when they marry as well as the date and place of immigration if they have moved from their birth location. This may be a different name for the “Certificati di Stato Famiglia”.
A portal for Italian Archives can be found at http://archivi.beniculturali.it/sitoenglish.html
We discussed traditional naming order, which is:
First born son named after paternal grandfather.
First born daughter named after paternal grandmother.
Second born son named after maternal grandfather.
Second born daughter named after maternal grandmother.
After that, we agreed that the pattern varied by family tradition.
There is now a Sicily DNA project through Family Tree DNA
(FTDNA). More information can be found at
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Sicily/ .
Regarding DNA, Italian Inheritance rights and Paternity, Anthony
Alioto,
www.italianlaw.net , writes to the pie mailing list “Italian law states
that all biological children are part of the estate in Italy. The content of
a will has no bearing as far as paternity is concerned. All children are equal
and should receive their "fair" share.”
For a 30 page detailed explanation of “Genetics & Anthropology in Sicily” go
to:
http://www.bestofsicily.com/genetics.htm .
We discussed what we would be willing to do for Festa Italiana this year. The visitors we have spoke to at previous Festa’s want to see a large map of Italy, and because so many Milwaukeeans are from Sicily, no matter what region is being highlighted, they want to see a large map of Sicily. They want to show whomever they are with, where their family came from. They don’t want to discuss their family or be otherwise engaged in person at the display. Because of this, having someone there to answer questions is not value added to us or to the visitors. We would be willing to provide a large map of Italy, a large map of Sicily and a display that supports the region that is being highlighted. To mount our display, we need 5 felt covered panels, like the ones we used at last years Festa. This will be communicated to Festa Italiana and we will await their answer.
The National Genealogical Society will hold their conference “They Passed This Way” in Rosemont, Illinois, June 7-10, 2006. For more details go to www.ngsgenealogy.org .
Susan Frederick provides POINTers In E-mail or PIE, an
electronic mailing list for people interested in Italian Genealogy and related
topics. To subscribe to the PIE mailing list, please send an Email to:
majordomo@jsoft.com
majordomo@jsoft.com . Skip the subject line. In the message body put:
subscribe pie. Susan has a webstore through Amazon.com with books of interest
to Italian genealogists. If you are buying any of the books she has, she
receives a small commission that helps support her list and off-sets her
costs. To see what is available, go to http://www.jsoft.com/archive/pie/books/index.html
The Winter 2005 issue of POINTers, Volume 19, Number 4 had some
interesting articles including: Castle Garden; How Emigrants Are Received in
New York, Return Migration, Some Questions to Ask When Interviewing Family
Members, a list of web sources for Italian surnames and a list of members who
have extracted records from their ancestral towns including our own Marie Roth
(766).
Our next meeting will be on Saturday, April 8, 2006 at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, starting at 10:30 a.m. and concluding at noon. Please mark your calendar for the rest of our meetings during 2006 on Saturday’s, September 9 and November 11. We welcome anyone with an interest in Italian Family History. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact George Koleas by e-mail or by calling (262) 251-7216 after 7:00 p.m..
Submitted by George Koleas (1527)
