Pointers In Person, Chapter 22, met at the Italian
Community Center, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Saturday, November 9, 2002.
Present at the meeting were, Frank Balistrieri, Ginny Balistreri, Nancy
(4317) and Dick Boudreau, Rita Carroll, Lois Cozzuli (220), Tina Favero
(4452), Elsie Fucile, Mave Freyberg Elizabeth Houtz, George Koleas (1527),
Jackie Maggiore (4391), Pat Moon, Barbara Roberts (1202), Marie Roth (766),
Jean and Steve Scalzo, Marge Schutz (2149), Pat Therkelson (2356), Joyce Weber
(4438), Susan White and new member Valorie Rollins Sanfilippo Schleicher.
Also present were Elsie Fucile’s family guests, Olga
Fucile, Ray and Emily Ellsworth, Dan and Marnie Krause, and Jacki Lewis
Tina Favero(4452), Mave
Freyberg, Elizabeth Houtz and Marie Roth (766) represented our Chapter at the
Commemoration of the destruction of Our Lady of Pompeii Church, held at the
Italian Community Center, on October 20, 2002.
The commemoration started with a service and concluded with a lunch.
Elizabeth Houtz displayed a poster presented to all attendees with the
image of the Church. Our Lady of Pompeii was the mother Church to many
Milwaukee Italians.
This
commemoration inspired one of our Chapter to action.
Susan Petta Nokes, our member from Washington State, had started
copying the Family History Library film that contained Our Lady of Pompeii
records. She got about half way through when she had to stop a few years back.
Our members with e-mail started to discuss picking up the project. Then
one day, Steve Scalzo, who also is a member of the Pompeii Men’s Club, wrote
to me that he had started working on the project. Steve worked very hard and
completed the project by himself. Supporting
him was his wife Jean. We now
have a complete set or baptisms and marriages to 1920 and deaths to 1911. We
have two copies. One circulates
among the Chapter members who need it. The
other is kept in a safe place from which I can do look ups, as they are needed
by members. Our Chapter thanks Steve for picking up the project and single
handedly completing it.
Nancy
(4317), and Dick Boudreau Vincent D’Orazio (3418) and Pat Therkelson (2356)
attended the POINT Conference in Salt Lake City. Nancy, Dick and Pat reported
that it was a great opportunity to meet others and learn at the same time.
They learned many things. Many marriages were arranged.
When obtaining a marriage record, also look for the processetti, filed
in support of marriage. This contains many additional facts about the family
of the bride and groom. Our
members also learned that the Mormon Church has 4 crews filming in Italy
again. Always check their website
at www.familysearch.org to learn if
the records you need have been added to the collection.
The preservation of these records on microfilm is important because the
actual records, kept in clerk’s offices, in churches and in basements, are
not kept in the best condition and are sometimes damaged by humidity and
seeping water. Nancy and Pat visited a museum, where they saw a typical
steerage compartment. On
shipboard the facilities were primitive and very limited. They were small
spaces with low ceilings that also had to accommodate life preservers. Nancy
and Pat also learned about procedures used at Ellis Island. They learned that immigrants were served prune
sandwiches and bananas, which many had never seen before.
Not knowing what to do, the immigrants ate the skin and all. Women and
children received an extra ration of bananas. Immigrants were checked for many
things. A buttonhook was used to check for an eye disease.
The instrument was not washed between examinations, but was used over
and over again as the next person in line was examined. Ellis Island officials
were also on the lookout for mental disease. Signs of mental disease could
include being too quiet, talking too much, too much gesturing, being too
friendly or even having an uneven walk. Participants at the conference were
also able to participate in a LDS genetic cataloging project by
providing a sample by using a mouthwash and then providing a
four-generation chart. Vincent D’Orazio (3418) was a conference speaker.
He spoke on the meaning of names and his experiences cooking for his
Italian family. The next
conference will be in Kansas City in 2004.
Elsie
Fucile’s family guests, Ray and Emily Ellsworth, told
us of their travel experiences in Italy, traveling to Furlo, Marche. When they
visited their family’s village, they learned that the location of records
depended on which side of the river you lived on. They went to a hotel owned
by someone with the same Fucile surname.
But despite the fact that they had only 50 families in the village, no
one knew anything about their family. In
1909, when the family immigrated, the population was still only 200. They had
brought an old family photo with them. A parish priest they met tried to help
them. While no one in the town seemed to know anything about their family,
they found many headstones in the town cemetery with familiar family names and
in particular one, with a picture that matched the one they brought!
Barbara
Roberts (1202) has been corresponding with another individual who is
researching Maglio.
Maria
Roth (766) is corresponding with a family in Argentina about the surname Borre’.
The root of this name is in northern Italy, north of Genoa and south of Milan,
in a village called named Zerba.
Tina
Favero (4452) and Mave Freyberg are members of the Ladies of UNICO.
They will be at this year’s International Folk Festival on November
22-24, 2002 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The
theme is “The World Is Our Home”. They
will try to display wedding photos, third ward pictures and bocce.
Tina explained that Italians who left Bay View, Wisconsin to work in
the mines in Montana, played bocce when they got a chance.
We
received correspondence from Paul Carren (1683) asking for information on
Picciolo and Saltalamacchia. Dee Leonard had written to us asking about
Corbisero, Dimapoli and Ditello from Naples. If you have any information about
these surnames, please contact me and I will pass on the information
Pat
Therkelson (2356) was contacted by the Roma Lodge in Racine, Wisconsin.
We will explore the possibility of making a genealogy presentation or
hold a workshop for them.
In
January, 2003, we will contact the Festa director to offer our services for
Festa Italiana, July 17-20, 2003 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Our letter will explain what we are willing and able to do and ask them
to contact us if they are interested.
Our meetings in 2003 will be Saturdays, January 11,
April 12, September 13 and November 8, 2003 at the Italian Community Center,
631 E. Chicago Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
We will meet, starting at 10:30 a.m. and conclude the formal meeting at
Noon. Those that wish to, will
then go to the restaurant, order lunch and continue to share information and
help one another. Everyone is welcome to attend our next meeting.
If you would like to
post a query in the Italian Times, please contact me.
I will collect it with other queries from other members and send it in.
If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact George Koleas at (262) 251-7216 after
7:00 p.m.
Submitted by George Koleas
