Help-- northern parts of Italy??

by **madrigalblue** » 24 Oct 2002, 22:15

Hello all, First of all, any replies in Italian are fine- I have access to a translator<IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_smile.gif"> I am trying to find information on a name that was most likely changed at Ellis Island. The surname is DellaFranzia. I am told it means \"of the French border.\" I have come across the popular \"Della Francesca\" name in Tuscany, but I do not have any idea how to continue. Should I be looking at specific references in Northern Italy? If so, where? I know that Frank and Josephine (or Josefine) were their first names. My grandfather (and possibly a sister) were born here after their immigration around the turn of the century. An Ellis Island search is VERY expensive-- $46.00 for 10 records. That\'s a lot for a college student. Can anyone help? Thank you, Tara DellaFranzia

by **ptimber** » 24 Oct 2002, 23:54

The name is either a derviation,alteration orvariation of Francia the country, France. So now whats the problem? www.ellisisland.org can give you all the information you need without any cost to you provided you sit down and research yourself. Now what are you looking for??Specific research objectives will help deterem,ine what course I can direcxt you toward. Peter

by **ptimber** » 24 Oct 2002, 23:55

what is the town or province of origin for your family??? Any reason why you think the name was changed??? Peter

by **madrigalblue** » 25 Oct 2002, 05:31

Peter: Thanks for your help. I do not know the province of origin. That is one of the things I am trying to determine. I am 100% positive that my family are the only DellaFranzias in the USA. There is a free Ellis Island search, but I did not find them there. Frank and Josephine DellaFranzia HAD to have come through there, because they settled in Philadelphia around the turn of the century and came in on the east coast. There are no other possibilities. Here is what I know: Josephine died of yellow fever when my grandfather was six. He was born in 1910 or 1911. I found out that he had a sister born in 1915-- he never talked about her. Frank, their father, put my grandfather in a Catholic school in Philadelphia. I am going to contact them tomorrow to see if Frank left any info with them about himself, but it seems as if Frank were distraught/angry/abusive and pretty much ditched him. I would like to find: -If I have family in Italy. -Where in Italy my name comes from. -What it was before it was changed... (an Italian penpal tells me that the name isn\'t quite \"authentic\" and must have been changed and says to consider the Tuscan Della Francesca). I know the name was at one point Della Franzia with a space, but that is common sense. Ellis Island will let you look through their ship crew manifests, but for that a \"donation\" of $46.00 is required<IMG SRC="images/forum/icons/icon_frown.gif"> You get to look at 10 documents. If worse comes to worse, I will have to use that service, but so far I can\'t find anything. I did not know that in Italian \"Francia\" is France... I thought it was Franca. This helps. Who knows? Perhaps they could not even read or spell very well and inadvertantly changed the spelling themselves? I will try Della Francia at Ellis Island and see what I get. Thanks! Tara

by **Bette** » 25 Oct 2002, 05:57

Here is an alternative search site which links to the Ellis Island Web site. It gives you more variations on which to search. It\'s excellent! There are several Della Franca\'s shown. You can put in a partial name: \"Della Fra\" and do a search on \"starts with\" or whatever you like. Here is the URL: http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/EIDB/ellis.html There is no charge for these searches on the web.

by **madrigalblue** » 25 Oct 2002, 07:02

Thank you! I just spent a ton of time on the Ellis Island site looking and couldn\'t find anything. I found a few more close matches though. One of the people I am looking for is a Frank DellaFranzia, and I found a Francesco DellaFazia from S. Viti, Chieti. I wonder if that could be him? I will try your link and see what I find. Thank you.

by **madrigalblue** » 25 Oct 2002, 07:23

I have lots of possibilities now, but none with the correct first names or initials. Francesco Della Fazia is still a possibility, but I cannot find his wife Josephine on there. Nor a Josefine, or Josefina, etc. I printed out the lists and will try to find a woman that came to Ellis island on the same ship or at the same time as Francesco Della Fazia. Anyone know what else I could try? Thanks.

by **ptimber** » 25 Oct 2002, 13:34

Toscana uses Franci while father north they use Franzi so I would concentrate on what you know until proven otherwise or else you willbe speculating. You need the town of origin to cut thru all the nonsense and obtain the documents or information from any existing relatives.You don\'t need money and all you eed is the ellis island website. That other site mentioned in too confusing since you have to read a lot of information and it can get confusing until you memorize the B.S. Peter

by **ptimber** » 25 Oct 2002, 14:45

You know immigrtasnts arrived in the USA at Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore as well as ellis island. Why don\'t you go to NARA and ask for form 81 Passsenger arrival records. Go to www.genealogylookups.com/narchives.htm and take it from there. This way you cover all ports of entry. Peter