Arbëreshë surnames in Sicily

[xhiamma]

Hello,

I have been digging through my family history on my mother's side, which is Italian. I'm 25% Italian, and my great-grandmother was born in Caltagirone, Catania. She moved to New York when she was about 9 months old. Her mother, Francesca Mineo Riccobene (maiden name apparently "Meilo" or something similar) was married to Giacomo Riccobene in Italy, and I would like to find out a definite answer on my 2nd great-grandmother's maiden name and find out if I have any Arbëreshë in me.

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps out! I really appreciate it.
-xhiamma

[princessbubbles_1]

Hello and welcome to the fourm,
What is your grandmothers name, birth date, where did she live, who did she marry etc.. working from there we maybe able to track down her mothers maiden name.

[vj]

... my great-grandmother was born in Caltagirone, Catania. She moved to New York when she was about 9 months old. Her mother, Francesca Mineo Riccobene (maiden name apparently "Meilo" or something similar) was married to Giacomo Riccobene in Italy, and I would like to find out a definite answer on my 2nd great-grandmother's maiden name and find out if I have any Arbëreshë in me...

for reference, is this the correct 1925 census?
was Francesca Giacomo's 2nd wife?
http://imageshack.us/a/img825/9382/1925h.jpg

Residence Place:
101 Ida
Troy Ward 11, Rensselaer

head Giaeomo (Giacomo) Reicobene (Riccobene) 38, abt 1887 IT
- citizen
wife Frances Reicobene 23, abt 1902 IT
daughter Giacomena (Giacomina/Jacqueline) Reicobene 05, abt 1920 IT
- in US 3 yrs
son Angelo Reicobene 01, abt 1924 US

[xhiamma]

My great-grandmother's name was Jacqueline, and she was born in 1920, so that census must be correct. Francesca could have been Giacomo's second wife, but I'm not exactly sure.

She moved to New York when she was young, married O'Neil Casale at some point, and died in Arizona. I hope this information helps, thanks very much!

[vj]

Thank you for the additional information

If this is your gg grandmother's SSDI record, you can order her SS Application for $27
It will include her parent's names.

Name: Frances Riccobene
SSN: 106-10-xxxx
Last Residence: 12180 Troy, Rensselaer, New York
Born: 11 Mar 1901 Died: Jun 1973
State (Year) SSN issued: New York (Before 1951)


Social Security Application SS-5

His SS# is available here if you don’t already have it:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... _form=true

About the SS Application:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_re ... equest.htm

The SS-5, or Application for Social Security Number is a great resource for learning more about individuals who died after about 1960, and generally includes the following:
- Full name
- Full name at birth, including maiden name
- Present mailing address
- Age at last birthday
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Father's full name
- Mother's full name, including maiden name
- Sex
- Race as indicated by the applicant
- Whether the applicant ever applied for Social Security or Railroad Retirement before
- Current employer's name and address
- Date signed
- Applicant's signature

Order form SSA-711 (can be done online):
http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/foia_guide.htm

Please Note:
... under our current policy, we do not release the parents’ names on an SS-5 application unless the parents' are proven deceased, have a birth date more than 120 years ago, or the number holder on the SS-5 is at least 100 years of age.

[xhiamma]

Awesome! Thank you very much for your help.

[vj]

'xhiamma'
You're Welcome !
If you want to try looking for your family's Italian records, FamilySearch (free site) has civil records for Caltagirone online, in Italian
(most folks collect their major US records first to be sure they are researching the correct family in Italy - many given names in Italy repeat due to naming traditions)
Valarie

"Italy, Catania, Caltagirone, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1861-1941"
https://www.familysearch.org/search/col ... on/1483039

these may help:
about Italian Records:
http://www.italygen.info/2010/09/italia ... ction.html

and Italian Records Extraction:
http://www.italiangenealogy.com/italian ... extraction

[vj]

Giacomo Riccobene, wife Francesca Mineo, daughter Giacomina

Here's the 1921 Boston Ship Manifest
Giacomo and Francesca are on different pages
Giacomina is misidentified as a male (not unusual, esp with infants)

Ship Name: Princess Matoika
Arrival Date: 28 Feb 1921
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Port of Arrival: Boston, Massachusetts

http://imageshack.us/a/img526/922/1921gv.jpg
next page
http://imageshack.us/a/img717/8459/1921b.jpg

page 43, line 27
Giacomo Riccobene 33, abt 1888
- married
- last residence Catania, Caltagirone
- leaving father Angelo Riccobene in Caltagirone
- destination NY NY
- in NY 1913-1919
- joining cousin Giulio Passignano at 773 River Street
- born in Catania, Caltagirone

http://imageshack.us/a/img651/849/1921fm.jpg
next page
http://imageshack.us/a/img222/2600/1921fmb.jpg

page 44, lines 28-29
Francesca Minco (Mineo) 19, abt 1902
- married
- last residence Catania, Caltagirone
- leaving father Giacomo Minco (Mineo) in Caltagirone
- destination NY NY
- joining cousin Giulio Passignano at 773 River Street
- note added: see husband 43-27
- born in Messina, Lipari (may be incorrect since it was a 'ditto' from above)

Giacomo (Giacomina) Riccobare (Riccobene) 2 mos (abt Dec 1920)

[xhiamma]

Wow, this is really interesting stuff! A big grazie to you!! I hate to keep asking for more, but is there any way for you to figure out if I have any ties to Italo-Albanian families? I haven't found any relatives born in the Arberesh villages of Contessa Entellina, Santa Cristina Gela, or Piana degli Albanesi, but I still have hope. I believe they lived in neighboring cities, so at least there's that..

[vj]

... ties to Italo-Albanian families? I haven't found any relatives born in the Arberesh villages of Contessa Entellina, Santa Cristina Gela, or Piana degli Albanesi, but I still have hope. I believe they lived in neighboring cities, so at least there's that..

Most likely the best way to find a connection would be to trace your family back thru Italian records.
Or, perhaps you could find a family member/relative that has already done the research?

[xhiamma]

I've been on Ancestry trying to trace back the records, but I can't find any of Francesca's parents. :/ Unfortunately, nobody in my family has ever really cared to do any such research.

[vj]

...
If you want to try looking for your family's Italian records, FamilySearch (free site) has civil records for Caltagirone online, in Italian
(most folks collect their major US records first to be sure they are researching the correct family in Italy - many given names in Italy repeat due to naming traditions)
Valarie

"Italy, Catania, Caltagirone, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1861-1941"
https://www.familysearch.org/search/col ... on/1483039

these may help:
about Italian Records:
http://www.italygen.info/2010/09/italia ... ction.html

and Italian Records Extraction:
http://www.italiangenealogy.com/italian ... extraction

Here's an example:

Using Francesca's birth year from her SSDI record, I went to FamilySearch to see if I could find her birth record.

I went to
- Italy, Catania, Caltagirone, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1861-1941
- Browse through 1,082,992 images
- Caltagirone
- Nati 1901
- going to the last few pages (index is at the end) , I scrolled to the 'M' surnames and found a 'Mineo, Francesca' was on document 738
- after a few clicks I found this on image 315 of 518

http://imageshack.us/a/img19/594/1901fm.jpg

I posted this possible record on the translation page to see if we can get it translated for you

topic26124.html
---

edit: added

Also found Giacomo Riccobene's birth record using his WWI Draft Registration Card (on ancestry)
born 25 Mar 1887

1887 Birth Act with 2 Marriage notations
http://imageshack.us/a/img839/1666/1887gr.jpg

posted here requesting a translation:

topic26126.html

[xhiamma]

Oh, wow. I'm sorry if I sounded dumb just now, then. :X Thank you again.

[vj]

It looks like we're making some progress .
Marty ('adelfio') has translated several of these records on the Translation Section of the Forum.
language.html

From a notation on Giacomo Riccobene and Francesca Mine's Birth Acts
This appears to be their 1920 Marriage Act
http://imageshack.us/a/img19/2662/1920marriage.jpg

posted here requesting a translation:
topic26134.html

[xhiamma]

Wow! I really cannot thank you enough. This is great.