Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help!

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swcolleen
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Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help!

Post by swcolleen »

Hi! I am new to this message boards so please bear with me. I have been trying to locate my family history in Italy. Here is what I know and what I am trying to find:

What I Know:
My great grandfather Luigi Burgo came over to the US via Ellis Island in 1906 from the Port of Naples. According to my grandmother (his daughter) he was from Salandra Italy. He had a brother Michele or Micheal (depends on which cencus you read!) that came over in 1903 and then sponsored Luigi to come to USA. As far as I know, their parents stayed in Italy.

Luigi was born in 1886 in Italy. Michele born in 1882 or 1884 in Italy(This date is not clear).

Luigi's wife Antonia (aka nettie, Nadie, or Antoinette in US) came over from Salandra as well in 1907 but I can not find her in Ellis Island. According to my grandmother, Antonia's maiden name was "Spa-roll-a", at least that is how she pronounces it but I can not locate that spelling ANYWHERE and I am pretty sure that my interpretation of the spelling is nothing close to what it might really be.

Antonia was born in 1889 in Italy. Her parents and at least one sister stayed in Italy. My grandmother tells me that Antonia used to send money to her sister in Italy who was very poor and slept on hay.

I am trying to locate any information on Luigi's parents and his birth/baptism/etc in Italy as well as any general info on Salandra. I have done some searches but I am unclear as to if Salandra is now part of a different municpality or where?

Also, I am VERY interested in trying to identify any variations on how their names may have been spelled in Italy, ESPECIALLY Antoinia's since I don't think the spelling I have "Sparola" is anything close to the real thing.

OH-Luigi and Antonia met in Italy but were married in US.

I don't know if anyone will be able to help but I appreciate any guidance or assistance anyone has to offer!
Thank you!!!
Colleen
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by suanj »

swcolleen wrote:Hi! I am new to this message boards so please bear with me. I have been trying to locate my family history in Italy. Here is what I know and what I am trying to find:

What I Know:
My great grandfather Luigi Burgo came over to the US via Ellis Island in 1906 from the Port of Naples. According to my grandmother (his daughter) he was from Salandra Italy. He had a brother Michele or Micheal (depends on which cencus you read!) that came over in 1903 and then sponsored Luigi to come to USA. As far as I know, their parents stayed in Italy.

Luigi was born in 1886 in Italy. Michele born in 1882 or 1884 in Italy(This date is not clear).

Luigi's wife Antonia (aka nettie, Nadie, or Antoinette in US) came over from Salandra as well in 1907 but I can not find her in Ellis Island. According to my grandmother, Antonia's maiden name was "Spa-roll-a", at least that is how she pronounces it but I can not locate that spelling ANYWHERE and I am pretty sure that my interpretation of the spelling is nothing close to what it might really be.

Antonia was born in 1889 in Italy. Her parents and at least one sister stayed in Italy. My grandmother tells me that Antonia used to send money to her sister in Italy who was very poor and slept on hay.

I am trying to locate any information on Luigi's parents and his birth/baptism/etc in Italy as well as any general info on Salandra. I have done some searches but I am unclear as to if Salandra is now part of a different municpality or where?

Also, I am VERY interested in trying to identify any variations on how their names may have been spelled in Italy, ESPECIALLY Antoinia's since I don't think the spelling I have "Sparola" is anything close to the real thing.

OH-Luigi and Antonia met in Italy but were married in US.

I don't know if anyone will be able to help but I appreciate any guidance or assistance anyone has to offer!
Thank you!!!
Colleen
Hi: for Luigi & Michele Burgo you can request the birth certificate and all certificates in Salandra Common http://www.comunedisalandra.it/ official website and http://digilander.libero.it/salandracomera/mostra.htm ancient pictures of Salandra and people..
---------
Office Common address:

Ufficio Anagrafe
Via Regina Margherita
75017 Salandra (MT)
Italia
---------------
If Luigi married in Italy also you can know exact spelling about Antonietta with request marriage certificate...
regards, suanj
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by ptimber »

Cioleen in addition to what that sage wise woman Suanj's advice to you I would like to opffer another alternative which is to go to the nearest family history library of the Mormon church nearest your home and rent out the micorfilm for Salandra civil records of births,marriages and deaths from 1809 to 1910 which are found under Salandra and then imn addition under the matera Matera civil records as well. Ther eis a book titled Discovering your Italian Ancestors by Lynn Nelson which is an excellent companion for the micorfilms. The cosi is nominal (about $3.00) and you can make copies. Peter
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

Thank you so much for the help so far. I will be checking the websites and the morman information.

Luigi and Antoinette were married in US as far as I know and I have been trying to find that record here in NJ where they lived with no luck so far. I think my trouble is the spelling of her last name. I actually just contacted a priest at the church my grandmother said they went to for everything and he is going to see if he can locate any information on their marriage for me.

ptimber where can I find that book? at any local bookstore?

EDITED to day: I found the book at Book store! Thanks!

Thank you so! I appreciate all the help. I think I am going to like it here!

Colleen
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by VaDeb »

Dear SWCOLEEN,

The NJ marriage records are searchable at the NJ State Archives in Trenton, NJ. They are arranged alphabetically by GROOM by year and are avaialbe up until 1920. So, if they were married prior to 1920 you can search for the marriage record yourself. That will give you the maiden name you are looking for.

I have been to the archives several times. They have very convient, free, parking on site and they are very helpful.

Hope this helps.

Debbie

PS. Peter and Suanj give great guidance, so follow their advice.
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

Thanks debbie! I will try to check them out. Do you know if you need an appointment? I will try to see about getting down there-i have off next week so it would be perfect-Thanks!!

PS does it cost?
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by mfjp »

Hope this helps somewhat.... couldn't find an Antonia.... "Sparazzola" is what it could be.... maybe someone else can confim...

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipM ... 2438010455

First Name: Giovanni
Last Name: Spararrola
Ethnicity: Italy, Italian South
Last Place of Residence: NY, Salandra
Date of Arrival: August 10, 1905
Age at Arrival:  48    Gender:  M    Marital Status:  M  
Ship of Travel: Montevideo
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0026

mfjp
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by VaDeb »

When I was there this summer the only cost was for copies, and I think it was 50 cents a page. Parking is free in an underground garage or lot behind archives. Where you park depends on the US threat level. Security is great, lots of State and Trenton police around.

http://www.njarchives.org/links/webcat/ ... ealt2.html is a link for the archives catalog. I was wrong, marriage records are available until 1940 according to the catalog. Anything you can get there yourself is well worth it. State charges $4.00 a certificate and I have usually had to wait 3 - 4 months for it to arrive via mail. Also, mail requests have to be very specific. NJ has strict rules about who can request certificates. Take advantage of anything you can find in the archives.

No appointment needed. If it gets busy, they rotate people every 2 hours between microfilm reader/printer and microfilm readers.

Debbie
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

mfjp Thank you for taking the time to look. I really appreciate it. Do you think the name could be Sparazzola? It wouldn't surprise me at this point.

According to the information I have from my grandmother, what I do know is that Antonia or however she said/spelled her name when she came over, came over in 1907 and was 18 years old. I have tried looking at Ellis island for a varation but have not had much luck-of course I am still getting used to doing the searches. I REALLY appreciate the time you took to look.Thank you so much!!!

Deb Thanks for the info. Trenton is not too far from where I live so a day trip down is not unheard of. I have tried a few online things that say they are archives/records but never find anything...I am starting to wonder if maybe they lived in Camden but got married in Philly or something. The church that they went to was built in 1903 so one would assume that is where they got married (and according to my grandmother it is where) but who knows??

Does anyone think that it is at all possible that they were married in a church but not by the state?

Thanks again everyone!!
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by mfjp »

I think it is... Sparazzola.. but who ever transcribed the manifest thought is was Spararrola... which is closer to the name you mention at the beginning of your post... I could be wrong though.

I am also checking out the name Nicola .. Nicholas Santeramo, as this Giuseppe was going to his home... maybe there is a NJ connection somewhere with the name Santeramo. Are you familiar with this name?

By any chance, did Antonia, Antonietta have another sibling come to the USA? You did mention that "at least one sister stayed in Italy"...

Really nice to see a variety of help here! :P

mfjp
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by ptimber »

The surname Sparazzola does not exist in current day Italy and there does not appear to be any listed in the ellis island website. The italian surname dictionary also has no listing for Sparazzola. While there may be a viable name Sparazzola somewhere it is rather remote possiblity fior you Coleen. Peter
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by ptimber »

I take that back, the ships manifest does indeed show Sparazzola and not spararrola. The cursive writing comparres favorably with the same turn of the century script with other passengers with the "z" written as if it were an "rr". Give mfpj a gold star. Peter
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

You guys are all so helpful and I am loving it.

To answer the questions...

From what I understand, Antonia came over to US from Salandra Italy in 1907 to meet up with Luigi Burgo and get married. He came over a year earlier and was sponsored by his brother Michele Burgo. She was 18 when she came over. According to my grandmother, Antonia did not have other family in the US. She did have a sister that stayed in Italy. I said "at least one sister" b/c I don't know and I don't think my grandmother has any idea of any other siblings but since I don't know...I like to leave it open.

I assume she came through Ellis Island but I am not sure. I think that prior to Luigi arriving, Michele actually lived in Philadelphia and so I thought that MAYBE Antonia come through a port there but I haven't been able to find anything.

The maiden name Sparolla??? is what my grandmother says. She pronounces it "Spa-roll-a" but doesn't really know the spelling and is unclear. My grandmother is one of the younger children and all the rest are not around so its hard to get any more information on my great grandparents.

My thought is that when Antonia came over to the US from Italy, and was asked her name...she may have used Nettie, Antoina or any variation that SOUNDs like that and the same thing for the last name. For all I know she may have pronounced her maiden name one way nad it was written down another. (an example of this is when my great great grandfather on the other side came over-his surname in Italy was Emeno but it was pronounced "Am-A-no" and is now spelled Ameno!)

Again...thanks for the help...I am searching over here and I appreciate the input from everyone as it gets my mind racing. Who knows...someone might say something that just starts a chain of connections!

Thanks!!!!
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

OH I meant to say that the name "Santeramo" doesn't ring any bells for me but since I have limited information...there is always a possibility!

I am not sure if Michele Burgo had any connections before he got here. Accoding to what I could tell from the ship manifest he came over in 1903 and paid for it himself. Other than that I could not understand what was written.

Thanks again!!!
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Re: Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help

Post by swcolleen »

Does anyone know if it is possible that the surname "Burgo" in US could be "Bergo" in Italy?
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