Great-Grandparents Cella/Celli from Avellino, Italy

[aerandel]

Hello everyone! I am working on a family geneology project and I am struggling with my father's side of the family.

My father's mother (my grandmother) was Sylvia, and our understanding was that her maiden name was Cella and that her family came here from Avellino, Italy before she was born. Her sister, Florence, was living when they came through Ellis Island but was very young. According to family information, their parents names were Aniello Cella and Tomasina Covina Cella.

When I actually started doing research for documentation on this, I found NOTHING for quite a while, until I finally stumbled upon a document on Ancestry.com and additional documentation on ellisisland.org that stated that a Mr. Aniello Celli (rather than Cella) came through in 1915 at age 22 (I believe the ancestry.com info is written wrong, it should say 22 if you look at the actual document) from Avellino with his final destination being Sharon, PA (which is where my family came from, so this would be accurate). I am thrilled to find this, and am now searching for documentation with the last name of Celli rather than Cella. If the age is accurate, he would have been born approximately 1893.

That same document states that he was meeting up with an uncle named Luigi or possibly Luis or something similiar in Sharon, and the last name of said uncle is impossible to read. The document also states that his wife was still at home in Avellino, and I can't read her name, but it doesn't appear to be Tomasina Covina as I had understood his wife's name to be. There is additional documentation saying that he had also come through Ellis Island in 1907 and 1914, also with the destination of Sharon, PA and to meet the same uncle.

I have searched and searched for documentation of Florence and her mother coming through Ellis Island possibly at a later time, but have found nothing.

The understanding within my family has always been that Celli/Cella was not the original last name of my grandmother's parents, that it was probably shortened when they came through Ellis Island. I also understand that my Grandma's name was actually supposed to be Caesarina, but was changed to Sylvia to fit in better in the US. I don't know if it made her birth certificate in that form or not. Her sister was Florence, and the family says that it wasn't originally florence but something similiar and was changed at Ellis Island.

I understand that there were additional siblings also...Aniello's daughters Angeline, Connie, plus the ones I mentioned Florence and Sylvia. There were 3 sons also, which I understand all died in Italy before they immigrated here. The sons names may have been Tony, Guiseppe, and Samuel. Two of the boys were twins.

I am writing all this because I am desperate for more documentation, and am hoping to trace this information farther. I want to find out Aniello's wife's name, who Luis or Luigi was, what Cella/Celli was when they were in Italy...the list goes on and on. I am going to include links to the documentation I've found in case anyone wants to scrutinize and try to help me.

I don't know if it will help, but my grandmother Sylvia married James Francis Murtaugh and they lived in Sharon, PA.

http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse. ... 4038204430

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipm ... 2430120037

http://www.ellisisland.org/search/shipm ... 0342110033

[Biff83]

Aniello's first (1905 manifest) shows his last residence as the town of Bagnoli Irpino in the province of Avellino

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0007

Biff

[Tessa78]

Hi Biff

Also this thread on same topic!


http://www.italiangenealogy.com/Forums/ ... tml#138262

T.

[aerandel]

Yeah, sorry about posting twice. I found the locations thread first and posted, and then realized it might make more sense to post in the geneology section. So there's two!