Ciconio, Piemonte, Ref: Cresto

[Lindalewiscresto]

Need information regarding Families: Cresto, Massucco, Mattioda, in Ciconio, Piemonte region Italy. Thank You Linda

[Maurizio]

Hello Linda.

Ciconio is a small village about 20 miles North of Turin.
I did a quick search on the Italian Phone listing for the 3 surnames you mentioned, and it seems there's only one Massucco currently living in Ciconio.
But I can assure you all three surnames are absolutely typical of this part of Piemonte Region (commonly called "Canavese"). Cresto and especially Mattioda are surnames particularly present in Castellamonte, a town with a population of about 10000 people, which is far from Ciconio no more than 3-4 miles.
To sum up, your roots are surely here.
I guess you should start from the most precise among the more recent infos you have about your ancestors (birth acts, or birthdate-birthplace) to begin a successful research.
If there's any other question I can try and answer, feel free to ask.

Ciao,
Maurizio

[Lindalewiscresto]

Maurizio, Thank you very much for you assistance. I know little about finding my family in Italy, but am slowly learning. Do you live near or in the Piemonte area? We plan on coming there, possibly by the fall if things go well. Thank you again for your help.

[Maurizio]

Linda,
yes, I live in the area and very close to the two places above mentioned: so, I'd be happy to meet you if and when you come and visit!

May I ask you a question? I obviously don't know nothing about your family and when they emigrated to U.S., but in my experience most of the people who left the villages around Ciconio - in the last decade of 19th century or in the first one of the 20th - originally settled in Pennsylvania, working in coal mines of Armstrong county. Other eventual "first destinations" were Clinton (Indiana), western Illinois and southern Arizona, almost always to get a job in mines.
Does that somehow match with the information you have on your ancestors? Just a curiosity, for a personal statistics I'm keeping.

Ciao,
Maurizio

[Lindalewiscresto]

Maurizio, I have all the information of my father, grandfather, and grandmother. I do not have anything except the names of my great grandparents. Those are the ones I listed in my initial letter. I was hoping to be able to find the information on Bartolomeo and both Pietros, but found there are many Cresto's with those first names, so now I think I will have to look for the Mattioda and Massucco's that married those men. My grandmother and grandfather both had the last name of Cresto. Confused? I sure am. It will probably turn out they were distant cousins. In fact I know my grandfathers brother married my grandmothers sister, so it will be fun to see who they are all related. The Cresto Family I am related to had, or has a furniture company and I understand they also have a chocolate company, but I don't know any of them. Thank You again very much for your help and concern. Linda

[Lindalewiscresto]

Maurizio, In answer to your question on the mines, yes, my grandfather did work in the coal mines in Gamerco New Mexico. He also had a brother or two that worked in the mines here. One, Angelo Cresto was killed in the coal mines in Utah. My father worked in the Natural Gas industry here.
So, you were right, they did work in the mines. You are pretty good at this I think. Linda