Ferla, from Sortino Sicily to Glasgow Scotland c 1900

[lizferla]

My Great Grandparents, Sebastiano Ferla and Maria Lo Manaco lived in Sortino. Sebastiano died before 1906 (I think!) but Maria still lived there in 1927.
They had 4 sons (Guiseppe c1870, Gaetano 1874, Paolo 1875 who moved to Scotland in 1900, and Salvatore 1883 my Grandfather) and 4 daughters (Vencenzina 1873, Clemintina1886, Vincenzina 1890, and Viginia 1890, who emigrated to USA from Scotland in 1914).
All the children were born in Sortino, and all moved to Glasgow Scotland about 1900.
Any ideas on were to start the research???????
All ideas welcome, thanks in advance, Liz Ferla

[Emmy]

Hi Liz
If its birth death and marriage documents you want to research there are films available from Family Search.org They have 'Family History Centres' where you can go to view the films. It doesnt cost very much to hire a film but they must be viewed at the F.H.C.
The first link I gave- if you scroll to the bottom there is a section where you can find a Family History Centre near where you live.

The second link is the list of films available for Sortino.

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library ... ato+civile++

You may also be able to find some information on Ancestry.com. Perhaps your local library may have a subscription to Ancestry and if so you will be able to access it for free.

If you want to find out about when they came to Glasgow you may be able to get some information from www.Scotlandspeople.org On this site you register for free but you can buy 'credits' £6 for 30 credits and if you want to view a list it costs 1 credit and if you want to view and download a document it costs 5 credits.

Hope this is of some help but if there is anything else you want to know just ask - lots of people here are very willing to help
Good Luck
Emmy

[Emmy]

Liz I've just checked Scotlandspeople.org and there are 100 matches for births with the surname Ferla between 1899 - 2006, 5 matches for weddings surname Ferla 199-1932 and 44 deaths surname Ferla between 1899-2006 It seems they lived in various districts of Glasgow. Perhaps you can start here and then work back.
Emmy

[lizferla]

Been there, got the t-shirt Emmy!
Know all my Ferla relatives in Glasgow, past and present. First family member to register in Glasgow is Poalo Ferla 1901 census. He went to Oban, and became a British citizen in 1927. Have all the docs for that too from Kew.
Its prior to 1900 I have the problems with!!!!!!!!
I know from Poalo's papers that Sebastiano was dead, but Maria LoManaco was still alive in Sicily in 1927.
I traced Virginia through Ellis Island site.
Have her arriving in New York, know her height, colour of eyes, how much money she had in her purse, but then she disappeared. Not on the US 1920 census anywhere! I thought she may have returned to Glasgow, but Poalo states he has a sister in the US in 1927, so presume its her.
Have been in contact with various states in US, paid for research, but no joy. Still 2 results to come in, so fingers crossed.
Dont know when Poalo's brothers and sisiters came to Glasgow, but have all the docs on them.
I would like to trace Sebastiano and Maria, find out about them, siblings, etc, why their children left but they stayed behind, when and why they sent all their kids.
Thank you so much for your reply though, its encouraging after so many brick walls!

[daveferro]

The second page at Ellis says she was going to her uncle Vincenzo Ceuverino, or Ceuaerino, not really sure of the last name at 1515 S. E (?) Pittsburg (should be Pittsburgh) PA. HeritageQuest Census does not allow for wildcards so I could not just search for names beginning with Ceu-

No Ferla around there, but 14 in 1920 (3 in PA) but none named Virginia, 6 in 1930 all in Connecticut and all men. There are other Ferla surnames in 1880, 1900 and 1910.

PagineBianche shows no Ferla in Sortino, but many around Siracusa Province. There is a town called Ferla nearby. ItalyWorld does not have a surname listing for Sortino, so I was not able to check the uncle's surname for proper spelling. The alternative is to try every combination.

If we had his name for certain, then I could search the census in Pittsburgh. Have to check the street also. Can you check Ellis again to see if you can read it and whether any relatives recognize the name? Seems that her uncles would have to be either Ferla or Lo Manaco, but...

Ellis has many Vincenzo Ceuverino "sounds like", but not like what is written in the manifest and not from Sortino.

[lizferla]

Thank you for trying!
Its like a brick wall, so close then WHAM, dead end!
Really appreciate the help though. New to this game, and need all the help I can get. Feel like a real failure though when you don't know where to turn next!
Thank you,
Liz