Ferla from Sortino, Sicily

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 03 May 2008, 18:50

Found 2 more possible family members on Ellis Island site.
Sebastiana Ferla aged 3 and Vincenzo Ferla aged 3 months left Sortino in Sicily, with Lucia Albicocco. They sailed from Napoli on the Campania on 5th June 1905.
My Grandparents, Sebastiano Ferla and Maria LoMonaco were from that region, their daughter Virginia came to Glasgow then USA in 1914.
Paolo Ferla left Sortino in 1900 for Scotland.
Want to trace siblings if possible.
Any ideas?????
Cheers,
Liz

Seraphina · Post by **Seraphina** » 03 May 2008, 21:38

Hi Liz,

Have you looked on the census websites for Scotland or Scotland's People (BMDs), which you will have to register for?

There are also some Ferla's in Wales. You'll find these on the Free UK BMD site, and possibly others.

Good luck.

Seraphina

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 03 May 2008, 22:50

Thanks, yes.
Know all the Ferla's related to me on that site. Its the generation before, in Italy, I can't trace.
Thanks for the suggestion though!
Liz

Seraphina · Post by **Seraphina** » 04 May 2008, 07:21

Hi Liz, sorry I didn't realise you already had the UK relatives.

In that case, have you applied to the comune of Sortino in Sicily for their birth details? If Sortino doesn't hold the records, have you tried Catania or Siracusa - the two largest towns in that region of Sicily?

Checking on the gens Italia site, the surname Ferla currently occurs largely in that SE corner of Sicily.

Hope this helps.

Seraphina

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 04 May 2008, 11:42

Thanks Seraphina.
Do you have an address I could use?
New to this, very keen, but a bit thick!!!!!!!!!
Cheers,
Liz
PS ALL suggestions welcome!

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 04 May 2008, 11:47

Tried Gens Italia, and as I should have expected its all in Italian. Told you I was a bit thick!
Need to take some Italian lessons, and will try again.
Is there a translation button on the page?
Cheers,
Liz

daveferro · Post by **daveferro** » 05 May 2008, 04:02

Liz,

You can use Babel Fish to translate, either the Yahoo version:

Yahoo Babel Fish, which is also available on the Yahoo Toolbar;or at AltaVista:

AltaVista Babel Fish

You have to choose the From and To languages for either a block of text or paste in a web address in the dialog box below.

If you type in Gens-Italia in most search engines, there will be a Translate option underlined next to the name in the results. Clicking on this will open a window with the translated site, within reason.

Paolo45 on this forum says his family is Lomonaco from Villarosa, Sicily.

People here will help you translate too.

Dave

daveferro · Post by **daveferro** » 05 May 2008, 07:05

Liz,

On a whim, tried to google Virginia Ferla and then at FindAGrave for Pennsylvania. No Virginia, but three Ferlas, all born in US:

Ferla, Carmella Rose Hill Cemetery
b. May 25, 1925, d. Apr. 15, 1988 Ambler
Montgomery Co. PA

Ferla, Frank Same as Above
b. unknown, d. June 2000

Ferla, Maria St. Antony of Padua Cemetery
b. Dec. 22, 1921, d.Dec 21, 1922 Montgomery Co. PA

The ages are not right for the people you posted but the names may have been passed down. Montgomery Count is where Philadelphia is, so the cemetery is across the state.

If you click on the names, you find that the first two records have been added by Charles Lamonica. By clicking on his name, you can see his profile and leave a message. You have to register to do this, but it is free and well worth belonging. The members receive requests to photograph the sites.

There are two Lamonica listings Doboolina (sic) and Teresa, born in 1897 and 1884, respectively. Birthplace not shown. The cemetery is SW of Pittsburgh.

FindAGrave Search for Ferla Pennsylvania

I left him a message with a link to your post.

Seraphina · Post by **Seraphina** » 05 May 2008, 07:36

Hi Liz, below please find the comune di Sortino details, to help you progress your researches in Sicily.

I have found that the quickest means of communication is email. This is the 21st century, after all.

You will have to email them in Italian with the details you require:-

(For example "I would like to obtain the birth certificate of FERLA, Maria, born Sortino March 1862, and would be grateful if you could advise me who to apply to".)

Keep yr request to the bare minimum and, hopefully, you should get a reply by email within a few days telling you where you should apply to. My guess is that records will be kept in either Siracusa or Catania. But you may also be directed to the local mother church (I have checked on the Sortino website and there are 6 or 7 local churches) or the diocesan office.

Hope this helps.

Here is the comune details:

C O M U N E D I S O R T I N O
Provincia di Siracusa

Bandiera dâ€™Onore del Consiglio dâ€™Europa

Ufficio Comunicazione
Tel. 0931/917454 â€“ Fax 0931/917425
e-mail: comunicazione@comune.sortino.sr.it

Seraphina.

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 05 May 2008, 13:05

You have all been so kind, really appreciate your help and suggestions.
daveferro - Virginia does not show up in any of the census in USA. She disappears after her arrival at Ellis Island in 1914. Checked out the ships log, she was definitely on board that ship, and did arrive in USA. Presume she must have married prior to the 1920 census. I know from one of her brothers she was definitely still somewhere in USA 1927. If her maiden name is FERLA, then her children would have her married name, not Ferla. So the FERLA graves you found would not be her or her children. Her brother was Frank Ferla, she lived with him in Glasgow prior to moving to USA. Feasible that could be him. Thanks, will follow that up.
Seraphina - Thanks for the contact address. Maria's maiden name was LoMonaco or Lomonaco, don't know how common that name is in Sortino! Have no idea of her date of birth, or anything else! Same for Sebastiano Ferla. Both born about 1850, that's it! But worth a try. Again thanks,
Liz Ferla xx

daveferro · Post by **daveferro** » 19 May 2008, 05:10

Liz,

I understand that her maiden name was Ferla, but the two names being together could be a good start.

Can someone read the uncle's surname in the Ellis manifest. With that we can find the census and whether Virginia was there after her arrival.

I found a site, http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ which was a link from
http://www.findmypast.com/ but seems to be a pay site. Surprisingly, Ferla was not found.

Dave

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 19 May 2008, 17:06

Spent a day at the latter day saints church researching.
Tried every Virginia around her year of birth in the 1920 USA census, none matched.
Have tried loads of people, and had lots of variations of the uncles surname, but cant find him in the census either.
Am a member of Scotland's People. First member was Virginia's brother Paolo in 1901, who later applied for Citizenship in Scotland 1927. That's how I found out the family were not from Ferla but Sortino, and that their mother Maria LoMonaco or Lomonaco was still alive in Sortino in 1927!
Member on following sites, with no luck yet!!!!
Ellis Island
Family Search.org
Ancestry.com
Ancestry.co.uk
GenForum
GenesReunited
Scotland's Family Tree
and have had trial periods on many more.
Think its a lost cause, or I need to pay a visit to Sicily, see if I can get any leads that way!
Thanks for all your help and advice though, really appreciate it,
Liz Ferla

daveferro · Post by **daveferro** » 01 Jun 2008, 04:31

There is a notation (for naturalization usually) on the manifest for Virginia - not sure of the entire number: 1-2621404 and 4-7-39 (date)

Can someone check the naturalization files?
vj, I learned about these notations from a post by you. Can you check?

lizferla · Post by **lizferla** » 01 Jun 2008, 15:00

Possible naturalization notation:
1-262404 4-7-39
1 = District Court of Boston, or New Haven CT
7 Apr 1939
This information has been supplied via another web site.
Have tried to take this forward by emailing and writing to Districts concerned, even sent cheques!!!!!
But replies state they have no information, and return the cheques, minus postage costs!
Any info appreciated.
Thanks to all who have taken the time to reply,
Liz Ferla

vj · Post by vj » 04 Jun 2008, 14:37

Hi Liz!
Dave and I have been doing a bit more noodling on your family:
No luck with Virginia Ferla or her uncleâ€¦
Valarie

Tried NY arrivals (Ellis) any Vincenzo from Sortino
Anyone with last name starting with â€˜Câ€™ from Sortino

Tried several searches on ancestry:
Any Vincenzo in Allegheny County WWI Cards
Any Vincenzo 1910 & 1920 census in Pittsburgh
Any Virginia born in Italy arrived 1914, 1920 census: 111 possibilities
Any Virgina born 1889 +/-5yrs born in Italy arrived 1914, 1920 census: 39 possibilities
- none in Allegheny County
- 1 in MA
- 3 in CT

Also checked footnote for Western PA naturalizations
Any Vincenzo *rino

---
Uncle Vincenzo from manifest:

Similar surnames from Siracusa
Centorrino
Cassarino
Calandrino
Contarino
Cirino
Contrino
Camerino
Cinturrino

Address 1515 5th Ave Pittsburgh
---

On her manifest notations, have you checked to see if the
naturalizations from Boston/New Haven in 1939 are on microfilm from
the LDS?
The notations on Virginia's manifest may have been under her married name
or related to her husband's naturalization?
---

Virginiaâ€™s manifest that Livio found on your other post
1914 manifest
pg 2
Line 8