Guzzo

[kat7914]

I was always told that my grandfather, Giuseppe Guzzo, was Albanian. Then I came across a little town in Italy called Nicastro and when I googled it, it talked about how the village was Albanian. I have his birth certificate that says he was born in Caraffa de Cantanzaro which is quite aways from Nicastro when I found it on the map. I have found Guzzos in Nicastro and not sure I should consider them at all.

When I try to do any searching, I find a lot of my family names from Caraffa and many come up Nicastro so I don't know if maybe the families from those two towns were close knit or what.

Didn't familes tend to stay in their own little village for generations and generations? Were marriages ever fixed by families in two different villages or towns?

I have so many questions.......wasn't the first born son named after the grandfather? Usually? So if my grandfather was the first born and his name is Giuseppe, then his father's father must have been named Giuseppe. My grandfather's first born was named Francesco so my grandfather's grandfather must have been a Francesco. So it would go Giuseppe>Francesco>Giuseppe>Francesco, etc? If so, it would make it a little easier to go back as far as I can knowing this might be true. I've found a few Antonios that are possibilities. My uncle Tony was supposedly named after an uncle.

Do I sound confused yet? LOL I've been doing this since the 70s and, of course, put it away now and then, but with the Internet now, it's so much easier but still very frustrating.

thanks for everyone's help if you can help me.

Kathy A
right now in TExas, we live on the road in our motorhome

Family names are: Guzzo, Ferraina, Calio, Mazzei, Mancuso

[misbris]

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Here is a little article that talks about Albanian presence in Calabria.

http://www.initaly.com/regions/ethnic/arberesh.htm

Do you have some other info onyour ggfather, date of birth, immigration, where he settled, name of spouse?

[kat7914]

thank you misbris,

Oh yes, I have my great grandfater's name and who he married and have found him on the Elllis Island manifests so think he was born about 1859 to 1862. His parents were married in about 1862. His name appears on my grandfathers birth certificate, born in Caraffa Italy. So therefore, I figure my ggfather was from Caraffa. My grandfather always visited someone on Front Street in Hartford, Conn. I can't read the numbers. Something like "2 something 8". My grandmother, his wife's, family owned a store on Front Street.

I think my ggfather had two and possibly three brothers.....Pietro, Luigi and ANtonio.

I was hoping some of these names would help me find some relatives searching our family like me. I can't believe how confusing it can get.

Kathy

[Tessa78]

Kathy,

You may already have this manifest, but just in case you don't...this may help to get you started on your search in the USA for relatives. This is a manifest for Francesco Guzzo, age 39, married, sailing from Naples in 1898. He is from Caraffa and heading to Philadelphia to join his brother Pietro.
He's on line 1.

T.

[Tessa78]

This manifest (line 21) is for Pietro Guzzo, 43, from Caraffa, traveling with his son Antonio, 15. They are going to Philadelphia to brother/uncle Giovannbattista (sp?) Guzzo. The address is listed as 714 So. 7th St. Philadelphia.
They arriving inn NY on May 21, 1904, on SS. Piemonte.


T.

[kat7914]

Thank you so much for taking your time to find that for me. I did have that one. That's how I figured he had a brother named Pietro. BUT it helps me a lot to think you thought the same thing. I know it was written there, hard to read but there, but I'm on the right track. You verified my thinking.

Wish I could go back even farther. Like finding their parents. The one you found was my great grandfather.

thanks again. I've had some computer problems so haven't done much searching lately. Think I've come to a dead end anyway.

Kathy A

[Tessa78]

Have you considered writing to the comune? Since you know names, and birthdates, and have the comune, you could write away for your GGF birth record. There is usually no cost. There are resources available for you to write your letter in Italian at http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tters.html

You also could research your GGF parents yourself at the LDS Family History Center. They have microfilm of records available for Caraffa from 1809 - 1910. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... ato+civile++
Nati - Birth
Morti - Death
Battesimi - Baptism
Etc.

Go to their home page at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp and scroll down to put in your zip code and find if there is a center near you.

T.

[kat7914]

Thank you for your help. I hve done the family search thing but have not done the microfilm of records at an LDS History Center. I wrote to Caraffa way back in the 1970s and the person that received my letter at their courthouse happened to be my cousin! A cousin from my grandfather's first marriage which ended in childbirth. Anyway, he looked up and sent me several documents. My grandfather's birth certificate, his marriage cert. to his first wife and their son's birth certificate. Oh and when my grandmother gave birth to her first born, the birth certificate was there, too. I have been tempted to write again but thought everything had already been sent. The cousin and I did keep in touch for a little while but then we stopped writing. He was 57 then!

I thank you so much. Everyone has been extremely helpful and now I have another place to research......those microfilms. Thank you, T.

Kathy

[kat7914]

T.

Thank you for that manifest! I didn't have that one. How did you get the whole page to print? I've only been able to print screen. I hate it when I find one of my family's names and then the manifest isn't correct. LIke one was Irish names! How do you every find the correct manifest when that happens?

thanks again, you are wonderful!

Kathy

[PeterTimber]

There are two websitges for immigrant entry into the USA one is www.Ellisisland.org and the other is www.Castlegarden.org

Are you interested in Arabesh (Albanian surnames) by any chance?

=Peter=

[kat7914]

I don't know. My grandfather's name was Guzzo. Then there's Calio, Mazzei, and Ferraina in the ancestry. I have no idea about that. I'll check that other web site. I spend lots of time on the Ellisisland one.

Thanks for the link,

Kathy

[kat7914]

Was Castle Garden actually where the immigrants were processed like Ellis Island or is it just a web site?

Kathy

[kat7914]

Was wondering what Ma after a male's name meant. Like Pietro Guzzo Ma


thanks,
Kathy

[kat7914]

I just looked again and I found the Ma between the first and the last name.

anyone know what that means? the Ma

thanks,
Kathy

[vj]

Was Castle Garden actually where the immigrants were processed like Ellis Island or is it just a web site?

Kathy

Castle Garden Immigration Station:

From August 1, 1855 through April 18, 1890, immigrants arriving in the state of New York came through Castle Garden. America's first official immigrant examining and processing center, Castle Garden welcomed approximately 8 million immigrants - most from Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, Sweden, Italy, Russia and Denmark.

Castle Garden welcomed its last immigrant on April 18, 1890. After the closing of Castle Garden, immigrants were processed at an old barge office in Manhattan until the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Center on 1 January 1892. More than one in six native-born Americans are descendants of the eight million immigrants who entered the United States through Castle Garden.

http://genealogy.about.com/od/ports/p/castle_garden.htm