Although I don't have any specific information on your ancestors, I would recommend a terrific nonfiction book, Blood Washes Blood, by Frank Viviano. It recounts his search for the truth about his Sicilian great-grandfather, also named Frank Viviano.

The SA genealogy site you would be interested is at http://genforum.genealogy.com/brazil/

Perhaps my experience is not typical, but I sent a birth certificate request via email to Chiusa Sclafani, Sicily, and received the certificate in three weeks. I was astonished it had come so quickly after nobody emailed me back.

The website of the comune had the name and email address of the ...

Hi, Mike,

I can't answer your question, but I do have a question for you: how long did it take for USCIS to conduct the index search?

Thanks,

Jim

I entered "Julo" into the Italian phonebook page and came up with only one hit: http://www.paginebianche.it/execute.cgi?ts=0&&l=en&qs=Cosentino%20Avv.%20Marino%20Julo&iq=001921683821015923000014&om=0&cod=Z18399750001&tu=1

(And, with my very rudimentary Italian, can't even tell if it is a first or ...

What a great story! It's a shame that only a small portion of the records were rescued.

Genealogy "how-to" books always mention school records, but I've never actually heard anyone say they've managed to find any. This gives me a glimmer of hope . . .

If you post which consulate you are applying at, I bet someone on the board can give you some insight on the question of date discrepancies.

My remark about needing to be in Italy after unification to be considered an Italian citizen was informed by a discussion I read on another board. You'll ...

A few quick questions and comments (with the caveat that I'm just beginning my research and in no way consider my answers authoritative--but hopefully helpful in some way):

1) Could you explain how you calculated the year of his birth, based on the death certificate? (Your equation says 1897-45 ...

The SSDI does not necessarily indicate where someone died, only their address when they received their last benefit payment. Is it possible your grandfather died in an adjoining state?

Also, have you had a chance to search for his obituary in the town he was living in at the time of his death?

One other thought that you've probably already considered: Have you checked to see if he obtained a delayed birth certificate? My grandfather got his birth certificate 50 years after he was born by submitting to the state of Illinois an affidavit from his aunt, his baptismal certificate, and another ...

Any chance that a baptismal record was created for him?

I made a horrible goof when requesting my great-grandfather's birth certificate from Sicily via email--I put down the wrong birth year (1892, instead of 1882). The commune sent me the birth certificate of his brother, which roughly approximated the date I submitted.

I would like to ask for help in ...

I'm sorry to say I don't have much on the Terranella line in Sicily itself. My great grandmother Anna Terranella was only one or two when she came to Louisiana in 1892 with her father, Salvatore Terranella, and mother, Josephine Randazzo, as well as her brother, Mariano.

Eventually they found their ...

According to the link Carmine provided on C. di Fitalia, "Nel 1852 Campofelice divenne frazione del comune di Mezzojuso." (I don't speak Italian, but the translator says it means that Campofelice (di Fitalia) became a part of Mezzojuso. That would explain the alternate names.

Once again, Carmine, you are correct! My great-grandmother's marriage record, which I just found for the first time, specifies her birthplace as Campofelice di Fitalia.