Does anyone have information on the invasion/emigration of North African Moors to Reggio Calabria? Several web sites suggest the origins of my ancestral family name -"Richichi" - may be Arabic - "Raqiq". Thanks.

Does anyone out there have relatives from Terranova Sappo Minulio, Reggio Calabria? My family's ancestral home was there - last name of Richichi - Thanks.

Tessa -thanks again! That is Carmella, despite her husband's name spelled as "Francis Abite",not "Frank Ambesi" as was used throughout her married life and in her obituary. Also, her parents are correctly identified as "Tony" = "Antonio", and "Mary di Marie" = "Maria De Maria" (my great ...

The obituary found by Tessa in the Amsterdam Evening Recorder of February 3, 1976 not only shows a different spelling for my grandfather's sister's first name, but also her maiden name. Her name, as my branch of the family knew it, was: CARMELLA RICHICHI AMBESI. Her obituary lists her as CARMELA ...

Tessa- you are a wonder, finding such new material! I noted that once again there is a name change in the records: in her obituary "Carmella" is spelled with only one "l" - no wonder this work is so difficult!

Thanks again - Nick

Last night I examined some recently-inherited documents from my father's deceased sister and discovered handwritten information on Carmella Richichi, who was on a ship's manifest, found by this site's Tessa, as coming here with her sister Teresa, and going to their brother Vincenzo (my grandfather ...

Tessa - Thanks so much. Since I met Teresa in her old age and her husband and children in their home in Amsterdam, NY -- after she was frequently mentioned at home by my aunts and uncles and grandfather, I know she got here. I wonder if Carmella's name is the only one that was actually crossed out ...

Tessa - wonderful advice! I was afraid I was "hogging the website space". As a Newbie you can clearly see I don't completely understand the progess yet. Today I was at the local Family History Center verifying the goldmine of information you sent last week. The only thing I can't seem to follow up ...

Tessa - to avoid confusion for readers,I would like to DELETE my two previous postings - the one on Catona (totally irrelevant now, with the discovery of the TSM birthplace), and the one where I misspelled Terranova as Terravova. However I cannot find where to click to delete these two. Can you ...

Thanks - I misspelled "Terranova" in this posting and have done a new one with the correct spelling. My eyesight is not what it used to be!

My previous posting misspelled "Terranova" as "Terravova" - sorry. Also, I am particularly interested in information on my great-grandfather (Antonio Richichi), Great-grandmother (Maria de Maria Richichi), my grandfather (Vincenzo Richichi) and his siblings: Gaetano (a member of the Caribieneri ...

REVISED SEARCH: Since posting a request last week for information on the Richichi family in Catona, Reggio Calabria, I have learned through the help of Tessa that my ancestors were actually from Terranova Sappo Minulio, Reggio Calabria. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you - Nick

Tessa- thanks again for all your gracious help - I shall follow through on Monday when I go to the local Family History Center and their free access to Ancestry.oom, etc. Their summer hours are very abbreviated as they are served by volunteers only, and Mondays work for me. Also, I am more and more ...

Tessa - you are a WONDER! I am shaking from having read your last two postings, as I believe you are spot-on and have solved a mystery of at least 50 years! But first let me say, my vision is such that I cannot read handwritten manifests - even those I am finding when I go to the local Family ...

Thanks - I don't have a copy of the manifest on Teresa because it was so illegible,but the printout I have from AncestryInstitution.com of the New York Passenger Lists: 1820-1957 shows her coming alone on 12 June 1913, so if I said March earlier,I was in error. That would fit the date you gave me ...