Macchieraldo

[gloegrl1]

Hello!
I haven't posted in several months, thought I'd give it a shot again.
I'm searching for my ancestor Jean Macchieraldo. Born about 1818, immigrated to US with wife and 3 children in 1860.

I located the manifest I believe has this family listed on it. It has the family as being from Sardinia.

After arriving in the US, he changed his name to John Maskrod.
All US census indicate he was born in Italy, wife and children in Switzerland.

I've tried to connect with other Macchieraldos, even on Facebook with no success.

I emailed a couple of requests to locations in Italy, one response and no luck. I'm not giving up, but it's a discouraging search. Anymore tips for an amateur?
Thank you

[uantiti]

Hi,
I'm Italian and Biella is my home town although I live near Venice now (250 miles away), There are several people with surname Machieraldo (with one "c") and Macchieraldo (with double "c") in Biella and its province. In Cavaglià, a small town about 15 miles from Biella there is also a street: "Via Machieraldo" and I think Machieraldos orginated from there. In the past many people from that area emigrated to Switzerland as that country could offer a better future. I knew a couple of people with that surname. In my opinion their origin is not from Sardinia. You could try and contact the church in Cavaglià and see if they can search for a Giovanni or Gianni (Jean is not Italian) Machieraldo or Macchieraldo born around 1818 who emigrated to Switzerland but remember this surname in that town was common and first name Giovanni was more than common so there might be lots of person of the same name. Without parents names and a date of birth it looks very hard.
Here is the address for the church

Parrocchia di San Michele Arcangelo
Piazza Parrocchiale
13881 CAVAGLIA' (Biella)
Italy

I don't know the name of the priest but I can it for you if you decide to get in touch. Let me know.

Ada

[pink67]

I located the manifest I believe has this family listed on it. It has the family as being from Sardinia

.

Maybe they stated Sardinia because they were born at the time of the Kngdom of Sardinia (Piedmont region was included):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Sardinia

Laura

ciao Ada!

[uantiti]

ciao Ada!

[PeterTimber]

While Macchieraldo is currently located almost totally in the Piemonte region (27 comuni and highly concentrated in the same area of Piemonte as well) there are none listed for Sardinia which is an indication not a proof that the surname's origin isnot Sardinia.

The Societa Genealogica Della Svizzera Italiana can be contacted in Australia (of all places! )if you have questions about genealogical research in Canton TICINO.

A. John Parker whose e-mail address is ajohnp@starwon.comn.au if anybody is interested provides free advice but also offers professional help if requested. This is the person to ask about the origin(s) of the surname Macchieraldo. As an added note There is no Macchieraldo listed inthe Italiahn surname dictionary indicating the name is local in origin or imported from abroad and Italianized. =Peter=

=Peter=

[gloegrl1]

Thank you to all who responded to my post. When I had originally posted this question several months ago, a very kind lady provided me with lots of helpful information. That's when I learned about the Piedmont and the Kingdom the kingdom of Sardinia connection.

Uantiti has something with the Switzerland immigration idea. Jean Macchieraldo's wife and children were all born in Switzerland. Because his first name was Jean, do you believe there is a possibility he was French? Maybe from a French speaking part of Italy? His children all had French sounding names as well, Marie Josephine, Jean Louis and Marie Aline.

His wife's name was either Madeline Cowie or Magdelene Virginie Cavey. She disappears after arriving in the US. I guess she either died or they divorced. Jean marries 2 more times in the US, one marriage ending in divorce.

My distant cousin who is searching as well said her grandmother (who would have been a great grandchild of Jean, I believe) always told her they were from "the tip of the boot". Which tip, I don't know! Tip top? Tip toe?

Thanks again for all the offers of assistance and great new information.

[PeterTimber]

Didn't you e-mail Parker in Australia for assistance???? =Peter=

[gloegrl1]

No, Peter, not yet. Hoping to have that completed by today. My father has been in the hospital since October and I visit him every day, in addition to working and two children. Oh, and my husband just decided he wasn't happy after 20 years of marriage and left last week. I've kind of got my hands full and genealogy unfortunately comes last. Probably too much info, but I thought you'd want a really good excuse. Please don't think i don't appreciate the assistance.

[PeterTimber]

Sorry for the family circumstance. Its just that Parker will assist while you wait. If he/she recommends professional research you have options to say np. =Peter=

[gloegrl1]

Hi Peter,
I finally had the opportunity to email John Parker with my inquiry regarding Macchieraldo about 2 weeks ago. So far I haven't recieved a response. Honestly, this is the only forum where I have any luck with questions. I just keep hoping I'll stumble upon something.
Thanks so much for the suggestions and info.