Italy help

[springdal]

Does anyone have any way for me to find info from family descending from Italy. I am trying to find the name of the parents of Agostino Gialanella, born 22 July 1884; died 18 Dec 1969; married Antonia Caruso; 15 Oct 1909 he arrived in USA from Italy, on the Mendoza. He had 6 children, Alfonse, Angelo, Lena, Ralph, Mary, and Helen. He was a tailor. This is as far as I have gotten, basically, and am trying desperately to find out about his parents. I believe his father's name was Alfonse Gialanella.

Thanks for any help.

[johnnyonthespot]

The ship's manifest should give you Agostino's place of birth or, at the least, his last residence in Italy. With that info and his date of birth, it is a simple matter to contact the comune where he was born and request his birth act.

[DebiHarbuck]

The 1909 manifest gives his place of birth and last residence as Guardia Lombardi.

[springdal]

Thank you, but I have that info. I am just wondering if anyone might have info about this family, specifically. I guess I am asking wrong...so thanks anyway.

[johnnyonthespot]

It is unlikely that anyone here would have info on your ancestors in Italy; possible, but unlikely.

Your best choice by far is to use the information given in your other threads here to contact Comune di Guardia Lombardi and request the birth and marriage acts. There is generally no charge for this service other than the cost of sending a letter to Italy and possibly a few euros for copying and mailing charges although most comuni do not charge at all.

Another option is to visit your local Family History Center (typically within the nearest Mormon / Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church) and order microfilms of civil records from Guardia Lombardi, a list of which is at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... +Guardia+L++

This route is not for the faint of heart, especially if you have never worked with these records before.

In the time it takes to order and receive the microfilms, you may already have a response from the comune...