Pietro Belsito

[Belsitoj]

Thank you so much!!!! I am going blind from looking this information!!! I need to play around with the site you found this on and learn to navigate it. It seems like there may be a lot more information on there than Familysearch or Ancestry. Thank you and Livio so much.

[AngelaGrace56]

Very happy to help. I've located the marriage banns and will post shortly. They don't really add too much information to the Marriage Record but will post anyway with a quick translation as I need to attend to family matters.

Re the occupation Bracciante:
Refer to this thread here (interesting post by Erudita on 11 February 2016: http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/l ... te#p241302

Angela

[Belsitoj]

ok Thanks. Wow, that is interesting. No royalty on that side of the family.

[AngelaGrace56]

ok Thanks. Wow, that is interesting. No royalty on that side of the family.

There's got to be a duke somewhere, or at least a guide - another possibility.

Yes, very interesting, and informative research undertaken by Erudita.

Angela

[AngelaGrace56]

Marriage Banns: No 147 Vincenzo Belsito, unmarried, and Agostina Duca, unmarried
Caltanissetta: 20 August 1900, 1 pm

Before the official appeared:
Prospective Groom: Vincenzo Belsito, celibe (unmarried), 24 yo, bracciante, residing Caltanissetta, son of deceased Pietro, bracciante, who had been a resident of Caltanissetta, and (son of) Mariantonia Ferrauto, residing in this (town).

Prospective Bride: Agostina Duca, nubile (unmarried woman), 17 yo, casalinga, residing Caltanissetta, daughter of Salvatore, zollalaio?, and of Rosa Volpe both residing Caltanissetta..........

It doesn't really give much more info to the Marriage record. The occupation zollalaio has got me stumped. It is obviously the maker or seller of something. It might be a cobbler, I don't know.

http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.i ... ewsIndex=0

Re Family Search and Ancestry, they are good sites. I personally prefer Family Search. The reason why people find them hard to research is because not everything has actually been indexed – ie the information has not been extracted from the records and entered into the system. You will only find the information by using the search tool if the record you are looking for has been "indexed". Otherwise, you need to go through each record manually and/or look for the index (then go find the record) which is what we have been doing with the antenati site we are using (the Italian ancestry site).

Angela

[mmogno]

daughter of Salvatore, zollalaio?, and of Rosa Volpe both residing Caltanissetta........

zolfataio

[AngelaGrace56]

daughter of Salvatore, zollalaio?, and of Rosa Volpe both residing Caltanissetta........

zolfataio

Oh yes, I can see the tail of the letter "f" now. I didn't see it before. Grazie, mmogno.

So a "sulphur miner"?

Angela

[Belsitoj]

wow that is really interesting. I know when my grandfather came to the United States he was a coal miner in Pennsylvania so I am surprised he didn't get into sulfur mining. Have to ask him when I see him in Heaven.
I guess I never realized there was an index when looking up records. I just started blindly going through the records and got frustrated. I'll have to look into that more. Thanks Again. I have a lot to look over now.

[mmogno]

a "sulphur miner"

[Belsitoj]

Thanks.
I just cannot even imagine working in a sulfur or a coal mine.

[AngelaGrace56]

a "sulphur miner"

Thank you for the confirmation and pic mmogno. A terrible job, I'm sure.

Angela

I know when my grandfather came to the United States he was a coal miner in Pennsylvania so I am surprised he didn't get into sulfur mining.

I'd say mining for either would be really hard work and very dangerous. I remember as a child visiting friends in a coal mining town. There had been a cave in a few months or years earlier and mum said that the father who was a coal miner never seemed the same after that. I can't exactly remember all the details of what happened.

Do you have your grandfather's passenger record. It's on the Ellis Island site and I tried copying it to post here but for some reason I am unable to do so. Here are the indexed particulars. If you would like a copy of the actual Passenger List, just ask and someone will know how to do this and post it for you.

Details from Family Search site:

Vincenzo Belsito
New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island)

Given Name: Vincenzo
Surname: Belsito
Last Place of Residence: Caltanisetta
Event Date: 19 Mar 1904
Age: 27y
Nationality: Italian South
Departure Port: Naples
Arrival Port: New York
Gender: Male
Marital Status: M
Ship Name: Perugia

Citing this Record
"New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFB1-SWL : 6 December 2014), Vincenzo Belsito, 19 Mar 1904; citing departure port Naples, arrival port New York, ship name Perugia, NARA microfilm publication T715 and M237 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Also while looking for this I noticed that some records for Caltanisetta have been indexed so you should be able to use the Family Search Site to search and then use information you find to locate the records. The actual records will be on the antenati site which we have been using. Just be aware that often errors are made in the indexing due to the fact that the script is often hard to decipher. You can still ask us to translate for you and/or help locate.

Angela

[liviomoreno]

Glad to see that you all eventually agreed about the Ferrauto spelling.
It is pronounced with the stress on the "u". I know because I have a friend with that surname.

[AngelaGrace56]

Okay, you win, Livio. You were however at an advantage because you were privy to important information we didn't have.

Angela

[mmogno]

Do you have your grandfather's passenger record. It's on the Ellis Island site and I tried copying it to post here but for some reason I am unable to do so. Here are the indexed particulars. If you would like a copy of the actual Passenger List, just ask and someone will know how to do this and post it for you.

Line #17

[Belsitoj]

Hi Angela, Livio and Mmogno. I do have a copy of a copy of the passenger record but the one mmogno posted is much clearer. Thank you both. I must be doing something wrong when I go on Familysearch because I either cannot find a lot of things I am seeing here or I need to go to the History Center to view. I am going to the Family Center after the holidays and will see if they can help me.

My grandfather was in an explosion when he was coal mining and was blind in one eye. Definitely dangerous job!!!

Livio, you are probably right about the spelling but I have been finding a lot of documents with it spelled both ways. So confusing.

Thank you all for your help!!!!