Looking for info on Yovino or Iovino family in Caserta

[wyovino]

Hi,

My grandfather, Guiseppe Yovino (or Iovino) emigrated from Italy in 1907 when we was 16 years old. His last residence was shown as Caserta. He traveled with Luigi Scafuro, age 40, who may have been his cousin. I'm interested in finding any information about the family he left behind.

Regards,

Bill Yovino

[johnnyonthespot]

Hi, Bill.

For everyone's reference; the manifest is indexed as Tovino.

New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 about Giuseppe Tovino
Name: Giuseppe Tovino
Arrival Date: 27 Mar 1907
Birth Year: abt 1891
Birth Location Other: carbonara
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: Italian (South) (Italian)
Port of Departure: Napoli
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: Campania

Giuseppe is on line 19, Antonio Scafuro on line 20.

http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz12 ... Iovino.jpg

[johnnyonthespot]

As you can see, the manifest lists Giuseppe's birthplace as "Carbonara" and Antonio's as "Pago".

Unfortunately, neither of these is sufficient to place them exactly within Italy.

There are Scafuro's listed in the current Italian telephone directory in Pago Del Vallo Di Lauro, Avellino province; http://www.paginebianche.it/execute.cgi ... &om=0&td=2

and Iovino's here, there, and everywhere: http://www.paginebianche.it/execute.cgi ... =carbonara

Why do you believe he was from Caserta?

[johnnyonthespot]

Giuseppe Iovino, Antonio Scafuro and Giuseppe Crisei (line 21) all reported that they were coming to visit their uncle, Angelo Castaldo of 85 Mott Street, NY.

So, it would seem that the three men were all related.

Or some of them fibbed.

[wyovino]

Wow - you guys are fast!. Unfortunately, I had that info already from the Ellis Island archive and this is far as I've been able to get. I did find an earlier voyage by Antonio Scafuro and he made a previous trip in 1899 with a Michele Yovino (or Iovino).

I've tried Ancestry.com and the Family Research Center but haven't found anything else.

There are other documents (Census, Draft Registration) that list his place of origin as Caserta. My father always said that Grandpa insisted that his last name was Yovino and not Iovino. A professor of Italian history told me that in 1910, all names with a "Y" were changed to "I". In fact a few years ago, there was an Admiral Yovino in the Italian navy. At this point I have no idea of the spelling.

I appreciate everyone's fast response - that was a very nice surprise!

Thank you,

Bill Yovino

[johnnyonthespot]

I don't know; I have original Italian birth records on my maternal side for Iacovo's and De Iacovo's which date to the early and mid-1800's and none look like they were crossed out and re-written with I's.

We should concentrate our efforts on figuring out which Carbonaro your Giuseppe came from, as the manifest is probably the most accurate document in this case.

[johnnyonthespot]

A good possibility: Carbonara di Nola, a comune in Provincia di Napoli. It is just 30 miles from the city of Caserta.

And there are three Iovino's living there today: http://www.paginebianche.it/execute.cgi ... &td=2&l=en

Do you have Giuseppe's exact date of birth? If so, you can try writing to Carbonara di Nola and requesting his birth certificate.

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Carbonara di Nola
Via Municipio, 1
80030 Carbonara di Nola NA
ITALY

Email: carbonara@libero.it (remove the spaces)
Web: http://carbonaradinola.asmenet.it/

Tips on writing letters in Italian:
http://www.circolocalabrese.org/resourc ... /index.asp
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tter3.html
http://italiangenealogy.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15162/

[wyovino]

JohnnyontheSpot,

Sorry for the confusion. Since there is no Y in the Italian alphabet, there was a law passed in 1910 to purify the language. Any words or names that contained a Y were changed to an I. So if your name didn't contain a Y it wouldn't have been changed. This is very similar to what the French did in the 1970's or 80's.

This only adds to the confusion because I've see documents with both spellings.

The Ellis Island transcription shows that he came from "Carbonarsi", but there doesn't appear to be such a place.

I may just give up and start looking for information on my Grandmother's family.

Thanks and regards,

Bill

[wyovino]

JohnnyontheSpot,

I do have his date of birth from his WWII draft registration card.
I'll write to that address about his birth certificate. This sounds promising.

Thanks,

Bill

[johnnyonthespot]

Bill,

Our last two posts crossed in the mail. Look above...

Io... and Ia... names are often anglicized into Yo... and Ya... because that is the way they are pronounced (or that is the way they sound to the untrained ear).

[wyovino]

JohnnyontheSpot,

One of the Iovino's in Carbonara di Nola has a first name of Biagio which was my father's first name. I could be wrong, but I don't think that's a common name. I think we may be on to something.

I sent a translated email to the address you provided. Fingers crossed.

Thanks so much for you guidance.

Regards,

Bill

[johnnyonthespot]

JohnnyontheSpot,

One of the Iovino's in Carbonara di Nola has a first name of Biagio which was my father's first name. I could be wrong, but I don't think that's a common name. I think we may be on to something.

I sent a translated email to the address you provided. Fingers crossed.

Thanks so much for you guidance.

Regards,

Bill

Bill, please be sure to let us know how this turns out!

Meanwhile, I posted a message on the "Locations in Italy" board as a backup to see if anyone has another idea for "Carbonara". Over the last 100 years, some comunes have come and gone, some have merged into others and some province borders have changed as well. As an example, my paternal grandparent's comune is part of Frosinone today but was in the province of Caserta back in the early 1900's when they left Italy.

Carmine

[PeterTimber]

There are 10 CARBONARA "frazione" thruout Italy. Why not go thru the listing and any Carbonara and attachments as well??? =Peter=

[johnnyonthespot]

There are 10 CARBONARA "frazione" thruout Italy. Why not go thru the listing and any Carbonara and attachments as well??? =Peter=

Because for one, we are interested in "Italy - South" which rules out a bunch of them and we seem to have a tie in to Caserta which knocks even more out of the running.

Also, I vote for a place that was a true comune in 1907 as opposed to a frazione. That's just a SWAG however.

[wyovino]

Some of the documents actually say "Carbonarsi" but I couldn't find any reference to that name on the Internet. I know he came from somewhere near Naples, so Carbonara di Nola may be correct. It's close to Naples and Caserta, which he also had mentioned.