seking advice on finding relatives in Troia

[ponzi1]

I will be the first in my family to visit to Italy in October and want to find relatives to meet. No one in the family has ever had contact with family in Italy except for great grandparents about a century ago by mail. The ancestral hometown is Troia which I will definitely visit.

I seek advice on finding relatives there. I have already checked the phone listings which seem promising. But how do I actualy know who I'm related to? I imagine I just have to wait until I get there and check records at city hall or chuches.

Also, would Italians think it rude of me to just knock on their door and announce that I am an American cousin? I hope someone in this forum has experience with this and can help.
Thanks

[Italysearcher]

You need to get a record that shows an address. Birth records are best for this. If you have at least this then knocking on doors in the street should produce some interesting action assuming you speak Italian.
Waiting until you get there is not a great idea unless you will be there several days. City Hall is usually only open in the AM and the church availability depends on the priest living in town. Some towns will only give me access on one specific day of the week.
You are looking for descendants of siblings of your GGrandparents. 3 generations ago.
I personally have no contact with the descendants of siblings of my Grandparents so this is a long shot at best.
Good luck.

[adelfio]

I would look for records first for Troia first before I start banging on doors
Here is some info Family History LIbrary has microfilms of civil records of Troia
Here they are
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... +Troia+%28++
Info on getting records
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Orderi ... ory_Center
Italian records
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Italy_ ... al_Records
reading the records
http://familyhistory.byu.edu/Downloads/ ... ion_Guide/
The other way is writing
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tters.html
Address for Troia
Comune Di Troia
Via Regina Margherita, 64
71029 Troia (FG)
Italy

Marty A

[gottogetit]

Ponzi,

you can also check the Italian white pages online. Just put in the surname and commune.

Good Luck


Http://www.paginebianchi.it/index.html

[ponzi1]

Thanks. I'll request those microfilm records to get started.

Ponzi