Researching the Viola family from Gorgoglione

[MargeS]

I am working on researching my great grandfather's family line and thought I'd post on here hoping to find someone with a connection or knowledge of the family and area.

My great grandfather was Donato Francesco Maria Viola born 14 December, 1874 in Gorgoglione, Matera, Basilicata, Italy.
Parents are Vincenzo, age 28, landowner and Maria Luigia Lauria, age 22.
Vincenzo's father was Francesco and Maria's father was Giuseppe. This is all from Donato's birth record.

His now deceased daughter left some brief information about him and his family. She said that he came from a wealthy family, possibly bankers. She believes he had about 12 siblings. His father died young and he had several uncles who were priests. His mother was a frugal woman who purchased a lot of land in southern Italy. The banking/wealthy family seems odd to me because looking at Googlemaps, Gorgoglione is a very small town and there isn't a large city anywhere near it.

Donato supposedly married a cousin in Italy but they never had children. He then left her and came to the US where he married and raised a family. He never went back to Italy.
I have his life in the US well documented as well as his children. He never naturalized and did not apply for Social Security. I know nothing about the rest of his family other than the names listed above. I did find some records which I believe to be for a sister named Angela Maria who also immigrated to the US.

There is some family connection to the Berardi family that I am still trying to figure out as well. Donato's daughter passed away as a child and is buried in the Berardi family plot. We were told they were cousins. Ellis Island ship manifest record shows a Berardi listed on the line below Donato so I'm assuming they knew each other through this mysterious connection that I am still trying to puzzle out.

My tree is public on ancestry.com under user name szalko67 and I have also done DNA testing through the site.

[Tessa78]

Here are some siblings of your GGF Donato...

A sister - Anna Maria Agnese - born in 1877 (#4)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... 7.jpg.html

A sister - Maria Donata - born 1879 (#13)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

A sister - Maria Donata - born 1881 (#32) [the first Maria Donata probably died]
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

A brother - Giuseppe Maria - born 1883 (#44)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... 3.jpg.html

A sister - Angela Maria - born in 1887 (#3)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... 8.jpg.html

A sister - Maria Teresa - born in 1888 (#39) [there is a notation of death in Gorgoglione i 1964 in the margin]
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

A brother - Francesco - born in 1889 (#17)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... 0.jpg.html

A sister - Rosaria - born in 1891 (#59)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

A sister - Anna Agnese - born 1893 (#37)
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

NOTE:
Looking at your GGF's birth act - he was actually born on 14 December 1874. He was presented on 15 December to the official by his father who declared that he was born "ieri" (yesterday)

T.

[MargeS]

Wow! Thank you so much!
So that I can research further - Was there a directory to find these or did you just go page by page through the book?

[AmandaP]

Hello! I hope it's ok with you if I follow this post. I have an ancestor named Livia Viola born abt 1768 and died in 1838. Born and died in Luzzano, Benevento. Her parents were Nicola Viola and Francesca Massaro. Her husband was Stefano Amoriello.

Also what is the correct way to pronounce the last name Viola? Is it Vee-ola?

[Tessa78]

Wow! Thank you so much!
So that I can research further - Was there a directory to find these or did you just go page by page through the book?

Luckily, the town is very small, so there were generally less than 100 births in most years. The book of births for each year usually had an index, but I needed to check every Viola birth in the index to identify the ones that had parents Vincenzo Viola and Maria Luigia Lauria. (There were several births to another Vincenzo Viola who was younger)

***
This appears to be the first marriage of Donato Francesco Maria Viola in 1897 (#8) - he married with Maria Luigia Palermo, age 20, daughter of Gennaro Palermo and of deceased Signora Anna Maria Figliola
http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

T.

[MargeS]

AmandaP - my family pronounced it Vi-ola the i is like the word eye

[MargeS]

Tessa78 - thank you so much for all of your help today!

[PippoM]

Also what is the correct way to pronounce the last name Viola? Is it Vee-ola?

Yes, that's correct.
The way Amanda says, is how an English speaker probably reads it.

[AmandaP]

Also what is the correct way to pronounce the last name Viola? Is it Vee-ola?

Yes, that's correct.
The way Amanda says, is how an English speaker probably reads it.

Thank you for clearing that up. I'm trying to get better at correctly pronouncing names, places, towns ect.