John Scavella of Messina, Sicily

[znyahwells]

Hi everyone,

Is it possible to locate someone in early 1800s Sicily?

I have an ancestor named John Scavella that died in Long Cay, Bahamas in 1834. I don't know when he came to the Bahamas. There is a family story that he passed through Venezuela and Ellis Island with his father, Henry, and a brother.

There is an 1818 document stating he was "...a native of the City of Messina in the Island of Sicily...".

John had children with a woman named Eliza Moss: Henry, John William, Anne Maria, Catherine, and Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte.

I'm wondering if you all can give me suggestions for where to go next. Thank you.

[darkerhorse]

Civil registrations began in 1820 which is after John Scavella (and his father and brother) purportedly emigrated, according to documents in your family tree.

Have you hunted around to see if anyone else has developed a family tree or is researching that family?

If his mother or siblings remained in Messina perhaps you could find their marriage or death records in civil registrations (starting in 1820) online at Family Search or Antenati for more ancestral information, but it would be very tedious to search blindly.

Church records are a possibility, but I don't see any online. Of course, it would help to know their home church. The only church source I find prior to 1820 is the "Registri ecclesiastici di Valdichiesa (Messina), 1791-1937". I guess is the Valdi Church? It's on microfilm in SLC, Utah. Again, you could do a tedious search for relatives who remained in Messina, but all church records appear to be on microfilm in SLC

Some Riveli (property declarations for tax purposes, referred to as "Census" by Family Search) prior to 1820 are also available on microfilm in SLC. These are tedious to search.

You might be able to order microfilm lent to a FamilySearch Center close to you. Or maybe someone else can find such records online. Antenati doesn't appear to have any records for Messina online prior to 1820.

https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/ ... 2C%20Italy

I don't know if DNA matching would be any help in your case.

[MarcuccioV]

The surname of "Scavella" is not native to Sicily (at least by modern records) but instead to Cosenza in Calabria, so his immediate family may have relocated to Messina, and he may or may not have been born there. How that info might help you, I don't know...

[darkerhorse]

It may be rare but doesn't appear to be totally unknown in Messina.

Family Search has three, including two dating back to the early 1800s. Of course, that could be in error.

However, here's a birth record in 1869, where Antonina Scavella appears to declare the baby Maria Cantina Scavella, father unknown.

33S7-9B3D-WXR.jpg

[darkerhorse]

There's a family tree on Ancestry which has his birth as 1801 in Messinia, Greece.

Probably meaning Messenia.

[darkerhorse]

A second family tree has a birth for a John (Gisuanni) Scavella in 1813 in Messinia.

[parkergambino]

The original post alleges:
There is a family story that he passed through Venezuela and Ellis Island with his father, Henry, and a brother.

However, the Ellis Island facility did not begin operation until 1892. Prior to that date immigration to or through New York City was handled differently, and with records lacking in many details.

Parker

[znyahwells]

Thank you everyone for your ideas. Sorry for the late response, I'm only seeing this now.