Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

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Biff83
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Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

I am currently doing research on my paternal and maternal grandparents and great grandparents and am interested in hearing from others researching ancestors from the same towns in Italy.

My paternal grandfather was Giuseppe Epifano from San Mango d'Aquino. His parents were Franceso Epifano and Carmela Esposito.
My paternal grandmother was Felicia Mancuso from Feroleto Antico. Her parents were Antonio Mancuso and Rosa Mascaro.
Giuseppe and Felicia settled in Carbondale PA.

My maternal grandfather was Luigi Tardio from San Marco in Lamis. His parents were Giuseppe Tardio and Rosa La Porta.
My maternal grandmother was Veneranda Del Giudice from San Marco in Lamis. Her parents were Giovanni Del Giudice and Lucia Colavita.
Luigi and Veneranda settled in Plains PA (near Wilkes Barre).
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Biff83
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

I finally sent the letter off to San Mango d'Aquino requesting my grandfather Giuseppe Epifano's birth extract which hopefully will give me the birthdates and birthplaces of his parents Francesco and Carmela Esposito. With Carmela's ancestry likely a dead end, my only hope to trace my Epifano ancestry further is through Francesco. My first venture into requesting documents from Italy and I'm hoping it will be a successful one.

Everyone say a prayer to Saint Anthony for me!
"Mintammicce impizzu mpizzu ca pue largu minne fazzu sule!"
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by nuccia »

Biff...I know how hard it is to find that one ancestor..having the same problem myself. I wasn't able to help find Carmela in my films but I also haven't been back to the FHC for almost a month now for various reasons. I haven't forgotten about you, though.

As for St. Anthony...I say one to him daily. I'll include you in them from now on.
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by KennyD »

Biff, you posted on my forum about the Frask family. My mother, who grew up in Hazleton, knew the Frask family.. they lost a son in WW2.

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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

Ken,
My grandmother's younger sister Lena Mancuso from Carbondale married Eugene Buglio of Hazelton around 1918. They had one daughter Marie who was born in 1919. I found them on the 1920 census in Hazelton living on Vine Street. After that, I cannot locate any records for them. Eugene passed away sometime after 1920 (don't know when) and Lena remarried Joseph Sirianni (Joseph's ancestry and their date of marriage is another mystery). Eugene was the son of Michael and Mary Buglio; siblings Thomas, Maggie, Rose and Donald.

Marie Buglio married Gennaro Frask (Frasca), the son of Anthony and Mary Frask who lived on Garfield St in Hazelton. Gennaro's paternal grandparents were Peter and Filomena Frasca who emigrated to Hazelton from Italy, and his siblings were Florence, Rose, Peter, Antoinette, Elvira, and Anthony, Jr. I'm not sure if this is the same family that lost a son in WW2.

How Lena from Carbondale, a town about 45 miles north of Hazelton, met Eugene I have ot been able to determine. Where Lena, Eugene and Marie were living after 1920 is another unknown as is the date of Eugene's death. I do know that by around 1950 Lena had remarried Joseph Sirianni and they were living in Carbondale.

I noticed that a number of your ancestors worked for the Lehigh Valley Coal Company (LVCC) in Hazelton. They likely worked at the Hazelton Shaft colliery. Other mine towns bordering Hazelton included Lattimer Mines, McAdoo, and Kelayres. Besides the LVCC, the Pardee family owned a number of mines in the area.

Let me know if you're interested in learning more about the history of northeastern PA and the anthracite region. There are a few books I can recommend as well as a few web sites.

Biff
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by KennyD »

Yes, I would be interested in the books and websites that you found useful.

Thank you.
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

Ken,
Here they are.

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS ANTHRACITE COAL

Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Growing Up in Coal Country. New York NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996. Although written for a young audience, this is the best work detailing how a colliery operated and the job functions of both the surface and underground workers with a host of excellent pictures.

Longo, Stephanie. Italians of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.

Miller, Donald L. and Richard E. Sharpless. The Kingdom of Coal: Work, Enterprise, and Ethnic Communities in the Mine Fields. Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985. The best single volume general history of the anthracite region. A scholarly work that is eminently readable.

Richards, John Stuart. Early Coal Mining in the Anthracite Region. Charleston SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2002. Pictorial history from the late 19th and early 20th century.

Roberts, Ellis. The Breaker Whistle Blows. Scranton PA: Anthracite Museum Press, 1984. A history of unionism in the coal region woven around major mine disasters and strikes, and labor leaders John Siney, Terence Powderly, John D. Mitchell and John L. Lewis from anthracite's beginnings to its decline.

Mining Anthracite from Explore PA History. Lots of info here. Scroll down to the section on Mining Anthracite.
http://www.explorepahistory.com/stories.php
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

Just writing to let everyone know that in another four and a half months, there will be an addition to the Bifano/Epifano family tree. My daughter's sonogram revealed that the baby is a girl. That will be granddaughter number two. Granddaughter number one is Angelina Marie Bifano. Current front runner candidate name for granddaughter number two is Therese for St. Therese, the Little Flower. Needless to say, my wife and I are overjoyed.
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by vj »

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Biff, congratulations on your latest blessing :D .
What a beautiful name!
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by nuccia »

Biff! That's fantastic! Auguri. 8)

We have a Nonna J and we'll need to think up a new name for you! :lol: :lol:

All my best to your family! :D
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

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My grandfather's birth record arrived today from San Mango. The document I received was on official paper and stamped with the comune seal. To my surprise my grandfather was born on 31 Oct 1889, not 31 Aug 1889 which is the date that appears on his passport, Libretto di Lavoro, and his tombstone. The document does give his parents names but does not include his parents' places of birth unfortunately. However, read on for some wonderful news.

Enclosed with the extract was a letter from the town arhivist, Angelo Orlando and another piece of paper I'll get to later. Here's a rough translation of the copy of his letter followed by a link to the actual image.

"Dear John

I am the official of the civil records of San Mango d'Aquino. I call myself Angelo Orlando.

I received your letter of 10 March 2007 in which you were searching for information on your grandfather Giuseppe Epifano.

Searching for information in the communal archives, I discovered that your relatives are also mine in that your grandfather Giuseppe Epifano had a brother (Angelo Epifano) who was the grandfather of my mother (Vincenza Sacco).

Basically my grandmother (Carmela Epifano) and your father ? (Sam Bifano) were the children of two brothers and therefore first cousins.

I have enclosed the birth certificte of your grandfather and moreover a diagram which I hope will give you a better understanding of our kinship.

I send you my cordial greetings and I am at your dispostion for other future explanations.

If you have the occasion to come to Italy I would be happy to "di poterti abbracciare da vicino." to show you the area?, to introduce you to the area? If someone could translate that part I'd be grateful.

http://img394.imageshack.us/img394/6512 ... terdj2.jpg

In a nutshell, my great grandparents are also Angelo Orlando's great great grandparents. Below is a link to the family tree Angelo also enclosed.

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/4971 ... reera7.jpg

Needless to say, I'll be in contact with Angelo to fill him in on the part of the family that emigrated to the states and to see what details he can locate on the Epifano descendants who remained, and more importantly, on Francesco Epifano and Carmela Esposito, our shared great and great great grandparents. I'm hoping that he'll be able to locate other records which will point to their years of birth, places of birth etc.

Happy Days!!
Biff
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by vj »

Biff,
Meglio nascere senza nazo che senza fortuna

WOW!
What wonderful news!
Congratulations on finding family in Italy :D
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Post by wldspirit »

Fantastic!!! You must of been "pleasantly surprised"....I always feel like a kid at Christmas whenever I open genealogy material recieved in the mail.....my husband fails to understand how I can get so excited over a death certificate for someone I never even met....... :lol: :lol:
Congratulations!!!
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by Biff83 »

Valarie,

It's a genealogist's dream come true. A direct line descendant of the very people I'm researching is the comune archivist. If I had to pick the one person I would have wanted to be related to in San Mango, it would have been the archivist.

Maybe, with cugino Angelo's help I'll be able to determine the birthplaces, birthdates etc. for Francesco and Carmela. Even if they were not born in San Mango, there might be a marriage document and if not, perhaps he could make a few calls to his fellow archivists at neighboring comuni.

When I returned home after the seminar I attended and saw the letter had arrived, I didn't know what to expect. But when I began reading his letter that accompanied the birth act, even with the little Italian I can read, I knew we were related. I'm trying to see if he has an email address at the comune so I can email him mine. I did put my email address below my address on my initial letter but perhaps he didn't see it. If not, I need to send him a letter giving details of his relatives over here and letting him know what other information he can supply.

I'm still shaking from the excitement.

Biff
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Re: Epifano/Mancuso/Tardio/Del Giudice Families

Post by nuccia »

Just a question...how are you related (or are you) to Rosaria Macchione?
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