Gammaro family

[carubia]

Well, actually, at least in Sicily, up until the mid 19th c., women often did go by their mother's surname, or a combination of their parents' surnames, in either order. Sometimes men did, too.

But since the OP's information is from Brazil, presumably they were referring to this man by both parents' surnames because that is the convention there, where he was living. It's not like they are quoting from his birth certificate.

[suanj]

Domenico went in Brasil with the name of Domenico Gammaro...
http://www.inci.org.br/acervodigital/up ... 08_117.pdf
the mother maiden name, probably mispelled also, was added on brasilian documents, but no in Italy.. It is no rare that the italian surnames was mispelled in foreign country... by his ship's manifest, seeming that the mother no was with husband and child.. I don't know if arrived later or not, if remained in Italy, if she was deceased or not, I don't know... I wish to ask:
but Salvatore- in Brasil -had a wife?
Maria Carolina or what? Another?
Domenico had siblings born in Brasil or not?
To know that can help to solve the mystery....
suanj

[jennabet]

Do you think it's possible Domenico was born in Brazil and his father took him to Italy and then they went back to Brazil again on the ship manifest you have? If he was just traveling with his father, he would be listed on manifest as Domenico Gammaro.

[cgammaro]

Fact that Domenico was italian 100% sure, all documents say he was italian catholic etc including his marriage certificate. If he had any siblings I'm not aware of because they were not in the immigrant hostelry records when both registered Salvatore and Domenico. Same date 1888 Giovanni Gammaro registered in the hostelry but he was not together so I wonder if he was from the same family, age 17 so he was born around 1871.

So, my best guess about my ggf:
Domenico was only child, when the mother passed away in Italy his father decided to come to Brazil, that was 1888 and Domenico was 10yo, and Salvatore his father 34yo.

His father died in Brazil before he married, and when he was 23-26 in 1902 he married to an italian women, Rosa Muglia. He didn't sign the marriage certificate so I guess he was analphabet. All his sons 3 (my grandfather and 2 siblings) were all registered by other people, so for sure he had no instruction I suppose.

He died in 1921 as per a notation in my grandfather marriage certificate.

I didn't find his death act yet as I don't know where it was registered. I'm still looking for it in the hope it contains more info.

All documents refer to him as Samaritano Gammaro, some of them Samaritano Gammaro Domenico.

I'm trying to find more people in the family that can give more information about him, but until now this is everything I have.

[cgammaro]

Domenico went in Brasil with the name of Domenico Gammaro...
http://www.inci.org.br/acervodigital/up ... 08_117.pdf
the mother maiden name, probably mispelled also, was added on brasilian documents, but no in Italy.. It is no rare that the italian surnames was mispelled in foreign country... by his ship's manifest, seeming that the mother no was with husband and child.. I don't know if arrived later or not, if remained in Italy, if she was deceased or not, I don't know... I wish to ask:
but Salvatore- in Brasil -had a wife?
Maria Carolina or what? Another?
Domenico had siblings born in Brasil or not?
To know that can help to solve the mystery....
suanj

Salvatore was not married again in Brazil as per what I know, so Domenico has no siblings from another marriage of Salvatore. Neither I know about siblings from Domenico as well in Italy.

[carubia]

the mother maiden name, probably mispelled also, was added on brasilian documents, but no in Italy..

I just came across this record a minute ago, so I figured I'd post it. Actually I see documents like this all the time.

This is a 1888 death record from Lucca Sicula for Mariantonia Falletta. Her husband in the record is "Venezia Gambino Rosario." Rosario Venezia Gambino's father was Rosario Venezia and his mother was Liboria Gambino. Of course Lucca Sicula was in Italy, even in 1888.

The mother's maiden name wasn't usually added, but sometimes it was.

[suanj]

sometimes it was.... but by my knowledge, I know, that in the past time, when a family's surname, from another town, moved and started another branch of family, in a town where the same surname was already present,
as an autochthonous one, the mother's maiden name was added to differentiate the different family branches with the same surname, practically: there was one or more families with that surname, but someone native of that town, and the others having the same surname came from other towns, and were differentiated by adding the mother's maiden name. It was a solution that then fell into disuse.

[suanj]

Domenico went in Brasil with the name of Domenico Gammaro...
http://www.inci.org.br/acervodigital/up ... 08_117.pdf
the mother maiden name, probably mispelled also, was added on brasilian documents, but no in Italy.. It is no rare that the italian surnames was mispelled in foreign country... by his ship's manifest, seeming that the mother no was with husband and child.. I don't know if arrived later or not, if remained in Italy, if she was deceased or not, I don't know... I wish to ask:
but Salvatore- in Brasil -had a wife?
Maria Carolina or what? Another?
Domenico had siblings born in Brasil or not?
To know that can help to solve the mystery....
suanj

Salvatore was not married again in Brazil as per what I know, so Domenico has no siblings from another marriage of Salvatore. Neither I know about siblings from Domenico as well in Italy.

ok,
thanks,
suanj

[jennabet]

Since Domenico is an only child, could he have been a foundling? A child that Salvatore "adopted" in Italy and then brought to Brazil? Of course, this would mean Domenico has entirely different parents -- but how do you find them?

[jennabet]

sometimes it was.... but by my knowledge, I know, that in the past time, when a family's surname, from another town, moved and started another branch of family, in a town where the same surname was already present,
as an autochthonous one, the mother's maiden name was added to differentiate the different family branches with the same surname, practically: there was one or more families with that surname, but someone native of that town, and the others having the same surname came from other towns, and were differentiated by adding the mother's maiden name. It was a solution that then fell into disuse.

That makes perfect sense and is probably what happened in my case. When I came to Italy looking for my grand-father's birth certificate, I went to the commune of Isola Gran Sasso. The Sindaco said, "Welcome Home" but then he told me my "Clan" or branch of this family was in another commune, Castelli, just six kilometers away -- and I have always wondered how he knew that.

[cgammaro]

Since Domenico is an only child, could he have been a foundling? A child that Salvatore "adopted" in Italy and then brought to Brazil? Of course, this would mean Domenico has entirely different parents -- but how do you find them?

I hope this is not the case but can be possible, I prefer to think that we just have a situation that we can't find the birth record. Yet!

[cgammaro]

I always think that it would be much easier to have a reliable source with the birth, marriage and death records. But then again I think who said it would be easy right?

So we still have a mistery about Domenico Samaritano Gammaro (1879) and the possible mother Maria Carolina Sammarco.

In the meantime I'm working to find more information with family and eventually the death acts for Domenico and Salvatore that can have more answers to some of these questions.

[suanj]

I checked the civil records of San Lucido. No children born from Salvatore Fortunato Gammaro and Maria Carolina Sammarco, that from 1879 to 1888. No death record of Maria Carolina until 1910. No a second marriage of Salvatore Fortunato. So my idea is right: the couple moved after the marriage in other town, most probably in Catanzaro province, no far from San Lucido..... I was another Salvatore Gammaro, married to Carmela Chiappetta, and the couple had a baby girl on 1887, but this Salvatore was already in America on 1887, and no related with your ancestor... Just to say... No leverage in Cosenza archive abt Domenico, so I think that he was born in other province, maybe Catanzaro because is very close... More than I cannot say.....
Regards,
Suanj

[cgammaro]

I checked the civil records of San Lucido. No children born from Salvatore Fortunato Gammaro and Maria Carolina Sammarco, that from 1879 to 1888. No death record of Maria Carolina until 1910. No a second marriage of Salvatore Fortunato. So my idea is right: the couple moved after the marriage in other town, most probably in Catanzaro province, no far from San Lucido..... I was another Salvatore Gammaro, married to Carmela Chiappetta, and the couple had a baby girl on 1887, but this Salvatore was already in America on 1887, and no related with your ancestor... Just to say... No leverage in Cosenza archive abt Domenico, so I think that he was born in other province, maybe Catanzaro because is very close... More than I cannot say.....
Regards,
Suanj

Thank you Suanj for all the efforts to resolve this mistery. Based on your search can we also consider he was not born in San Fili, Amantea, Paola, Rende and surroundings? I ask that because I found Gammaros there too. If yes I will start searching in Catanzaro as per your suggestion.

I found an immigrant record for that baby girl Rosina from Salvatore and Carmela before, so I knew it wasn't my ancestor, so indeed there is high possibility my ancestor is Salvatore and Maria Carolina.

It is being hard to find the death record here in Brazil as well, maybe that will have a clue.

[cgammaro]

Another information about this other Salvatore, he migrated to Brazil and died in 1937, so I guess he was born in 1858, he had a brother Vicente Paschoal Gammaro, who died with age 67 in Brazil, Vicente was single, Salvatore had 4 children Rosa, João, Elisa and Amelia. He also had a sister Antonietta G. Verri married to Marino Verri that remained in Italy it seems. I found references about them in the Brazilian newspapers but not to my family. So indeed a completely different family.

Where is my Salvatore and Domenico then?