Help finding Sofia (Mayo) Ciccarelli records in NJ

[rlw254]

Genoveffa is like Genevieve, it is a name. https://www.behindthename.com/name/genoveffa
Here (and on the marriage at second glance) it appears to be written as a Sicilian variant Genuelfa which I glossed over earlier.

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0
Genuelfa Lucca born 20 May 1848 to parents Giacomo Lucca, 30, and Giuseppa Arcara, 27. There is obviously a different surname for the mother, will look for their marriage to confirm.

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0
1 Feb 1845
Giacomo Lucca, 27, son of Angelo Lucca (50) & Genuelfa Piscitello (45) married Giuseppa Mangiafridda, daughter of Francesco Mangiafridda (deceased) & Elisabetta Arcara (deceased). Apparently there was a mix-up with her mother's maiden name in the above birth record.

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... 4.jpg.html
Salvatore Ciccarelli born 2 June 1844 to parents Onofrio Ciccarelli, 43, and Carmela Mesi, 36.
Some of their other children: Pietro 29 Oct 1841, Arcangelo 11 Dec 1847, Rosalia 18 Apr 1849

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0
24 Feb 1827
Onofrio Ciccarelli, 26, son of Giuseppe Ciccarelli (deceased) & Veronica Giglia (60) married Carmela Mesi, 17, daughter of Pietro Mesi (37) & Stefana Ricotta (40)

I saw from the names in the rest of your tree that they are obviously from the Avellino area. The surname de Meo and de Maio is also prevalent around Avellino. Do you have a specific birth date for Serafina?

[JCM]

Hi Rlw254....wow thx sooo much for all this info to add to my tree.

As for Searfina/Sophia, I have no exact birth date except for her marriage record you so kindly found. The 1878 date looks about right since she died in April 1930 of a stroke in her late 40s per living family members. They all say she was like 47 or 48 when she died.

I just have no idea where in Italy she was born...or if Onofrio knew her in Italy before she emigrated to USA or met her in USA. My gut tells me they knew each other in Italy only because she was only 18 when they married. She came over to USA to marry Onofrio is my guess. He came first at 19 in 1892 to establish himself and then sent for her......so can we extrapolate that she arrived in 1896, just before the marriage????

I have searched Ellis Island records for her arrival under Serafina/Sophia Mayo, DeMaio, DiMaio, DeMayo, DeMeo and other variations with no luck. Others have also told me that these variations are all around Avellino area.

I am going to search Avellino antenati records for 1878 for her name...page by page if I have to. LOL

Wish me luck!!!!

Best regards,

JCM...Joyce

Her family is the missing piece in my tree...still!

[rlw254]

There is a Serafina de Meo born in Bisaccia in the Avellino province on 24 July 1879 to parents Antonio de Meo and Filomena Gallicchio but without more info from your Serafina it would just be guessing to connect the two. I will keep looking.

[JCM]

Rlw254....I seem to have you hooked on finding the missing Serafina!!!

Thx so much for researching her in antenati....you may have hit on something for Bisaccia tho. I’m so very grateful for your assistance.

Let me ask you about Italian marriage customs...you seem so informed a

[JCM]

About the subject. Did most people marry other people from same town? The towns seem to have small populations. Were they mostly farming towns since so many were farmers? I’m sure the horse and buggy era was not very conducive for wooing anyone from another town. If they all married within their town that would explain why there are so many interrelated families...with same first names and surnames.

In my antenati searches I have seen dozens of births and marriages with same surnames. It sure makes it a challenge to find the correct ancestor when two dozen people in the town have the same names!!

Best regards,

JCM..Joyce

[rlw254]

In the town I mostly research in (just outside Avellino) there were approximately 15-30 marriages a year through the 1800s. Off the top of my head I would say each year there were perhaps between 0-5 of these marriages in which one party was not born in the town. When this happened in this particular town, the place the person was actually from was typically within 15 km but every now and then it could be much farther. It seems to become more common towards the end of the 1800s. I think the chances of this happening would go up the closer the given town was to a major city center, where there was more national industry and travel. The fact that many towns had specific subsets of surnames (and interrelated families as you say) makes it so that we can often look at a group of names and get an idea where they're from.

[JCM]

Thx for this info...I find it very interesting about Italian marriage customs.

Regards,

JCM

[JCM]

Rlw.....I have copy of Serafina daughter baptism certificate that states Serafina surname as Mele not Mayo as is listed on all other docs I have found and family history.

I want to check Montemaggiore Belsito birth records for 1878-1882 for her but those years not listed in Antenati or Family Search. Maybe I should email or write to comune for this info.

JCM

[rlw254]

Mele is another name found commonly in the area around Naples/Avellino. It is not found in Montemaggiore in those years (available through familysearch.org).

[JCM]

Rlw.....another dead end in Avellino province for Serafina Mele. I checked out the Antenati decennial index for 1876-1885 and lots of Mele births, as you said name is common in Avellino, but no Serafina. I only found 3 Serafinas born in this period.

Back to the mystery of Serafina.

JCM

[JCM]

I finally found Serafina NJ birth record on FS n this confirms family info that she was born in NJ…Newark, NJ on 4/3/1878 which matches up with her burial records birth year. Father was S. Mayo but FS has no record to view.
Do NJ census records go back to 1880s to check on her family in Newark???.

[ffusiak]

You can request to see if the NJ Archives have a copy. Newark is Essex County and if you a certificate / record from FS add in to the request.

https://wwwnet-dos.state.nj.us/DOS_Arch ... index.aspx