ITA-SICILY-VENTIMIGLIA-L Archives

Archiver > ITA-SICILY-VENTIMIGLIA > 2007-04 > 1176214928


From: "Grace Olivo" <>
Subject: [ITA-SICILY-VENTIMIGLIA] Buon Giorno a tutti
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 10:22:08 -0400
In-Reply-To: <000401c77aff$0d777450$f6c2fe45@chicago>


My Ventimiglia connection goes back further than the two who posted earlier.
My maternal grandmother was born in Ventimiglia in 1896, and came to the USA
twice - first as a baby in 1899, when they lived in Manhattan's Little
Italy. My great-grandfather became ill and they returned to Sicily. In
1913 my great-grandmother returned to NYC with her 2 eldest daughters, my
grandmother and her sister Marianna, leaving the 4 younger daughters in
Ventimiglia with their father, who still wasn't healthy. My grandmother was
Anna Dina, her mother was Innocenza Bonadonna and her father was Andrea
Dina. Andrea died in Ventimiglia in 1918, and the four little girls in
Sicily came to NYC soon thereafter.

I have detailed their ancestry in Ventimiglia back into the mid 1700s - here
are my surnames with direct ancestry: DINA, BONADONNA, BONDI, LA SPISA,
SETTIPANI, CASSATA, PORTANOVA, ATTARDO, CIRRINCIONE, ANZELMO, AZZARELLO,
ANZALONE, MAJORCA, BADAMI, CIRONE, GENOVESE, TRIPPEDI, FERRARA, MICCICHI,
NUCCIO. Sometimes I feel like I'm related to half the town. At some point in
my research I started keeping track of people with my surnames who I
couldn't connect directly to my family, so I may have something in my file
that could help someone.

I was interested in Mary's post on CASSATA because Salvatore Cassata is a
very prevalent name in my line, but back in the mid 1800s. Because of
Ventimiglia's naming traditions, we could have a connection there. My great
grandmother mentioned above - Innocenza Bonadonna - was named after her
grandmother - Innocenza Cassata - who was the daughter of Salvador Cassata.
Innocenza Cassata was named for HER grandmother, Innocenza Majorca.
Innocenza's mother was Paola Badami - and I believe that family was from
Caccamo, but we're talking mid 1700's and those records will be hard to dig
up. In my case, all my female ancestors were the eldest girls in the family,
all named for their paternal grandmother. That includes my mother, and me
too!

Several females in my family married men from Ventimiglia, and so I also
have info on their families: MARCHESE, INGRASSIA, CAMPANELLA, ALONGE &
ABRUSCATO. Our extended Ventimiglia family holds family reunions every few
years, usually in the Catskills; there were over 200 at the last one. Our
dream is to hold one of the reunions in Sicily, spending time in Ventimiglia
walking the streets of our ancestors.

Most of my relatives stayed in the NY area, except we had Bonadonna cousins
in Chicago and Abruscato cousins in Connecticut.

If anyone thinks this sounds familiar, get in touch with me!

Grace Lancieri Olivo,
Editor, Comunes of Italy Magazine,
Chairperson, OSIA CSJ-New Jersey
http://www.ItalianAncestry.com/coi
http://www.ItalianAncestry.com/tito

Researching:
GRANDE, DENINNO, TOTA, LANEVE, CAVALLUZZI, MASTROANGELO, MELORA, SILECCHIA,
SCHIAVULLI, INDUDDI, VITUCCI, BELLACOSA, SORANNO, PICCININI, SQUICCIARINI,
SABINI, TURCHIANO from Bitetto, Bari Province, Apulia
LANCIERI, LANGIERI, DI GIULIO, CARLEO, PASSARELLI, ODDONE, LAURINO, FARAONE,
MANFREDA from Tito & Picerno, Potenza Province, Basilicata and Spinazzola +
Minervino Murge, Bari Province, Apulia
D'AMBROSIO, PIETRAFESA, from Spinazzola + Minervino Murge, Bari Province,
Apulia
DESERTO from Palermo and Misilmeri, Palermo Province, Sicily
DINA, BONADONNA, BONDI, LA SPISA, SETTIPANI, CASSATA, PORTANOVA, ATTARDO,
CIRRINCIONE, ANZELMO, AZZARELLO, ANZALONE, MAJORCA, BADAMI, CIRONE,
GENOVESE, TRIPPEDI, FERRARA, MICCICHI, NUCCIO from Ventimiglia di Sicilia,
Palermo Province, Sicily.



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