Unlike the person who found he was suddenly Italian, I had my DNA done and no Italian shows up from my 100% Italian mother. Makes me wonder but I an surging ahead finding my family. My grandmother, Anna DeFazio, was one of 13 children from Nicastro, Italy. Her mother was Maria Gallo. She was one of 12 kids.Her father was a blacksmith and baker Agostino Gallo. My grandmother's father was Luca DeFazio and he owned a business which made tiles for roofs. One of his workers fell in the granite pit and there was a scandal. Then in 1911 his wife died in childbirth and Luca decided to take his family to America. Luca's parents were Giovanni DeFazio and Giovannina Villella. Problem: I can only find Luca on the boats in in America. I cannot find his family's birth records when they were all born in Nicastro. From what my grandmother told me, in Italy they had servants and her father had a title but if that was true I can't find it. If you can give me some idea of how to search more effectively. I thought I was making progress at Ancestry.com but then someone pointed out a problem and I'm at a loss. Any help would be appreciated.

How old were the children when they came over? What were some of their names? There*may* some records online but because of the date you would more than likely need to write away to Italy for the records you are looking for. The good news - they are free or very inexpensive to get depending on him you write to the archives or the Comune.

nuccia wrote:

How old were the children when they came over? What were some of their names? There*may* some records online but because of the date you would more than likely need to write away to Italy for the records you are looking for. The good news - they are free or very inexpensive to get depending on him you write to the archives or the Comune.

Thanks for your reply. Birth and death dates all came from USA.
Giovanna DeFazio
Twin Boy DeFazio
1890 – 1895
Giovaninna DeFazio
1891 – 1975
Angelina DeFazio
1893 – 1953
Gaetano DeFazio
1895 – 1972
Antonietta DeFazio
1897 – 1989
Madalena Leonilda DeFazio
1899 – 1979
Gessilda DeFazio
1903 – 1995
Adelina DeFazio
1904 – 1983
Luigi DeFazio
1905 – 1990
They emigrated in 1913. So my grandmother was around 16.
Gaetano had gone to America early as a scout to tell his father how it was.
Is census data available for that time? Would there be a lot of blacksmiths and/or bakers in towns?

Thank you.

So they came through the Philadelphia port..


Philadelphia Passenger Lists, 1800-1945 about Gaselda felsida Difazio
Name: Gaselda felsida Difazio
Arrival Date: 12 Nov 1913
Age: 10 Years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1903
Gender: Female
Ethnic Background: Italian (South) (Italian)
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Ship Name: America
Port of Arrival: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Friend's Name: Gaetano Difazio
Last Residence: Italy
Birthplace: Mecotio, Italy
Microfilm Roll Number: T840_121


and Gaetano naturalized .. his birth was 24 Dec 1894 (wife Angelina - children Mary, Theresa, Filomena and Anna).

They only way to find their births is to write to the town hall or the archives (I believe) at this point since I don't think they are online yet. I'll keep poking around and see if I can find anything.

Thank You. I just looked at a Google map of the area and looked for quarries. Cosenza appears to be the area. My grandmother had said it was Calabria. Have they changed the borders? I found a Gallo Bakery which I thought was interesting since the baking of my great grandfather was something my aunt was impressed with when she visited in 1980. What a beautiful place!

Borders have changed several times over the years. Nicastro is in Catanzaro though and not Cosenza. Gallo is a common surname in both areas. Calabria in several is very beautiful but very poor and there has been a spike in crime because of it. The people are very laid back (sometimes too laid back)!

nuccia wrote:

and Gaetano naturalized .. his birth was 24 Dec 1894 (wife Angelina - children Mary, Theresa, Filomena and Anna).

Hi, Nuccia!

I'm sure that the naturalization record mentioned above is a different Gaetano since Lendosky's Gaetano is shown on a 1920 Philadelphia census as single and living with his father and siblings while the one in the naturalization record was married and resided in Carbondale, PA.

Name:Gaetano Defazio
[Gaetano De Fazio]
Age:24
Birth Year:abt 1896
Birthplace:Italy
Home in 1920:Philadelphia Ward 38, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Immigration Year:1912
Relation to Head of House:Son
Marital Status:Single
Father's Name:Luca Defazio
Household Members:
Luca Defazio 53
Gaetano Defazio 24
Leonilda Defazio 20
John Defazio 19
Galsida Defazio 16
Louis Defazio 14
Adaline Defazio 12

Biff

I think you maybe right - I saw the census too.. Thanks for pointing that out. I'll check it again.

Biff, You have it right. Thanks.
Nuccia, Thanks for looking. If I could only find how Defazio was spelled in Italy? I'm trying the famous DI and De, space between, no space between, 2 z's, z to s. My newest is Fascio. If anyone can thing of anything else, please chime in.

Hi,
On one of Luca's documents he wrote that his birthplace was Mercutio. I tried to look it up before with no luck. Today on Google Maps they call it Verona. SO that takes me out of Falerna and into ????

The 1913 Philadelphia manifest which Nuccia posted and this 1919 manifest for Luca both show his place of birth as Nicastro. Mercutio is probably very poor handwriting and/or transcription for Nicastro.

I think the correct surname is De Fazio based on searches I did on Steve Morse's site and the Italian white pages for listings in the province of Catanzaro.

1919 manifest
page 1
www.ellisisland.org/EI...&line=0030
page 2
www.ellisisland.org/EI...&line=0030

Biff

Luca's Son Gaetano went to america first to check it out. Luca and his kids followed in 1913. On the ship and in America Defazio is the spelling. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find that spelling anywhere in Italy that would be Luca.
I know that Luca can also be used as a female name. What is the possibility that a bereaved husband would take his wife's name? His wife's name was Maria Gallo. Her father was Agostino Gallo who had we kids. I believe one of them was a Luca Maria. But I'm assuming I got the correct Augustine.

Maria is used for a man's name too (usually the middle name). Very common in Calabria. Which also brings up the fact that often times people went by their middle names. That's another option for you to try. And Biff is right - transcription errors are also common. Look at the document to be sure. Both DiFazio and DeFazio are used in Catanzaro but I believe the second spelling is correct. Don't worry too much about capitalization since in old records they didn't spend too much time worrying about it.

In checking for Italians with the first name Luca, gender male, on Steve Morse's site, there were 2686 hits at Ellis Island. While most Italian female names end in "a", there are exceptions such as Nicola and Luca.

Biff

Luca's wife, Maria Gallo, died in 1906 or 1907. I've been searching for the death record because that would maybe shed some light on the time in Italy.
I found a Luca DeFazio the early 1700 on FamilySearch. At the bottom it said nob. name DiFatta. I remember my grandmother said he had some title. Could that be it?
Oh I read the transcript from my grandmother's interview and she said that there were a small village near her home Frante. They went into Nicastro for some supplies. They farmed. And ran the adobe roof making business.