Whoa! I am new to this site and forum as of today and am suffering from information overload. I am trying to find any info on the Jacaruso's of Celenza Valfortore, Foggia, Apulia where I believe that my grandfather, Giuseppe Jacaruso was born on 18 April 1881/1882/1884 and arrived at Ellis Island, New York aboard the "Sardegna" on 30 March 1903. Joseph married Lena (Lyons?) around 1909-1910 and settled in Stratford, CT. I can't find birth, marriage or death certificates for either Joseph (4/18/1881/1882/1884-13 November 1955) or Lena (5/16/1890-7/4/1934). It is rumored that Lena's parents John Lyons/John RobertiRoberts and Teressa Lyons/Christina Mio were from Ruoti, Potenza, Basilicata of Italy. Joseph became a naturalized U.S. citizen on 5 February 1924 and I believe that Lena was born in Bridgeport, CT but not sure. Yikes - How can I continue to Italy with such little info? I don't even know my great grandparents names, the names of my grandparents siblings, etc. Any suggestions?

Hi, Penguini, I see you already found my site on Celenza Have you worked backwards? Ordered the death certificates for Giuseppe from CT to get the exact birth year? My web site has a page with the link to order vital statistics from CT www.celenzaheritage.co...alogy.html You can also write to the town of Stratford and order the death certificate that way: www.townofstratford.com/

Have you ordered the microfilm from Celenza? You can order it at your local LDS library. www.familysearch.org/E...o+civile++

Also, I would join facebook, if you have not already. There is a Celenza group which is Italian and then there is an American Celenza group. You may be able to make contacts that way. Jacaurso is a very, very popular last name in Celenza. In fact, my husband has a Jacaruso line himself.