Hi all, I am making a definite effort of trying to find my ancestors who all came from Italy, starting with my Grandparents generation. I have been able to find the women on the Ellis site but none of the men. Have tried allvariations of the spellings to no avail. Also I have gotten to the point where I find I should write to Italy for Family certificates, b/c's, etc. I read for the f/c's you need last known residence. The only thing I know is that on the Ellis list it shows which town the wormen came from, all in the region of Campania. Should I assume that was their last residence? Also, I am not near an LDS so sending for microfilms is confusing me and also how would I read them? Any help, sitres addresses, etc. you could give would be greatly appreciated. One more thing, I have been looking at census records for NY in ancestry and many of them are not readable. Is there a way you would find a street w/o going thru all the districts? By the way most of my family came to NY and one Gradfather landed in Boston of which I find nothing about him. The names I am searching for are: Di Carluccio, Manganiello or Manganello, Velardi, Colarusso, Cubidosa, Fiorentino. The last two are my Grandfather and his father and my great Grandmother's names who landed in Boston, living in the North End from about 1903 to 1918 and then came to NY.
Thank you very much, June

June, sounds you’re off to a great start! I have just a couple of comments and suggestions from your post. First, its great that you found some of your family on the Ellis Island web site. Please remember, though, that unless you have specific information that your ancestors came through New York during the specific years Ellis Island was the immigration center, then it is possible they came through another city, or even through New York during the years that Castle Garden was the immigration center. Unfortunately, not all immigration records are available online, and require further research by mail or hitting the libraries and other genealogical resources. Also, the Ellis Island records were input by wonderful volunteers, but people are capable of mistakes and I’ve heard that the online records do contain some errors and omissions.

The only suggestion I have for you is to make sure you investigate all available records on one ancestor before trying to find further generations. The more info you are armed with, the easier it will be to find what you need to go further back. This can involve records such as birth, marriage and death records, city directories, census records, naturalization records, land records, church records, social security records, etc. It has been my experience that each record holds another clue that gives you another piece to the puzzle. I encourage you to stick with the U.S. census records, since that has been of immense help to me personally.

There is a wonderful instructional site I recommend. About.com has a site that has extensive genealogical classes that are absolutely free, and self-directed. I will provide the link below.

http://genealogy.about.com/library/lessons/blintro.htm

Good luck in your research and in your future endeavors. I hope that I have been some small help. We are all learning as we go along.

Ann

Hi June. I'm a Velardi with family originaly from Italy...email me and maybe I can help.
-Kelly

Hi June. I'm a Velardi. We have ties to the Boston Mass area as well as CT. email me if you'd like to get more info.
-Kelly

Hi Kelly,
I never expected a reply after 1 1/2 years of my posting. I actually took this long to answer you because I couldn't even remember where I posted the original message. I happened to find it by accident. When I tried to get in from the email sent letting me know I had a reply, I couldn't get in.

Anyway, since that time I have found out a lot more but am very interested in corresponding with you. I see you are a Velardi which was my grandmother's maiden name. She was born in Comune di Capodrise, Provincia di Caserta, Campania, Italy. Her first name was Adelaide. I did receive an answer from Italy, once so far, which gave me info on her mother and father. I am now waiting for a second reply (and I am sure you know how long that takes). If you like to correspond you can email me privately at (connie11941@aol.com) or on this posting.

Waiting to here from you,
June

I am doing some research myself on my families genealogy and came across your posting. I am a Manganiello from the Boston area. My great grandparents arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900's. I cannot find any results on the website though. Caggiano was my grandmothers name. I believe they are originally from Naples. There actually is quite a few Manganiello's in my area. Three families in my small town. Although some have dropped the i (Manganello). I am not sure if any of this helps you. Let me know if you come across any Manganiello info.

My Grandparents were Amelia (Emily) caggiano and she was married to Gugleami?(William) Manganiello and they lived in the North End of Boston. Their Daughter Olga Marie was my Grandmather. They both were from Naples and were married in Naples.
Kelly Swanson
kellyswanson@verizon.net