On today’s date (August 30th) in family history, the following happened:
In 1811, my 6th great grandfather Giuseppe Marzola died in Farindola at 8 am at age 77. He was born in Farindola and lived at Rione della Croceria and was a contadino. His parents were Domenicantonio Marzola and Anna Maria Colella. He was the widow of Rosina Pompili. Domenico and Rosina are in my tree twice. They are the ancestors of both my paternal grandmother, through their daughter Giovanna Marzola, who was married to the Cancelliere di Farindola, Nicola Carusi, making them the ancestors of Luigia Massei; and, my paternal grandfather, through their son Domenico Marzola who married midwife Maria Donata Di Costanzo from Penne, making them ancestors of Serafina Merlenghi. This is why we research the female lines. The fact they were in my tree twice made my paternal grandparents 5th cousins to each other.
1811 death record
Also on today’s date in Farindola, a pair of several times over great grand aunts Apollonia Cirone and Anna Eleuteria Iannascoli passed away in 1817.
On my maternal side, the following happened:
In 1816, the parents of my immigrant 3rd great grandmother Marie Louise Koppel Eckebrecht, Johann Christoph Koppel and Anna Maria Dorothea Grabe were married in Koerner, Thuringia, Germany. Johann Christoph is noted as owner of the Riethmuhle (mill) on his children’s baptisms in Koerner through at least 1820. Koerner is on the River Unstrut. There is a Riethmuhle in Koerner as of 1900, at the west end of the village on the Heuberg Hill, on Notter Creek. At the time of Marie Louise’s death in the United States, her property included a mill in Germany that may have been this mill.
Marie Louise Koppel
In 1820, a cousin several times removed, Bernardo Criscuolo, was born in Nola, outside Naples. He was a blood relation of Filomena Napolitano.
In 1854, my second great grandmother Katharina Schuttler was born in Chicago to immigrants John Schuttler and Louise Gerbing. She was my first ancestor born on this continent.
Katharina Schuttler is seated in the middle of the 3 women
In 1866, my second great grand aunt Anna Maria Heinzen was born in Brig, Valais, Switzerland to Joseph Anton Heinzen and Italian-Swiss Regina Gentinetta.
In 1896, cousin several times removed, Charles Gerbing, won the German Wheelmen’s Race (Cycling) in Chicago but ended up being disqualified.
Finally, it was reported in two newspapers on today’s date in 1912, that my great grandfather, Carmen Ferraro, used a stage name of Mr. Armanno Vittorio, and told the reporter he was from the Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, when he gave an operatic performance as a dramatic tenor.
Are we related? Do you have an addition or correction? Please email me-cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net
Maria Donata Di Costanzo was my fifth great grandmother, and ancestor of my great grandmother Serafina Merlenghi, on her father’s side. I know so little of Maria Donata. Her vital stats are that she was born in Penne around 1777 to a Felice and Chiara (last name unknown) and she died in 1862 in Farindola. She was already a widow when she passed away. Her husband, Farindolesi Domenico Marzola, had passed away in 1858. Domenico’s vital stats are known and so is a relationship to another branch of my paternal lines. Domenico’s sister Giovanna Marzola was also my fifth great grandmother. She was married to Cancelliere Nicola Carusi. Knowing this, if I calculate correctly, this would make my father’s parents 5th cousins. Right?
Back to Maria Donata…So Maria Donata was discovered being mentioned as going to town hall in 1841 to announce the birth of her grandchild. While the record does not say “levatrice” or “ostetrice” after her name, I can only guess it may have been POSSIBLE she was the midwife present at the birth. The record is below.
Farindola, Nati 1841, Number 53
The year 1841, 3 of the month of July, at hour 10, before me, Vincenzo Carusi, in the commune of Farindola, district of Civita Santangelo, Province of Teramo, there is appearing Maria Donata Costanzo, 60 years, profession contadina, living in Farindola, presenting a baby, whom she declares she knows that she was born to Bernardo Cirone, 36 years, living in Farindola, and Maria Marzola (Maria Crocefissa Marzola), his wife, 33 years, contadina, living in matrimony, on the the 3rd day of the month of July at the 7th hour, in their habitation, in Rione della Piazzetta, the same she says the baby is named Maria Concetta.
The preceding is given as testimony in the presense of Anastasio (illegible surname), 66 years, profession taylor, living in Farindola, and Don Giacomo Mesioli, 41 years, profession landowner, living in Farindola. This presented as an act formed for that purpose, written above in the Registry all declared and testified, this day, month, and year, as above, signed by me, and the given testimony spoken, because they cannot write.
1810 is the year of the last chronological record I could find that referenced Maria Carmina in Farindola. She either passed away in another town or moved away to live with another relative. Her husband Eggidio Colangelo had passed in 1781. This birth record was made at the town hall by my ancestor in her capacity of midwife, because the father of the child could not do so, due to his incarceration, which is noted in the record.
Number 11, Folio 6 1810, Farindola Nati
Today is the 11th of the month of January of the present year 1810 at the 15th hour.
In front of me, my charge, the Registry of the Civil Records, is appearing Signora Maria Collalto, 65 years, living in Cupoli Villa in this commune, presenting a baby of the masuline sex, born in her presence to Signora Anna Antonia Frattarola, wife of Gesualdo Di Juliis, inmate, at the hour 23 of the 10th day of the month of January.
And the formal declaration having been made and signed in our presence and by the witnesses who are Signore Domenico Del Priore of 50 years, profession artist, living in this commune in Rione della Pisciarella, and Signore Sabatino Intermesoli, of 36 years, profession contadino, living in this communue in Rione della Croceira,
Which is originally preserved in view of the present register, when seeing the following, the name
Antonio
was imposed on the child. And for execution of the Law, the present inscription is made.
1. May 14, Salvatore D’Angelo, contadino, 24
Figlio di Vincenzo D’Angelo and Maria Capitanio
Marries Angela Rubina, 23
Figlia di Giovanni Nostrianni and Alesandrina Cardone
Test: Berardino Cirone, Vincenzo Carusi*
2. May 25, Massimo Antonio Nostriani, contadino, 25
Figlio di Michele Nostriani, Teresiana Cardone
Marries Rosalina di Bartolomeo, 22
Figlia di Giuseppe Di Bartolomeo and fu Grazia Cavalle
Test: Antonio Di Vico and Vincenzo Carusi
3. June 10, Donato Iannascoli*, contadino, 31
Figlio di Pasqaule Iannascoli* and Anna Silvania Di Risio*
Marries Carmina Paolini, 23
Figlia di Paolo Paolini and Anna Zopita Puccelli
Test: Fedelangelo Cirone, Paolo Carusi*
4. July 3, Saverio Nostriani, contadino, 29
Figlio di Giovanni Nostriani and Alesandrina Cardone
Marries Elisabetta Di Bartolomeo, Cupoli, 18
Figlia di Elenterio Di Bartolomeo, and Anna Rosa di Vico
Test: Fedelangelo Cirone, Saverio Cotellucci
5. September 21, Michele Risdonio, contadino, 26, Farindola
Figlio di Pasquale Risdonio and Caterina Pompili
Marries Giovanna Lacchetta, 26, Farindola
Figlia di Giuseppe Lacchetta and Florenza Lucerini
Test: Domenico Cirone and Filippo Frattarola
6. September 21, Blasio Basile, contadino, 30, Farindola
Figlio di fu Pietro and Costanza D’Angelo
Marries Donata Lepore, 32, Farindola
Figlia di Alfonzo Lepore and Domenica Paolini
Test: Vincenzo Carusi* and Sabbatino Pompili
7. September 28, Benedetto Cirone*, contadino, 32, Farindola
Figlio di Fabrizio Cirone* and Anna Saveria Lizza*
Marries Domenica Pompili, 23, Farindola
Figlia di Nicolantonio Pompili and Elenteria Iannascoli
Test: Vincenzo Carusi*, Fedelangelo Cirone
8. November 30, Francesco Di Bartolomeo, contadino, 48, Cupoli
Figlio di fu Stefano Di Bartolomeo and fu Marta Frattarola
Marries Maria Nicola Colangeli*, 29, Casabruciata
Fligia di Sabbatino Colangeli*, Maria Crocetta*
Test: Domenico Cirone and Filippo Frattaroli
9. November 30, Pietro Paolo Frattarola, 21, Cupoli
Figlio di Berardino Frattarola and Giovanna D’Agostino
Marries Angela Dea Collatto, 21, Cupoli
Figlia di Francesco Collatto and fu Domenica Iannascoli
Test: Filippo Frattarola and Fedelangelo Cirone
The * denotes ancestors and relatives in my family tree. – cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net
My fifth great grandparents Angelo Merlenghi and Rosina D’Agostino were both born in Farindola, Abruzzo. They lived at Strada del Macello in Farindola when they both passed away in 1817 during the typhus epidemic in Italy. Europe was also recovering from a year that had been exceptionally cool, due to a volcanic eruption in 1815 in Indonesia, causing a famine in the Northern Hemisphere.
Angelo was born around 1770 to Nicodemo Merlengo (how the surname was spelled in the older records) and Marta Trizii*, and passed away at age 47 on April 1, 1817, during the epidemic. He left two children – Antonio Nicodemo (my ancestor) and Domenica.
Domenica was likely named after Angelo’s sister Domenica Merlenghi. Domenica Merlenghi (Angelo’s sister) also passed away that year, on November 15, 1817, at age 52.
Rosina D’Agostino was born around 1771 to Casimirro D’Agostino and Angela Fusaro. She passed away on August 2, 1817, leaving Antonio and Domenica without parents, and no living grandparents. Luckily, they were already young adults. When I found their death records, I saw that my fourth great grandfather Antonio reported to town hall the passing of his parents on both occasions.
In 1819, Antonio married my fourth great grandmother Anna Paola Lucerini, who was the daughter of an unnamed father and Maria Domenica Romaolda Lucerini.
About a year later, my third great grandfather Angelo Merlenghi was born. Angelo married two ladies. Maria Carmina Cirone and Alba Maria Mergiotti. We descend from Maria Carmina Cirone and her son with Angelo – Cesidio Merlenghi – the father of immigrants Serafina and Vincenzo.
Angelo died in Contrada Macchie, Farindola. I speculate that Macchie was once known as Strada Macello, because I cannot find Strada Macello on the map of Farindola. Can anyone confirm this or deny this?
*Trizii is how the surname is spelled in the civil records of Farindola.
Do you have any corrections, edits, or additions? Please email me: cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.
Following my post from yesterday, this is part 2 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt Earliest.
Continuing on my paternal side, the earliest new generation that I ever found was my great grandmother’s parents. Serafina Merlenghi was born in 1896 in Macchie, Farindola. I found her birth record on Family Search, before Italy put all of the records of Pescara on Antenati for everyone to view from their comfort of their own homes.
Serafina’s parents were Cesidio Merlenghi and Maria Michela Cirone.
From there I went on to find her husband’s birth record (Cesidio Marcella) and the birth records of other great grandparents in Farindola – Maria Luigia Massei and husband Paolo Di Francesco.
October is Italian Heritage Month in the United States and I am continuing concentrating on the Italians in my tree.
My great grandparents’ had brothers that came to the United States as farm laborers before the Immigration Quota Law of 1924. After the Immigration Quota Law of 1924 was passed, which limited immigration from non-northern European nations, a brother went to Canada through Nova Scotia, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, before eventually settling near St. Catharines, Ontario in Lincoln.
Vincenzo Merlenghi
Vincenzo Merlenghi was Serafina Merlenghi’s second oldest brother. He was born in 1890 at Contrada Macchie in Farindola to Cesidio and Maria Michela Cirone. According to American censuses the year of his marriage to his wife, Maria Giuseppa Pompili, daughter of Antonio and Maria Vincenza Di Gregorio, was 23.
Vincenzo’s atto di nascita from 1890 via Antenati
In 1914 he came to the United States through Ellis Island as a laborer on the S.S. Taormina. He was coming to live with his cousin Francesco Baccanale in Mason City, Iowa. I found him in 1920 on the S.S. Duca D’Aosta passenger list returning to the United States as an Italian military reservist, with an occupation of laborer, and having his passage paid for by the Italian government. Notes above his name said he was a returning United States resident and had been here previously from 1914-1917. It also stated he was going to Philadelphia and his closest living relative was his wife Maria (Maria Giuseppa) living in Farindola.
Additional information on this manifest was the information that he was going to stay with his friend Giuseppe Sciarra at 22 Street in Philadelphia. If he was a Sciarra from Farindola, he possibly is our relation. This is something to research in the future.
A physical description of Vincenzo gave his height of 5′ 5″, said that he was brown haired, brown eyed, possessed a natural colored complexion (tanned), and also stated he was born in Farindola. My great grandmother was brown-eyed as well.
The entire ship that day was filled with Italian military reservists, and a handful of their wives, all having their passage paid by the Italian government.
In 1921, Vincenzo sent for his wife, Maria Giuseppa Pompili, to come to the United States. She sailed to the Port of Philadelphia, with their baby daughter, Vincenza Elisabetta. The manifest reflected that her passage was paid by her husband and that she was going to meet him at 240 W. Green Street, Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
On the 1930 Census, Vincenzo was going by James and was naturalized. He and his wife had four children. James was working at a steel mill. On later American records, they used the surname Morengo. His son Romeo was a navy veteran of World War II. They both passed in 1968 and Maria Giuseppa Pompili passed in 1974. This is the link to Find-a-Grave where you can see their headstone. It is Merlenghi.
Antonio Merlenghi
Antonio Merlenghi was my great grandmother Serafina’s oldest brother and was born in 1887 at Contrada Macchie, Farindola. In 1910 he married Antonia Lombardi, daughter of Raffaele and Massimina Ferri. He came to Ellis Island on the S.S. Taormina in 1914 with his brother Vincenzo with the intention of also going to Mason City, Iowa to meet their cousin Giuseppe Cirone. His nearest living relative was stated as Antonia, his wife, living in Italy.
The ship was half-full of men from Penne, Farindola, and Montebello with familiar surnames of Colantonio, Falconetti, Colangeli, Antonacci, Marcucci, Buccella, and so on…all coming as farm laborers.
For reasons I cannot discover on the passenger manifest, nor in the batch of documents detailing the dispositions of the detained passengers held at Ellis Island that week in 1914, Antonio was deported back to Italy on the ship he arrived on, and also made to pay for the meals he ate while he was detained at Ellis Island.
Antonio Merlenghi became a Corporal in the 281st Reggimento Fanteria and died on October 27, 1918 from the wounds he received in Grave di Papadopoli at the Battle of Vittorio-Veneto in the Great War.
Image taken from Caduti Grande Guerra.it
He was awarded the Medaglia D’Argento posthumously. So imagine had Antonio not been deported, what would have happened? How sad.
I did not include him in my count of immigrants. Should I?
Paolo Massei
Paolo’s 1896 birth from Farindola via Antenati
Paolo Massei was born in 1896 to Antonio and Angela Maria Di Massimo at Contrada Macchie in Farindola. He was my great grandmother Luigia’s second oldest brother. Paolo came to the United States for the first time in 1920, sailing to Ellis Island from Bordeaux, France on the S.S. Caroline. His occupation was listed as laborer, said he was able to write, and that he was going to meet family at the home of Domenico Avellos in White Haven, Pennsylvania. I have never heard of Domenico and his surname is intriguing. Was Domenico Avellos his family?
According to a later census, Paolo said he married his wife Maria Nicoletta Iezzi, daughter of Domenico Iezzi and Giuseppa Carusi, in 1924. If my Farindola research is correct, Paolo and Maria were third cousins. Giuseppa Carusi was a landowner’s daughter.* In 1927, Maria came to the United States with their 1 year old son Antonio aboard the S.S. Guilio which had sailed from Naples to Ellis Island. The passenger manifest does not reflect that Antonio is a citizen of the United States, so Paolo had not yet naturalized. They were going to meet Paolo at 32 Arbury Street in Trenton, New Jersey.
In 1930, Paolo was working at the city sewer works in Trenton. He and Maria had a daughter already and a 6 month old son named Anthony. I traced Anthony and all American records point to a birth date in 1929 in New Jersey. I can find no record of the child named Antonio that sailed to America with Maria in 1927. Paolo and Maria’s son Paul later founded his own construction company named MGM Construction. He also was a building inspector and zoning officer in New Jersey.
Paolo passed away in 1909 while Maria passed away in 1984. Paolo came to the United States when Lady Liberty’s beacon shined brightly.
Zopito Di Francesco
Zopito Di Francesco was born at #84 Contrada Trosciano, Farindola in 1904 to Biagio and Marianna Di Pendima. He was a younger brother to my great grandfather Paolo.
Zopito’s 1904 birth (part 1) from Farindola via Antenati
Due to the Immigration Quota Act of 1924, in 1927, Zopito sailed from Bourdeaux, France on the ship La Bourdonnais to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was the only traveler from Farindola on the ship and for all research I am able to present at this moment, he was the first of the Di Francesco surname from Farindola to come to North America.
His intended destination, from what I can make out on the manifest was a place called Perth (sp?) Italy Farmers Colony in Winnipeg, Manitoba to a man with the surname Mangietti. I learned that there was a Little Italy in Winnipeg at that time. The manifest stated that his nearest living relative was his mother in Farindola, Marianna Di Pendima.
Eventually, Zopito settled near St. Catharines, Ontario and bought his own farmland. It is my understanding that some of that land is still in the family today.
My great grandmother Serafina Merlenghi was born in 1896 at Contrada Macchie, Farindola in 1896. In 1948, she arrived at Ellis Island with her youngest child, Alberino, who was a citizen of the United States. They were going to meet my great grandfather, Cesidio Marcella in Philadelphia.
Serafina had a daughter named Maria in 1916 with my great grandfather. In 1919, they married and had two more children: Zia L. and Biagio Filippo.
In 1930, their son Alberino was born.
After decades of living apart while my great grandfather worked in the United States and sent money home, she came to the United States in 1948 with their 18 year old son Alberino. Because my great grandfather was a United States citizen when Alberino was born, Alberino was automatically a citizen. Her daughters Maria (m. Iezzi) and Zia L. (m. Generosi) had families of their own in Italy when she left.
Serafina arrived while Lady Liberty’s beacon still shined brightly.
My great grandmother returned to Italy to visit several times before she returned for good after my great grandfather passed in 1980. She resided in the village of her birth the rest of her life and is buried there.
I loved her name so much, it was my confirmation name. A cousin shared a story of her in which she described her as knowledgeable in the ways of medicinal plants. I thank you for the stories.
Farindola – On today’s date in 1853, my third great grandparents Angelo Merlenghi and Maria Carmina Cirone were married in San Nicola di Bari in Farindola, Italy. They were both contadini and were the grandparents of my great grandmother Serafina Merlenghi.
Maria Carmina Cirone was born in 1828 in Farindola to Bernardo Cirone and Maria Crocefissa Marzola. Maria Carmina’s mother and grandmother Maria Donata Di Costanzo were both levatrici = midwives. Bernardo Cirone’s Cirone ancestors were builders.
Angelo Merlenghi was born in 1820 in Farindola to Antonio Nicodemo Merlenghi and the fatherless Anna Paola Lucerini. They were contadini. Angelo Merlenghi’s great grandfather on his mother’s side was Artista Romoaldo Lucerini. I still do not know what kind of artist Romoaldo was!
Maria Carmina Cirone and Angelo Merlenghi had four children:
Giuseppe Merlenghi m. Carmela Dell’Orso (parents of Soldato Domenico Quirico Merlenghi, disperso alla Zagora, Slovenia 12 Agosto 1915)
Francesca Merlenghi
Cesidio Merlenghi m. Maria Michela Cirone (parents of Serafina Merlenghi)
Maria Merlenghi
Maria Carmina Cirone had no more children and died in 1861 at the age of 33.
Angelo Merlenghi remarried in 1865 to Alba Maria Mergiotti. She was the daughter of Donato Mergiotti and Maria Di Gregorio.
Angelo had two children with Alba Maria:
Antonio Merlenghi, died at age 17 in Contrada Macchie
Maria Loreta Merlenghi m. Alessandro Lombardi
Angelo passed away in 1876, at the age of 55 in Contrada Macchie. Below is the 2012 view of Farindola from Macchie.
Gran Sasso D’Italia, overlook near Farindola
Cinziarosa's Descendants (c) 
