All the hard work and the support from my Gente di Mare friends paid off!!! I found new relatives and actually made the connections with the help of Kathy Kirkpatrick excellent research support in Utah. My biggest mystery now is that I learned ALL of Gaetano's siblings were shipped to America after the tragic death of their father who died while trying to save a neighbor from a fire. While Gaetano's mother recuperated, they lived in America. I think maybe they lived with their Aunt Ignazia LaBarbera Guglielmo in New Orleans, then according to my Sicilian cousins, they think only Giuseppa went back to Sicily because she could tailor so well. So now, Gaetano's sister Agnese must have been in America, but I am not sure. I also never saw any passenger or census info to prove anything other than Gaetano, Giovanni and Antonio being in America. Well, maybe my friends on GM can help!!! Enjoy the photo and stories....

Hello/Ciao!

Family/Friends

Here is a link to the photos from our trip.

IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS!!! There may be some missing or incorrect info but I will fix over time.

Also, I will be uploading some video and additional photos next week so check back in now and then for updates!

When you open the link, if you choose "slideshow", once the slideshow starts, be sure to click on the picture where the "i" shows up, so that the descriptive information that goes with each picture. Also please leave comments!

Here is the link:

www.flickr.com/photos/jlabarbera

For those of you who are thinking about going to Italy/Sicily, don't even think about it. Just DO IT. FIND A WAY. You will never regret it. It was the most fascinating and wonderful experience, photos can do no justice. And the families we stayed with and visited made us feel so welcome and comfortable I felt like I knew them my whole life. We will be going back next June for at least 3 weeks...get your calendars cleared and save your money!!!

Again, this was done quickly so I will update it and correct it over the next several days.

Oh John...
Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful collection of photo's with us. What marvellous memories you and your family must have of those days when you finally came face to face with your family roots.

Was it really as good as you thought it would be? Judging by all the smiling faces in all the photo's I suspect that it was in fact even better than your wildest dreams.

It's nice to see you back among us, I'm sure everyone missed you.

John is quite right when he says "Don't just think about it - DO IT!!!" Yes it may take a long time to save sufficient money - but the opportunity is far too good to miss!

VIVA ITALIA!

and once again John - Grazie mille!

John,
So good to have you back!! How awesome - you have lived my dream! Not only to go to Italy but to meet family!! Congratulations!

Wonderful pictures, John,

Thanks for sharing them with us. I can't wait to go ...

Glad you had such a great time John and thanks for sharing the wonderful photo's.

Incredible! It is so amazing that they still have the sewing machine and bike. I can't believe how quickly you pulled this all together!

i congradulate anybody who actually found and meet there Italian ancestors still in italy, Congrats John... One day i wish i could find some living ancestors over there.

I truly enjoyed looking at the pictures, just gorgeous!

Thank you for sharing them with us


Liz

Thanks everyone....I couldn't have done it without you!

Do you have any tips in finding living relatives for everybody john?

Here is the process I used in a few simple steps:

1. Get as much info from your older living relatives as possible, do it now while they are still living! Find out surnames and given names, as the given names are indicative of your ancestors names. Italian tradition was to name the children after the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. In my tree which goes back to 1700, there are only maybe 7 different male names. You will use this when you search the town of your ancestors births.

2. Determine the birthplace of your ancestors. This is critical, as your ancestors very likely did not move much from their town of birth and it is likely this is where your relatives are. Passenger lists typically list last residence of the immigrant. So find the passenger list of your immigrating ancestors if you are not able to get this from your older relatives or birth/marriage/death records. Subscribe to Ancestry.com and/or join a forum like this one, it is best to do some research on your own but ask the forum for help when you get stuck. Forum support accelerated my search by years!

3. Once you determine the town of your ancestors, write letters to all the folks who have same last name and similar given names of your ancestors. You can find these folks by searching the Italian white pages www.paginebianche.it/index.html. Sample letters in Italian can be found at www.mangeruca.com/pote...lative.htm however it is best to have someone call around for you once you have good research info on your ancestors. I used Emilio at genealogypro.com/eterrazzino.html to call potential relatives for me, this is how I actually made the connection as I rarely received any response from my letters. But you have to have some basic family tree data before you do this.

4. As you start getting more info, research the birth, death and marriage records of your ancestors. It is best to hire an expert if you are in a hurry, the records are very difficult to read. Not only are they in Italian but in an old writing style. The records that the Mormons have maintained are invaluable, and typically cover from 1820 to 1903. Before that you need to go to the church. I used Kathy Kirkpatrick at Gentracer, very happy with her services. I did a lot of my own via the local LDS family history center and it was very fun to do but if in a hurry best to hire someone for a more complete and accurate investigation.

5. Do not give up....you will hit bumps along the way....but you are lucky that you are Italian, as Napolean did good when he forced our ancestors to record everything....

6. There are tons of tips other tips which are all likely on a forum or genealogy website....use the Internet! #1 source for my success...

Ciao!

Thank you for that great insight on how to achieve what you did John.

Yes I agree, you can't start soon enough asking those questions... it is, as you say, too late when 'they' have gone! I know just how valuable that advice is - I have never had anyone to ask about one side of my family. But oh - how I wish I had!

I also think you are soooo right when you say DON'T GIVE UP!!! My research mirrors yours and the brick wall's that I hit were too many to list. But when that happens you need to put your search aside for a moment, and reflect on your target - keep that in mind always. That target will keep you going through those times when you feel "Enough - I'm going to stop!"