Melanie Holtz - The Family Tree Italian Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family Tree in Italy

CINCINNATI, OHIO

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To my descendants...I hope this book bring you a deeper understanding of yourself and the generations that came before you.

To my Italian immigrant ancestors, Antonino Lo Schiavo, Giuseppa Catanese, Matteo Catanese, and Maria Di Domenico...I am grateful for the sacrifices you made so that we might have and enjoy the life we have now.

To my Lord, whose love and grace get me through each day.

CHAPTER 1
DISCOVERING YOUR ITALIAN HERITAGE

Celebrate your Italian ancestry with this guide to where Italians emigrated to and what their lives were like when they got there.

CHAPTER 2
JUMP-STARTING YOUR ITALIAN RESEARCH

Build a strong foundation for your Italian research with this guide to key genealogy principles.

CHAPTER 3
IDENTIFYING YOUR IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS

Trace your family line back to your ancestral town! This chapter will walk you through how to determine the name and hometown of your Italian ancestors.

CHAPTER 4
UNDERSTANDING ITALIAN HISTORY

Learn the history of Italianate regions with this chapters crash-course guide to the people and events that shaped modern Italy, from the medieval times to Italian Unification to World War II.

CHAPTER 5
UNDERSTANDING ITALIAN GEOGRAPHY

Walk in your ancestors shoes! This chapter discusses the administrative districts and archival system that affect where you can find records of your ancestors today.

CHAPTER 6
DECIPHERING ITALIAN: LANGUAGE, NAMES, AND SURNAMES

Decode Italian records with these basic Italian language skills, plus guides to Italian naming traditions and surnames.

CHAPTER 7
CIVIL RECORDS

Discover your ancestors through the Italian civil registration system, which recorded births, marriages, deaths, and other miscellaneous events. This chapter will show you how.

CHAPTER 8
CHURCH RECORDS

Uncover key details about your ancestors life through sacramental records and censuses created by religious organizations.

CHAPTER 9
CENSUS AND TAXATION RECORDS

Follow your ancestors back in time with these strategies for finding and using various Italian censuses.

CHAPTER 10
NOTARIAL RECORDS

Document the major events in your ancestors life through notarial records such as wills, deeds, and marriage contracts.

CHAPTER 11
MILITARY RECORDS

Follow your ancestors into the trenches with this chapters guide to tracking your ancestors military service through draft lists, muster rolls, service records, and more.

CHAPTER 12
OTHER RECORDS

Dig deeper into your Italian roots! This chapter discusses how to use resources you may not have thought to study, such as newspapers, travel papers, and directories.

CHAPTER 13
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

See this books strategies in action with these three Italian genealogy success stories.

CHAPTER 14
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET STUCK

Overcome research brick walls with this chapters tips for solving common problems in Italian genealogy.

The writing of this book brings me great joy. With it, I honor the sacrifices my ancestors made when they left Italy and created a life for us here in the United States. We have opportunities they could only have dreamed of and were not possible in the Italy they knew. They left behind all they knew and people they held dear to provide us with a better life. And they succeeded. Our children can go to school and have enough food on the table, and there is extra money in the budget for extracurricular activities. Mille grazie per tutti, Antonino Lo Schiavo, Giuseppa Catanese, Maria Di Domenico, e Matteo Catanese....

After growing up in Pennsylvania, I came to know the Italian side of my family in my early twenties. In some ways, this was fortuitous becausewhen my Italian relatives told me the stories, passed down the recipes, and relayed the diverse history of our ancestorsI was ready and old enough to know the value of what was being conveyed. I listened, recorded the stories, copied photos, and traced our family history. I went to Italy, saw the houses where my great-grandparents were born, explored the parishes where they were baptized, reconnected with Italian cousins, and embraced this part of my history.

Through reconnecting with this side of my family, I came to understand some puzzling things about myself. I had always favored Italian foods, tried to take Italian in high school, and chosen to do my senior paper on famous Italians. I was so excited about the homemade stromboli my friends mother served for dinner one night that my mother prepared it for my sixteenth birthday party. Something in my DNA knew I was Italian before I did. Now, more than twenty years later, my Italian history is ingrained in my very being.

As I began researching my Italian ancestors, I fell in love with Italian research, language, and culture. It speaks to me as nothing ever has before. On my first trip to Italy, I stood on the roof of my Palermo hotel and looked out over the mountains that had fed and sheltered my ancestors for centuries, and I felt like I had come home. It was an indescribable feeling and unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Im sure others have had similar experiences upon returning to their Italian hometowns.

I soon became the local expert in Italian genealogy, and before long decided to make this my vocation. I began to prepare myself to offer research services to clients, educating myself in Italian records, history, and language. I submitted a portfolio of work to the Board for Certification of Genealogists and had my work vetted by the top genealogists in the field. My work passed muster, and I became a board-certified genealogist. Ive now been a professional genealogist for fifteen years. I travel regularly to Italy, maintain an office there, and continue to grow my Italian research and language skills.

Genealogy, like everything, is constantly changing. New resources are being found or becoming available in different formats. FamilySearchs Italian digitization initiative is making it easier to research Italian civil and military records from home. Italian archives and libraries have taken up the baton and continued (or have begun) their own digitization projects. The Italian archival website, Portale Antenati , will eventually make all civil records and military conscription records held in Italys provincial/state archives available on the Internet for all to access.