Our family took a trip to Italy this past spring. My Mom and I had been taking language lessons for two years, and all of us were searching for relatives that my great-aunt and grandfather had visited over the past twenty and forty years. We did find them, but it was only by chance. I’ve been writing a piece on it ever since we returned and wanted to share how we started our search.
How to find your family: Collect Names, Find Family Tree services online, Type in Names and find links, and finally, Try to seek out other people living today and follow their lineage back to your tree.
Easy, right? The last two years have been spent trying to do just this.
The following was found on Trip Adviser: Put your surname in the box labeled “Cognomi” to see the heaviest concentrations of your family name at this website here.
I knew that my family was from Giulianova in the Abruzzo region along the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
-Image from Wikipedia
Next, try looking family up in that region by using the Italian phone book online here.
You could also contact the comune in Giulianova, specifically the “Ufficio Anagrafe”. The “Ufficio Anagrafe” is where all the people who were born in a town are registered. Commune Giulianova Translated Email them at: info@comune.giulianova.te.it
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Go to: Ellisisland.org and see what ships brought them to America.
Build a Family Tree at Ancestry.com or throughFamily Search.org
Seek your local Sons of Italy club.
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Find Publications about your area:
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From the Giulianova is a pleasant and prosperous town located at the foot of the Appennini and facing the Adriatic Sea. Giulianova can be considered as an ideal seaside resort thanks to its golden and fine sand beach, but even as a town rich in art and ancient treasures. Giulianova is located both on the sea and near the mountains, offering in this way a really great vacation to the tourists.
Being the Gran Sasso very near, it is possible to visit the National Park of Maiella, the National Park of Gran Sasso-Monti della Laga, the Regional Park Sirente-Velino and the National Park of Abruzzo. During the winter it is possible to go skiing. For those who love nature the caves of the calcareous mountains in Abruzzo, easy to reach, offer landscapes of spectacular interest: The Cavallone Caves exalted by the poet D’Annunzio, the Stiffe Caves still crossed by the water, the Beatrice Cenci Caves where important archeological finds dating back to the Stone Age have been discovered.My Italian Family. com
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When you think you’ve found them, and want to go visit make sure you bring family photos on your journey! It’s the only way we found our relatives.
More to come.
Passive Architect 