Valerio PAPA surname

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Nataliej
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Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Nataliej »

Now that the Luscietto mystery has begun to unravel. I would like to find out more about my great grandmothers family.

My first question is probably a silly one. I know that her father was Luigi vincenzo Pietro Valerio, but there is always a PAPA after his name. At first I thought it was just designating him as the father, but I also found it attached to his sisters, brothers and some children. Could it be that someone just made a mistake in recording things to ancestry? Or should that really be the last name. Grandma always said her maiden name was Vallero...

What I do know about Luigi he was born in or around Valperga on 01 Jan 1864 possibly died in illinois on 13 Mar1940. He was rumored to have been mayor or Valperga and a music instructor. They also were well to do and had maids and cooks. When my great grandma came to America - she didn't know how to do anything domestic! I do know that some of his children came to America and some stayed there. One married a count- but I don't know the names. Thank you!

Edited to note that Luigi's birthplace is listed as Locana, Piemont, Italy. Since I am not familiar with that area - I do not know if that even makes a difference. I do know that Valperga is in the Piedmont region.
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Italysearcher »

There are over 5000 persons listed in the Italian white pages (www.paginebianche.it) with the surname PAPA.
Italian women do not change their surname on marriage so Grandma was correct in giving her surname as different from her husband.
There is actually a Valerio PAPA listed in Castellamonte (near Valperga). It looks like you have a double surname.
Ann Tatangelo
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Nataliej
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Nataliej »

Ok. That explains some of the mystery. I wonder if when traveling they dropped the PAPA? I found a 1920 census that I know for certain has my Great Aunt Marie on it. Also listed in the household is someone named John Viola - but knowing that they were new to America and didn't speak English well. I could sees how it could have been transcribed wrong - since I believe it should be Volerio. I am having difficulty reading the handwriting that says who they are.
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Italysearcher »

Since PAPA is also an English word meaning 'father' its possible it was dropped by American officials and NOT By the family. Italians are proud of their surnames and I can't imagine he dropped it by choice. Valerio-Papa is probably the surname you should be searching in Italy and on immigration records (ship manifests).
Ann Tatangelo
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Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
Nataliej
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Nataliej »

Thank you - that is what I have been doing. I have found several census records and other forms that show a Louis Vallero - the dates and other names seem to fit, but it shows him as being in the states and to my knowledge - he never was. It also isn't clear in them as to his wife - and I have hit a total brick wall there. Supposedly her name Irene Boetto but I find absolutey nothing on her and no one in the family knows anything either.
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by paola52 »

I think Vallero is a better bet, as it is a Piemontese surname, (like Boetto) while Valerio is found mostly in the South
http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognom ... ni/VALLERO
and most of them live in Valperga
http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognom ... NTE/TORINO

But Papa? Decidely a southern surname, and the Papa living today in Northern Italy came with the emigration of the Fifties and Sixties
In what documents did you find it?
Researching Provinces of Varese, Como and Milan and the valleys around Turin
Nataliej
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Re: Valerio PAPA surname

Post by Nataliej »

It was on some things I found on Ancestry. After reading your post and going back through them - I don't think they are the same person. I think someone on ancestry in another tree errantly attached them to him. I did find more lists, etc... that my great grandma's name was on as well as what you found on Ellis Island that was her sister and it says Vallero for the last name. So I will start searching again. And Great Grandma Lussetto never had anything good to say about southern Italy - so I am sure you are correct Paola. Thank you!
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