I am going to be in Italy for a (much too short) visit in spring 2009 and want to spend a couple of days in Abruzzo, including a visit to my family's home towns of Serramonacesca and Casalincontrada, near Chieti.

Does anyone know how a good way to engage a driver/interpreter who could take us to ...

I just obtained some old pictures of my relatives who remained in Italy, but can't understand all the Italian handwriting on the the back. the pictures are of several different people but writing on the backs of each starts out with a word that looks like Poracchio or Toracchio followed by the ...

Thanks! Deepens my curiosity, since neither is listed as an Italian name. One of the Saint Barlaams did apparently live in Calabria (he was of Greek origin), and so I guess a Catholic Italian child might be named after him. Tobiah is listed as a Hebrew name, and "Tubbia" sounds like it might be an ...

I have just across an 18th century record of my g-g-g-g-grandfather, in Serramonacesca, with the name Barlaam DiClemente. Has anyone heard this first name in Italian before? It it is written very clearly. There is a St. Barlaam, but the name appears to be more associated with the Orthodox Church in ...

I realize it's only a tiny town, but I wonder if anyone might be familiar with the village of Serramonacesca in Prov. Pescara. I have recently traced my DiClemente ancestors back to around 1750 in Serramonacesca. Several of them list "Strada della Barraca" as their residence. On modern maps and ...

Not 100% sure of this, but I believe the 821 Christian St. address would be part of what later became Palumbo's restaurant and night club, one of the centers of Italian life in Philadelphia. I believe it spanned the entire block between 8th and 9th and Christian and Catherine Sts, and burned down in ...

WOW ... this is definitely her and I don't think she is travelling alone! The key name to me is the one below on the Ellis Island manifest -- Alfonso DiPasquale from Casalincontrada (see my earlier post that her first husband may have been named DiPasquale! The address may be 821 Christian St ...

Maria ...

Would Rose have had any reason to travel to the USA in 1902?
I don't know. She would have only been 16 or 17. Could she have been here with her first husband and been "sent back" to Italy? In the 1920 New Jersey census for Camden NJ (under "John and Rose Clements") it says that her ...

I have seen that one .... I guess I haven't ruled it out or in because I can't find a definite connection, but neither do I see anything to disprove it. Bisenti is pretty far, especially in those days, but then there seem to be DiClementes from Aquila, Teramo, Chieti, Pescara and points in between ...

Yes ... if there IS a 1902 (or maybe 1901) manifest to be found. I know Giovanni was born in 1883. In 1909 he says he was in the US before, from 1902 to 1907. Family oral history says "he came down through Canada" and something about being deported. That sounds to me like perhaps he came to the US ...

Maria (and Nuccia and Valarie and whomever else) ... I see you have found the 1909 Ellis Island Louisiane manifest for Giovanni. The other things that are turning up were almost certainly posted by me. It is back in Italy (Serramonacesca and Casalincontrada) that I have little or no information. As ...

Yes, this is most DEFINITELY my grandmother ... this is the ship's manifest record that I referred to. All the details, names and birthdates match 100% EXCEPT little "Antonio" would actually be my AUNT "Jeannette" (Antonia or Antonietta) who later had children of her own. I can only assume this was ...

Possible , but I don't think this is the same person. When Giovanni came over in 1909, his destination was Philadelphia, PA to visit his "cousin, Vincenzo DeFillipo". When my grandmother came in 1911, she was coming to "her husband, Giovanni DiClemente, in Camden, NJ" which is right across the ...

Thank you for your response! I have ship's manifest for my grandfather's 1909 arrival at Ellis Island but not his original trip in 1901-02. The 1909 manifest states he was in US previously from 1902-07 and was from Serramonacesca. Family oral history (very vague and secretive) is that he originally ...

Hello ... If anyone has any information regarding these families or towns, I would love to hear from you. My grandfather Giovanni DiClemente (b. 1883) left Serramonacesca for America in 1902. He went back to Italy in 1907 and returned to the US in 1909. His father's name was Francesco. His mother ...