Origins of the name Testa and Venditti

[misbris]

Wow, I think I am confusing myself. I just realized that there are Vendittis and Vindittis. I'm not really sure which is the correct family.

[JohnArmellino]

If John's family is from the Campobasso area, Vinchiaturo in particular, then the correct name is Venditti. There are also a few Venditto families in the area. However, according to the search engines, there are no Vinditti families in Molise.

[allitalian1]

Records I have from New York State Department of Welfare state that Bernardino was 25 at the time of my dads birth. My dad was born in 1928. 1903 is a likely date for his birth. Philomena was 21 at that time. Her birth date is recorded to be 1908. The information for Philomena matches nicely. Bernardino continues to be the one that has not matched up in the records.

The February 1904 manifest is a closer fit, but I cannot fully read their destination and the age could be off for Bernardino. It seems that his age is either 4 or 7. If someone could confirm that it would be very helpful. If he was 4, that would be very close. If he was 7, that would bring his birth date to 1897, which I do not think is correct.

The 1902 manifest shows on line 13 that Bernardino was 23. He would have been born in 1879. I do not think that is correct as that appears to be about the time that his and Philomena's parents were born. I have information that Antonia Venditti and Angelangelo Venditti, parents to Philomena were born in 1877 and 1878.

I agree with John that Venditti from Vinchiaturo is correct. All my research confirms that through and through.

If anyone can figure out if he was age 4 or 7 on the manifest, and where in New York he was going please let me know.

Thank you for the help. I will continue my research and will post anything new that I find.

John

[allitalian1]

I just put up a post or reply and now realize that I mistakenly created a new post. Is there anyway to cancel that new topic and bring that reply to this old topic?

Please remember that everyone we have been able to locate was coming to New Dorp, Staten Island. Most were coming to visit Guiseppe Venditti, the father in law of Angelantionio and the father of Antonetta or Antonia.

John

[allitalian1]

Misbris:

I completely agree that these two families are connected. The names just keep coming up Testa/Venditti/. It seems to be very likely that they were distant cousins.

[misbris]

Nuccia,

Is there a way to put this post under the other Testa/Venditti thread so we keep all the info together?

http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/Foru ... 11467.html


Thanks,
Mary Jo

[JohnArmellino]

edit to delete duplicated information

[allitalian1]

John:

Thank you for moving the post. I did not know how to do that.

Regards,

John,

[nuccia]

Sure Mary Jo. I will do this now. Thanks for the heads up.

John, Is this ok now for you? Let me know if you need anything else.

[nuccia]

Oops..looks like JohnArmellino beat me to it. Thanks for doing this John.


I should have read for follow up before I merged them!

[JohnArmellino]

Nuccia - I didn't know you could merge two posts like that...much neater than a quote.

[allitalian1]

Nuccia, Mary Jo and John:

Thank you for all the help. The search continues and you have made it that much easier.

I will post new information as I receive it.

Best regards,

John

[nuccia]

We'll look forward to hearing from you. Good luck!

[allitalian1]

Hi:

Over the past efw days, I have devoted much time to research and trying to clear up some of the loose ends. There is no question that my father's parents were Philomena (Philbelminna) Testa and Bernardino
Venditti. There is also little doubt that he had a brother, John A. Venditti and a sister, Antoinetta Venditti.

Further, there is little doubt that Philomena's parents were Antonia Venditti and Anthony (Angelantonio) Testa. It is confirmed they had six children, including Philomena. I agree that Antonetta's father was Guiseppe Venditti. Remember, the manifest for Angelantonio dated February 24, 1904, stated her was coming to New Dorp, Staten Island to visit his father in law, Guiseppe Venditti.

It started getting very confusing when it was proven that Antonia was a Venditti as so too was Bernardino. I believe this left little doubt that the Testa's and Venditti's were friends in Italy and that these marriages were arranged by family. It has become a bit more clear that, perhaps, these familes married as 2nd/3rd cousins. I, also found that Philomena died in Flushing, Queens on June 22, 1993. She died under the spelling of "Filomena". Would that concern you?, or do you think is clearly her, but that she just started spelling her first name differently?. She has used three spellings; the first when her parents filled out the manifest in 1907, spelling it as Philbelminna, spelled Philomena on a Dept. of Welfare form in 1927, and on her death record in 1993, as Philomena.

Here is where I am stumbling a bit:

1) I cannot locate a manifest for Bernardino. Where was he at this time and what happened to him? How did her get the the U.S.? I found information which states he died in Sonoma, California in January 1980 making him approximately 80. I believe he was a grape farmer.

2) I found that my father's brother John A. Venditti seems to have died in Los Angeles, California in 1962 as age 37. I cannot find any additional information for him.

3) I cannot locate any information whatsoever for my father's sister, Antoinetta.

4) I cannot locate any information for Bernardino's parents. Manifests or even their names.

There appears to be more information on Philomena's family than that of Bernardino.

If you have any information or can direct me to a new search, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you, again,

John

[JohnArmellino]

I, also found that Philomena died in Flushing, Queens on June 22, 1993. She died under the spelling of "Filomena". Would that concern you?

Filomena is the commonly used spelling in Italy. When you find her birth record I suspect that her name will be spelled this way. Variations in the spelling of given names and surnames were quite common as Italians immigrated to the USA.

I cannot locate a manifest for Bernardino. Where was he at this time and what happened to him?

There are several manifests referenced earlier in this topic that are possibilities for Berardino. In order to determine which one might be correct you will need more info about him (parents, etc).

You might want to order the relevant birth records from Vinchiaturo. The civil records, 1809-1910, have been filmed by the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS, aka the Mormons). These films may be rented and viewed their Family History Centers located worldwide. To find the one closest to you, go to

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... et_fhc.asp

The Film Details for the Vinchiaturo records can be found here:

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... ato+civile

Sometimes birth records contain notes in the margin about later marriages. This can be true even as to marriages occurring in the USA as long as the immigrants kept in touch with their families in Italy.