Trying to find Burgo and Sparola??? Dead end-please help!

[swcolleen]

hello all I don't know if anyone is interested but I just learned today that the name Sparola is not thought to be the proper spelling. my grandmother called me today to tell me she believes the name is actually Serrolla. She read it on the back of a photo she found but she isn't 100% sure on the spelling b/c of the handwriting and so when I see her in a few weeks I will get to look at it myself but I have been trying to locate this name-or close variations all day and not too much luck.

I wondered if the surname "Serrolla" was a common italian surname? Or at least a bit more common than what I previously believed!

Thanks

[ptimber]

There is no Serrello currently in Italy but there are SERRIELLO surnames listed in 8 towns, 3 in Naples area, one In Rome and 4 in the far north of Italy. This is the closest that I casn come to Serrello. The Italian surname dictionary does not list either surname but they could have been local in origin. Peter

[swcolleen]

Thanks peter! I will try looking at that variation. I appreciate your effort!!

[swcolleen]

Hello all (or anyone who is interested!) I just spent the afternoon with my grandmother and her cousin trying to put some stuff together. Accoding to my grandmother's cousin's husband who swears he has this information correct b.c they used to talk when they lived with them...so this is the new info that I have come up with...

According to my grandmother's cousin's husband...Michele and Luigi Burgo acrually came over at age 9 and 11 -together-because they were orphaned. We don't know who sponsored them but they came over here from Salandra to live in Philadelphia. We had thought they came over when they were much older and that Micheal had sponsored luigi but this new info changes all that. We do know that they never wanted to go back to italy because they had no one there. I am thinking maybe they were orphaned after their parents were in some accident or something since they had no other family there but that is just my speculation. I DO know they were orphaned in Italy but that is it.

I was also able to see the church's marriage cert for Luigi and Antonia. Here is an image of the names as they were written on the certificate-maybe someone can decifer if we are WAY off on the actual spelling...




and just for kicks here is their wedding photo:


I also learned that luigi's brother Michele, was naturalized in 1922 at age 39 and that he died at age 90 in 1973 which means he was born 1883. If he came over when he was 9 then that would be they came over aprox 1892. Now we always thought that Michele was the older brother but tofay I was told Luigi was the older brother which puts him at age 11 when they came over. This doesn't quite add up with the wedding date and such so I still think that Michele was the older brother and Luigi the younger brother which would mean that if Michele was born in 1883, they came over in 1894...there is definatly a margin of error and since not every numer seems to match up completely correctly. For example, based on death date and naturalization date I am pretty sure about Michele's birth year BUT according to Luigi marriage certif he was 22 in 1909 which makes him born in 1887 -a 4 year difference between the brothers not a 2 year difference. It also states Antonia was 19 in 1909 meaning she should be born in 1890 which is what I think I had previousl-I have to heck my notes.

Does anyone know the margin of error on birth years?


Ok....sorry for going on and on...just trying to get my thoughts together.

If anyone has any idea for sure on the name I posted in the pic above I would so appreciate it!

Thanks!!
Colleen[/b]

[swcolleen]

ok...something is wrong with my pics not posting....i going to try something and try to post those pics again in a few min....

[swcolleen]

I can't figure out the photo thing but if you copy and paste the link you can see the image...

I am still not convinced about these brothers when they came over...I wonder if maybe they were orphaned at 9 and 11 but didn't come over right away? I just don't know..back to the books!

[mfjp]

sent you a private message

[wldspirit]

I love looking at old black and white photos, this one is in really good
shape......and the veil is beautiul........

wldspirit

[ptimber]

why don't you file form 81 with NARA for their arrival in the USA at some port. Go to www.nara.gov.com and click search and then type in the empty space obtain forms. peter

[swcolleen]

Thanks for checking out the pics.

peter- I will look into that website-thanks!

If anyone is interested I can post the entire marraige document. just let me know.

Colleen

[swcolleen]

Ok...so I have a friend in Italy who was able to translate the marriage certificate for me and I was able to come up with a few things that I think to be true now....

I think the name is Sferrolla.

what I got from the marriage liscense is this:

Church of Santa Maria del Carmine
This document certifies that
Mr. Luigi Burgo, age 22
son of Rocco and of Angela Latella
born in Salandra - province of Potenza
and Miss Antonia Sferrolla, age 19
daugther of Nicola and Domenica Bonelli
born in Salandra - province of Potenza
were united in the holy Marriage with the rite of the Catholic Church
and according to laws of the State of New Jersey
the 15th February 1909 in this Church by the priest
Michele Di Delsi (/I think it's another D of Delsi.../)
with the witnesses Michele Ambruso and Nicoletta Mastrulli

This copy is like the original
Camden, 28th Febraury 1910"

I do know that Luigi's parents died before he came to us b/c he was orphaned and now that I have names I might be able to get more info.

Thanks so far!

[brujaojos]

I definatly want to see about getting the marriage certificate but it sounds like according to my grandmother that Luigi and Antonia maybe have been married in Philadelphia not Camden-yikes! I will keep digging!!

Hi,

If your grandparents were married before 1940 in New Jeresy, then you would go to the New Jersey State Archives in Trenton, NJ. They have everything on microfilm and the records are arranged by year and then each year is in alphabetical order. The people up there are very helpful.

If your grandparents were marriend between 1885-1915 in Philadelphia, you would have to look up the Marriage Lic # in the Index and then you can order the microfilm for the marriage Lic at your local Family History Center. Or go to the City Archives of Phila to look it up. (I suggest FHC first - it's easier and cheaper).

I have access to the Phila Index 1885-1915 and will look it up on Wednesday and let you know if they were married there.

Have a good one.
Trish

[swcolleen]

Thanks Trish for the info. I beleive Luigi and Antoina to be married in Camden NJ in 1909 but I think that Michele Burgo and Rosaria Lamarra were married in Phila in 1906. If you are able to find them in your records that would be helpful too.

I was just able to see (my grandmother's sister had it!) a copy of luigi and antonia's marriage from the church record. i am trying to find Luig's brother Michele's now b/c according to my grandmother's cousin, luigi and antonia were actually the witnesses and I am hoping to have info match Luigi's.

Thanks so much for the help...I am off to look up some more names
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[brujaojos]

Thanks Trish for the info. I beleive Luigi and Antoina to be married in Camden NJ in 1909 but I think that Michele Burgo and Rosaria Lamarra were married in Phila in 1906. If you are able to find them in your records that would be helpful too.~

Don't know if anyone gave you the Social Security Death Index information. If they did, sorry for repeating.

Luigi Burgo - born April 11, 1886 - died January 1963(New Jersey)

Antonia Burgo - born August 22, 1889 - died May 1977 (Audobon, NJ) *Note: died as Nettie Burgo and was in census as Nettie

Michele Burgo - born March 19, 1882 - died February 1973 (Haddon Heights, NJ) * Note: died as Michael Burgo

Rosaria Burgo - born April 26, 1889 - died September 1969 (Camden, NJ) *Note: died as Rose Burgo

Interesting tidbit, both Luigi and Michele named their first born son Rocco and their first born daughter Angelina. Rule of thumb was if they followed the procedure, the first born son was named after the paternal grandfather and the first born daughter was named after the paternal grandmother.

Per the census, Michele and Rosaria's first two children were born in Pennsylvania and the rest were born in New Jersey.

Hope this helps.
Trish

[swcolleen]

Thanks Trish! I appreciate the time you took to get the info.

not sure if I wrote this or not because I just found this out today actually but I found out that Luigi and Michele's dad's name WAS Rocco! And their mother was Angela Latella.

It seems Antonia Sferrolla's parents were Nicola (is that nicholas?) and Domenica Bonelli. I have still not been able to find out when ANY of them (luigi, michele or antonia) actually arrived in US but I know that it had to be before 1906 b/c I belive michele and his wife were married in nov 1906 and according to my grandmother's cousin, luigi and antonia were the witnesses. I belive luigi was but i am not convinced on antonia yet b/c she was youngest.

According to my grandmother, Antonia might have been sent for by an Aunt who was in US-Antonia's mother did not want her to come to US but she did anyway.

This is the biggest puzzle I will ever hope to figure out! ( at least for now!)

thanks again!!