Surname Spellings: Italian vs. Sicilian

When researching church records that go all the way back to the 1500s, sometimes you will see surnames that seem similar to names that are used today. The spellings can vary significantly or sometimes, just by a letter or two. The spellings probably changed because they were written phonetically or because of the handwriting style. Here is a list of surname names that you may encounter in and around the area of Carini, Sicily, Italy. It is not a complete list so if you know of more, please let me know so I included the surnames and update the list.

And remember, you might find a surname with "d apostrophe" vs "di". Here are a couple examples:

• di Amato / d'Amato or Amato
• di Messina or Messina

One last note about the different spelling of surnames, I suggest if you are doing genealogy and are building a family tree, use the surname that the person had at the time of their birth. I take the surname directly from the civil birth record and if there is no civil record, then I use the church baptism record. If I find the surname changed during their lifetime, then I make note of it and add that particular spelling as an "alternate surname" in the genealogy family tree software.

 

Italian Surname	Sicilian Surname	Prefix Information
Alamia	La Lamia
Aluia	La Luia
Badalà	Mandalà
Badalamenti	Badaramenti
Baiata	Bajada
Buffa	Bua
Caldarone	Calderone
Cangialosi	Congialosi
Cavoli	Li Cauli
Collura	Collurafici
Costantino / Constantino	Cosntino
Cusimano	Cusumano
Ferranti	Ferrante
Giacopello	Jacopello
Grigoli / Gregoli	Gregorio	Prefix can include "di"
Gritti	Grippi
Guercio	Guercia
Inzone / Insone	Izzuni
Ladragna	Adragna
Mansella	Manzella
Marchese	Maltese
Mauceri	Morici
Messeri	Misseri	Prefix can include "Lo" or "Lu"
Mini	Mineo
Monterusso	Monterosso
Ruffino	Roffino
Ruggeri	Ruggieri
Russo	Rosso	Prefix can include "Lo" or "Lu"
Sansone	Sanzone
Scannaliato	Scannariato
Scavo	Schiavo
Spatula	Spatola
Zerillo	Zirillo

Carini: Deceased Brothers of the Congregation 1746 to the Present (1974)

About a year ago, I stumbled across a set of documents tucked inside a group of death records on FamilySearch that I found interesting. It is a list of Italian Catholic priests that served in the Carini area from 1746 to 1974. I had a conversation with Suzanne Adams Russo regarding the list of names, and she helped me with some of the abbreviations that were used. Suzanne sent me a link from the Internet Archive of a book, Dictionary of Latin to Italian Abbreviations by Adriano Cappelli [published in 1929]. It is a wonderful book and if you are doing any type of research of old Italian documents, the manuscript needs to be on your bookshelf as a reference item. And, oh, it's FREE. Now there's no excuse for not having it as part of your Italian genealogical toolkit! Soon after talking with Suzanne, I transcribed and compiled the list into a spreadsheet, which I have included in this blog post.

Here is the direct link to the records on FamilySearch: Carini. Death Certificates 1804, 1809–1878

Abbreviation Key:
Rev. = Reverendo (Reverend)
Mro. = Maestro (Teacher)
Dr. = dicitur, distinguitur (distinguished)
D. = Don (a title of respect or honor, someone important)
Dr. D. = Distinguished Don
Not. / Notar. = Notaio (Notary)
Sac. = Sacerdote (Priest)
Arci = Arciprete (Arch-Priest)
Fisico (Physicist)
Maggiore (greater)
Economo = ??? {unknown, I could use some help with the meaning of this word}
Anello = ??? {unknown, I could use some help with this abbreviation}
Bno. / Ble. = ??? {unknown, I could use some help with these abbreviations}

Note:
Something that is interested regarding this list, is that everyone with the “Mro.” (or Teacher), title, has the name “Nunzio” attached to their name. Not sure what is going on with this, maybe someone can help figure it out.

Title #1	Title #2	Surname	Given Name	Death Date	Notes
Rev.	D.	Grippi	Filippo
Rev.	Dr. D.	Graffagnino	Gian Battista		Arci
Rev.	Dr. D.	Noledo	Ignazio
Rev.	D.	Camialo (sp?)	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Pignataro	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Marino	Giuseppe
Rev.	Dr. D.	Mancuso	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	di Bella	Andrea
Rev.	D.	Amato	Santo
Rev.	Dr. D.	Marchisi	Andrea		Arci
Rev.	D.	Cavoli	Pietro
Rev.	D.	Barrila	Domenico
Rev.	D.	Buzzetta	Domenico
Rev.	Dr. D.	di Bella	Matteo
Rev.	D.	Bubbeo	Giuseppe
	D.	Ballerino	Vincenzo
	Mro.	Corpora	Francesco		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Amato	Antonino
Rev.	D.	Pignataro	Diego
Rev.	D.	Chianti	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Mignano	Antonino
Rev.	Dr. D.	Sarmiento	Antonino
Rev.	Dr. D.	Canepa	Pietro		Arci
Rev.	Dr. D.	Amato	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	di Gregorio	Giovanni
Bne.	D.	Marchisi	Antonino
Rev.	D.	Ruggeri	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Riggio	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Galluzzo	Antonino
Rev.	Dr. D.	Scavo	Francesco		Arci
Rev.	D.	Lo Vecchio	Francesco
Bne.	D.	Marchisi	Vincenzo
	D.	Riggio	Gaetano
Rev.	D.	Mignano	Rosario
Rev.	D.	Amato	Cristoforo
Rev.	D.	Baiada	Giacomo
Rev.	D.	Riggio	Francesco
	D.	Gambara	Domenico		Arci
Rev.	D.	Sanchez	Giuseppe
	Mro.	Picone	Antonino		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Mananzano	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Canepa	Nicola
Rev.	D.	Chianti	Giuseppe
Rev.	Dr. D.	Ballerino	Carlo		Arci
Not.	D.	Amato	Giuseppe
	Mro.	Pellerito	Giuseppe		Nunzio
Rev.	Dr. D.	di Bella	Antonino
Rev.	D.	Canepa	Giuseppe
Rev. Bne.	D.	Badalamenti	Luigi
Rev.	D.	Leone	Emmanuele
	D.	Gaglio	Pietro		Arci
	Mro.	Orlando	Alberto		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Oliveri	Agostino
Rev.	D.	Attisano	Pasquale		Arci
	Dr. D.	Orso	Salvatore		Fisico
Rev.	D.	Marchisi	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Catalano	Rosario
Rev.	Dr. D.	Mignano	Antonino
	Mro.	Scrivano	Gaetano		Nunzio
Rev.	Dr. D.	Guastella	Calogero		Arci
Rev.	D.	Cicala	Carlo
Rev.	D.	Guastella	Vincenzo
	Mro.	Curreri	Croce		Nunzio
	Mro.	Scrivano	Salvatore		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Lo Vecchio	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Riggio	Gaetano
Rev.	D.	Sanchez	Vito
	Mro.	Armetta	Antonio		Nunzio
	Mro.	Pecoraro	Antonino		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Picone	Nicola
Rev.	D.	Carollo	Francesco
	Dr. D.	di Bella	Matteo		Fisico
Rev.	D.	Ferranti	Giuseppe		Maggiore
	Mro.	Marino	Dima		Nunzio
Notar.	D	Sanchez	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Ferranti	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Buffa	Pietro
Rev.	D.	Nania	Liborio		Arci
Rev.	D.	Picone	Vito
Rev.	D.	Ruffino	Salvatore
Rev.	D.	Randazzo	Sebastiano
Rev.	D.	Oliveri	Domenico
	Mro.	Alfeo	Antonino		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Geraci	Stefano
Rev.	D.	Geraci	Antonino
Rev.	D.	Graffagnino	Pietro
Rev.	D.	Marchiano	Ottavio		X
Rev.	D.	Costantino	Croce
Rev.	D.	Passalacqua	Vito
Rev.	D.	Riggio	Filippo
Rev.	D.	Cususamo	Vito
Rev.	D.	Cicala (sp?)	Carlo Maria
	Dr. D.	Franzina	Giachino		Fisico
	Dr. D.	Canepa	Calogero		Arci
Rev.	D.	Pellerito	Ambrogio
Rev.	D.	Balsamo	Giovanbattista
	Dr. D.	Oliveri	Stefano		Arci
Rev.	D.	Cavoli	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Amato	Antonino
Rev.	D.	Pecoraro	Pasquale
	D.	Geloso	Agostino
Rev.	D.	Amato	Antonino		2o
Rev.	D.	Abbate	Ambrogio
	Mro.	Morici	Giacomo		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Gatto	Vincenzo		Arci
	Mro.	Pecoraro	Filippo		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Carollo	Salvatore
Rev.	D.	Oliveri	Domenico
Rev.	D.	Cususamo	Salvatore
Rev.	D.	Jacona	Francesco
Rev.	D.	Maniscalco	Vito
Rev.	D.	Guercia	Salvatore
Rev.	D.	Riggio	Cristoforo		Arci
Rev.	D.	Mannino	Vincenzo
Rev.	D.	Lombardo	Stefano		Anello
Rev.	D.	Randazzo	Vincenzo		Economo
	Mro.	Mannino	Agostino		Nunzio
Rev.	D.	Cataldo	Matteo
Rev.	D.	Attisano	Cristoforo		Arci
Rev.	Sac. D.	Gambino	Antonio
Rev.	Sac. D.	Cavoli	Antonino
Rev.	Sac. D.	Cususamo	Giuseppe
Rev.		Pecoraro	Francesco
Rev.		Mannino	Antonino Maria
Rev.	Sac. D.	Scrivano	Giovanni
		Abbate	Antonino
	Mro.	Mannino	Vincenzo		Nunzio
	D.	Abbate	Giuseppe		Arci
Rev.		Randazzo	Stefano
Rev.	Sac.	Curreri	Salvatore
	Sac. D.	Randazzo	Antonino
Rev.		Mannino	Pasquale		Arci
Rev.	D.	Cangialosi	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	Frisella	Giuseppe
Rev.	Sac.	Giambanco	Giuseppe
Rev.	Sac.	Amato	Filippo
Rev.	Sac.	Mineo	Vito
		Lentini	Antonino		Nunzio
Rev.	Sac.	Lombardo	Stefano
		Pecoraro	Salvatore		Nunzio
Rev.	Sac.	Mineo	Antonino
Rev.	Sac.	Cangelosi	Pietro
Rev.	Sac.	Romano	Ambrogio		Arci
Rev.	Sac.	Cavoli	Giuseppe
Rev.	D.	La Fata	Giuseppe	25 Feb 1909	Arci
Rev.	Sac.	Buffa	Rosario
Rev.	Sac.	di Gregorio	Vincenzo
Rev.	Sac.	Calderone	Salvatore
		Mannino	Giuseppe		Nunzio
Rev.	Sac.	Armetta	Vito
Rev.	Sac.	Badalamenti	Giovanni
Rev.	Sac.	Buffa	Giuseppe
Rev.	Sac.	Canepa	Giuseppe
Rev.	Sac.	Cavoli	Salvatore
Rev.	Sac.	Carollo	Giovanni	1917
	Sac. D.	Misseri	Cesare	3 Apr 1904
	Sac.	Buffa	Antonino	1918
	Sac.	Purpura	Giuseppe	1918
	Sac.	Misseri	Antonino	1926
	Sac.	Carollo	Giovanni	1926
	Sac.	Cavoli	Vito	1926
	Sac.	Picone	Giuseppe	1927
	Sac.	???	Giuseppe	1928
	Sac.	???	Vincenzo	1929
	Sac.	Gallina	Vincenzo	1933
Rev.	D.	Mannino	Tommaso	11 Apr 1936	Arci / Monsignor D. insigne e benemerito
	Sac.	di Stefano	Giuseppe	8 Jun 1943
	Sac.	Abbate	Rosario	4 Mar 1974
	Sac.	Badalamenti	Antonino	13 Feb 1967
	Sac.	La Fata	Giuseppe	15 Feb 1957

Here is the source citation for the first page of the list of names:
"Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-69G9-THY?view=explore : Feb 2, 2026), image 1828 of 1835; Curia Arcivescovile di Monreale. Image Group Number: 004382652

The Meaning of Misseri and the history behind the surname

The following details have been translated from the Facebook group, "ORIGINE DEI COGNOMI ITALIANI" which posted the details about the Misseri surname on 3 July 2017. 

Misseri appears to be Sicilian, with a lineage in Palermo and Carini (PA), and a secondary lineage in Rosolino and Pachino in the Siracusa area of Sicily, with presences in Puglia and Tuscany. It is thought to derive from the term "messere" and its dialectal modifications. In the late Middle Ages, this term was used to identify individuals who held prominent positions such as notaries, judges, and doctors, or wealthy landowners.

Before you read any further, our surname was originally "Lo Misseri" from about the late 1400s to the middle 1700s. Might find a few instances even into the 1780s. After that the "Lo" was dropped because it was probably just easier to write "Misseri." I've looked at enough records from the town of Carini and the area around it, to know that many names morphed over time and one of my guesses for the reason why, is because paper was at such a premium. They were trying to write as much as they could on as little paper as possible, and if that meant dropping a few letters here or there, it probably made it easier for the priest who was keeping the records. And I just want to make it clear, that at this point in history, I have found no evidence that links the two groups of Misseri's in Sicily together. There have been no DNA connections what-so-ever with anyone from the Siracusa area. And there are many Misseri's from the Siracusa area that live in and around the state of Connecticut in the United States. 

WHOSE SON ARE YOU? LET'S TALK ABOUT THE PATRONYMIC PARTICLES DI, DE, LO, LA, ETC.

In Italy, surnames didn't all originate at the same time: for centuries, people were identified by their father's name, nicknames, professions, etc. Hence the patronymic surnames, those that embody the memory of an ancestor, with the patronymic particle that we often confuse as a feudal predicate, thinking it conveys a certain nobility... almost always nonexistent!

Their function is precisely patronymic or origin, therefore "son of" or "coming from".

Here are some of the most common particles:

🔹 Di/De/D'

It means "son of" or "descendant of" or even "those of".

Di Marco, Di Stefano, De Luca, De Angelis, D'Amico, D'Andrea, D'Antonio, D'Elia, etc.

🔹 Da/Dal/Dalla/Della/Del

More typical of the North, with exceptions such as Del, they could indicate geographic origin or affiliation.

Dal Maso (from the Master), Dalla Chiesa, Da Vinci, Dalla Libera, Della Zanna, Del Carlo, etc.

🔹 Lo/La/Li

In the South, separate particles are found, always with the same function, such as:

Lo → Lo Monaco, Lo Russo, Lo Verde, Lo Misseri

La → La Rocca, La Spina, La Porta

Li → Li Vecchi, Li Voti, Li Causi

These particles derive from the Latin ("ille", "illa") and have been preserved in dialect, becoming true surnames.

Curiosity

Sometimes the particles have been dropped due to errors or simplifications: Di Marco → Marco or Di Federico → Federico

In other cases, they have been transformed by being added to the surname, as often happens with Apulian, Lucanian, and Sicilian surnames: De Luca → Deluca, De Vito → Devito, etc.

Thanks for staying with me regarding this little bit long article. AND thanks to the wonderful ORIGINE DEI COGNOMI ITALIANI" Facebook group.

Misseri's living on via Misseri

While going the Carini - 1886 Birth records on FamilySearch, I discovered something for the first time that relates to my original surname, Misseri. I found a Salvatore Misseri (record #261) who was born at the street address of via Misseri, 33. Yes, this is the first time I have found a family with the last name of Misseri who lived on via Misseri in Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Salvatore's parents are Vito Misseri and Maria di Maria.

Missing Misseri's in 1871

As I continue to dig through the records of Carini, the birth records of1871 reveled three new individuals with the Misseri surname. If you are doing Carini genealogy research, be sure to add these people to your tree. But today was the day that these three distant cousins wanted to be found. Let's not forget them as history has for the last 153 years.

• Vito Misseri, born on 4 January 1871 to Croce Misseri and Teresa Scavo, record #5
• Teresa Misseri, born on 20 August 1871 to Angelo Misseri and Crocifissa Purpura, record #149
• Cesare Misseri, born on 1 September 1871 to Salvatore Misseri and Anna Lo Geloso, record #231

Researching Italian Genealogical Records

The primary research I am conducting at this time is Italian and it centers around two main areas: Carini (just outside of Palermo, Sicily) and Modugno / Grumo Appula (just outside of Bari, Puglia).

I am very lucky to have roots in Italy because FamilySearch has done a wonderful job of filming church records and state civil documents, which are available on FamilySearch and/or on the Italian government site: Antenati.

As someone who doesn't know Italian or Latin, it has been a learning experience to train my brain how to access and read the records. Let me just say, if I can do it, anyone can do the same. It just takes a little practice and dedication.

If you are new to Italian records, please take a look at these three blog posts from Fortify Your Family Tree:

• How to Read Italian Birth Records
• How to Read Italian Marriage Records
• How to Read Italian Death Records

The instructions are fantastic because they really give you everything you need to read and understand what is being told to you in the Italian records.

By the way, a big "thank you" to DiAnn Iamarino Ohama for the wonderful blog: Fortify Your Family Tree.

In addition to the Italian research, I also work on French-Canadian, English and Hungarian/Slovakian genealogy. It is a real mixed bag of places around the world. But all these places that are researched, just makes me a bit more worldly (even if it is just from the living room couch). More to come about these other places.

Missing Misseri's in 1886

Today I was looking at the FamilySearch records for Carini, Palermo, and I have found two missing Misseri's that no online family tree has in their databases. They are:

• Anna Misseri, born on 21 July 1886 to Cesare Misseri e Domenica di Lisi, record #244
• Isabella Misseri, born on 2 September 1886 to Antonino Misseri e Francesca Pizzo, record #291

It's really interesting how people can be lost in history. But not anymore for these two individuals who wanted to be found today, they are being remembered, probably for the first in 138 years.

Suzanne Russo Adams: An Accredited Genealogist & Italian Researcher

Suzanne Russo Adams is Accredited Genealogist® specializing in Italian research. The photograph above is from the icapgen.org website.

While in college she published her research thesis as Coexistence and Conflict: Popular Catholicism, the Council of Trent and the Life Cycle in Carini, Palermo, Italy (which you can download by clicking on the link). It gives a wonderful look about what life was like in Carini, Palermo, Italy in the early seventeenth century (1590–1650). As someone who researches the lives of people from northern Sicily, it is so amazing to read about very specific things that were going on with the lives of people and how the Catholic Church shaped their everyday activities regarding Births, Marriages and Deaths.

She has also published a great book on how to do Italian genealogical research called: Finding Your Italian Ancestors: A Beginner's Guide. You can find the book online for your typical retail sites. It is a well laid out book covering the basics of Italian research regarding both church and civil records. It explains how to obtain the records with sample letters and guides on how to read the documents that will be in Latin or Italian. 

If you get a chance to take a class or hear one of her lectures, be sure not to miss it, because Suzanne has so much knowledge to share with fellow researchers.

Here is Suzanne Russo Adams' current bio from Brigham Young University.

Misseri's in Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Since I am currently spending the majority of my research time working with the records from Southern Italy (i.e.: the towns of Carini in Sicily and Modugno / Grumo Appula in Puglia), I thought would share a bit about the Misseri's who live in and around Carini. There are two family groups of Misseri's on the island of Sicily. One group comes from the province of Siracusa on the southeastern part of the island of Sicily, while the other population of Misseri's is in the town of Carini.

The Misseri family line that I focus on is from Carini, a town just outside of Palermo, Sicily. In the 1400's through the mid 1700s, the surname was actually Lo Misseri. Then, little by little, the "Lo" was dropped when recording the births and deaths of individuals. I've seen Lo Misseri used as late as 1774 on a death record for Vincenzo Lo Misseri (about 1770 - 1 Dec 1774).

Other interesting facts about the Misseri's of Carini:

• Sacerdote / Priest Cesare Misseri (15 Dec 1752 - 10 Sep 1828)
• Sacerdote / Priest Lorenzo Salvatore Misseri (12 Oct 1777 - 5 Jan 1834)
• Sacerdote / Priest Cesare Misseri (25 Sep 1821 - 4 Apr 1904)
• Don Salvatore Misseri (17 Oct 1829 - 9 Jan 1903) was the mayor of Carini for 5 years, from 1861-1865. His wife was Dona Anna Lo Geloso (22 Jan 1835 - 21 Jan 1910)
• Don Francesco Misseri (14 Apr 1832 - Abt 1930) was an Avvocato / Lawyer in town for many years. I'm pretty sure he died in 1930 because there is a "Francesco Misseri" that is listed in the 1930 Death Index. But the problem is, there are dozens and dozens of pages that did not get uploaded and are missing on the Antenati website. I have written a letter to Carini asking for a copy of the death record for the Francesco Misseri that died in 1930, but I have never received any information back to confirm my hunch.
• There are plenty of contadinos / farmers and yet, on the other side of the spectrum, there are many Misseris who were landowners.

There is a street in the old part of Carini, that is near the main piazza and church, named "via Antonino Misseri" (see the images at the top of the page). I've seen records that show people living at a particular address on via Misseri as early as 1802. It is hard to believe that the street has been around for more than 200 years. Someday, I hope to be able to figure out which Antonino Misseri the street was named after. If I do, I'll be sure to update this article with the new and additional information.

Little by little, a few various branches splinter off and moved beyond Carini. Obviously, the place with the largest number of Misseri's outside of Carini is the city of Palermo. But I have traced them in Corleone, Montelepre, Monreale, and Villabate - all in Palermo province. And of course, Misseri's have travelled beyond Italy to France, Tunisia, and the United States, just to name a few other places.

I am sure I will find other details about the Misseri's of Carini, and when I do, I'll be sure to add the details here.

The Misseri Twins (1836 - 1838)

As I continue to go through the records (I'm currently working through the Death records) in Carini, Palermo, I wanted to follow up on a story that I wrote on New Year's Day.

On the 1st of the year, I wrote about the four Carmelo Misseri's who all died as infants in Carini. It must have been so hard on the parents, Francesco Domenico Misseri (b. 25 Jan 1799) and Vincenza Bellia (4 Apr 1799 - 6 Sep 1856). Time doesn't stop when tragic events happen and for Francesco and Vincenza, after the third Carmelo (7 Jan 1836 - 25 Feb 1836) died, Vincenza gave birth to a set of twins: Carlo Misseri and Cesare Misseri on 20 Feb 1838. I'm sure she must have been exhausted and thrilled at the same time when her 9th and 10th babies were born. But by early Spring, the cruel world was out to cause more pain for Francesco and Vincenza because on 4 Apr 1838, both Carlo and Cesare died on the same day. Let me repeat that, they were born on the same day, and they died on the same day. They were just over 2 years old when they were buried.

I have to image that Francesco and Vincenza were extremely tough individuals to endure all the hardship in their lives when trying to build a family. They had a total of twelve children and only three lived to adulthood. Let's hope they were surrounded by a great support system to help them through all their disappointments in life.

One Name, One Place Study - #2

It is time to start a new One Name, One Place Study.  I needed a break from all the Grumo Appula records from Antenati and FamilySearch, so I have decided to change to a new region in Italy: the Palermo area of Sicily! This is the other half of my Italian family. Unlike the records of Modugno and Grumo Apppula that are online, the records of Carini are immense. There are baptism, marriage, and death records that go back to the mid-1500s. Can you imagine the sheer volume of records? With this One Name, One Place Study, I have decided that I am going to truly keep it to one name: Misseri. It will make the research so much easier because the Misseri family in Carini was a small family, especially compared to the following families (in no particular order): Anello, Buzzetta, Cottone, Gallina, Genova, Mannino, Randazzo, and Zerillo. I will keep you posted as I move forward with this endeavor. 

Artificial Intelligence has arrived for Carini!

For anyone that is researching their family from Carini (just outside of Palermo, Sicily), you might want to try searching on FamilySearch because they have finally started their indexing of the church records by using Artificial Intelligence. I think FamilySearch started the process on 5 December 2024. Lots of records with the images are showing up in the search, however I am seeing some errors with the names and dates, which you can correct so please don't take every at face value. You really need to read the records and make sure you have everything correct. Good luck! I look at it as an early holiday gift. Happy searching!

Misseri: 1876, a rough couple of months in Carini, Palermo

In the year of 1876, the family of Salvatore Misseri and Anna Lo Geloso experienced a rough and devastating month and a half. The couple had five children and probably living quite comfortable in Carini, especially since Salvatore had the title of 'Don'. But by the beginning of October 1876, that number was down to three. Between 15 Aug 1876 and 4 Oct 1876, Salvatore and Anna lost the following children:

• Cesare Misseri, died on 15 August 1876, record #165
• Rosalia Misseri, died on 24 August 1876, record #176
• Vincenzo Misseri, died on 4 October 1876, record #201

Cesare was 4 years old, followed by Rosalia who was 7, and then, Vincenzo being the oldest of the tree at 11 years old.

Being a researcher and tracking down the vital records of people, sometimes a trend will appear, and it will make you stop and think about the bigger picture of what might have been going on within the family structure. Was there some sort of an accident that led to a medical situation or was it a hygiene issue (bad drink water)? We'll probably never know for sure, but I will keep my eye to see if there were any other social issues going on in Carini in 1876.

Descendants of Don Salvatore Misseri

------------------------------------

1-Don Salvatore Misseri b. 17 Oct 1829, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 9 

    Jan 1903, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

         + Dona Anna Lo Geloso b. 22 Jan 1835, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 21 

            Jan 1910, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, par. Bonaventuro Lo Geloso and Rosa 

            Oliveri

            |--2-Maria Anna Misseri b. 19 Sep 1863, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 30 

            |      Sep 1879, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Vincenzo Misseri b. 30 Nov 1864, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 4 Oct 

            |      1876, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Bonaventuro Francesco Misseri b. 12 Nov 1866, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, 

            |       Italy, d. 3 Apr 1939, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Rosalia Misseri b. 17 Oct 1868, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 24 Aug 

            |      1876, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Cesare Misseri b. 1 Sep 1871, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 15 Aug 

            |      1876, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Grazia Misseri b. 30 May 1875, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 8 Mar 

            |      1905, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |--2-Vincenzo Misseri b. 1 Apr 1877, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

            |   + Paolina Margherita Fontana b. 1877, Castellammare del Golfo, Trapani, 

            |      Sicily, Italy, par. Giuseppe Fontana and Anna Pelli alias Lo Cascio

            |--2-Maria Anna Misseri b. 1879, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

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