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.

Does Nicscemi = Misseri? I think so!

 I've been researching some females during National Women’s History Month. I've been concentrating on women who lived in Palermo, the capital city of Sicily. While digging through online images of the 10-year indices on Antenati, that include birth, marriage and death dates. The 10-year indices cover the years of 1820-1895. The compiled books are awesome, and I am so thankful that they have been produced and digitized, especially because the actual records are not available online.

My goal was to find children of a mother who has the surname of Misseri. As I was working through individuals, I was getting very familiar with the different families during my time research time. I am going to show how a surname can get messed up within an index. And how you really need to pay attention the Italian naming convention to help you not miss searching or adding children or family members that you didn't know existed. And how a little luck helped me find who I was looking for. 

Here is a reminder of the Italian Family Naming Convention: 

• first born son, named for the paternal grandfather
• second born son, named for the maternal grandfather
• first born daughter, named for the paternal grandmother
• second born daughter, named for the maternal grandmother
• and then after that, a child could be names after another important family member, a saint, or someone who was important to the parents

In my example, I was searching for the children of Giuseppe La Barbera (b. 24 Dec 1840) and Francesca Misseri (b. 6 Nov 1846).

• Giuseppe's parents are Angelo La Barbera and Anna Troia
• Francesca's parents are Ignazio Misseri and Ninfa Vita Magnasco

It is important to know who the parents are, and I found Giuseppe La Barbera and Francesa Misseri's marriage details, including the date (6 Nov 1868) and the parents' names by going through the 1866-1875 matrimoni indices.

Now back to my example. I discovered the following children for Giuseppe La Barbera and Francesca Misseri:

• Anna La Barbera (b. 9 Mar 1873)
• Ignazio La Barbara (b. 1 Feb 1877)
• Rosario La Barbera (b. 27 Mar 1880)
• Ninfa La Barbera (b. 22 Sep 1883)
• Filippa La Barbera (b. 10 Apr 1887)

You can see the Italian Naming Convention was definitely in play with the first four children that I found in the records. But I was missing someone! Knowing that Giuseppe's father is Angelo, and I could see there was a gap from the marriage year (1868) and the year of the first child (1873); I realized I was probably missing a child named Angelo. So, I went back the Index Books and searched for an Angelo born between 1868 and 1873. Only two "Angelo" La Barbera's were born during the time period that and unfortunately both were born to a Giuseppe. And neither Angelo was born to Francesca Misseri. But one of the mothers of the Angelo had a first name of Francesca. Next step, what was the surname of Francesca?

This is the interesting part of genealogical research: names change! Either the name in question morphs into something new and different over time or someone changes it by mistake (usually because it sounds like something similar, they are familiar with, phonically spells it, switches or adds a letter or two, etc.).

What I found was nothing like Misseri, but it was a surname I have seen one other time before with another female Misseri; the surname I found was Niscemi. I guess the two names do sound familiar, but boy, they are spelled completely different. I have seen Niscemi in conjunction with a Giuseppa Filippa Misseri (b. 28 Sep 1821 - d. 7 Dec 1893), who was also from Palermo in Sicily. That was my luck. I am pretty good at keeping alternate names of individuals when I find them. And this time it helped.

So, was my mystery solved? Yes and no. I am adding Angelo to my tree, but until I can get a copy of his birth certificate or baptism record, I won't know for sure if my hunch is correct in thinking the Francesca Niscemi is indeed Francesca Misseri. By the way, I can't find a marriage record or any other children whose parents are Giuseppe La Barbara and Francesca Niscemi. So that is the main reason why I have attached Angelo to my tree.

Here are the details for Angelo:

• Angelo La Barbera (b. 17 May 1870), parents: Giuseppe La Barbara and Francesca Niscemi

You can see in the image above, both Francesca Niscemi and Francesca Misseri.

In the end, sometimes you have to keep an open mind when researching. Especially when you aren't finding what you are looking.

Grace Esther (Williams) Doucette

I have spent the last 10 years searching for any death information for Grace Esther Williams and today was the day she wanted to be found. (I truly believe our ancestors want to be found!) Grace Esther Williams married James Edward Doucette on 28 Dec 1913 in Melrose, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. During the past 10 years I only knew that when James Edward Doucette got married on 25 Apr 1916 to Grace Catherine McArdle, that he was listed as a "widow." So, I knew that I had a 3-year windows to find some type of death information for Grace Williams. But she eluded me in every search I ever conducted. Until today. Newspapers.com had a free access this weekend and I decided to see what I could find if I put Grace Esther Williams or Grace Esther Doucette into the search box. And this is what it spit out at me:

Wow, I thought to myself, is this really the information I have been searching all this time for? But the newspaper article said Grace died "earlier" in the week! Now, I just needed to find the exact date of her death. Well, I went to my first go-to genealogical website: FamilySearch! I put her name in the search box and pressed enter. After reviewing several entries, I found that she died on 6 July 1914 in Belleville, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Which all makes sense because James Edward Doucette had family in Belleville. Grace died while being pregnant, which would have been their first child. James had to bury his wife knowing that he could have been a father in the coming months. They had only been married for 7 months. Grace was buried in Eel Brook, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada on 7 July 1914. Grace's parents are William Thomas Williams and Grace Ellen Hughes, both born in Wales.

I have to admit I expected to find Grace Esther (Williams) Doucette would have died in the Boston area and I did spend quite a bit of time searching the records in and around Boston. One of the main reasons for this assumption was because I had found James Doucette in several City Directories from 1913-1917 in the Boston area. So, this is just a reminder to think outside-the-box and realize that our ancestors didn't just stay in one place. Obviously, James and Grace travelled north to visit his family in Nova Scotia and that is where Grace fell ill and died. Lesson learned!!

Thank you, Grace Esther Williams (20 Dec 1895 - 6 Jul 1914) for wanting to be found today!

One Name (actually two: Scorca & de Pinto), One Place (Grumo Appula) Study

I've been wrapping up my One Name, One Place Study, actually two names: Scorca and de Pinto (because it is fairly easy to keep track of two surnames when looking through the indexed records). I don't have the exact number, but I know that I've added about 150 Scorca family members to my Italian tree. I don't know about you, but I think that is a lot of people from a small Italian town, Grumo Appula. By the way, both Scorca and de Pinto are minor families in Grumo Appula. Some indexes can have 10-15 people with the same surname and in that same index, there might not have single Scorca or de Pinto. My family tree already has a couple hundred Scorca's and de Pinto's in it, so adding so many more, just shows how many people are not being remembered in history.

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.

A New Year! And the story of Carmelo Misseri (x4)

Happy New Year! Let's hope for a great year of researching the family. Hoping to find new stories, missing ancestors, and dates of people that are in the family. With a few hours on this holiday, some new discoveries have been made with distant Misseri's who died almost two hundred years ago.

Francesco Domenico Misseri (b. 25 Jan 1799) and Vincenza Bellia (4 Apr 1799 - 6 Sep 1856) got married on 8 Nov 1818 and started having children right away. But the family ran into bad luck in the mid 1830's. In 1833, they had child number six born on 12 Jul 1833. His name was Carmelo Misseri. However, we know he died because on 2 Dec 1834, they had child number seven, and they named him Carmelo Misseri. Unfortunately, Carmelo died on 1 Feb 1835. And you guessed it, another son was born, and they named him Carmelo too. But not just Carmelo; this time they added an extra name: Carmelo Angelo Misseri. Adding an extra name didn't seem to help because he died too, because their last known child, #12, was named Carmelo Misseri on 11 Aug 1840. All the death dates had been recorded for all the Carmelo Misseri's except Carmelo Angelo Misseri. We knew he died but just didn't know his death date until today. Carmelo Angelo's angel was looking out for him today and the death date was discovered when I was going through the FamilySearch collection called: Carini. Death Records 1831–1844.

• Carmelo Angelo Misseri died on 25 Feb 1836.

What is interesting about Francesco Domenico Misseri and Vincenza Bellia, is that they had two other sons: Carlo Misseri and Cesare Misseri and they were born after the third Carmelo and the last of the children, the fourth Carmelo Misseri. They were determined to have a son named Carmelo, which never came to fruition. Very sad, especially knowing that a third of their children were named Carmelo. I wish I knew who all the Carmelo's were named after. It must of have been someone important to Francesco and Vincenza. And with every new year, they must have had a lot of hope as the calendar changed from December to January.


Descendants of Francesco Domenico Misseri
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1-Francesco Domenico Misseri b. 25 Jan 1799, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. Between 1856 and 1887

    + Vincenza Bellia b. 4 Apr 1799, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 6 Sep 1856,
       Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, par. Giuseppe Francesco Bellia and Giovanna
       Lo Piccolo
                |--2-Cesare Rosario Misseri b. 27 Sep 1819, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d.
                |      27 Jul 1837, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Angela Giovanna Misseri b. 30 Apr 1822, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d.
                |      26 May 1886, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                | + Pietro Rosario Carmelo Randazzo b. 4 Oct 1815, Carini, Palermo, Sicily,
                |     Italy, d. 4 Apr 1882, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, par. Filippo
                |     Randazzo and Maria Anna Cottone
                |--2-Giuseppe Misseri b. 8 Apr 1824, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 28 Jul
                |      1894, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                | + Isabella Buffa b. 14 Apr 1824, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. After
                |    1866, par. Antonino Buffa and Rosa Jacona
                |--2-Antonino Salvatore Misseri b. 3 Mar 1826, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy,
                |      d. 20 Jul 1827, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Salvatore Misseri b. 22 Nov 1827, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 20
                |      Oct 1887, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                | + Rosaria Maria Armetta b. 27 Sep 1825, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d.
                |    After 1891, par. Vito Croce Armetta and Vincenza Nania
                |--2-Carmelo Misseri b. 12 Jul 1833, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 23 Jul
                |      1833, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Carmelo Misseri b. 2 Dec 1834, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 1 Feb
                |      1835, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Carmelo Angelo Misseri b. 7 Jan 1836, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d.
                |      25 Feb 1836, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Carlo Misseri b. 20 Feb 1838, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 4 Apr
                |      1838, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Cesare Misseri b. 20 Feb 1838, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 4 Mar
                |      1838, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Carmela Misseri b. 28 Mar 1839, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 10 Apr
                |      1839, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
                |--2-Carmelo Misseri b. 11 Aug 1840, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy, d. 11 Oct
                |      1840, Carini, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
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