Missing Misseri: Francesco Paolo Vito Misseri

Francesco Paolo Vito Misseri was baptized on 8 Oct 1766 in the town of Carini. Francesco was born to the parents of Carlo Lo Misseri and Filippa Agata Pisano.

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.

Modugno Genealogy

 I'm just writing a short note about a fantastic website, by Frank Santoro, called: Modugno Genealogy. This is a public shout-out to Frank for doing such an amazing job of researching the records of Modugno, and also for sharing all his work, freely to the world. I've added hundreds of descendants to my family, especially di Pinto's and Zonni's. One of the best things about the site, is that all the data entries are sourced, either from: Antenati or FamilySearch.

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.