"A family tree can wither if nobody tends its roots."

Jan20th2022

Researching Pescasseroli Family Names

by  Phyllis Zeck

Abby Skiing on Mt Hood

It’s hard to wrap my mind around the fact that 2021 zipped by without me having much time for genealogy research. This summer I mailed my old VHS tapes, CD disks and Camcorder tapes of family adventures to have them made into digital files. This project has been on my to do list for many years. The last couple of months I’ve had fun going through the digital files to edit them.  I created short videos and saved them to folders which I’ve shared with my siblings, nieces, and nephews. It’s shocking how fast the years have gone by. It was fun to reminisce about our families’ milestones and adventures and to see and hear family members who are no longer with us.

My 8 year old granddaughter Abby went skiing for the first time this weekend. My sisters and I compared a video of Abby skiing to a video I found of Ashley about the same age skiing in our backyard.  Abby looks, sounds, and laughs exactly like her mother. Click on the image below for a 2 minute video of Ashley taken about 1990.

Last fall Michael emailed me to introduce himself.  His paternal grandfather Emidio Finamore and his great grandfather Orazio emigrated from Pescasseroli. Michael wrote “Via Ancestry we have some DNA matches with my Del Principe descendants.  I believe that you and I are 7th cousins, (at least), and are related through your great-grandparents Pietro Del Principe and Elvira Ciolli. There is a common ancestor named Marco Antonio Ciolli b. 1654. I’ve traced Marco to Elvira and also to Maria Scolastica (Saltarelli) Del Principe via Maria’s maternal branch.”

Michael shared a website that I have not yet stumbled across. There are over 16,000 names of family members from Pescasseroli, Italy.  The information is a collaboration from several sources.  The following partial text is a Google translation from the home page:  “This Genealogy research ‘Genealogy of the Pescasseroli families’ contains 16703 individuals and 4640 families. These are the Genealogical Trees of all the Pescasseroli AQ Families from 1716 to the 1920s.

The research is open to the collaboration of all those who wish to report errors or inaccuracies in the data present or communicate other data or photos and documents to be included. It is in fact possible to insert Photographs, Documents and Stories for each Person and for each Family present in the search. With the collaboration of all, it can become a place of memory and memories.

Courtesy of Terre Pesculiasseroli

A particular thanks is due to friend Prof. Tarquinio Gianluca, today unfortunately he is no longer with us, to the parish priests responsible for the Parish Archives of Pescasseroli, for advice, information and great availability. The data entered so far are taken from the Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages 1866 – 1910, from the Draft Lists from 1866 to 1918 and from the Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages of the Napoleonic Period 1809-1865.

On the other hand, decisive help came from the Registers of Families or “Status Animarum” of the Parish of Pescasseroli and from the Population Registers of the Parish for the reconstruction of family genealogies throughout the 18th century, up to the beginning of the 20th century, and for the identification of many household nicknames.

The oldest register contains records of baptisms from 1716, marriages from 1754 of the deceased since 1752, unfortunately many have deteriorated and not all the pages of which it is composed have been transcribed. The program then plans to continue the research with the transcription of the registers of the parish of Opi.  Other news in this research, in particular the data of the military visit, come from the State Archives of L’Aquila.”  

To research your family members click on this link: 
https://terrepesculiasseroli.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/pescasseroli/default.htm
Click on the image to the right of the home box (top left side of the page).
Click on “C”.  
Click on Ciolli. 
Click on Pietrantonio Amabile Ciolli to see his and Filomena’s Ursitti’s children.

 
 

Jul12th2015

Pescasseroli’s Infiorata

by  Phyllis Zeck

A few weeks ago my cousin, Joe Del Principe, emailed me a link to a you tube video that we’d like to share.  Joe wrote “I thought you might like to have a copy of this Youtube video. It is from Pescasseroli this year during the Infiorata.” Infiorata means decorated with flowers. The whole community takes part in the tradition. The elderly collect flowers and the children and young people implement the designs. Flower petals are used to create amazing works of art in the streets for Pescasseroli’s annual flower art festival.  

Pescasseroli Italy

 

Joe explained “At about the 2 minute mark in the video the local priest is talking, and in the background, on the building behind him, there is a sign “B&B”. That is Salvatore Toscano’s B&B della via piazza where we stayed while we were visiting there.” Salvatore’s great, great grandmother Ester and my great grandmother Elvira were sisters.  I inquired about the church in the background and Joe explained, “it is the Chiesa Del SS Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, which is where many of our family had been baptized and married.”  

I love listening to the church bells chime. One day I hope to dig through those church records! Thanks for sharing Joe. Click here to watch the video.