From Bridgeport, Connecticut back to Castelfranco in Miscano

by midgeguerrera, posted in Finding My Family - Genealogy
 A few weeks ago, I got a call from Nicola – one of the directors of Centro Mediterraneo Pintadera that world class language school in Alghero, Sardinia – she asked if she could give my phone number to a current student at the school.  He too was searching for his family and they were from a village not far from me.  Of course I said yes! I love the community of people who are as passionate as I am about finding their heritage. Kevin Monks and I played phone tags for a day and finally connected.  We met for coffee in Benevento and swapped family stories.  Kevin now lives in Cremorne, Tasmania – Australia!  Talk about a long trek to find your roots.
This is Kevin’s Story:
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Italian Mom and aunts in Connecticut (early 1950s)
My name is Kevin, son of an English father and US born Italian mother. My childhood memories of my Italy-born grandfather are as snapshots….just a few really, oh and one scent.
Walking up a dark hallway toward the kitchen light in Bridgeport, Connecticut. I must have escaped my bed to visit the happy sounds coming from the kitchen where adults were talking and laughing late into the night. “Pops” Gabriele stood with a smile on his face as the little boy entered into the light.
The scent that I remember is my grandfather’s pasta e fagoli soup wafting through the house. I’ve identified that precise scent only 1-2 times, both time  while visiting Italy.
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Antonio Tito Gabriele (nonno)
My mother didn’t really tell us much about Pops Gabriel (dropped the ‘e’ after immigrated to US). All she said was that he immigrated to US. (Ellis Island, then Bridgeport) when he was nine years old. His US Italian wife (Mary Ann Vertucci) died when my mother was 16 years old. Pops was born in a town called Castelfranco but she didn’t know where it was and never looked into it.
Both of my parents are gone now, but I wanted to look deeper into those few facts left to me. Starting at the usual places,/ I discovered my Nonno’s fathers name (bis nonno) and my great-great grandfathers name ( bis bis nonno). Along with the names came the point of origin – Castelfranco in Miscano.
I wanted to go see this place. Why did they leave? Adventure, poverty, famine, war? Who were they…what did they do? Well, I booked the tickets and set out from Tasmania to visit this place.
Setting out from Benevento, Campania I boarded the only once-a-day 12 seat autobus to go to my destination. The route left the flat rural farmland and snaked upwards through hilltop villages and finally stopped in the little town of Castelfranco in Miscano.
Midge had given me the best places to look, who to enquire of…so I set out for the Municipio…not a long walk (100m….double that and I would be out of town). It was an old style building with a serious looking clerk who looked at me as if I’d beamed down. “Sono Australiano…Italiano nonno”. She had that look of “great, another balmy touristico seeking truth and identity”. Well, another clerk helped with my very limited Italiano and calmly took action when the elder clerk’s expression became dark and aggravated. All good…I thanked them for a photocopy of the records they found. Bis bis nonno was a shepherd….and bis nonno was a labourer, one of seven brothers.  They gave me their email address to formally request an in-depth search. I don’t know where they were going to look…maybe out the back door and raid the church records.
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Donato (bis nonno – born 1877) Fedele and Maria Gabriele 
I popped into the chiesa to see if I could corner a padre on the matter…nobody home. Midge said to check out the al bar/ cafe in town. While grabbing an espresso I went through my basic spiel again and Lo and Behold she said someone from her family was currently in Bridgeport CT visiting family. “What? That’s my birthplace. As it turns out, almost all from Castelfranco went to Bridgeport CT. Midge, at my post trip aperitivi debrief in Benevento said it happened a lot. One goes out, writes a letter back, and the others follow the bread crumbs.
Well, I walked around the small village, snapped a few photos and headed back to the town centre. Approaching the Al Bar, I over heard the distinct accent of an Australian (am I surprised? Aussies are everywhere you least expect them). They were hanging around to see if I showed up…word had gotten around the village.  The two sisters in the bar had passed the word…relatives. Had a good chat and I learned more about Castelfranco as their nonna, a charming elderly woman, sat with us. She was born there and had lived in Melbourne for 26 years. Once her Italian husband had died she returned to Castelfranco. The Australian families had driven up to pick her up for a huge family reunion to be held in New Jersey. They were leaving to go at that moment down to Napoli to fly out to the U.S. That was a rich experience.
I wasn’t  prepared for the physical emotional effect when I first approached the little town. There must be something connecting our brain with our heart as we get close to our roots, heritage and Land-Place. It was worth the effort. I encourage anyone to take the journey! Do it while you can relay your findings and stories to loved ones still with you!

35 thoughts on “From Bridgeport, Connecticut back to Castelfranco in Miscano”

  1. I was also inspired by Midge’s adventures to start tracking my roots (Ireland rather than Italy) and have found some wonderful stories to share with my cousins in the states. Now I’m working on the paternal side of my family with some help from the fabulous Rich Venezia (see midge’s blog post on him). As soon as I have a town or two from that side I hope to book a flight to “the ol sod” for more research. Who knows who may still be around?

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  2. Three years ago I visited my Italian grandfather’s hometown, Gioi Cilento, a tiny village in Campagnia. My grandfather and his brother left Italy for the U.S. In 1897. My grandfather stayed in America. His brother returned to Italy and raised his family there. When I visited Gioi, I met my cousin who is the local butcher. He took me all around the town. I saw the house where my grandfather was born and raised as well as the family Church. My cousin was able to fill in holes in the family story about the Italian side of the family. It was a very emotional experience for me walking the same streets that my grandfather had walked so many years ago.

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      1. You’re right, Midge. I felt like I was reliving the past. As you mentioned, so many people from the same Italian town relocate to the same American city. I recognized a good number of surnames from families I knew while growing up. The cousin I met invited my husband and me as well as my Italian friends from Salerno to a piccolo pranzo. You know what that means! We emerged from his house hours later to go pick fresh figs because my husband mentioned how much he liked them. Coincidentally, my grandfather kept a fig tree in New Jersey. I remember getting the first figs of the season from that tree.

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    1. Hello all. My name is Joseph Scinto. My family came from Castelfranco in M. back in the 1890s. Most went to Bridgeport, Ct. but my great grandfather went to NYC and my grandfather (also born in Castelfranco) stayed in NYC then Brooklyn where my father and then I was born. I still live nearby on Long Island, NY. I have been to Cast. in M. several times. I was the first of my line (except my bisnonno who returned and died there in 1937) to return. I found it a charming, peaceful town. I went to the stato civile office to get my family’s records. They were in great shape in the original book of records. I was treated like family and even given a book written in Italian by Antonio Scinto. I met Ivan Scinto and his parents who were very cordial and made me an espresso. Likewise did Michele Riccio and his wife at another time. Many other local residents were friendly and smiling and welcoming. I found my bisnonno’s grave. No one living knew he returned here until I found his tomb. It was all so emotionally elevating and rewarding. My mind went to my ancestors’ time and I imagined what would motivate them to leave such a tranquil, picturesque place. I knew it was poverty and opportunity based on their comments and those of others I had read. Overall, it was an extremely rewarding experience.

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    2. Mine too! Planning my first trip to Italy in April. Hoping to stop in Castelfranco. I am the great-granddaughter of Giovanni Gabriele born in 1879 in Castelfranco. He immigrated to Bridgeport in 1903. I think I am related to Kevin in this story.

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    2. Hello. I just read your post and your name jumped out at me. We are headed to Castlefranco in Miscano this summer with my mom, and her maiden name is Altieri. Her grandfather was Julio Altieri, son of Donato Altieri, both from Castelfranco in Miscano. Do these names possibly sound familiar to you? Small world….?

      Thanks so much!

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      1. Nicole, the story was about Kevin Monks looking for his roots in Castelfranco in Miscano. Kevin now lives in Australia. My family is from Pontelandolfo and that is where we spend a good part of the year. I blog about living in my village and other Italian topics – like folks looking for their roots too. I’m sorry, but I really don’t know much about your family’s village. Have a wonderful adventure in Castelfranco in Miscano.

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  9. My maternal grandfather Lorenzo Palazzo was born in Castelfranco in 1880 and emigrated to Bridgeport, CT in 1895. He returned to Castelfranco to get a wife, Antonetta Baldino some years later. It is my understanding that 2 sisters married 2 brothers. All lived out their lives in Bridgeport.

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  10. Anthony “Tito” Gabriele is my great-great grandfather! My cousin Debbie found the picture of the aunts and posted it to Facebook. It was taken at Aunt Rose & Uncle Marty’s house on Ezra St in Bridgeport. Please reach out to me!

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  11. My family is also from here. My great grandmother Mari Angela DiMinna (changed to DeMane) and my great grandfather Rocco Pasquale Colasanto. Son of Rose and Pasquale
    Mari Angela, daughter of Rose and Leonardo came to Stamford CT, and Rocco came to Harrison NY with his father, who later returned to Benevento.
    They settled in the Irish slums of Rye, NY, called Dublin Rye.
    They had 7 children.
    We are related to Verilli, Santucci and Ricci who now go by “Ricky”
    Anyone have any info on the surname Colasanto? It seems to be not as common.
    I was lucky enough to hear our dialect from my great aunt, Jennie who died recently at 104 years old.
    Thank you.

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    2. Hello Cassandra, my name is Sandy Santucci Harvey. I just got home from visiting Castelfranco two days ago! I am wondering if we are connected through your Santucci line? My ggf was Lorenzo santucci born in CF in 1846. He married Rosa Lucia and they had 5 children. They immigrated to Phila. in 1886. I have many DNA matches with the Verilli name and my 3rd great grandmother was Lucia Di Donato Riccio.

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    3. Hi Cassandra, My Santucci family is from Castelfranco and I recently visited there. My great grandfather was Lorenzo Santucci, born in 1846 and married Rose Lucia. They had four children before immigrating to Philadelphia in 1886. I would love to learn your connections to the Santuccis! I have a large public family tree on Ancestry if you are a member.

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  12. My Mother is a Verrilli. We grew up in NJ. My GGF was Leonardo Verrilli. He had a twin brother Daniel I think. Mom and I were in Castlefranco in 2008

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  13. I’ve been looking into my husband’s Castelfranco roots. He is a Lupariello . His grandmother was a Paoletta. The names Izzo, Scinto, Verrilli come right to mind. Many others. His grandparents immigrated to Bridgeport, CT.

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    2. Hi Dorothy, I have Lupariellos in my Santucci family tree. My family immigrated to Philadelphia from Castelfranco in 1876.

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