How do I begin my Family Tree - Pesce & Oliva

Pete410 · New Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 2

Hello Everyone & let me Thank you in adavnce for trying to help me.

I am starting on a mission to learn more about my Family history & putting together a family tree. I am doing this with my Brother & Sister.

What I am looking for is how do i begin to research my family name Pesce.

My Father (Frank) was born in cosenza in 1946. His Father's name was Pietro Pesce. My Grandmother's Name was Assunta Bronzo. I know my grandfather was married twice & i do not have any info there other than one of my uncles from that side... his name was Orlando Pesce.

My Mother, also born in Cosenza in 1946 comes from the last name oliva.
Her Father was Silvio Oliva & her mother was Elena Spadafora.

Can anyone help me go further & really digg into my roots.

What about family crests? Is that something i have or can find out if our family had one.... Also, Was their anyone in my family that did something special? Please help

Cathy · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 2681

Welcome Pete!! I am so glad you joined us. The first thing you need to do is start with what you do know. Do you have any birthdates for your grandparents? If you know their birthdates, you can write to the city of Cosenza's state civil office and request a copy of their integral birth acts. This will give you the names of their parents and possibly (in some years) the grandfather's names. It will also give an address, street name or section of the city they lived in and the parents occupations. It is a great starting point. Did your grandparents come here?
Unfortunately I do not know of any online records for the City of Cosenza. So the only options for you to trace your heritage are to write the comune (town) or research the microfilms the Later Day Saints make available at their Family History Centers. The great thing about the microfilms are you can trace your grandparents entire family. If you would be interested in this, let us know and we can post more information on this. Also, your grandparents ship manifests could be helpful. Any idea when they came here? Do you have their census records? Often those can help give you clues too.
As for a family crest, not all families had them. Perhaps another member knows of a good resource of family crests online?
Again, welcome to Gente! Feel free to ask anything.

Pete410 · New Member Joined: Mar 06, 2008 Posts: 2

Cathy,
I will get birthdates for my grandparents or atleast try to.
None of my grandparents came to america. My Parents were the first ones to come here. Is there a number to call il commune di cosenza?
I think that would be good for me... if not perhaps an email?

I want as much history as possible so maybe i should do the microfilm thing.... I am in Homer Glen & I am always in Downers grove... Whats the closest location to do the microfilm thing & what does it cost?

Maybe we are related... lol

Cathy · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 2681

Pete
If you want as much history as possible I would highly recommend the LDS microfilms. On my grandfather’s father’s side I have been able to go back to the early to mid 1700’s to trace our lineage. I lost count after 120 or so first cousins I found, many of which went to Argentina or came here. The Argentinian’s are proud of their history and culture and I personally have learned a lot from them about my own family. There may be locations closer than Downers Grove to you. You can find a list of locations in Illinois here: www.familysearch.org/E...c_find.asp

Here is the list of microfilms that are available for Cosenza: www.familysearch.org/E...o+civile++

Cosenza is a big city, so don’t let the number of microfilms intimidate you. The films for Cosenza begin in 1809 and end in 1910. I would recommend gathering what information you can from the microfilms before writing the comune.
Begin calling your relatives and ask them everything you can think of that they remember about family stories and information. Keep in mind you will probably discover at least one story is not totally accurate. Nuccia (this forums administrator) had some good tips on starting and keeping organized. I’ll see if I can find what she wrote. There are many here who can offer tips and suggestions too.

nuccia

Hi Peter!

Welcome to the forum. We'll try and help as much as we can. Question..

When did your Dad come to America? Where in Cosenza was he born (I'm sorry if I missed that)? Do you have his ship manifest?

charliemis

Hi Pete,

Just in case that you don't already know this, there is both a city of Cosenza and also a province of Cosenza (equivalent to a county in the US) which surrounds it. A lot of times Immigrants referred to the Province (also sometimes called their paese or country) as opposed to actual town or city.

Another suggestion that I would make is to "interview" any older relatives available to learn what they remember while they are still around. Sometimes their memory might have failed, so you may need to speak with them several times. If you search the web, you will finds suggestions on how to do this.

Early on I also began using a PC application as a repository for my findings ---- it makes it easier to begin collecting the info that you find [I use Family Tree Maker which costs about $30; there are many more Genealogy programs available including PAF which is available for free from www.familysearch.com website which also has the Family History Center library info as well].

Good luck in your search, my Maternal family is also from the Provincia di Cosenza;-)