I am new to this site, so here goes....

My grandfather, Antonio Zappa came from Reggio Calabria, Gerace Superiori in 1906 to the US. His father's American name was James Zappa and his mother was Mary Monteleone Zappa. He had 4 brothers: Frank, Steven, Carmen and Phillip and 2 sisters, Celia and Josephine.

I understand that my great-grandfather, James was an olive farmer in Gerace Superiori before coming to the US. James and his son,Frank came to the US first and worked for the railroad. When they got to Dwight, Illinois, they moved the family over and settled everyone in Dwight.

I am looking for information about their life in Italy. I would love to know about James and Mary's brothers and sisters and parents. If I knew something, I'd know which direction to go in my quest to know my family geneology. Thank you for any help you can offer.

Donna

Hi Donna..

I was able to find a few things which I think might help. It will point you in the right direction. I also have the micro films for Gerace Superior on permanent loan at the family history center (not all the years but some births for about 20 years) and I think I may be able to do some searching for you the next time I go there. They are closed several days now for the summer though so it may not be right away. Getting ready to go to work now but I will check back tomorrow and post a few things.

By the way..I think I may have found the ship manifests and a few census records as well. I will post for your feed back.

Hi Donna and welcome to "Gente".

Your story is so typical of what happened to so many families and all the years of 'knowing' how things were going gradually got lost. But you've come to the right place - we thrive on solving puzzles and uncovering long lost families here on "Gente".

I'm not a genealogist (still learning...), but we have some real super researchers here who - you'll see - will jump in to help, teach you how and guide you though your research...

They're probably all still in bed over there. I'm up and about because I'm in Italy and it's nearly 9am!


I see that Nuccia, my partner, has already started some research for you. See - didn't take long did it?

I didn't know if you had the census records for 1910, 1920 and 1930 so I thought I would post these first.


1910 United States Federal Census
about Alego Zappe
Name: Alego Zappe
[Alego Zappa]
Age in 1910: 60
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Father
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Home in 1910: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1904
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Frank Alego Zappe 25
Alego Zappe 60
Mary Zappe 45
Celia Zappe 19
Carmen Zappe 19
Jose Zappe 22
Steve Zappe 15

Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois; Roll T624_303; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 23; Image: 160.

1920 United States Federal Census
about Anthony Zappa
Name: Anthony Zappa
Home in 1920: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois
Age: 22 years
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Maria
[Mattie D]
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Name: Adolph
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Year of Immigration: 1906
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Image: 175
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Anthony Zappa 22
Maria Zappa 26
Herschel Hagerty 61
Mary Sturfe 41
Margery Sturfe 21
Adolph Sturfe 46
Charley Dick 34
Minnie Blessaut 16
Mary Gotta 16
Gladys Pacey 21
John Broge 33
Clarence P Wikoff 50
Mattie D Wikoff 48
Edith Rolandaly 25
Otto Christiansen 48
Louise Christiansen 39
David J Fretheim 47
John R Oughton 36

Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois; Roll T625_383; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 24; Image: 175.

1930 United States Federal Census
about Anthony Zappa
Name: Anthony Zappa
Home in 1930: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois
View Map
Age: 32
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Cecilia M
Race: White
Occupation:

Education:

Military service:

Rent/home value:

Age at first marriage:

Parents' birthplace:

View image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members:
Name Age
Anthony Zappa 32
Cecilia M Zappa 36
Marjorie A Zappa 9
James A Zappa 8
John P Zappa 6
S William Zappa 4 6/12

Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Dwight, Livingston, Illinois; Roll 533; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 11; Image: 681.0.