POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Central Texas/Austin
Marilyn MANISCALCO Henley (#1653)
Bill Brinkman (#1388) opened the monthly PIP meeting Wed, Aug 26, 1998 at 6:30 p.m. at Bank One in Round Rock with 19 members and guests in attendance in the absence of wife Lin ONOFRIO Brinkman, who was ill. After the minutes of the last meeting were approved, Bill reminded everyone about the POINT convention in Las Vegas Oct. 12, 13 & 14. We have 13 attending, with one member still looking for a female roommate.
Bill announced that his next genealogy course will begin Oct 19 with the Round Rock Community Schools; there will be 2 evening classes and one Saturday field trip to the Family History Center. If interested, call 512-255-3450.
Marilyn MANISCALCO Henley (#1653) passed around the book of microfilms currently on rent at the Family History Center. Marilyn mentioned that she and her family and just returned from a week cruise and that daughter Lisa will be married on Sept 19 in Sugar Land. She announced that her MANISCALCO Family will have their annual reunion Sunday, October 4 in the Houston area. It includes the families of three MESSINA sisters from Poggioreale, Sicily with their married names of MANISCALCO, MONTALBANO and WEIDO (known as GUIDA) in Sicily.
Joe MASTRANGELO (#2614) passed around information about discounts to AOL members through AARP. He is continuing to read marriage records from Putignano, Bari, Italy that go back to 1809. He found some for Mastrangelo's that show grandparents and their death dates. Marie Mastrangelo reported that she received letters from two cousins, each without the other aware they were simultaneously corresponding. They each sent photos of a very young Marie. She's also learned about some common medical history in her Norwegian family.
Joe asked if anyone was familiar with "arrival papers". The NARA will send them under the Freedom of Information Act. You must supply them with as much immigration information as possible about the family.
Eugenia ASSAIBENE Luken is writing a book about her family and shared extra photo copies of Ellis Island with members as well as a story about memories of growing up Italian. She passed around copies of her father's passenger list; Luigi ASAIBENE on the s/s Re d'Italia from Milano to New York, arrival Feb 17, 1921.
Marcy BROWNING joined us for the first time. She is beginning to research the names: Antony MARINACI of Bracciano and PERRELLA from San Juan or Lipione and GROSSO.
Francesca Sutton (#3637) displayed a large sized copy of a 4 ½ page letter written in the 1850's by Pietro Di BERNARDI, her great great grandfather's brother to her gggrandfather, Giovanni, that was sent to her by a cousin. She could translate various words that had to do with sewing red shirts for Garibaldi. She is having Giulio Salemme, the Italian researcher, translate it. Also, she has been reading microfilm records from Morehouse Parish, Louisiana and has located lots of records for her grandmother, Annie Celestia TURPIN, who married J.G. Ellis in 1882.
Jeanette and Janet Green (#3555) are reading films of records from Mezzojuso, Palermo, Sicily for their CUCCIO family. Jeanette has also sent a letter to Mezzojuso requesting marriage records more recent than the films.
Augie TROIANI has been searching for documentation of the birth of Joseph Costa, the first Italian settler in Travis Co, TX. He received the baptism record from the parish church.
Frank HENRY (IANNARINO) (#3258) has had three unsuccessful replies to his internet posting on a Sicilian surname site regarding his mother's name, PROVIDENZA LA MANNA of Termini Imerese.
Laurie GUGINO Riester had an extremely successful first month of research of the GUGINO surname. She learned about a book called Valledolmo (Sicily) to Fredonia (N.Y.) written about Sicilians of Valledolmo who settled to Fredonia, and was able to get a copy made and sent to her.
Next, she found her grandparents' names on the Wall of Honor on the Ellis Island web site. She was able to learn who paid to have the names put on the Wall, and it turned out to be a cousin. She's ordered microfilm of census soundex, has ordered the Declaration of Intention, using the number on the Naturalization record found by her mother and brother and has been looking at the family naming pattern.
To top everything else, Laurie joined POINT and discovered that she has names and places in common with Dr. Tom!
Carmelo CAIPITANO and Pete (Demetrio) SERRAINO joined us for the first time. They've been in Austin for one year and are searching SERRAINO and Di BENEDITTO from REGGIO CALABRIA and CAPITANO, PUMA, and RIZZO from RACALMUTO, D'ARIGENTO, SICILY. They're putting together family research for their 50th anniversary party in October in their hometown of BAYONNE, N.J.
Bill Brinkman mentioned that four years ago he placed a free query to Yankee Magazine regarding the SAYAH name. He received a reply and found a detailed family web page for the Sayah name.
Our next meeting is Wednesday, September 23, 1998 at 6:30 at the Bank One, Round Rock.
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