POINTers IN PERSON Minutes
Chapter # 10 Central Texas/Austin
Submitted by: Sherry PACELLI Haddox (#4883)
Lin ONOFRIO Brinkman (#1388) opened our monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 27, 2006 with 12 people in attendance.
Lin recommended www.tasteofitaly.com for mail-order Italian food. She reminded the members that ancestry.com has the U.S. Census from 1790-1930 online now.
Lin, Bill and Lin's mother, Dorothy MANGO ONOFRIO Lippincott invited everyone to join them for Round Rock City fireworks and potluck for the 4th of July.
Joe MASTRANGELO (#2614) is continuing to extract records from 1809 on and said that the condition of the records have improved considerably.
Via PIE (Mary Maggi), Joe found out that there is an option on the USCIS web page that states that you can request a CERTIFICATION OF NONEXISTENCE OF
A RECORD.
Mary suggests that the request be mailed to:
NATIONAL RECORDS CENTER
FOIA/PA OFFICE
PO BOX 648010
LEE'S SUMMIT, MO 64064-8010
Joe found a Death Record for a 4th great-uncle, Pasquale Mastrangelo.
Joe mentioned that, through PIE, someone published an Ancestry.com site article (www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3893) that speaks to the
"Myth of Ellis Island Name Changes".
Joe Tambe sent Joe two maps of the area of Joe's research in return for a favor Joe performed for him. They are: Puglia Region and Bari Province. Both are excellent
reference maps.
Joe had the opportunity to vote in his first Italian election. He brought copies of the material sent to him from the Houston Consulate. It points to the need for a vehicle
to be used to keep us distant citizens abreast of the political environment in Italy if our votes are to mean anything. Thru F & L Primo, Joe found a newspaper being
published in California that is devoting a section to just such a task. It will be in English so he is considering subscribing.
Joe was contacted by the maternal side of the Mastrangelo clan in Vandergrift, PA that were friends of his gr-grandparents
back in the early 1900's. The wife's name was Dalena and it was her family that contacted Joe. His name is Ben Dalena and he is the gr-nephew of Maria Dalena
(Joseph Mastrangelo's wife). Ben was trying to find an address for the home of the gr-grandparents in Putignano. He provided Joe with some names and birth dates
which, fortunately, Joe had covered in his permanent loan films at the LDS. Joe sent him copies of the relevant Birth Certificates which contain the address of the
parents at the time of the birth, along with translations. Several weeks later Joe received a gift basket from Ben in appreciation for the information provided. The basket
contained a slew of Italian foods from Delallo retailers.
Joe said everything was delicious.
Several weeks ago Joe was contacted by the nephew of the wife of one of Joe's father's first cousins. He contacted Joe to tell him that his Aunt Angie
Merolla Detommaso had passed away in April. Joe had spoken with her in February. This man made copies of photos of Joe's Aunt Carmela Mastrangelo
(sister to Joe's grandfather, Angelo) and Uncle Domenic Detommaso, their 2 children, Steve Detommaso (Angie's husband) and Angelina "Lee" Detommaso Nicolosi
and their wedding pictures. He also sent a copy of a Passport, a boarding pass for the ship they traveled on complete with the menu of the fare served during the voyage,
including prices.
Jeanie MARSALIA (#4251) received another letter from the Italian Consulate in Houston, Texas requesting additional certified documents with apostilles. She is
currently working on getting those documents so her dual citizenship papers can be finalized.
Jeanie's son and daughter-in-law returned last week from a trip to Italy and Spain. While in Italy they traveled to the town where Jeanie's grandparents were born,
Monastero di Lanzo in Northern Italy. He told Jeanie it was surrounded by two other small towns and it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. He said
there are rice fields in the area. Her grandfather and father were both rice farmers.
Sherry PACELLI Haddox (#4883) reported that she sent documents to the Houston Consulate to begin the process of obtaining her dual citizenship.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm. Our next meeting will be July 25, 2006 at 6:30pm in Room A at the Round Rock Library.