I cognomi dei miei nonni: Aleotti, Carraro, Melendez, Monti
I became motivated to begin my family research in 1996 because of the work my father had done years ago, as well as my own curiosity. Since I was familiar with the Internet I was aware of the availability of on-line databases and other information. I began using the Internet before the graphical interfaces were available and users had to depend on terms such as FTP, BGET, List, etc., which proved slow and boring in comparison to the Internet of today. This experience proved valuable because I was learning to search and locate information of which I had a precise interest. I initially located an Italian genealogy related mailing list called PIE where I had the good fortune to meet many friends. These friends provided me with useful advice and I assisted them with translating old documents from Italian to English and finding telephone numbers of relatives in Italy. From PIE I moved to the Comunes Of Italy, another Italian mailing list owned and directed by my very good friend Steve Saviello. It is Steve who assists me with the translation of my web pages. During my time on these mailing lists I learned of the great database of microfilms and other information put together by the Mormon Church for use by anyone interested in searching for their ancestors for genealogical or religious reasons. The Roman Genealogical Centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, this is the official name of the Church of the Mormons, was not far away from my house. This made it easy for me to make the many visits I found necessary from May 1996 through 1997. A kind and knowledgeable staff at the Centre explained to me the procedures; from searching indexes, then the microfilms, and now the CDs. The area and the date of interest is searched and the reference numbers of the microfilms are annotated for the successive order. After some time it depends on whether the microfilm is available for loan in Europe or in the USA. When available and ordered, I would be informed by telephone of the arrival of the microfilm. In the beginning the insertion of the microfilm in the video-reader and the successive reading of certificates gave me some problems due to the varied and dated writings, but after few days I became proficient in rolling and unrolling films, in understanding quickly if a certificate could be of my interest, and in the reading of the ritual type writings of the wedding or baptism certificates. With this system I succeeded to locate new information on the Melendez families, Aleotti and Bruccoleri. I also received information from my cousin Salvatore Scuro who gave me the material on Aleotti and from recollections from my parents and older relatives' memories. It was from these memories, supported with the documentation, that I learned about the emigration at the beginning of 1900, to Argentine of an Aleotti. It was at this point, thanks to Internet, that I had the first great enjoyment and satisfaction of my research. I succeeded by using the Argentine white pages on-line to locate the grandson of my relative and I wrote him. After a period of dismay my relative accepted, with obvious enthusiasm, the fact that we were relatives and we began a letter exchange. I had the second satisfaction when tracing back the history of Melendez by means of the microfilmed certificates and succeeded in proving the Spanish origin of this surname. In fact, I found the baptism certificate of the grandfather of my great-grandfather Joseph Miguel Melendez, born in Cartagena, Spain, 17 October 1718, and who came to Italy with the Bourbon Army. My research still is not completed and probably will never be. The microfilms of the Mormons, in fact, do not cover large areas of northern Italy, zones of origin of Monti and Carraro for which all searches must be made in the Parishes and in the provincial State Archives. These type of searches take much time and therefore I will most likely be able to concentrate on my research when I retire from work. Now some advice for those who want to undertake genealogical search; it has been initially useful for me reading a small handbook titled Scopri le origini della tua famiglia by Lorenzo Caratti di Valfrei (Guide Mondadori), containing practical advice on how setting up a search, on how going back to the probable Parish from which starting the searches, on how to organize the data and other information by genealogical type. An indispensable handbook is the Annuario Cattolico D'Italia published from the Editoriale Italiana, containing the addresses of all the Parishes in Italy and much more, and the l'Annuario Generale dei comuni e delle frazioni d'Italia published from the Touring Club Italiano.
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