My Family

I created this blog to keep track of my family history research. I do most of my research online.

The Francis name is my husband's which was originally Francisco from Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal. He also has ancestors from Sweden and England. So far, I have found that my family has come from Italy, England, French Canada, Scotland, and Ulster Ireland (Scotch Irish).

I have also taken a DNA test, which shows mostly Italian, but also England and France.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Update on Denicola To Do List

I wrote a "to do post" on this blog almost a year ago for my DeNicola lineage from Rome, Itlay.  The first step was to order microfilm from the Family History Library.  I finally ordered and reviewed the microfilm, but did not find as much information as I had hoped.

This is what I had hoped to accomplish for Adolph DeNicola, my second great grandfather, first husband to Eugenia Farneti:
    • death record - Adolph DeNicola, probably occurred in Rome between 1879 when his son Arnaldo was born and 1882 when his wife had another child by her second husband.  Need to order death index for Rome from familysearch for these years.  UPDATE:  I ordered microfilm 2280749 (death index rome 1871-1881) and 2280754 (death index rome 1882-1891).  Neither of these indices had an Adolph DeNicola or DiNicola.  Not sure where to go from here.  Two possible scenerios are 1. Adolph did not die in Rome, 2. Adolph did not die between these years.  Is it possible that Adolph and Eugenia were never married; therefore Adolph may not have been deceased at time of Eugenia's marriage to Luigi Faiella. 
    • marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola. This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome, according to all of his US records.  I have ordered the index to marriage records for 1871-1879 for Rome.  Once I find out the year, I can order the microfilm which contains the records.  UPDATE: I ordered microfilm 2280663 (marriage index rome 1871-1879 and publication index 1875-1882.)   I browsed through this index and found no entries for this couple for the years 1872, 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878.  I did not see an index for 1879 or beyond on this microfilm.  It is possible that Adolph and Eugenia were married in 1879 or 1880, but there does not seem to be a microfilm for these years, the microfilm jumps from 1878 to 1882.  LEFT TO DO : (allegati for arnaldo's birth might be helpful, could be in either of these?: Allegati [nati] 1879 (ser. A, n. 1-192; ser. B, n. 51, 1954, 52-57, 48, 186, 646-43) microfilm 2335194 Item 4; Allegati [nati] 1879 (ser. B, n. 42-34, [numeri vari]), microfilm 2335195 Item 1)
    • marriage record - of Adolph's son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born. This may also give Eugenia's age and place of birth.  I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain this record, as there does not seem to be microfilm available for these years. UPDATE:  There is a notation in Arnaldo's birth record below that he married Luisa on Nov. 21 190?.  I cannot make out the last number for the year.  It also does not say if the marriage took place in Rome or Prezza.  LEFT TO DO : (index for rome marriages from 1898-1911 on microfilm 2280664; Prezza microfilm only go up to 1865)
    • marriage record - of Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  If I find the marriage record, the allegati would possibly have Eugenia's first husband, Adolph's, death record.  UPDATE: I ordered and reviewed microfilm 2280742 (rome marriage index 1882-1891) There was no Luigi Faiella or Eugenia Farneti listed in this index.  I had also looked in the year 1879 when I was looking for Eugenia's first marriage, but she was not listed here either.  As I wrote above, the index skips from 1879 to 1882.  It could be that both of her marriages took place in 1880 and 1881 where there does not seem to be an index for Rome, or perhaps she did not marry in Rome. 
    • birth record - of Adolph's son Arnaldo DeNicola.  He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.   UPDATE: I ordered microfilm 2280908 (birth index rome 1878-1880).  This index did contain a birth of Arnaldo DeNicola, son of Adolfo item number 1356C.  In order to see the actual birth record, I ordered microfilm 2140328.  The writing on the microfilm was very dark and very small, and the only way I could get a copy of it was to take a picture.  Needless to say, it did not come out very well.  The record is below...
Microfilm 2140328 Rome Births

The only useful pieces of information I was able to read from this document are 1.) his birthdate of September 20th, 1879, which agrees with his WWI record and naturalization papers, and 2.) Arnaldo's father's name is indeed Adolfo, which I had first obtained from Arnaldo's death record in Quincy, MA.  Unfortunately, I am unable to read the section which would state his mother's name, which I think is the middle of 9th to 11th row.  Lastly, in the margins of Arnaldo's birth record is a notation of marriage to Louisa Terragnoli, with a date which looks like November 21.  I am not sure of the year, maybe 1904 or 1906?  


  • birth record - Eugenia Farneti around 1863 probably in Rome, Birth records not available this early in Rome