to do

I just finished creating a family history book through ancestry.com on my grandfather, Amedio Pompeo's, line.  I was able to go back to my 5th great grandfather in the 1700s, Severino Pompeo, in Torre de Passeri, using the Italian records online through familysearch.org and the Italian State Archives. 

Now that I have so many names on my paternal Italian side, my maternal Italian side looks sparse in comparison.  This maternal line, the DeNicola's and Terragnoli's, are also mostly from the Abruzzo region, but from the province of L'Aquila in the commune of Prezza.  These records only go up to 1865 online, which means I was unable to make that connection back in the records since I am starting with my great grandparents, who were born in the 1870's.  It also seems that the DeNicola's may have been from Rome.     

Pedigree chart for Remo DeNicola

I do have the names of my 2nd great grandparents from the records in the US, but I was unable to find most of these names in the Prezza records.  As the chart above shows, there is one line I was able to trace back a bit further, that of my 2nd great grandmother, Francesca Lucente. Since she died in the United States, I was able to obtain her death record which included her parent's names.  She was born in 1846, which allowed me to find her birth record in Prezza online.  This leaves me with three lines to spend some time researching.   

to do: (bold items I have started the process)

1. Guiseppe Terragnoli, my second great granfather, probably died in Italy before his wife Francesca came to the United States.  (Francesca married secondly Luigi Pettinelli in Prezza).  These are the records that I would like to find for Guiseppe Terragnoli; I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain any of these records, as I have written to Prezza town offices a couple of times with no response.
• death record - I was not able to find Guiseppe Terragnoli's death record, which probably occurred after 1865, maybe in Prezza. 
• birth record - I am not sure if Guiseppe was born in Prezza, as I was also unable to locate his birth record after browsing through the Prezza records that are available before 1865.  He would have been born before this date, so I am not sure why I cannot find him, unless he was born in a different commune. 
• marriage record - of Guiseppe Terragnoli and Francesca Lucente, probably in Prezza, as their first child was born there in 1877.  The marriage record will give the age of Guiseppe, his place of birth, and his parents' names.
• marriage record - of their daughter Luisa Terragnoli to Arnaldo DeNicola.  This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born.  This may also give Guiseppe's age and place of birth.
• marriage allegati - for Francesca Lucente's second marriage, which may include Guiseppe's death record.  Allegati contain documents which were necessary to marry.  I have this marriage date of 1894 which was annotated in Francesca's birth record.
2. Eugenia Farneti, my second great grandmother, died in Quincy, MA in 1937. 
• death certificate - this will be easy to obtain by ordering through mass document retrieval.  This will contain Eugenia's parent's names and date of birth.  (UPDATE: I ordered her death certificate and it states her parents' names are Peter Farnetti and Anunziata Gismondi, and birth year would be abt 1870 - see this post about analysis of Eugenia's birth year)
• birth record - her son's birth record, Gaetano Faiella, states Eugenia was born in Rome.  There is microfilm from familysearch that I can order once I have a birth date - which is probably around 1864 according to some other US records.   May have to order Rome birth index to find date. 
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola.  This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome.  I have ordered the index to marriage records for 1871-1879 for Rome from familysearch.  Once I find out the year, I can order the microfilm which contains the records.
• marriage record - of her son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  (same as above under Guiseppe) 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. 
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  I will have to check if the marriage allegati records are available at familysearch for this year in Rome.  The allegati would have Eugenia's age, place of birth, and possibly her first husband, Adolph's, death record.
• birth record - her son Arnaldo DeNicola.  He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.  I have ordered the 1878-1879 index and records for Rome from familysearch.  This may obtain Eugenia's age and place of birth. 
3. 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.
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola.  (same as above under Eugenia) This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome.  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.
• marriage record - of her son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  (same as above under Guiseppe and Eugenia) 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. 
• marriage record - of Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  (same as above under Eugenia) This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  I will have to check if the marriage allegati records are available at familysearch for this year in Rome.  The allegati would have possibly her first husband, Adolph's, death record.
• birth record - her son Arnaldo DeNicola.  (same as above under Eugenia) He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.  I have ordered the 1878-1879 index and records for Rome from familysearch.  This may obtain Adolph's age and place of birth. 

I definitely have some ways to expand my Italian line on my maternal side.  Guiseppe Terragnoli will probably be the most difficult to obtain as I have to go through a professional, but I can get a start on the other two lines.  It looks like I have some records to order. 

francesca lucente terragnoli pettinelli

I have been focusing on my fourth great grandparents in my last few posts; but I know that I have another side of my family where I have very little information that I need to focus on.  The reason that I have little information is that there is a gap in records available online for the area this family is from, Prezza, L'Aquila, Italy in the Abruzzo region.  I would love to obtain records from Italy, but I know the only way this is going to happen is if I hire someone to do the research or if I visit Italy myself.  I have tried unsuccessfully to write to the civil registration office for Prezza and I have contacted a couple of researchers, but all have been too expensive.  Instead, I thought I would see if I could find some more clues in the records I do have and see if there are any more records that may be in the United States, starting with one of my second great grandmothers, Francesca Lucente.

Francesca has been tricky to find in the United States, but she definitely came here at some point because I came upon her gravestone in Quincy, MA on findagrave while I was searching for someone else.  I wrote a little about this in another post.  With the information from her stone, I also obtained a transcription of her death record from Massachusetts Document Retrieval service; which answered some questions, and left many to be answered.

From previous research I have done on Francesca, I have come to the conclusion that Francesca Lucente first married Guiseppe Terragnoli, my second great grandfather, in Italy.  They had at least three children, Luisa, Damiano, and Cosnio (spelling is a guess from records). All of these children came to the United States at some point - the following is the information I have on these children:

• Cosnio or Cosmo Terragnoli : passenger record from Italy to Boston - he came over with his brother-in-law, Arnaldo DeNicola - his sister Luisa's husband, in 1906 and he lives in Boston in 1907.  He may have gone back to Italy as I cannot find him in the United States after these dates. 
• Damiano Terragnoli : have not found his passenger record; but the 1920 census states he came to US in 1898, 1930 census states he came to US in 1907.  He marries Giselda Faiella in 1910 in Boston, MA.  At some point he changes his name to Damiano Pettinelli, all of his children have the Pettinelli surname.  (Terragnoli is surname on Damiano's marriage record in 1910, but census for 1920 and 1930 he is going by Pettinelli)
• Louisa Terragnoli : married Arnaldo DeNicola, probably in Italy around 1905.  She came to US in 1907 with her husband and first daughter.  The rest of their children were born in MA.  Arnaldo came back and forth from Italy a few times before they settled here in 1907.  They came from Prezza, Italy. 

These are the only children I know of that Francesca had.  There may have been more in Italy that did not come over.  Francesca's' husband, Guiseppe Terragnoli, must have died in Italy as Francesca's death certificate and her gravestone has the last name of Pettinelli.  Her death record states she is widowed from Luigi Pettinelli. (This is where her son Damiano got his new last name from - although I do find it strange that he did not keep his Terragnoli surname).  I have not been able to find a marriage record of Luigi and Francesca, so I am guessing they were married in Italy.  I do not even know if Luigi Pettinelli came to the United States, as I have not been able to find any records in the US for Luigi.  I also do not know when Francesca came to the US, as I cannot find her passenger record.  

Her death record does state she had been in the "community" for 18 years.  She died in 1925, so she probably came to the US around 1907.  This is around the same date her children came to the US also.  I have searched the passenger records using both the ancestry.com search form and the Stephen Morse search interface on http://stevemorse.org/ for a Francesca Terragnoli, Francesca Pettinelli and even her maiden name of Francesca Lucente; and still cannot find her.  I did not even restrict the search to a timeframe, and still found no good matches.

If Francesca had been living in the United States since 1907, she should be in the 1910 and the 1920 census. I cannot find her in either.  As I mentioned above, her death record shows that she was residing at 54 Winter street in Quincy, at the time of her death in 1925.  The 1924 Quincy directory has Arnaldo DeNicola and Francesca's daughter Louisa living at this residence in 1924.  So clearly, Francesca is living with her daughter when she dies.  I searched the 1920 census for her daughter and husband Arnaldo DeNicola, and I also cannot find them.  I am frustrated I cannot find them as they are living in Quincy, MA according to the Quincy directory; on Washington Street in 1920.  If Francesca was living with them, it would provide me with another date of birth and a possible immigration date to compare with her death record.  

The death record of Francesca Pettinelli also provided a possible birth date of 1839, as the informant, Luigi Pettinelli, states Francesca Pettinelli was 86 years old at the time of her death in 1925.  We also have her parent's names from this record.  Her father is listed as Nichelle Lucente and her mother Dominca DiRanico. Since some records for Prezza, Italy are online at the Archives of Italy, I browsed through the dates of 1838-1850, and the only birth for a Francesca Lucente was in 1846 to Nichelle Lucente and Dominca Gentile.  The maiden name of her mother is different;  but this is still a very close match.  So that brings the question as to who is the informant of Francesca's death?  The name of the informant is given as Luigi Pettinelli, who is residing at 54 Winter street; the same place of residence as Francesca, according to the death record.  

I only found two Luigi Pettinellis in the 1920 census.  One is living in Lawrence, MA, and looking at other records for this Luigi show that he is the son of Andria Pettinelli.  I have not made any connections with this Luigi to my family, and as they seem to be living in Lawrence, it seems unlikely this Luigi would be residing with Francesca at the time of her death in 1925, as the death record states.  The other Luigi Pettinelli is Francesca's grandson, the son of Damiano Pettinelli.  This Luigi was born in 1913.  If he was the informant, he would only have been 12 years old . That does seem a bit young.  The relationship on the death record of the informant Luigi Pettinelli is listed as NR, not recorded. If this Luigi Pettinelli is the informant of Francesca's death, he probably would have not known the correct age of his grandmother, or the name of his great grandmother.  (Does DiRanico sound similar to DeNicola, Francesca's daughter's married name - maybe this was the error?) 

If I could just find Francesca in the 1910 or 1920 census, I would have more information as to her correct birth date and therefore possible parents.  Another document that would be very helpful would be her two marriage records, first to Guiseppe Terragnoli and secondly to Luigi Pettinelli.  These documents would most likely have her parents' names.  The documents for Prezza that are online though the state archives only go up to 1865.  I think both marriages took place after 1865, as Francesca's daughter Louisa was born in 1877.  The Family History Centers do not have records past 1865 either.  After writing to the civil registration office for Prezza a couple of times already, and not getting a response, it seems I will have to hire a researcher who can obtain these marriage records for me.  So far I have not had much luck finding a researcher that will only look for one record for me.  

terragnoli / pettinelli / connection

My Italian ancestors have left some confusing and conflicting information that I have been trying to make sense of.  It all started some years back when my mother's cousin asked me if I had any information on Eva DeNicola.  Eva is a daughter of Louisa and Arnaldo DeNicola who died at a young age.  Eva would have been my grandfather Remo's sister.  My grandfather had never mentioned that he had a sister that died as a child' but he was also the youngest and may not have even known.  I had asked the reference librarian from Quincy if she could find a birth date and death date for Eva DeNicola since the records online only go up to 1915.  She did find Eva was born in 1919 to Arnaldo and Louisa T.;  and that Eva's death was recorded in Quincy in 1923. 

I did not find much more information on Eva until many months later a match came up on ancestry.com from findagrave.  Someone had posted Eva's gravestone from Mt. Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy, MA. I had not found Eva in the Quincy cemetery index, so I was surprised to see her gravestone from Quincy. Another surprise was the engraving on the stone, which stated Eva was also buried with her grandmother, Francesca Pettinelli. The Pettinelli name was one I had heard before in relation to Luisa Terragnoli, but no-one seemed to know the connection.

We knew that Louisa's maiden name was Terragnoli from her children Luigi, Gilda, Amelia, Romulos, Adolph, and Olga's birth records.  Also on Arnaldo and Louisa's passenger record from Italy to Boston, they state their friend in the United States is Louisa's brother, Cosmo Terragnoli. If the Francesca that was buried with Eva was Loiusa's mother; I would expect her last name to be Terragnoli, not Pettinelli.

I did another search for Terragnolis in Quincy and found a Damiano Terragnoli who married in Quincy. He lists his parents as Guiseppe Terragnoli and Francesca Lucente. Francesca matches the name on Eva's gravestone, but does not explain where the Pettinelli name came from. Oddly, Damiano uses the Pettinelli name in all future records, rather than Terragnoli. I would guess this makes it more likely that Louisa and Damiano are siblings, as Damiano is linked to both the Terragnoli and Pettinelli name, as is Louisa. I am thinking the most likely scenario is that their mother, Francesca Lucente Terragnoli, remarries a Pettinelli, and Damiano changes his name after his mother remarries.

My next step was to order the death records of Francesca Pettinelli and Louisa DeNicola to see how it lists their maiden names and to confirm Francesca Pettinelli is Louisa's mother.  The death records were not exactly as I expected.

Let's start with Louisa's death record first.  Louisa's mother is listed as Francesca Lucente.  This is the same name listed on Damiano Terragnoli's marriage record; linking them once more - probably as brother and sister.  However, Luisa's father is listed as Luigi Pettinelli, not Guiseppe Terragnoli as I had expected.  I am guessing that Louisa's father was listed incorrectly by her son A. DeNicola, who probably only knew Luigi Pettinelli as Francesca's husband and mistakenly recorded this name.  Finding Louisa's birth record and marriage record to Arnaldo would be helpful to see if Guiseppe Terragnoli or Luigi Pettinelli is listed as her father.  Unfortunately, the records available on the L'Aquila state archives and on familysearch only go up to 1865 for Prezza, Italy.     

My next step was to look at Francesca Pettinelli's death record to confirm she was Louisa's mother.  Indeed, Francesca's father is listed as Nichelle Lucente, matching the maiden name of Louisa's and Damiano's mother as Francesca Lucente.  This record also states that Francesca was widowed from Luigi Pettinelli; so Pettinelli is definitely a married name.  Finding this marriage record would be helpful to see if maybe Louisa's first marriage to Guiseppe Terragnoli is mentioned; confirming my suspicions that this is her second marriage.  I have been unable to find any passenger records or marriage records in the US for Louisa or Luigi.  I am not sure if they married in Italy or here in the US.  I have written Italy a couple of times for more informtion on this family, but I have not heard back.  I guess I will have to next write to the parish priest of Prezza.

My conclusions after obtaining the information from various sources is that Louisa, Damiano and Cosmo are all children of Francesca Lucente and Guiseppe Terragnoli.  I suspect that Guisseppe died in Prezza, Italy after 1886, about the year Cosmo was born.  Francesca remarries, either in the US or Italy, to Luigi Pettinelli.  Damiano was probably young enough that he used the Pettinelli name, maybe he did not even know his father Guiseppe Terragnoli.  I have not found much information in the US for either Francesca Pettinelli or the missing brother Cosmo, who was listed on Louisa's passenger record.  Maybe Cosmo went back to Italy.  I am not sure why I have not found much information on Francesca in the United States.  Obtaining some records from Italy would be very helpful in sorting all this out. 


death record transcriptions are from Mass Document Retrieval

louisa terragnoli denicola (part 3 of 3)

death

Louisa died on May 9, 1945 in Quincy, MA, ten years after her husband, Arnaldo.  I have this date thanks to the great reference librarians at the Quincy Public Library who looked through the cemetery index for me.  She found that Louisa and Arnaldo are buried at Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, MA, in lot 574, section M.  Their last name is spelled DiNicola in the index, rather than DeNicola.  The librarian was unable to find an obituary in the Patriot Ledger, the Quincy newspaper.  Louisa was survived by 10 of her 11 children; all except Eva who died as a child.  I have ordered a transcription of Louisa's death record, I will update my post when it is received.

Louisa Terragnoli and Arnaldo DeNicola Mt. Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, MA

From blog post louisa terragnoli

I only have one picture of Louisa, it is of her and her husband Arnaldo.  Even though they look to be dressed in wedding attire, they seem older the their twenties.  I am guessing the picture was taken later in their lives; therefore probably in Massachusetts.

Arnaldo and Louisa DeNicola

From blog post louisa terragnoli

louisa terragnoli denicola (part 2 of 3)

immigration

Louisa Terragnoli was married by the time she immigrated to the United States in 1907.  She arrived in Boston, MA with her husband, Arnaldo DeNicola, and daughter, Annunziata, on May 13, 1907.  They left the port of Naples, Italy on the S.S. Canopic on May 1, 1907, sailing for 13 days.  Louisa was 24 years old when she ventured on this trip to America.  I found an image below of the ship, and another site which has a little history on the SS Canopic.



Immigrants arriving in Boston, MA on the SS Canopic 1920, from BPL flickr site

On the passenger record, it states that Louisa and Arnaldo are going to see Louisa's brother, Cosmo (or Cosnio) Terragnoli, who lives at 3 North Square in Boston, MA. Cosmo came over in 1906 with Louisa's husband in 1906. This may have been one of three trips Arnaldo made, he must have been coming to get settled before he came with his family.  I was unable to find any military or census records for Cosmo in Massachusetts, so I am not sure if he went back to Italy or moved to another state. I mentioned another possible brother of Louisa's in my last post, Damiano Terragnoli.  I was also unable to find much information on him, other than his marriage record in Boston, MA. (see note on last post with updated Damiano information)

Louisa's last place of residence on her passenger record is listed as Prezza, Italy.  It also lists her daughter, Annunziata, was born in Prezza in 1905.  If Louisa had her first child quickly after being married, this would give Louisa and Arnaldo's marriage year to be around 1904-1905, maybe in Prezza.  The 1910 Census states they had been married for 6 years, so that would also suggest around 1904.  The Family History Center Library does not have the civil registrations for these years on microfilm, they only have 1809-1865.  I did write to the commune of Prezza in August of 2010, over two years ago; asking for their extraction of marriage; unfortunately, I did not get a response. 

1910 US Federal Census Arnaldo and Louisa DeNicola in Quincy, MA

From blog post louisa terragnoli

  This first census for Louisa in the United States (1910) shows that she and her growing family settled in Quincy, MA.  They stayed in this city throughout their lives, even though they moved at least 8 times while in Quincy.  I have written a little about their residences in another blog post about her husband Arnaldo.  I have been unable to locate Louisa and Arnaldo in the 1920 census, even though I have found them in the 1920 Quincy directory on Washington Street.  I browsed through this district of Quincy for the 1920 census, and still am unable to locate them. 

1910-1943 residence for Arnaldo and Louisa DeNicola

View Arnaldo and Louisa DeNicola in a larger map



 
Arnaldo and Louisa lived on Canal Street in 1910. After looking at some historical maps, it seems the name of this road at some time was changed to the current Revere Road. By 1920, they moved to Washington Street; 1926 they are on Winter Street. The 1930 Census has Louisa living on Bracket Street with Arnaldo and 9 out of her 10 living children; their eldest, Nancy was married by 1930. By 1932 the family has moved to Edwards Street, then Massachusetts Ave by 1933 to at least 1938. In the 1940 Census, Louisa is a widow living with five of her children on Arnold Street. Louisa moves at least one more time by 1943 when she is found on Spear Street in that year's Quincy directory.






I believe Louisa's mother, Francesca Pettinelli, may have lived in Massachusetts also; as her name is etched on her daughter Eva's gravestone in Quincy, MA.  Francesca dies in 1925, two years after her granddaughter Eva, who was only about 3 years old.  These must have been some difficult years for Louisa.

Louisa may also had at least one brother, maybe two, living in Massachusetts; Cosmo and Damiano as mentioned above.  I have not found Francesca or Cosmo in any census records, but Damiano is listed in the 1920-1940 censuses, living in Quincy, MA.  Louisa probably saw Damiano since he was living so close.

The 1930 census gives us a little bit more information on Louisa and her husband.  It does state that they were both naturalized by 1930, which I knew since I found Arnaldo's naturalization papers on ancestry.com.  The census also notes that they are both able to speak English, and are able to read and write.  They are renting their house, which is not surprising with all the moves from house to house they have done.  They rent their house on Brackett street for $30 a month.  (The only new information from the 1940 census is that Louisa's highest level of education is 4 years of High School. I am not sure of the school system in Italy when she was a child, but it seems she was well educated.)

1930 Census Louisa and Arnaldo DeNicola Quincy, MA

From blog post louisa terragnoli

Louisa's husband died in 1935, leaving her with her youngest child, Remo, still only 13 years old. Remo is my grandfather, and I do not remember him speaking much of his parents, or if his grandparents or any Aunts and Uncles came to the US along with Louisa.  He would only have been about three years old when his grandmother Francesca dies, too young to remember her.   

(continued...)

louisa terragnoli denicola (part 1 of 3)

birth

I do not have a lot of information on my great grandmother, Louisa Terragnoli.  I have only seen an exact birthdate on one record, her husband Arnaldo DeNicola's petition for naturalization.  This record has a date for Louisa's birth as May 20, 1877.  This record also states that she was born in Roma, Italy, but Louisa's passenger record states she was born in Prezza, Italy.

Arnaldo DeNicola's petition for naturalization (with Louisa's birth date)

From blog post louisa terragnoli

Arnaldo and Louisa DeNicola's passenger record (states Louisa was born in Prezza)

From blog post louisa terragnoli

I do not have any records that state who Louis'a parents were.  I am hoping when I obtain her death record it will list them.  I do have a couple of guesses from some indirect sources.

One source is a gravestone of her daughter, Eva, who died at a very young age in 1923.   John Talieri created a memorial on findagrave.com with a picture of her gravestone from Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy, MA; which also has Eva's grandmother listed on the stone, Francesca Pettinelli.  Perhaps this is Louisa's mother.

Eva DeNicola and Francesca Pettinelli's gravestone at Mt. Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, MA picture of gravestone from findagrave.com user John Talieri

From blog post louisa terragnoli

I remember some time ago when I first became interested in genealogy that one of my family members mentioned the name Pettinelli (and Faiella) in relation to my great grandmother, Louisa Terragnoli.  I am not sure where the Pettinelli name came from though, as I would guess she would have had her married name of Terragnoli on her stone.  It could be her maiden name, but again I find it strange that she would not put her married name.  Another option might be that she remarried a Pettinelli, and this is her second married name.  Finding her death record would also be of help to get more information.  (see updated post on Terragnoli / Pettinelli connection)

Another indirect source I found which  links the Francesca name to Terragnoli is a marriage record I found of a Damiano Terragnoli.  He marries Giselda Faiella (a name mentioned in my family) in Boston, MA and his parents are lised as Guiseppe Terragnoli and Francesca Licente.  Maybe Damiano was Louisa's brother and Francesca Pettinelli's maiden name is Licente.  That would mean Francesca most likely remarried a Pettinelli.  The trees on ancestry.com have Giselda Faiella from the same area of Prezza, Italy.  I was unable to find more information (such as passenger or census records) for Damiano or Francesca though; so I am not sure if they were from Prezza also. (see note 1 for update)

I did not find too much information about the area of Italy that Louisa grew up in.  I am guessing that the petition of naturalization was wrong in stating Roma as her place of birth, and that she was born in Prezza as this area is listed for many Terragnolis.  Prezza is in the province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy.  It seems to be a small commune, with a current population of around 1200.  The following is an excerpt from the http://www.abruzzocitta.it/english/comuni/prezza.html website :

"Prezza is a commune with an altitude of 500 mt above sea level and a population of 1200 inhabitants. Perched on the slopes of Mount Prezza this centre overlooks the Peligna valley. Prezza was known in the Middle Ages, although several archaeological findings date back to a prehistoric age.a terrace over the Peligna Valley, it dominates the whole Sulmona basin. Enchanting is the village, with its typical houses, together with the Baronial palace and the 13th- century of St. Lucia, a destination for religious tourism for the worship bound to the miracle of the grace against eye disease."

(to be continued, immigration to America...)

to do:
1. order death record for Francesca Pettinelli and Louisa Terragnoli from mass-doc.com (since I do not have the time to go to Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics).  These would hopefully give me Francesca's maiden name and if it matches Damiano Terragnoli's marriage certificate, I know Louisa and he are brothers.  It would be great if Francesca's death record also gives me her parents' names to go back one more generation. 
2. find more information about Prezza, Italy

notes:
1. While I was searching for Pettinellis in the 1922 Quincy directory, I came across a Damiano and Giselda Pettinelli.  This makes it more likely that Damiano was Louisa's brother, and he changed his name from Terragnoli (on his marriage record) to Pettinelli - perhaps his mother's new married name.  This explains why I could not find much information on Damiano, I was using the Terragnoli name.  All of his children have the Pettinelli last name, and he uses this last name on all of his records, including WWI and WWII records, and also a naturalization record (only have index entry, not image on fold3.com).