Chasing Ciacchellas: Line Expansion Ciacchella + Carrabino

 

Detroit Ciacchella cousins and their partners (John's generation), late 1980s.

In November 2024, I published a blog with my most up-to-date findings on John's paternal family tree, where my goal (not reached) was to identify all of John's 5th great-grandparents. Since that time, I gained access to a set of Augusta church records* that has helped me expand the tree a little further back. This blog covers my findings for the Ciacchella and Carrabino lines. 

*Unfortunately, the rules of access do not allow me to share images of the records. However, I'll be providing all of the relevant data. When I was able to obtain a record outside of this access (e.g. another researcher gave one to me from their own research, then I will share the image). The people who control the records in Augusta are not very willing to allow access, nor have they been digitally preserved. I don't know why. The records are very old and should be preserved for future generations.

Giuseppe Ciacchella and Antonia Carrabino are John's 3rd great-grandparents. This has always been, and remains, the most challenging of John's lines. When I published the blog (link above), in terms of going back generations, I had identified the paternal grandparents of Antonia Carrabino: Giuseppe Carrabino + Antonia Budonaro. This was the only new set of 5th great-grandparents I successfully uncovered at that time.

In addition to identifying additional ancestors for this project, I had some other goals. I was trying to make some connection for DNA matches in the Ciacchella line that were leading back to an Unknown set of Ciacchella ancestors. Finally, I was uncertain of the placement of Giovanni Ciacchella + Concetta Ranno, and I wanted to see if I could learn more. But, I'll return to this topic later in the blog, and first focus on the Carrabino line.

Carrabino (+ Saraceno)

Updated family tree for Antonia Carrabino, John's 3rd great-grandmother.

As you can see from the family tree, the Carrabino line is Carrabino and Saraceno. I had much success with this research. I not only found the complete set of 5th great-grandparents, but also the complete set of 6th great-grandparents. Woo Hoo!

In the earlier project, I had been able identify Giovanni Carrabino's death, as well as that of his father Giuseppe's, and that of Lucia Saraceno's, using the extracts from a descendant's marriage record. With this project, I was able to build on that work when I found Giovanni and Lucia's marriage record. Knowing their marriage date is helpful, but most importantly, this record revealed the names of Lucia's parents. I also discovered that Giovanni had been married to a Sebastiana Siracusa about 2 years earlier. She must have died (perhaps even in childbirth, given the short time they were married).

Giovanni Carrabino, son of Giuseppe Carrabino + Antonia Budonaro, married Lucia Saraceno, daughter of Sebastiano Saraceno + Sebastiana Spina, 27 June, 1780, Augusta, Sicily.

Since I now knew the names of all four 5th great-grandparents in this branch, I could proceed with trying to find the marriage records for these two couples and see if I could identify the 6th great-grandparents. I did, yay! I also found a hint that gave me the death date (as well as an estimated birth year) for one of the 5ths, Sebastiano Saraceno. Finally, I was able to find a marriage record for another child of Giuseppe Carrabino + Antonia Budonaro.

Giuseppe Carrabino, son of Lorenzo Carrabino + Antonia Ferrisi, married Antonia Budonaro, daughter of Antonino Budonaro + Filippa Roggio. I'm not 100% certain of the surnames of the mothers, as it was very difficult to read. The record also indicates that Giuseppe was previously married to Antonia Amenta, but I wasn't able to find their marriage record.

Sebastiano Saraceno, son of Mario Saraceno + Alfia Paci, married Sebastiana Spina, daughter of Sebastiano Spina + Sebastiana Firrisi (not certain of spelling), 24 January, 1757, Augusta, Sicily. The record indicates that Sebastiano was the widow of a Giuseppe Palazzo, and that Sebastiano was the widower of Sebastiana Gianino, as well as Annuziata Amato (I was able to find their marriage record).

 Plugging this information into our tree led me to some additional records identified by a co-researcher on this project, which allowed me to identify some additional siblings for Lucia Saraceno. This is helpful for understanding potential future DNA relationships.

Sebastiano Saraceno, spouse of Sebastiana Spina, age 60, died 3 Dec 1771.

Alfio Paci, son of Sebastiano Paci + Sebastiana Velisi, married Doriam Carrabino, daughter of Giuseppe Carrabino + Antonia Budonaro, 21 April, 1765, Augusta, Sicily.

Ciacchella

If you refer back to the old tree (from the end of the previous blog post) near the top of this post, you'll see that I had Giovanni Ciacchella + Concetta Ranno listed as the parents of 3rd great-grandfather Giuseppe Ciacchella (m. Antonia Carrabino). I'd always had a strange feeling about this, though, because I was never able to find other siblings, naming conventions seemed off, there were some potential DNA matches that didn't make sense, and other niggling items.

These are the names that appeared as Giuseppe's parents on his death record. However, sometimes (especially when the deceased is older) there are mistakes. The people reporting the death are sometimes using their best knowledge and names get mixed up. And that was the case here! 

Giuseppe Ciacchella 18 August 1848 death.

My very first find with this new record set was the marriage of Giuseppe Ciacchella and Antonia Carrabino. I was so excited! Beyond knowing their marriage date, this record was a confirmation of Antonia's parents. But, most importantly, it provided the correct names for Giuseppe's parents: Francesco Ciacchella and Giacoma Foti.

Giuseppe Ciacchella, son of Francesco Ciacchella + Giacoma Foti, married Antonia Carrabino, daughter of Giovanni Carrabino + Lucia Saraceno, 8 November, 1801, Augusta.

Francesco Ciacchella and Giacoma Foti were already in my tree "under construction," because I had a cluster of unplaced Ciacchellas, leading back to this couple, who were ancestors of unresolved DNA matches. The amount of shared DNA of the matches (with John) didn't match up with where they would be falling in tree (part of the niggling issues previously mentioned), but I had them in a placeholder position until things became clearer.

Francesco Sebastiano Ciacchella, spouse of Giacoma Foti, died 18 September, 1797, age 54.

Giacoma Foti, widow of Sebastiano Ciacchella, died 5 March, 1824, age 60.

I wasn't able to find Sebastiano Ciacchella and Giacomo Foti marriage, although it should fall in the time frame that these records include. In fact, after reviewing all of the indices, I can confirm there are no Ciacchella marriage records between 1713-1773 in the San Sebastiano church books. This is very confusing. Ciacchellas were either not in Augusta this far back, or they were married in other nearby areas. This is an important research avenue for identifying the origins of the Ciacchellas.

Related to that, as I've been working on the Ciacchella line this past year, I have found multiple instances of alternate spellings of this surname. When I came across the first one, I thought it was just a clerical error. But I've since found this on multiple occasions. I think we may have another clue to follow in identifying the pre-Augusta origins of the Ciacchellas! Here are some examples of the alternative spellings:

If you have any hypotheses or theories about the origin of this surname, please do share them in the comments.

Ciacchella DNA puzzles

From Giuseppe Ciacchella (previous 'patriarch' of Ciacchella line, born about 1780), I had already resolved two DNA matches. I'm just sharing those here since we're talking about DNA matches, and it's always fun to consider family resemblances.

Diane Ternullo yearbook photo. Diane is John's 4th cousin. They share 7 cm of DNA on 1 segment.

Yearbook photos of Diane's siblings. Are we all thrilled that yearbook photos have been scanned and are publicly available for posterity?

Diane Ternullo is John's 4th cousin. These are photos of Diane's father, Domenic Ternullo, and grandfather, Gaspare Ternullo.

Victoria Ternullo is John's 4th cousin, 1 x removed. They share 13 cm of DNA on 1 segment.

Yearbook photo of Victoria's father, Robert. Domenico (above) is his uncle, and Gaspare (above) is his grandfather.

So, now that I had Giuseppe's parents, Francesco Ciacchella and Giacoma Foti, correctly identified, the DNA matches through their sons Michele and Bartolomeo are resolved and make perfect sense. Yay!

Francesco Ciacchella, current family tree. There are still some mysteries, I'll discuss below, after the DNA discussion*.

In terms of the siblings of Giuseppe Ciacchella (the direct ancestor of everyone placed thus far from Ciacchella Family All Around the World Facebook group), John has DNA matches via the siblings Michele and Bartolomeo. Not bad, as this is going pretty far back! Via Michele Ciacchella, the DNA match is an Umberto Fazio of Somerville, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any photos of him. However, I did find a photo of his mother, Giuseppa DeLuca.

Records-verified family tree of Umberto Fazio. He is John's 5th cousin. They share 11 cm of DNA on 1 segment.

Giuseppa DeLuca, 4x1 cousin.

Giuseppe's sibling Bartolomeo Ciacchella presents 7 DNA matches! Two of these (two brothers) I have been trying to resolve for years. I have notes on these dating back to 2018, from when I initiated contact with the spouse of one of the matches! Additionally, I was able to records-verify another cousin descended from Bartolomeo via a family tree match.

The matches all share the common ancestor Leonarda Ciacchella, one of Bartolomeo's children. The DNA matches are descendants of Giuseppa Bussichella and Giuseppe Bussichella. The family tree match is a descendant of Concetta Bussichella. 

Christopher Ridgway, along with his brother Steven, were the matches I had been working on for so long. Their line is through Giuseppa Bussichella, daughter of Leonarda Ciacchella (but also through Giuseppe Bussichella, Giuseppa's brother, see below). They are 5th cousins to John. Christopher shares 19 cm and Steven 21 cm, on 1 segment.

Here's a photo of their mother, Rita Ann Zodiaco, 4x1 cousin. Because Rita Ann's parents were cousins, John is double-related to Rita and her sons. This can explain the slightly higher shared centimorgans with Christopher and Steven, compared to other 5th cousins. Interestingly, Bussichella is the name of the owner of the Augusta saline, where many of the Ciacchellas worked. This family reports that they received small checks when the saline were sold. 

The other 5 matches are through Giuseppe Bussichella, specifically, his daughter Agata Bussichella and her husband Domenico Tringale.

Family tree of Agata Bussichella + Domenico Tringale, with the branches circled from which DNA matches originate.

Via Vincent Tringale. Cara Mottola, left, is John's 5th cousin 1x removed. They share 10 cm on 1 segment. Her mother Ann Marie Tringale, right, is John's 5th cousin.

Via Joseph Tringale. Denise Tringale is John's 5th cousin. They share 12 cm over 1 segment.

Via Frank Tringale. Angelica is John's 5th cousin 1 x removed. They share 9 cm over 1 segment.

This is Angelica's father Frank Tringale, Jr., 5th cousin.

This is Angelica's grandfather Frank Tringale, 4x1 cousin.

Via Josephine Tringale. Lisa Reis is John's 5th cousin. They share 17 cm over 1 segment.

Lisa's daughter Joanna Cash is also a DNA match. She is John's 5x1 cousin, sharing 12 cm over 1 segment. I wasn't able to find a photo of her, but I did find a photo of her grandmother, Josephine Tringale. I like that she was in Italian Club! 

Lastly, a family tree match via Concetta Bussichella (m. Carmelo Marturano). The tree owner / match is Matthew Marturano. He is John's 5th cousin 1 x removed. I wasn't able to find any pictures of him. There were, however, photos of his grandfather and great-grandfather...

'

Carmelo Marturano (4x1 cousin) and Domenico Marturano (3x2). Interestingly, this family made its way to Detroit at some point. Any Detroit Ciacchella cousins know of them?

* The Outstanding Mysteries

Here is Francesco Ciacchella's tree again with the mystery areas circled. 

1. Who are the parents of Francesco Ciacchella? Since I wasn't able to find Francesco's marriage record in the Augusta records, I'm not able to answer that question at this time. Francesco's death extract does not list his parents. It states that he was from Augusta, but it doesn't necessarily mean he was born (or married) in Augusta.

2. Who is Giovanni Ciacchella (m. to Concetta Ranno)? Remember, these were the names incorrectly  listed as the parents of Giuseppe Ciacchella on his death record. Maybe those are his grandparents' names? Maybe they are an uncle and aunt? 

3. Who is Sebastiano Ciacchella (m. to Domenica Moreno)? I have these names from the death record of their daughter Giacoma Ciacchella. Surely, she is related to our Ciacchellas some way? I have placed them at their current level in the tree based on her estimated date of birth. It's possible that Sebastiano Ciacchella and Domenica Moreno are the same as couple 1. But without additional records, I can't say at this point. 

Where in the world did the Ciacchellas originate? I'm so curious! But, like all genealogy puzzles, it takes time to reveal. 

Additional Ciacchella Information

While working on this project, I was happy to find some additional information about the closer lines of our Giuseppe Ciacchella, specifically as related to his siblings and one of his father Sebastiano's siblings.

Maria Ciacchella, Aunt of Giuseppe

While I had identified Maria's birth and marriage record, I hadn't previously uncovered any information about her family. I was a little saddened when I found her death record, as she died young (age 30). On the positive side, I found some children for her, which helped me uncover several generations. I also discovered that she lived part of her adult life and died in Tunisia.

Maria Ciacchella, wife of Vincenzo Fricia, died 10 November 1894 in Tunisia. Her death was recorded 9 October 1895.

Rosaria Fricia was born in Tunisia, 10 November 1894, to Vincenzo Fricia and Maria Ciacchella. Her birth was reported 9 October 1895. Since these dates align with those of Maria's death, we can conclude that Maria died during or from complications of childbirth.

Maria Ciacchella and Vincenzo Fricia also had a son, Giuseppe Fricia, born 5 May 1893 in Tunisia. An additional record shows that Giuseppe married Angela Conino in Tunisia on 17 March 1921.

Carmela Maria Fricia was born in 1890 in Tunisia. Because her birth was reported after the fact, I couldn't make out the details of the exact date of her birth. (However, I was able to find it on her marriage record, see below.) There was another Carmela Maria Fricia born to this couple in Augusta, 30 June 1887 and died on 21 July 1887. Using this information we can place Maria in Tunisia some time after this death and before the 1890 birth.

Carmela Maria Fricia, b. 28 September 1889, daughter of Vincenzo Fricia + Maria Ciacchella, married Antonio Valenza, b. 25 December 1876 in Tunisia, son of Giuseppe + Maria Valenza (di origine Pantelleria), 8 January 1907. The marriage was reported on 8 July 1907.

I spent a little time following hints, as well as Facebook and obituary research, in this line. I was able to trace the family to modern-day descendants. Unfortunately, the one I reached out to didn't respond to my messages offering to share information on their Ciacchella family history. You can lead a horse to water... Here are a few photos I found. You can decide what you think about family resemblances.

Rosemary Gangi, great-granddaughter of Maria Ciacchella, 3rd cousin to John.

Christine Martos, 2nd great-granddaughter of Maria Ciacchella. 3x1 cousin to John.

Here is the origin family of John's paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Ciacchella. At the beginning of my research, there were no known first cousins for John's father Peter (and his siblings) in the Ciacchella line. As it turns out, there were! The siblings circled in red are those for which I made new discoveries.

Teresa Ciacchella, sister of Giuseppe

Unfortunately, this sibling did not thrive. I wasn't sure of her status, as previously I only had her birth record. However, during this project, I uncovered her death record. Teresa Ciacchella, daughter of Sebastiano Ciacchella and Giuseppa Moschitto, died 11 December 1894, age two months.

Rosaria Maria Ciacchella, sister of Giuseppe

I had previously discovered that Rosaria Maria had married Antonino Caramagno in 1908 and died a year later in 1909. I had looked for records of a child born to them in this limited time period, but I hadn't found any. However, during the project, I was able to uncover a Maria Caramagno born 5 months before Rosaria Maria died. Unfortunately, the surname of the mother on the certificate does not match. However, the father and street are the same, so I think this is in fact the daughter of Rosaria Maria. No way to know for certain at this point.

Maria Caramagno, daughter of Antonino Caramagno and Rosaria (Strazzulla), was born 6 March 1909 in Augusta, Sicily.

Carmela Maria Ciacchella, sister of Giuseppe

For this sister, I previously knew her birth, marriage to Francesco Russo in 1914, and death dates. However, with this project, I was able to uncover two children! But before I share that information, just a quick note about other interesting documents for her. In late 1913, she appears on two manifests for passage to the U.S. In the first, her name is crossed off, as if she didn't travel. On the second, she was detained for hospitalization and deported. A few months later, she is back in Augusta, marrying Francesco Russo. 

#11 Carmela Ciacchella, crossed out.

#11 Carmela Ciacchella, hospitalized, dismissed, deported. 

Interestingly, both documents list our Giuseppe Ciacchella as her U.S. contact and state that she is headed to St. Louis, Missouri. One document includes the address of Giuseppe Ciacchella: 2113 Cooper St., St. Louis. I've never heard any stories about Giuseppe living in St. Louis. We know he arrived in NYC in 1907 and was working as a laborer for Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan in 1918. So, apparently, he was in St. Louis for at least a portion of 1913. Documents sometimes present a mysterious story. It would be interesting to know the details! But onto my discovery of Carmela's children:

Giuseppa Russo, daughter of Franceso Russo and Carmela Ciacchella, was born 28 January 1915 in Augusta, Sicily. 

Sadly, no opportunities for cousins from this branch, as Giuseppa died in childhood. Giuseppa Russo, daughter of Francesco Russo and Carmela Ciacchella, died 4 June, 1919.

I discovered this additional child of Carmela Ciacchella in the crowd-sourced tree at FamilySearch.org. There is very specific information, without any sources, which suggests to me that a family member (possible a descendant) input this information. I reached out to the person who entered the data, but they did not respond to my message. We'd be very interested in learning about this cousin, including if he had any children, as these children would be the closest connection to our Ciacchella line. If anyone reading this has information, please do let us know. Although no records / sources were attached, I was able to find Salvatore's birth record.

Salvatore Russo, son of Francesco Russo and Carmela (S)ciacchella, was born 2 December, 1924 in Augusta, Sicily. The street of birth is Viale Risorgimento. A clue?

Well, that wraps up Ciacchella investigation for this round. I'm sure there will be more in the future.