General Intoduction
Each town's file contains an introduction and an alphabetized list of downloadable surnames. Female individuals are alphabetized by maiden name, information on any of their children, male or female, will be found under the husband’s name.
Individuals within each surname entry are listed by generation from oldest to most recent. Each generation is given a Roman numeral that broadly corresponds to its time frame, with some room for overlap-e.g. generation III is roughly 1895-1935, generation IV is roughly 1865-1905, etc. This organizational method helps compare temporal relationships between families, as some families can be traced over seven or eight generations, others only two or three. For privacy reasons I exclude individuals born after circa 1930.
While some surnames descend from a single known common ancestor, others have multiple branches. I have erred on the side of caution with regard to this: For example while I am fairly certain that all the Monte San Giacomo Cardillos are descended from a single patriarch, I do not yet have enough facts to identify him, so for now I have left that family divided into three main branches, plus a handful of “stray” small branches and individuals.
Exact dates are written in dd/mm/yyyy format; e.g. 07.09.1900 is September 7th, 1900. A simple question mark after a name means that I am not certain of the exact spelling. A parent or spouse in parenthesis with a question mark means I am not certain of the relationship. Spelling of many surnames varied over time, in particular, spelling might have changed slightly after a family emigrated overseas or even from one town to another. I have used the most common spelling for each name in the directory, with any individuals with different spelling listed in the same file.
References
Civil Records
In the 19th century, Italian towns (comuni) began keeping records for births, marriages, and deaths (atti di naschita, matrimonio, and morti). These records provide a trove of information, and are the sources for much of the data on this web site. The original records often include additional information that I have not posted here, such as exact time of birth and the street address where the birth or death occurred (which at that time would usually been the individual’s residence). The best online source for Italian civil records is dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it. Not all records for all years are available on this site, or elsewhere. For example most late 19th century atti from Agropoli and Monte San Giacomo are available in the US on microfilm only, which can be obtained from the LDS Library, please see their web site www.familysearch.org.
Emigration Records
American emigration records are another excellent source of biographical information. They record the names of individuals emigrating, their ports of arrival and departure, and the name of the ship they travelled on. Depending on the year, they may include additional information such as a physical description of the individual, how much cash and luggage they were carrying, and the name and address of their closest relation in the US. Images of emigration records for individuals arriving at New York can be found at www.ellisisland.org. Images of records from other ports (Boston, Philadelphia, etc.) can be found at www.Ancestry.com.
Census
Images of American census records up to 1940 are available at www.ancestry.com and www.familysearch.org.
About Me/FAQ's
Below is a partial list FAQ’s about me and my work that I often receive. Please feel free to contact me with further questions.
Where are you from/where are you based?
I was born in East Hampton, New York, and currently reside in the neighboring community of Sag Harbor.
How can I contact you with questions/comments?
Best way to reach me is via email: averman@optonline.net
What is your personal connection to the towns you are researching?
My mother’s ancestors were from Monte San Giacomo, Sassano, and Teggiano. My paternal grandmother’s ancestors were from Agropoli, Atripalda, Avellino, Maiori, and Roccadaspide. My paternal grandfather's ancestors were Ruthenians from Ternopil oblast in what is now Ukraine.
Do plan on expanding your research to other towns?
Yes. My long term goal would be to create sections for all 276 comuni of Avellino and Salerno provinces, as well as select US communities.
Are you willing to do “look ups” of individuals from towns you are not currently researching?
Yes, however, I am currently limited to comuni that have had their civil records digitalized. There is much variety to the extant of records available for different comuni. For some, only a few decades of atti di naschita for the late 19th century are available, while for others, civil records from 1809 (the year that the Kingdom of Naples and some northern states began civil registrations) well into the twentieth century are available, and in a few cases tax censuses and parish records are available for the 17th and 18th centuries as well. I charge a small fee for look-ups, based on the number of direct ancestors I find.
Can you help with duel citizenship applications?
This is beyond my scope of services.
How can I support Imaginesmaiorum?
There are three basic way you can help support my work.
-Provide additional data and/or photographs of people and places listed on my site. For example, if all I have listed for a particular individual is a date of birth, and that individual is a relative for whom you can provide additional data such as names of spouse and children, date of death, or profession, I will add this information to their entry. Note that I generally do not post data on individuals born after circa 1930.
-Commission me to do “look ups” for individuals from other comuni, as noted above.
-Provide a small donation to imaginesmaiorum. While this website is a hobby for me, not a means of support, any income that it generates will allow me to spend more time on doing additional research and otherwise improving the site.
What are your interests and pursuits besides imaginesmaiorum?
I am an architect, and have my own practice based in Sag Harbor, New York. My business web site is www.anthonyvermandois.com, and my business can also be followed on its Facebook page (Anthony Vermandois Architect), and Instagram page (anthonyvermandoisarchitect). I use my twitter feed @averman1472 mostly to retweet articles on history, archaeology, art, and science that I find interesting. I also have a personal Facebook page and Instagram feed (anthony1472).
Anthony Vermandois