After several years of doing research and finding out details about the multitude of 3rd and 4th cousins in Italy, I began to wonder why my paternal grandparents migrated to America.  The only person from my paternal grandfather’s family that came was his brother, but as far as I could figure, no one from my paternal grandmother’s family came.  Her last name was Piromallo, which is very uncommon in Italy, and almost nonexistent in America.  My grandmother was quite well off in Italy, and so it really had me wondering.  This is the record of my grandmother’s arrival in 1915. Doing research on Ancestry.com, I often came across a Maria Piromallo that migrated to NYC in 1904.  She was only a few years younger than my grandmother’s father, and I began to wonder if and how they might be related,  Eventually, I came across an address in NYC on 15th street.  And found that she was connected to the last name Petix.   In the 1950’s and 1960’s, my parents often mentioned that name, and also mentioned an aunt Beatrice.  As it turned out, there was a granddaughter of Maria Piromallo named Beatrice.  I also found another name Della Torre. As I began to piece this together, I called my cousin that is about 14 years older than me.  I gave him my hypothesis, he told me that he didn’t think so, and that my grandmother did not have any relatives in the United States.  He told me that Petix was a friend of my uncle and no relation ( he wasn’t, but his wife Beatrice was ).  So I hit him with Della Torre, and he said that he remembers visiting an Uncle Aniello in the 1940’s in NJ.  I said, “Well you wouldn’t travel from Queens NY to NJ to visit strangers”.   Slowly, he began to put the pieces together. A short while after that is when I found the address where Maria Piromallo lived.  I called my cousin and I said do you know this place?  He was shocked that I knew this address and said that his mother lived on the same street as a child.  Bingo?   So know I know that Maria was most likely my great aunt, but still no hard evidence.  Maria Pergamo ( Maria Piromallo) 428 E 15th St NY NY Luisa Sorrentino (Luisa Piromallo) 419 E 15th St NY NY Eventually, a fourth cousin her in America, a great great granddaughter of Maria contacted me.  She was also doing family research and wanted to know my connection to  Maria.  I explained my theory and my conversations with my cousin.  She said that sounds plausible, but we still did not have any hard evidence.  Linda was in the process of testing her DNA and so we figured we’ll find out soon. Shortly before Linda received her DNA she contacted me very excited.  She said, “I have the proof”.  Amazingly she found an obituary that her aunt, that once worked for my grandfather, had left her.  It’s from 1927 and is a paragraph from a local NJ newspaper advising of the death of Count Nicola Piromallo in Italy, and that he left a surviving sister Maria in the United States.  Quite remarkable that Linda had an obituary over 90 years old.  The aforementioned Mrs. Thomas Pergamo is Maria Piromallo. Linda also had an anniversary announcement from two years earlier, showing my grandmother’s parents.  Count Nicola and Princess Emilia. A couple of week later, Linda’s DNA came throughand yep, we are cousins. The evidence is out there, keep searching.  I have found that even when you are just about to give up, you’ll find a piece the puzzle.  Sometimes it’s best to walk away for a while to clear you head and come back later.  But it’s there, I promise. For some great tools and advice check out my friend Diann’s blog.  My Italian Family Tree.     Click here to join our Facebook group

Bob and Phillip discuss how they found their noble Italian Ancestors, and who they have in common. Some very interesting similarities. Mangone Family  Schipani Family Visit Our Shop Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video Check out my book Farmers and Nobles On this site or Amazon and Kindle Constantina Tulelli and Nicola Opipari marriage record 6th GGF Medical Acknowledgement:Degree Grandpa Apollo Norman Tower in Zagarese Paolo Emilo Tulelli papers referring to the Opipari as Nobles in Taverna PET 2 PET

Italian Genealogy has the Best Posts and Links Whether you are a seasoned veteran or just beginning you research, we have the Best Italian Research Blog.  See some of our most recent posts below, or visit these pages for some great tools and sites to visit. In addition to providing links, tools and tips on our pages and posts, we also provide information on Italian History, Culture and Heritage.  As and extra bonus, we share some of our family recipes. Please use the Facebook Share if you like our site. Italian name search databases,  links to Italian sites and noble databases Click Here For Our Research Links Page Research Tools From Amazon Research Books From Amazon Click here to join our Facebook Group Our Most Recent Posts Please Like and Share on Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr

I felt that I had to do at least one more post and give a My True Ancestry New Update.  Rarely would I do this for one company, but they give such an enormous amount of data, and roll out new data and features rapidly.  I won’t go into great detail on how to sign up here, you can list the first to posts to get that information. One of the great things about My True Ancestry is that you can start off with a free assessment and upgrade whenever you want.  Unlike some sites, you do not have to pay a monthly fee.  Plus, they often offer specials to upgrade at a deep discount, and you can add family members and compare. I did three upgrades when the discounts came up, and I now have Olympus access.  This allows me to upload ten GED files.  So I have added the entire family.  I’m going to show you how you can use Living DNA ( I recommend that you send GED to them first, to get Haplogroups ) and My True Ancestry in tandem. Click here to join Italian Genealogy Blog on Facebook Bob’s Ancient DNA Haplogroup from Living DNA Your fatherline has been associated with the migrations that occurred from the Near East to Europe during the Neolithic (New Stone Age). Around 11,500 years ago, haplogroup G2 split into two branches: G2a and G2b. G2b spread across Iran, whilst G2a travelled with its carriers across Anatolia and Europe. WIth the spread of agricultural technologies, practices and ideas came movements of people and populations. The populations that spread into Europe are thought to have carried the G2a fatherline with them, which helps explain the small presence of this haplogroup across Europe today. The high percentage of G2a found in samples from Neolithic burials suggests the carriers of this group played a significant role in Neolithic migrations across Europe some 6-8000 years ago (Lacan et al., 2011). My True Ancestry When I put this information into My True  Ancestry  it gave me a match to G2a2b – Oetzi the Iceman.  He is the person they found in the Alps several years ago.  This makes sense based on the fact that Living DNA shows that my father line DNA goes through the Alps. Marian’s Ancient DNA Haplogroup from Living DNA An ancient motherline, thought to be 32,000 years old. Your motherline signature belongs to the U1 group. U1 is rare, and there is not a huge quantity of information on this group as a result. Haplogroup U1 is most commonly distributed across the Middle East, as well as Anatolia and in low frequencies in eastern European (Derenko et al., 2013). However, it is still found in low frequencies due to being such and ancient haplogroup. It has been estimated to have arisen around 32,000 years ago. The exact place of origin is not necessarily determinable at this point, but the frequencies in the Near East today may suggest that it arose around this area. My True Ancestry Marian did not show any links to anyone famous at the moment, but as I explained earlier, they are always updating information. You  can see the link to my Haplogroup post below.   Skeptical? I know! I always am. A lot of people feel that the DNA tests are made up, or they just support things that people want to see.  My children are both adopted so I am going to show you the My True Ancestry for each of us below.  PCA (Principal Component Analysis) is a statistical procedure that lets you visualize relationships in sets of data. It is ideally suited for visualizing genetic distance and relatedness among samples and populations. Bob Marian Matt Nicole New map showing were your ancestors originated Feb 202 New map showing any royal ties originated Feb 202 Click to purchase from our store or find on Amazon or Kindle

In my second interview with Frank Di Piero, host of “Keeping it Real with Frankie D”, we discuss his two great children’s books “My Big Family” and “Teddy Bianco Goes to Italy”. We also talk about his series called “The Italian American Moment” where he tells the stories of our unsung heroes. Frank Di Piero was born in Chicago and is 100% Italian origin. He has traveled to Italy many times and attended two study abroad programs in Italy, one in Roma and one in Firenze. He is the former President of The Harlem Avenue Italian & American Business Association and was on the committee to start an Italian American Studies Program at Loyola University Chicago. He is a Director of Casa Italia, and LITTLE ITALY Cenetta. He is on the committee of the Festa della Repubblica celebrated at Pompeii Church. He is a Chicago area representative of C.T.I.M., Comitato Tricolore per gli Italiani nel Mondo. He is a volunteer at Casa Italia Library and the Italian Cultural Center. He is a member of the Italian Catholic Federation, Chicago Branch 392. He is the former Sergeant at Arms of the J.C.C.I.A. He also has been a proud and active supporter of The Balbo Monument and the Columbus holiday and statue. He is a former director of Italidea-Midwest. He has performed with (IATC), the Italian American Theatre of Chicago. He is a former committee member of the Columbus Queen Contest in Chicago. He has organized and sponsored a seminar on Italian aviation and a cultural dance for young Italian Americans as well as Italian language classes for the youth and an Italian Community Mass at OLMC. He attended the 54th annual Italian American Studies Association (IASA) conference in Pittsburgh, PA in October 2022. He has lived his entire life around the North Harlem Avenue area. He has been married for more than 31 years to his wife Ivana (who was born in Calabria, Italy) and together they have 2 children. italianamericanlife.com Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video