Hi Ms. Cooley,
I'm so glad you got my message. I am hoping that you can get that information from your mom. With regards to the Italian connection, I am assured by the genealogist which helped me to obtain these documents that the first Tapanes to reach Cuba was Carlo Tapanes (could have been Tapani/Trapanese) from Genoa Italy. While I can't dispute any hard facts that you may have regarding your particular branch, it would be great to see how the two branches perhaps originated from the same place. In any case, take care and let me know.

Rolando Tapanes-Gongar