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Distant relatives?

Distant relatives?

Vincent Piraneo (View posts)
Posted: 7 May 2003 12:20AM GMT
Classification: Query
I was piddling around on the internet, and came upon this message board. My name is Vincent Piraneo, son of Charles Piraneo of Castrofilipo, Sicily, and Agnese Piraneo, of Verona, Italy. If anyone recognizes or knows these names, please let me know! I've been trying to do a historical search of the family name, and it's not exactly very common. For background, I am a student at the University of Kansas studying pharmacy.

Re: Distant relatives?

Elaine Piraneo (View posts)
Posted: 30 Jun 2003 1:39PM GMT
Classification: Query
Aactually, there are a lot of Piraneo's from Sicily, including my Grandfather, Carlo Piraneo from Siracusa. Some of my relatives actually claim the name was originally spelled Piranio (that is how they spell it). You may want to look into that.

Re: Distant relatives?

Roseanne Hill (View posts)
Posted: 18 Sep 2004 12:02AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hi, Elaine: You and I discovered that we are related, remember? You are my father's cousin.
I am interested in what you said--that our last name was originally spelled Piranio. Is that true? How do you know?
Our family comes from Sortino, a little town in the province of Siracusa, region of Sicily. Ironically, when I do a name search, I find that most of the Piraneos are in Agrigento (not Siracusa), Sicily. Keep in touch!
Ciao!

Re: Distant relatives?

Roseanne Hill (View posts)
Posted: 18 Sep 2004 12:05AM GMT
Classification: Query
Sorry, I don't remember if we are related. I think I am getting you confused with Maria Piraneo Gjergi who also posted on this board. She is related to me.

Re: Distant relatives?

Roseanne Hill (View posts)
Posted: 18 Sep 2004 1:31PM GMT
Classification: Query
There are a lot of Piraneos in Castrofilippo. The region of Agrigento has the most Piraneos. My family is from the region of Siracusa.

I did a search for Piraneo and came up with Josephine Piraneo, whose family is from Castrofilippo. She wrote me, and I wrote back. You might be related to her. Here is the information I sent her, which you will find very useful:

I wrote to the Comune di Sortino to get information about my ancestors. They actually sent me certified copies of birth certificates for my grandparents:

Carlo Piraneo - born January 24, 1895
Rosa Blancato - born September 7, 1903

When I was planning a trip there, which never materialized, someone I subsequently wrote to sent me a whole listing of descendents! So, I have the following additional information for you:

The parents of my grandfather were:

Sebastiano Piraneo - born April 30, 1868
Sebastiana Capello - born August 6, 1873

Their parents (my great-great grandparents) were:

Carlo Piraneo - born July 28, 1829
Sebastiana Iaia - born September 27, 1831

Their parents (my great-great-great grandparents) were:

Giusepppoe Iaia and Antonina Mineo (no birth dates given)

My grandmother's parents were:

Serafino Blancato - born October 11, 1852
Margherita Bucello - bron January 30, 1866

Their parents (my great-great grandparents) were:

Giovanni Capello - born August 26, 1873
Giuseppa Santo - (no birth date given)

I found the Comune for Castrofilippo--maybe you can write to them:

http://www.comuni-italiani.it/084/013/siti/index.html

What I would do is start out in Italian (even broken Italian), and then write in English. Someone should write you back in English.

This other website lists a "Salvatore Piraneo" as the webmaster:

http://www.comune.castrofilippo.ag.it/

You can also check the "Pagine Bianchi" (White Pages) for any Piraneos in Castrofilippo. There are 65 households in the province of Agrigento:

http://www.paginebianche.it/pb/cerca?btt=1&cg=Piraneo&am...

Let me know what else you find out!

Ciao,
Roseanne

Re: Distant relatives?

Elaine (View posts)
Posted: 20 Sep 2004 8:37PM GMT
Classification: Query
Roseanne:
Well, as I understand it, SOME of my relatives spell the name PIRANIO, while we spell it PIRANEO. I have been told that the former was the "original" spelling. About the location in Sicily, I have come to believe that they "generalized" an area.....for instance, it would be like saying you were from NYC, but actually lived in Brookyn. Since my 93 year old Aunt Lucy just passed away, there is nobody else to ask - she was the historian with all the facts! May she rest in peace.
Take care.
Elaine

Re: Distant relatives?

Roseanne (View posts)
Posted: 20 Sep 2004 10:30PM GMT
Classification: Query
Elaine, you can check ellisisland.org for your relatives. I've had great luck on that website. Each record shows what town the immigrant come from.

Also, Sicily cannot be generalized. It is a big island. What is generalized is the province. For example, a person might say he/she is from Siracusa, when in fact, it could be one of many different small towns in that province. There is also the city of Siracusa in the province of Siracusa.

If we, as Italian-Americans, know the small town our ancestors are from--in my case Sortino--it would be difficult for anyone to know where that little town is, unless it is specified that Sortino is in the province of Siracusa. In Italy, they use two-letter codes for the provinces. So, Sortino would be listed as Sortino (SR).

IBecause these towns are so tiny (Sortino has about 1,900 inhabitants), if there is a Piraneo in Sortino, you can be sure we are somehow related.

I don't know about the spelling "Piranio". I did research in the town of Sortino and do not come up with that spelling If it was changed, it had to be changed at least over 150 years ago, because that's how long I can trace my Piraneo side.
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