How might I trace my mafia family?

Question

I've been using Ancestry.com, but haven't been able to find anything. All I have written in my family tree is from what my grandma knows and I'm guessing it's because they were connected to the mafia back in Sicily. It's like someone hid their records...

I've been using Ancestry.com, but haven't been able to find anything. All I have written in my family tree is from what my grandma knows and I'm guessing it's because they were connected to the mafia back in Sicily. It's like someone hid their records...
(Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I actually know what towns they came from, that they WERE Sicilian and that they were very influential. They owned a few companies.)

Answer 1

You can't find them because you're looking on the internet. Italy's privacy laws are very strict and there isn't much information on the internet.

If you have the names of the towns they were from, then write to the townhall requesting birth, marriage and death records on everyone for whom you have a name. Then write to every parish in town requesting the same information. The townhall will charge you, but the parish only asks for donations to cover their costs. Like many other genealogists, I follow the tradition of requesting a mass in the name(s) of the people being sought on a day of significance to them. That way your "donation" is tax-deductible and you're doing something to honor your ancestors.

Also know that Italy has only been a unified country for the last 130 years or so. There will not be records for everything and everyone...and they won't all be in the place you'll expect to find them. Before unification you had the French, Greeks, Turks and many others coming in here and there and the record keeping suffered tremendously. The only consistent records you'll find in the country will be in the Roman Catholic Church...and no one messes with the Church in Italy...not even Hitler.

From this end, I would suggest finding out when they came to America. Pull their passenger records, Declarations of Intent and Naturalization papers. These will help confirm your grandmother's memory. Also, pull their records from local parishes and check where they're buried. See if you can get obituaries, write ups from Italian newspapers, membership records from the Knights of Columbus, Sons of Sicily, etc. The more you can recreate of their daily lives, the more you'll understand who they are.

Answer 2

The same way you trace anyone else . Go to Italiansrus and scan Italian names . Also Latter Day Saints has links that you can actually look up names in some of the towns and provinces in Sicily . If you know the names and whether they came to America - you can go on the Ellis Island website and actually find the ship's manifest for their passage to the USA .
One more thing ..and maybe the most important : In those days many immigrants could not be understood when they got to Ellis Island . Therefore , many names are totally mis-spelled . It is a time consuming process when that occurs ; but it can be done . Many immigrants spend half a life time before they were able to "change" the incorrect names they lived with . Expect it to be incorrectly spelled - because most of the time it is , if it's a long one .

Answer 3

Go by the towns, they lived in. They may have changed their names, as often happens in America. Also, many Greeks came to America from Sicily, it was an easy place to say they were from, and wasn't traceable. It was very easy to get papers saying you were from Sicily. Check the northern regions of Sicily, and then the eastern region, although their records have been gone over too much to be considered accurate. How do you know they were Mafia, they could have been refugees from Greece, craftsmen in earlier times, and took to it in America, like some of the Irish. Try to find if she remembers they spoke Greek (like Italian, but different), the things they smoked, their practices, the food they liked, their way of dressing, etc.

Answer 4

The only place to go is to the mafia. Of course the mafia won't let people trace their lines and whereabout, so it's most likely not in public records.

Answer 5

They probably did. The only way you can really research it is to use birth, death and marriage certificates. Obits usually have a lot of info too. Ancestry is just like the rest of them. Its research someone did and now all these companies are making money off our hard work. I say go back to the old basics and use the documentation to find your family tree. It's the only true way you will.

Good luck

Answer 6

Ask your parents.