I am looking up our Family's history. I know my Grandad was born in northern Italy and came from a small village near the Piedmont mountains between Italy and France. He was a sheep herder and a fisherman. The name of the village according to older relatives was San Vale. They claim they are considered San Valese. I would like to know if anyone is familiar with this village in Italy.
Thanks!
2007-07-05 16:36:32 · 5 answers · asked by ursaitaliano70 7 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
I don't know that village, but have found the names of towns of origin on Ellis Island records. If your Grandfather came through Ellis Island, you might be able to find the record on the website, and hopefully, it would name his village.
Also, I have discovered that Google Earth can help locate obscure locations in foriegn countries. Try searching for the village using the name variations you have. Also, remember that in English the spellings are often changed from the Italian, for example, Rome for Roma, Florence for Firenze, Venice for Venizia.
2007-07-05 17:37:24 · answer #1 · answered by cpslo96 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that you can probably find the name of the town pretty easily if you have the name and approximate age of your immigrant ancestor. Italians immigrated to the US and Canada pretty late in the cycle. By the time they came over, the US and Canada had their act together and started gathering all this information...far more than those of us with French ancestors immigrating in the 1830s ever got.
The bad news is that there is no "San Vale". I can say this with pretty good certainty for two reasons. The first is, simply enough, that there is no "San Vale" in the Roman Catholic Church. Every town was originally named after the patron saint of its local parish. The closest name would be San Valentino. There are several villages in Italy with that name and here's a map to the closest one: http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=&city=San%20Valentino&state=&zipcode=&country=IT&location=WPMa42PhNzz2Erhzm%2fCQt0AghHo11lhPPhr1EE9a9RlfTwcWnEPkhOvVp%2bhq9wSInSpLy%2fQBXuyOeDUy2IPxuO5h5hrNwrp5LE2y54fHAec%3d&ambiguity=1
The second reason I don't think that town exists is that the Istituto Geografico Militare Italiano, which prepares the country's official gazette of topographic place names, has no such entry.
If you can find the name of your grandfather who emigrated and post it, we'll be happy to help you search for the records of his hometown.
2007-07-06 00:22:17 · answer #2 · answered by GenevievesMom 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think your grandfather was from Valsesia, an alpine valley situated in the Vercelli's area.
There is a Walser community, some of my husband's classmates from the Walser community had German surnames.
2014-12-20 19:56:08 · answer #3 · answered by Giuly 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My father's father was also from Sun Vale and called themselves "Sunvalese" I have a pen pal from Salerno and he suggested my dad might be from San Valentino which is near Salerno/Naples. I believe this is correct but I intend to research. However, San Valentino would be considered "Southern Italy" not northern. Keep us posted
2015-12-27 06:59:37 · answer #4 · answered by Susan 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wouldn't you think that maps and other online resources could tell you more about that place than people whose interest is genealogy? Or try geography category.
Other resources you may find useful would be the place message boards at ancestry.com, rootsweb.com, possibly genforum.com.
2007-07-06 02:17:53 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋