Si accomondi, per favore...pour yourself a glass of vino and relax. I am going to tell you the story of our Colloraffi family as I have come to understand it these past two years of doing research. It is a very old story and goes back 400 years to the mountains of Librizzi in the hauntingly beautiful island of Sicilia. If wishes could come true, my father, Domenico - but he would ask you to call him Cal - would be telling you this story on the enclosed back porch of his home on Cadieux Road in Detroit. He would put little details in, his olive green eyes growing brighter and brighter as you listened more carefully. His entire body would become animated as he illustrated each point with gestures of his hands, waving a stub of a cigar, and his eyes would become the eyes of a child on Christmas morning.

However, my father did not know this story, so I will tell it. I promised him that I would find out about his Colloraffi family and write the story down so that it can be told to our children, grandchildren, and ancestors, but I did not have time to do this while he was living. Cal now sleeps in the cool dark earth of Michigan, under a large, polished marble stone, which boldly proclaims the name COLLORAFFI. I will tell you a secret. In a little corner, under the marker, beneath his name, I have buried several small volcanic rocks from Mt. Etna. This is the misty, snow-capped mountain which can be seen, on clear days, from all of the towns in which our ancestors lived. It is a gesture to let my father know that I have kept my promise.

Long, long ago and far, far away, in an enchanted island of ragged mountains, steaming volcanoes and turquoise seas, our story begins. The facts of this story, the people in it and their marriages, births, and deaths, are as true as I am able to make them by piecing together the civil records of Librizzi, San Piero (Pietro) Patti, Patti, and Sant' Agata di Militello, Sicilia from 1820 until 1910. Information after 1910, and sometimes before this date, has come from Colloraffi family members from around the world. I was also able to locate and read the census of these four communities from 1681 and 1714. As I learn more, the story will grow and maybe change a little...It is written on the web so that, like a family, it can live and grow, and all of the Colloraffis can be a part of it, if they wish. So far, Colloraffi family members from the USA, Italy, Canada, France, Mexico, Australia, England, and even Africa, have helped to write this long, long story.

Now, before we begin, please refill your glass of wine and let us toast my father, Domenico and our Colloraffi ancestors, and each member of our small, but unique, Famiglia Colloraffi.

Once upon a time, about 1590, a baby was born and came to be called Don Culluraffi. He married Donna Elizabetta and they had at least two sons: Placido, born in 1631 and Rosario, born in 1624. We find out about them by reading the census of Librizzi, Sicilia, for that is where they lived. These seem to be the ancestors of all of the Colloraffis and Collorafis in the world today. We know about Don and Elizabetta and their children and grandchildren from the census of Sicilia conducted in all of the towns and villages and areas in 1681 and again around the year 1714.

The family also seemed to have owned hand in the Militello area, near the Rofe Marini, which is what the part of the Tyrrhenian Sea, where Sant' Agata di Militello is now located, was once called.

After two years of studying our name, I believe that we are part of the respected Collura famiglia. Archbishop Collura ruled the San Piero Patti area in the early 1700s. It would be natural for his family to be the landowners and responsible for taking the census, making laws, collecting taxes, and raising an army for whichever royal family ruled Sicilia at the time. There is more information about this in the chapter about our name. My theory is that we are the Collura family branch that lived near rofe - and thus our name Cullorofe. Other early versions are written as the name rolls off of the tongue - Colluraffi, Cullorafi, Colorofe, or any of a number of variations that can be found in our family tree.

From the records, we know that this was a land owning family with some power in their communities, as they helped conduct some of these censuses, and we can see signatures of our ancestors and their handwriting on these early records, attesting that the information is correct.

Our ancestors were educated and could read and write. They were addressed with respect, as the titles Don, Donna and Maesto were used as part of their names. They married into other respected families with similar titles. In the book Italian Genealogical Records by Trafford R. Cole, on page 38, we read, "How do you discover if there is indeed a noble line in your heritage? In ecclesiastical records there is almost always a clear indication of noblility in the titles such as Don or Dominus or Donna, meaning lord or lady that precede the name of this person." These ARE the titles that are used for our early ancestors. Even in the preceeding signature of Michele Culloraffi, we see the "D." before his name.

Around 1850, a Pietro Collorafi, was a mayor of Librizzi. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, we have first a Biagio and then Vincenzo Colloraffi, serving as mayors of Sant Agata di Militello.

I have been asked if our family has a registered or designated herald. I don't know. We bought one in Naples, printed on parchment by a computer. However, when you read the fine print of these heralds, you will see that they disclaim their truthfulness and are "made to order" by the computer that prints them for you.

As you read the story of our family, you will notice that I use the spelling Colloraffi. I do this only to make telling our story simplier. Colloraffi, Collorafi, Cullurafi, Colorofi, Collorofe, or by any other spelling, my research has shown that we are one family. In the family tree section, you can see the various spellings used throughout time and location, and can read more about these changes in other sections of our family book.