Mezzojuso Heritage Pages

	Discovering Our Mezzojuso Ancestry & Heritage
	Article by Laura Cutaia Dunne

Music: "La Solitudine" - by Laura Pausini

Laura Cutaia Dunne - - - E-mail: l.dunne@worldnet.att.net

 

 

"Genealogical Research on My Family from Campofelice di Fitalia";

written on 25 March 1999.

 

 

[Please note: The town center of Campofelice di Fitalia is located about six kilometers south from the town center of Mezzojuso, although these two comunes are territorially adjacent to each other. Both villages were founded as Saracen Arab settlements around the year 1000 A.D. Even though they largely have their own separate histories, interestingly enough due to political circumstances, Campofelice di Fitalia was actually a "frazione" or a 'part' of Mezzojuso for nearly 100 years, from latter 1852 until 12 February 1951.]

Fitalia, a Saracen Arab village founded around 1000 A.D., then became an ecclesiastical and baronial fief for many centuries. Prince Girolamo Settimo Naselli (1785-1843) was the compassionate founder of Campofelice di Fitalia, by notarial act of 28 July 1811. He built homes, gave lands and assisted in the development of the comune, repopulated during August 1814 by 34 families from the nearby comunes of Cefalá Diana, San Giuseppe delli Mortilli (now San Giuseppe Jato), and Belmonte (now Mezzagno).

 

 

 

 

L'Arma della Famiglia Settimo:		The Arms of the Settimo Family:
D'Argento, a tre caprioli di rosso; lo scudo in petto dell'acquila aragonese, sotto il mantello e la corona principesca.		Of silver, with three caprioles of red; the shield on the breast of an Aragonese eagle, under a mantle and a princely crown.

Here is what (little) I know about the records at Campofelice di Fitalia. If records have not been transferred to the office at Mezzojuso in the last few years, then there must be double records.

In April, 1984, armed only with the names and approximate dates of birth of my great-grandparents, I was admitted into the Civil Offices at Campofelice di Fitalia by Antonio Spitaleri (apparently, a distant relative via one of my great-grandmother's, having married a Spitaleri).

We were able to locate the Act of Marriage of (one set of) my great-grandparents, as well as their birth certificates.

My great-grandfather, Antonino Cutaia, was born in 1855, and I was thrilled to finally have the names and approximate ages of his parents. I remember being unable to trace his parents because the books on hand did not go back very much further. (I wish I'd had a better idea of what I was up to, I would have taken better notes!!)

My great-grandmother, Maria, was "trovato" -- although my aunt Nina Cutaia, who grew up in Fitalia, said that she knew her maternal grandparents and that her mother was registered as a foundling because of something to do with the father being AWOL from the Italian army. I had no reason not to believe my aunt, but I hoped to find some written proof to support her story.

Mr. Spitaleri suggested that perhaps her baptism record would list names.

The Mother Church at Campofelice di Fitalia is dedicated to the Souls of Purgatory.

La Chiesa Madre a Campofelice di Fitalia é dedicata alle Anime del Purgatorio.

Somehow we found the parish priest (at his church in Campofelice di Fitalia), who led us up a dark staircase to an absolutely dark and dusty room where we found the right ledger with a flashlight. There were other books and I realized what a gold mine of information they might contain. Unfortunately, my (then) lack of knowledge of how to read Old Italian and Latin, the crouching with my stiff-jointed companions in the dark room, knowing how busy the priest was and what a huge favor he was doing me, combined to make me not want to take too much advantage. Plus, I cavalierly thought I could journey back at any time.

Years later (searching through the Latter-Day Saints microfilms), when I found the Fitalia records were mixed in with the early Mezzojuso records, I was surprised to find what looked like an exact copy of my great-grandfather's Act of Birth, even though I had gotten my photocopy at Fitalia. A possible explanation: Originally, two copies of each Act were made, with one being sent to Palermo, where LDS filmed the records. Perhaps the Fitalia records from Mezzojuso were at some point transferred to Fitalia? But if Mezzojuso still has some Fitalia records, how is this possible? I also heard that for years when there was no one appointed to record Acts at Fitalia, that everything would be registered at Mezzojuso. So which Fitalia records, if any, are at Mezzojuso?? Also, in the early 1990s, I had some success with writing to the Ufficio at Campofelice di Fitalia, but only when I was able to provide very specific information. (An interview with another aunt provided me with several names and dates for my Sciortino and Dispenza lines).

I also went so far as to contract with a professional Sicilian genealogist, after he had great success doing research for a friend of mine. I thought I communicated very clearly which Acts that I wanted him to search for, but he ended up repeating much of my research. By the time he was ready to get on with what I wanted him to do in the first place, I had already spent way too much money! Our last communication, five or six years ago, was a letter from him telling me that he would obtain a photocopy of Mr. Ignazio Gattuso's Fitalia book. (Ignazio Gattuso, "Fitalia, I Settimo, e Campofelice" -- Palermo: Arti Grafiche di A. Cappugi & Figli [Tumminelli Editore], Giugno 1975; pagine, 98.) I never heard from him again, and I have since compared notes with other dissatisfied clients through the POINT in Person meetings. I'm determined to get back to Sicily to research my family roots in Fitalia, as well as roots in some of the surrounding towns where my ancestors lived before they lived in Fitalia.

Campofelice di Fitalia:

Panorama of the Comune and View of the Main Street

Here is some of what I know about my Cutaia surname. My grandfather, as well as many other ancestors who also emigrated to the United States from Campofelice di Fitalia were descended from Andrea Cutaia (also spelled Cutaja, or even Kutaja on some very old records). Andrea arrived in Campofelice di Fitalia sometime in the 1820s. Andrea married Margarita Ribaudo, probably in Cefalá Diana. They had four sons and two daughters that I know of, certainly there may be more. Marriage Acts of Andrea's children state that they were born at Cefala Diana. One of them, daughter Giuseppa Cutaia, was born at Campofelice di Fitalia in 1827. Andrea Cutaia was born circa 1783, probably in Ciminna or possibly in Grotte, of the Agrigento province. According to family legend, Andrea's family was originally from Grotte. Prior to Grotte, the Cutaias supposedly hailed from the island of Malta. Before Malta, (approximately 100 years before Andrea arrived in Fitalia) the Cutaias came from TURKEY (!), specifically from the "Kutahya" area. I heard the pre-Fitalia Cutaia history from two elderly bachelor Cutaia brothers that I met when I visited in 1984 at Campofelice di Fitalia. Of course, I have not proved any of this YET, but I can't imagine the Cutaia brothers would have made all this up.

I'm sorry this is so long. If any of this would be relevant to other subscribers of "Mezzojuso Internet Mailing List", feel free to send it out. As for my "plans" to archive the various Campofelice di Fitalia records, I don't know how or when I could ever implement them or even get permission to do so, but I'm open to ideas!

 

 

 

Ciao, a tutti

i Campofeliciotti e i Mezzojusari,

Laura Cutaia Dunne

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpted genealogical information

from one of the best books about Campofelice di Fitalia:

 

Ignazio Gattuso, "Fitalia, I Settimo, e Campofelice",

Palermo: Arti Grafiche di A. Cappugi & Figli [Tumminelli Editore], Giugno 1975; pagine, 98.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

List of 34 Assignee Families

 

There were 34 assignees ("assegnatari") who were awarded settlement as household heads with their families in the newly built homes and with granted lands, in Campofelice di Fitalia during August 1814, as greatly encouraged by the comune's attentive noble Girolamo Settimo Naselli (Prince of Fitalia, Marchese of Giarratanna, Gentleman of His Royal Majesty) and as very ably managed by Vincenzo di Salvo (from the city of Mistretta).

These 34 assignee families numbered about 150 persons, supplementing the earlier inhabitants that numbered less than 100 persons. Afterwards, additional families came to live in the comune. From 1823 to 1855, the Campofelice di Fitalia residents had to register their civil records (births, marriages, deaths) in Mezzojuso.

 

(From Ignazio Gattuso's book, "Fitalia, I Settimo, e Campofelice", pp 75-87.)

 

From Cefalá Diana -- 21 households:

Gioacchino Arnone, Santo Bernardino, Rosario Bonadonna, Francesco Paolo Caldarella, Salvatore Camolillo, Angelo Castrogiovanni (fu Liberto), Liberto Castrogiovanni (figlio di detto Angelo), Cipriano di Miceli, Fortunato di Miceli, Giuseppe d'Urso (fu Vito alias Pernice), Giuseppe Ferrara (fu Ippolito), Salvatore Ferrara (di Ciro), Ciro La Barba (fu Lucio), Giovanni Masi, Concetta Nuccio e Costanza (vedova di Giuseppe Antonio Nuccio; Onofrio e Vincenzo Nuccio, madre e figli), Filippo Nuccio (di Michelangelo), Giuseppe Nuccio (fu Giuseppe Antonio), Anna Maida e Barbaria (vedova del fu Angelo e Luigi Maida), Ignazio Ribaudo, Paolino Salerno, Mariano Terranella.

 

From San Giuseppe delli Mortilli (now San Giuseppe Jato) -- 10 households:

Francesco Ciccia, Giuseppe Ciccia, Salvatore Ciccia, Giuseppe Cimó (fu Benedetto), Vincenzo Cuccia (fu Antonino), Pietro Gambino (fu Giorgio), Paolino Modica, Salvatore Salluzzo, Antonino Spina, Raimondo Terranella.

 

From Belmonte (now Mezzagno) -- 3 households:

Vincenzo La Rocca, Giovanni Ribaudo (fu Giorgio), Simone Romano (fu Lorenzo).

List of Surnames in Campofelice di Fitalia

(by the middle 1800s, with comune of origin)

(From Ignazio Gattuso's book, "Fitalia, I Settimo, e Campofelice", pp 87-88.)

Arnone (Cefalá Diana) - Barbaria (Cefalá Diana) - Bernardino (Cefalá Diana) - Bonadonna (Cefalá Diana) - Bongiorno (Ogliastro) - Caldarella (Cefalá Diana) - Camolillo (Cefalá Diana) - Cardella - Castrogiovanni (Cefalá Diana) - Cerniglia - Chirá - Ciccia (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Cimó (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Cirrincione (Godrano) - Cuccia (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Cutaia (Cefalá Diana) - Devaria - Di Miceli (San Giovanni delli Mortilli) - Dina (Prizzi) - Dispenza e Dispensa (Ciminna) - D'Urso e Urso (Cefalá Diana e Marineo) - Gagliano - Gambino (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Garofalo (Villalba) - Giordano - Insinga e Inzinga (Mistretta) - La Barba (Cefalá Diana e Marineo) - La Lumia (Villalba) - La Monica (Cefalá Diana e Ciminna) - La Rocca (Belmonte) - Lo Iacono - Lo Monte (Marineo) - Lo Piccolo - Lo Sciuto - Luzzo (Ciminna) - Macaluso (Resuttano) - Maida (Cefalá Diana) - Masi (Cefalá Diana) - Mazzarese (Villalba) - Milioto - Mistretta (San Cataldo) - Modica e La Modica (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Morici e Maurici (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Moscato (Siculiana) - Nuccio (Cefalá Diana) - Oliva - Passantino (Ciminna) - Pernice (Cefalá Diana) - Pravatá (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Priola e La Priola (Ciminna) - Randazzo (Ciminna) - Restivo (Resuttano) - Ribaudo (Cefalá Diana e Belmonte) - Romano (Belmonte e Mistretta) - Ruggero - Salerno (Cefalá Diana) - Salluzzo (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Sciortino (Siculiana) - Spina (San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Terranella (Cefalá Diana e San Giuseppe delli Mortilli) - Territo e Tirreto - Volpe (Cefalá Diana).

The family surnames in orange font represent Campofelice di Fitalia's residents prior to 1814.

Discovering Our Mezzojuso Ancestry & Heritage

 

Blackburn, Mollye Bilao - - - "A Little of My Family History, and My Visit to Mezzojuso"; written on 20 April 1997. - - - "Cucidate: Fig Cookies for Christmas, A Mezzojuso Recipe"; written on 15 December 1997.

Briggs, Thomas - - - "My Family and I Visit Mezzojuso (during July, 1990)"; written shortly after the visit, and updated on 26 October 1997.

Cusimano, John - - - "My Trip to Mezzojuso (in the Province of Palermo)"; written on 7 November 1994.

De Angelo, Thomas - - - "My 'Discovery' of Mezzojuso"; written on 29 November 1999.

Di Stefano, Richard - - - "My Mezzojuso Immigrant Ancestors (Who Arrived in the U.S.A. in 1890)"; written on 1 November 1997.

Dunne, Laura Cutaia - - - "Genealogical Research on My Family from Campofelice di Fitalia"; written on 25 March 1999.

Frasca, Anthony - - - "Our Mezzojuso Reunion"; written on 10 May 1999.

Gallo, Frank - - - "Coincidence or Destiny? An Amazing Surprise during My Mezzojuso Research"; written on 29 April 1998.

Lagattuta, Salvatore Joseph - - - "My Family History from Mezzojuso"; written on 8 October 1999.

Lagattuta, Salvatore Joseph - - - "Remembrance of Visiting Mezzojuso (during the Summer of 1969)"; written on 26 April 1997.

Schiró, Anthony - - - "Mezzojuso Memories: Researching My Ancestry"; written on 26 October 1997.

Tavolacci, Giovanni - - - "I Soldati Garibaldini da Mezzojuso nel 1860" - "Garibaldi's Soldiers from Mezzojuso in 1860"; written on 12 April 1999. - - - "Campofelice di Fitalia e Mezzojuso" - "Campofelice di Fitalia and Mezzojuso"; written on 12 April 1999.

 

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