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Versione nell'italiano
Johnny Brai
(1915-1994)
 This web site is dedicated
Rosalie Savarino
(1920-1995)
son of
to my parents and all of
daughter of
Lucia Falco & Francesco Brai
my ancestors from Sicily.
Catherine Favaloro & Francesco Savarino
Have you ever asked yourself, "Who am I?" How would you answer that question? If you asked me, I would say, "Who Am I?.... " I can say for certain that I am a:
Accardo
of Poggioreale
Martorana
of Poggioreale
 The surnames of
Basile
of Ustica
Maggiore
of Ustica
Bilello of Santa Margherita di Belice
Mazzola
of Palermo
 My Italian Family
Bertucci
of Ustica
Mascali
of Ustica
Brai/Braj/Bray
of Palermo
Napoli
of Poggioreale
 
Bonica
of Lipari
Minnisaro
of Ustica
Caronna
of Poggioreale
Palazotto
of Poggioreale
 
Caezza
of Ustica
Macchiarella
of Altavilla Milicia
DiBenedetto
of Poggioreale
Scardino
of Poggioreale
Each surname in these columns represents one of my ancestors.
Cannella
of Ustica
Palmisano
of Ustica
Di Fiore
of Palermo
Semilia
of Palermo
 
Caserta
of Ustica
Nicoloso
of Corleone
Falco
of Poggioreale
Solito
of Poggioreale
 
Di Pasquale
of Ustica
Picone
of Ustica
Giacone
of Poggioreale
Strada
of Poggioreale
 
Di Pieto
of Ustica
Randazzo
of Ustica
LaBarbera
of Palermo
Taormina
of Palermo
 
Favaloro
of Ustica 
Triolo
of Altavilla Milicia
Lupo
of Salapruta
Todaro
of Poggioreale
 
Flanga
of Lipari
Russo
of Lipari
 Macaluso
of Palermo
Tritico
of Poggioreale
 
Gambino
of Ustica
Santoro
of Lipari
 Marceno
of Palermo
Voce
of Poggioreale
 
Gumina
of Ustica
Savarino
of Altavilla Milicia
 
 
 
Incorpora
of Ustica
Sciacchitano
of Lipari
 
 
 
La Cava
of Ustica
Tessoriere
of Lipari
 
 
 
La Monica
of Altavilla Milicia
Zagami
of Lipari
 
 
 
 La Rosa
of Ustica
 
And that's who I am...
In 1992, I starting a small family tree. I only had about 50 names that I could think of and felt that 50 was a good start. By about 1995, I reached 200 names. I intended to stop my search at 300, then 500 and finally at 800. The search continues and the list of names continues to grow as I begin to discover that every Italian ever born was my cousin. A while back, I decided to add people that were related to people that were related to me. By doing this, I started to develop a rather large list of names. However, as more info started pouring in from the graciousness of others, I've been able to link what I thought was unrelated people directly to me. Surprise! Very few people in my Italian tree are not directly related to me!

The amount of people in my Italian Tree is:

 
16,586
 
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Want to learn more about Italian Genealogy? Easy!

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There are many people that can trace their roots back to a tiny little island named
Ustica (oo-sti-ca) that is located 37 miles north of the city of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Ustica
Ustica!
Ustica
Ustica!
Ustica
Ustica
Poggioreale
Palermo
To my friends and relatives that helped me get to where I'm at today!
A lot of the ancestral information that I've uncovered was do to the efforts of others. They provided me with many hours of their own labor. As a result of sharing all of this information with several people, it was possible to find common ancestral links. I used everybody's info along with my own findings to create a rather large genealogical file (GEDCOM file). I work on this file every week looking for possible errors such as redundant entries, approximate dates of birth that make the mother 90 years old when the last child was born and etc. On occasion, I speculate a little about who the unknown parents are for a particular person or persons. Usually, I discover that I'm correct. Sometimes I do have to go back and fix my mistakes.
Click here

Ustica and the Aeolians Islands.
Photographs !
The place my ancestors called home.

Italian Genealogy Online
Click here by Paula Nigro

Old Pictures from the past.
For a look at some pictures of first and second generation ancestors to come to America and some Usticesi that remained in Ustica.  Click here !
The day is Thursday, March 28, 1901
(My Great-grandfather's 1st cousin)
The Daily Picayune – New Orleans
John Favaloro, a Sicilian shopkeeper and his daughter
Anna are found murdered in their New Orleans home.
Read the newspaper 1901 article
Information about
The San Bartolomeo Apostle Society of New Orleans, Louisiana
Founded on March 23, 1879 * * * Incorporated on July 18, 1879.
Click here
Information about
Italian Society Of Mutual Beneficence Cefalutana
Founded on June 19, 1887 ** * Incorporated on August 10, 1887.
Click here
Helpful Links in the Quest of Genealogy
Index of Information Available on the Internet.
Click here
An old letter in an old box
For those of you that think genealogy is hard, I think you're right, but not always. I recently discovered an old letter that was hidden away in an old cardboard box for 31 years. With a little detective work and a little help from the my old friend, The Internet, you can read my story about: An old letter in a old box.
A genealogy success story!
Click here
What to do next.
Over the last few years, I have received hundreds of e-mails, some from unknown cousins, searching for the same thing I'm searching for, answers. What happen to the rest of the relatives? Little by little, I am discovering these people and communicating with them. Like myself, these new found cousins are uncertain about what to do next. We found each other, what next? I don't know what's next, we'll just have to take it one day at a time. All I know is that if you're a cousin, you're welcomed at my casa at anytime. Now, I'm making some headway in establishing e-mail contacts in Italy with the cousins whose ancestors remained in Italy.
A little history about Bill Brai
If you have any questions about the surnames of my family, click on the e-mail icon below to read a short statement and then on to the letter writing.
email me!
This page is intended to arouse your curiosity to know your own roots and start a fire that rages in your heart like the one that's in mine. Genealogy has become more than a hobby to me; it has developed into a passion and the passion is fueled by the passion of others that share this same quest. I may not be able to find the names of my ancestors of the 15th century, but it would be fun to try.
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This page was last updated on July 09, 2010