Last Updated on December 12, 2022 by Jim Ferri
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
By Jim Ferri
It was morning when my wife Marjorie and I left my cousin Nicola and set out for the small town of Accettura, nestled up in the mountains of Basilicata in southern Italy.
For a long time we had been calling this trip our “Search for Pasquale,” a reference to my grandfather who had emigrated from there to America as a child 125+ years ago. We have been to many towns in Italy, especially all of the top places to visit in the country, but never to Basilicata.
It took us three hours to get there, about half the time spent driving on winding roads through forested mountains. Then, emerging from the woods around one turn, we looked across a little valley and saw Accettura perched on a hilltop, isolated from everything about it like so many of these little hill towns you see throughout Italy.
It was a small town of 1800 people or so, with only one main road, Via Roma, running through it with other streets branching off. It was a quiet place without a single traffic light where you never heard a horn blaring, even though everyone walked in the street.
It was also a place where all day long you would see men obsessively playing cards from morning to night, or just sitting about in groups along the road chatting. I began to wonder whether anyone worked here.
Right after we arrived we set out for the village church, hoping the parish priest could help us with information on my ancestral search. We found the church closed but did find two workman, one of whom spoke perfect English. It turned out he had spent a number of years working in Newcastle, England and he told us the best time to come back.
I asked him for directions to the cemetery, out on the edge of town, since I reasoned that would be a good spot to uncover some family history. But after spending an hour or so wandering about the graves and mausoleums, we came up empty-handed. Not a single Ferri tombstone in sight anywhere.
We left the hilltop and drove to the municipal offices in the center of town. I had e-mailed them a few months earlier, requesting information on several ancestors, and they had replied astonishingly quickly with official affidavits of the birth certificates of four ancestors.
Now, with Marjorie speaking in Spanish — it was close enough to Italian that they could understand several words — we were able to get the woman to search back a bit further. But when we ran into another dead end the woman suggested she call “the professor,” someone who knew the local history of the Ferri family.
“The professor” was Angelo Labbate who explained that he was very, very distantly related to the Ferri family through marriage. For the next two days, as I continued to hear many names from the past – family names my father had mentioned over the years, names I had seen in registry books from family funerals, etc. – I began to wonder if I wasn’t very, very distantly related to just about everyone in town.
Interestingly, Angelo lived directly across from our hotel, and from his small balcony had seen us arrive. He had thought I looked familiar and he was right — it turned out that my newly found cousin Nicola, with whom I shared a family resemblance, was Angelo’s dentist.
We were staying at the Hotel San Giuliano, a small non-descript place that took no credit cards, set on a little cobblestone street in the middle of town. I had chosen it because it was mentioned in a book I had just read about Basilicata and Accettura. (Unfortunately I had learned of the book only two days before we had left the U.S., and the rush shipping from Amazon cost twice as much as the book itself.)
On the other hand, San Giuliano may well have been the only hotel in town.
Angelo spoke only Italian but introduced us to his son Andrea, a teacher who spoke perfect English, and we learned that my great-grandfather’s brother Luigi (the connection to my “new” cousin) had gone to America with the family. But he later returned and bought two buildings here, one being the bar/café where we would meet with Angelo for espresso and conversation each day.
Civil records in Italy date back only to the mid-1700s — the time when Napoleon forced the Italians to begin registering births, deaths and marriages – so Angelo introduced us to the village priest, Giuseppe Filardi, to help with the search. Filardi and Angelo’s wife Domenica had gone to school together as children.
The next day we met Father Filardi in his parish office. We were in awe when we saw the dozen or so old leather bound books in his bookcase — church records written on parchment with a quill pen, line after line after line of baptismal and marriage records going back to the 14th century, the mother load of local history.
Marjorie (who’s not even Catholic) fell in love with Father Filardi who she thought was wonderful… wise, warm and totally aware of everything going on in the town. With a determination to help us, he feverously ran his finger down through pages of records searching for the right names.
At first he couldn’t find any, but then stumbled upon one, and guessing that each parent would be about 21 years old when the first child was born he then leap-frogged back through the years to look for another. Every time he came to one of our relative’s name he yell “a-ha!” and slammed his hand down in the table.
But everything came to an end after about an hour when we discovered that our oldest relative, Nicolai, had moved here from a town about 50 miles away that was even smaller than Accettura. Although we had been able to track the family back another 100+ years we knew our search in Accettura was now completed.
That night we took Angelo and Domenica, Father Filardi and Andrea and his fiancée Antonella out to dinner. Angelo had suggested Ristorante Pezzolla di Isabella Romano in the middle of town and we had a delicious dinner of regional dishes prepared by the 80+-year-old Isabella. It turned out to be another one of those memorable experiences you unearth every so often so far from home.
After dinner we took la passeggiata, the evening walk so much a part of life in Italy, and as I walked along with the priest — down the middle of the road of course — it was evident that he knew everyone in town as they waved to him or he wandered off to say hello to someone. I was feeling very much a part of this place now, doing what my ancestors had likely done on this very road more than a century earlier. It was a wonderful and surreal feeling I had never felt anywhere else.
At the end of it all there was only one wrinkle in our “Search for Pasquale”: we never found Pasquale.
Although we had found the others in the family it was likely the family had moved to another town, where he was born, before they left for America.
Such is life.
If you go:
Ristorante Locanda Pezzolla di Isabella Romano
via Roma, 21
75011 Accettura (MT)
Tel. 835 675008
http://www.ristorantepezzolla.it/
Hotel San Giuliano
Piazza Cartoscelli, 7
75011 Accettura
Tel. 835 675747
Jim — What a journey you and Marjorie have had. Loved reading all. Thanks for sharing. Love Wini
Thank you, Wini.
Hello. I see this post is 10 years old, but my grandmother was born there as well. And I grew up in Astoria with my “cousins” who were really just paisans from the home town. There were so many people from there that settled in Astoria , NY, that we had the Feast of San Guilliano every summer, hosted by the social club, which still exists to this day. I would love to correspond with you about our “connection”.
Hi Angela, Thanks for your comment. You can reach me by going to “About” at the top of the page and clicking on “Contact”.
Jim,
I liked reading about your experience.
I went to my father and mother’s town of Ariano Irpino, Avelino, in 2004. It was one hundred years exactly after my father left there for America–his dream! I was their youngest child. Everyone knew as soon as they saw me walking around town that I was an American and were curious as to what brought me there. Forget about blending in! Everyone I met was kind to me. They treated me as if a queen had come to visit.
What a great memory!
As an aside, in my travels I find many fellow travelers who are all or partly of Italian heritage. They don’t speak Italian, their names are not Italian, they don’t look Italian or they may even be just a small percentage Italian. However, they all had in common one thing. They treasured the old family recipes!
Anne Wiggins
Yuma, Arizona
What a great story about your trip Anne. I’ve just begun cooking during the past few years and would enjoy old Italian family recipes. Unfortunately, we never had any since my mother was Irish!
Jim,
Your story brought back memories when Melissa and I went looking for my mother’s side of our family history which took us to the iTurkish sland of Gokeceada. When my mother lived there it was part of was part of Greece and called Imbrus. We did the same as you, first met with the local priest and went through large leather bound books looking for that magic name that would put give us the clues to my mothers ansestory. Very little was found. We also did the grave yard thing, again without a lot of luck. Still it was a very fulfilling experience.
Keep up the good work.
George
Thanks George.
Andrea ha radotto il tuo aticolo su Accettura. E’ molto bello.
Grazie, Jim. Saluti, Angelo Labbate
Grazie mille, Angelo.
Saluti, Jim
How very nice for you both. It is wonderful when we make connections with the past. It makes the present all the better.
Suzanne
Thank you Suzanne.
Congratulations Jim and many thanks for what you write about me and my family. I haven’t given yet the translation to the San Giuliano’s manager. Can I ?
You’re very welcome Andrea. Yes, please do with it as you like.
Italian version
http://www.accetturaonline.it/blog/alla-ricerca-delle-mie-origini-in-italia-jim-ferri/
Hi, Jim. I just discovered your blog and look forward to reading much more, but I wanted to comment on this post about Accettura. My husband’s great grandparents, Cafarelli and Sarubbi, also immigrated to the U.S. (the Lower East side of NYC and then West New York, NJ) from Accettura. I’ve been researching his Italian family for several years now and, like you, discovered that our “Pasquale,” a Vincenzo, was born not in Accettura, but in another town–Ferrandina. My husband’s Sarubbi great grandmother’s father, likewise, was born not in Accettura, but in Stigliano. I’ve now traced all of my husband’s ancestral lines back as far as I can go with the civil records–to the mid-1700s–in six towns in Basilicata and am looking at family connections in a few more towns. Along the way, one of the greatest pleasures has been accumulating cousins–some residents of Accettura and other towns and many fellow researchers with ancestors there. Since you’ve already discovered that you’re probably related to everyone in Accettura, I bet you’re also one of my husband’s cousins!
I was wondering whether you’ve figured out what other towns your family was from. Have you been able to trace your lines further?
Hi Lesley,
Welcome to Never Stop Traveling. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
You haven’t been able to trace anyone back further than the mid-1700s because civil records of births, deaths and marriages in Italy weren’t kept until Napoleon conquered the country and forced them to begin keeping records. We found older records at the parish church went went back to the 1300s — all handwritten on parchment. There we also found that my family orginally came from another hill town in Basilicata about 30 miles away.
I don’t know whether you did this with your searches but I have stamped affidavits of my ancestors births from Accettura.
And by the way, my great-grandfather first ran a saloon on NY’s Lower East Side and then became a banker for the Italian community there, according to The New York Times. So if your husband’s family didn’t know him back in Italy they likely knew him one way or another on this side of the Atlantic!
I’m guessing that my grandfather was probably born in Potenza, where I’ve tracked down my only cousin in Italy, although I haven’t gotten any proof of that yet.
Jim,
What is the name of the book on Accettura you ordered from Amazon?
Mary
Hi Mary,
The book was “Seasons in Basilicata: A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village” by David Yeadon. Based on my experience, Yeadon pretty well described life in Accettura.
Hi Jim,
I enjoyed reading your story about family and Accettura. I am 3rd generation Italian American with both parents of Accettura decent. I may be related to you. My Grandmother Filomena Loscalzo born in New York in 1912 was the daughter of Rocco Giuliano Loscalzo born in Accettura in 1870 – His mother was a Ferri. Her name was Isabella Ferri. I have the birth certificate from Accettura…My Grandmother’s mother was Concetta Spagna. There was a great deal of talk about Ferri, and my mother and Father always spoke about the Ferri’s. My Grandmother’s Cousin Louis Loscalzo now over 90 years has a great deal of knowlege as his parents brought him back to live in Accettura for a couple of years. I keep in contact with my family in Italy, and travel to Accettura. I have been fortunate to speak Italian which makes things alot easier. I believe one of my Grandmother’s cousins was Anna Ferri…..not sure will ask my Mom to confirm the first name. She went back to live in Italy and was married to a doctor. To be honest I think Filardi is also in my family as well…I decend from the families: Miraglia, Spagna, Loscalzo, Ferri, Mastronardi, Fiordelisi, DiStefano etc…. Interestinly enough my Mother’s family Spagna married the Miraglia family, and then my parents got married… so my cousin Jimmy.. his father was a spagna and his mother was a Miraglia and we share from both sides…. technically I am probably related to him more than each of my parents..as he shares genes from both my parents…. Jimmy’s son is Rocco Spagna. I can go on and on, Hope some of this helps. Please feel free to contact me at anytime.
Paul Frank Miraglia
E-Mail: pmiraglia01@yahoo.com
Hi Paul and Jim
I came across your blog … thanks for the contact info … My grandfather was Frank Loscalzo also from Accettura, born 1895, came to the US in May 1912 (through Phila) and settled in Astoria. He married Josephine Labbate (likely related to Angelo’s family) … her mom& dad were Rocco and Lucia … Frank listed his mom as Filomena Galgano & I’ve wondered if he lost his parents prior to coming to the US to live near his brother Andres… we had a trip scheduled to return to Accettura in 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic … I’d like to find out more about my grandfathers family and plan to go next year… any help would be appreciated. Best! Rob
Hi Rob,
Go to https://italia.indettaglio.it/eng/basilicata/accettura.html and look for the email of the mayor and other local officials and ask them for information on your relatives. You will need to provide them some dates (birth, etc.). You might also contact the Italian Embassy in Washington for information on completing your search.
I hope this helps.
Jim
Hi Jim, I read your article from so many years ago about Accettura. Did you come across any Marones or Zaccara/Zaccaros? Any advice on how to contact the priest in the village? Your article was wonderful!
Thanks.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, I’m a descendant of the Marone/Morone family which emigrated to the US in the 1800’s from Accenture, Matera, Basilicata Region.
Maybe, we can compare information.
Hi Nancy (and Jennifer), If you’d like I can send each of you the other’s email so you won’t have to put them online for the world to see. Jim
Hi Jim, I missed this, so long ago now, from Nancy. Do you have her email after all? I still have not gone to Accettura.
Best,
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
I’m sorry but I don’t have Nancy’s email. But did you see Giovanni Sansone’s comment about Accettura? It should be a bit above or below this note. He may be able to help since he is from Accettura. I hope this helps you.
Jim
Hi Jennifer,
I’m glad you enjoyed the article. There really is no way to contact the priest and he doesn’t speak English. On the other had, I sent an email directly to city officials and had a reply, and copies of birth certificates, very quickly. I was able to do this since I found someone online who provided the document in Italian and all I had to do was fill in the blanks.
If you’re interested in going that route (which I recommend) send me an email and I’ll dig the info out of the files for you (if anyone else is interested let me now also).
Email me at: editor@neverstoptraveling.com
Hello Jim. I am also a descendant of the Ferri family from Accettura. What was the name of the town they were originally from? Thank you !
Hi Paul,
I believe it was Stigliano, but I’d have to dig back through some notes to be certain. Why don’t you contact me via email at editor@neverstoptraveling.com and tell me how we’re connected!
Jim
Jim, I stumbled across your article while in my search for my family………….My Grandfather was Pasquale Digilio from Accentture, my Grandmother’s first name was Angelina. He had six sons and one daughter. John, Frank,Peter,My Father Victor, Joe and Rocco. My Aunt Dolly married my Nick LoScalzo. I was told when I was young that there family came from Accettura also and it was an arranged marriage. I believe my Grandfather was born around 1880…unsure. They had an ice and coal business in lower Manhattan, later had a grocery store. Only address I knew of was Prince street in Brooklyn. Maybe you can help me with some direction as to how to get to the bottom of this? Thanks, Vic
I’ve just stumbled upon this article and thread.
Jim, your experience, years earlier is so much like ours in the summer of 2017.
However, my family and I met several of the members of families you are searching.
There is a Facebook group from Acceturra that can help in your search.
My cousins, from Acceturra will be visiting this summer. We are, as an extended family, planning their visit to NJ, ( Philadelphia), with overnight trips to DC and NYC. Given that they speak English perfectly, they were able to help us find our links through the records with Father Filardi’s help.
Ironically, it wasn’t until very recently, that my husband and I discovered that both of our families came from Acceturra, and have been connected through marriage since at least the mid 1800’s, both in Italy and in the US. My surname was changed at Ellis island, which, unfortunately hid this fact that would have been of incredible interest to our older, now deceased relatives.
In any case, visiting this beautiful town was a magical experience for my extended family comprised of Fanuele, Canuso and Sarubbi familes
Hi Celeste,
What a great story! And you’ve been connected through marriage for all these years! That’s wonderful. I’ve already located all my relatives from Acceturra, and have gotten together with them both there and in other places in Italy.
My family also came from Acceturra my grandparents came to NY around 1900.
Hello,
We visited the town of Accettura in 2013 and also got a tour from Father Filardi
He was full of helpful information
My father in law was born in
Ceglie de Campo outside of Bari
His name was Dominico Accettura!!
We Learned during the plague many people scattered and took the name Accettura and that’s how he probably got his last name. Many years ago
Thanks for your info
We loved staying one night in Accettura
Cindy Accettura
My sister just told me of your website and blog as she was doing a search for Accettura. We must be related. My grandparents are from there and are named Ferri and Filardi. We are related to Father Filardi and our grandfather owned a saloon on the lower east side of New York. Please feel free to contact me. I also visited Accettura and stayed at the San Giuliano Hotel. Small world!
Hi Barbara, That’s quite interesting. I just sent you an email.
Hello Jim!
Both sets of my Dad’s grandparents were from Accettura – Loscalzo and Lacovara. Think his Grandmothers’ maiden names were Ferri and Filardi, and I do recall that someone in the family had a saloon in Manhattan. I have an odd question – my Dad (who is sadly gone now) once told me that the family had a Scottish connection. He said he had been told as a child that at some point in history, 2 Scottish brothers had arrived in Accettura as they had been on the losing end of a major battle in Scotland and were on the run. They settled in Accettura and we were somehow descended from them, though I’m not sure if it was from the Lacovara or Loscalzo side. Family stories aren’t always accurate, of course, but I wondered if there was something to this – the details of being Scottish and brothers seemed so specific. Anyway, I did my DNA on Ancestry.com and there it was! Some English/Scottish blood that can’t be accounted for on my Mom’s side. Have you or anyone on this site heard of such a story? Thank you!
Hi Alicia,
I don’t know about the Scots, but I may have some other info for you about other past relatives in the US. I’d rather not put it online, so please send me your email address at jim@neverstoptraveling.com and I’ll try to respond as quickly as possible. Thanks.
Hi Jim,
I loved the article and all the information on Accettura. My great grandmother Maria Loscalzo and her mother Lucia Labbate both come from Accettura. Im not really certain about my great grandfather Michael Grippo. I think he may have come from a near by village. They all left Accettura in 1906 and came to Brooklyn New York. It’s been a wonderful experience learning about the world they came from and your article has helped paint a more vivid picture of what life was like for them . If you have any English speaking contacts that could help me dig back further it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again
Karen Mooney
South Carolina
Hi Karen,
Thanks for your comment. I apologize for taking so long to reply – things just quite busy. If you can provide me your email address (send it to editor@neverstoptraveling.com) I’ll try to find the info / conact on how I was able to start my search in Accettura.
Stay safe and healthy.
Jim
My husbands family & parents were all born in Accettura & he has lots of family there.. Aunties, Uncles, First Cousins etc & he still owns a family apartment there. Although we don’t visits as often as we would love to, the apartment is something he will never sell. It is the ground floor apartment of a family building which his grandfather bought. Following the death of his mother & father, my husband & his brother had the apartment renovated & it really is fabulous. I can’t wait for us to retire & spend the summer months in accettura.
It really is a village time forgot. Where neighbours look out for each other & family are everything.
My husband is a Marzano, his mother was a Garaguso & he has Labbatte family members.
Hello Jim – I came across your blog in my fruitless attempt to find information on my family from Accettura – the Belmonte family. I have found information on my great grandfather Francesco Antonio Belmonte and his wife, Vincenza Bartilucci (also from Accettura), but cannot for the life of me find any information on Francesco’s parents. We have them as Domenico Belmonte (b 1860) and wife Rosa Canora (b 1860) although I’m not even sure those are the right names. I’ve been trying to find a birth certificate for Francesco as his parents would be listed, but to no avail. Great grandma Vincenza Bartilucci – her parents were Matteo Bartilucci born in 1864 in Accettura and mom Giulia Barbarito born Nov 1, 1865 is as far back as I can get. I may have to go visit the dear Padre, as you did, and search! Thanks for giving inspiration! I’m kind of hoping someone on your blog might see this post and have a connection!
Hi Paula,
Go to Accettura! I think you’ll love it as much as we did. But we found that one of my ancestors we tracked down came from another village. So I need to go back also!
Jim
We are related. Those are my great grandparents as well!! I am Donna’s son. I’m trying to get all my papers in line for dual citizenship.
Wow Anthony! I’m glad the two of you have met here! If Paul doesn’t reply to you here, I can send her an email with your email address. Let me know if you’d like me to do that.
Jim
Jim, My Father’s Family was from Accettura. Their last name was Laraio. My Grandfather was Rocco Laraio.
Unfortunately, I don’t have dates, but my Father was born Aug. 16, 1910. My Uncles were Lawyers & changed
the last name to Lario. My Dad’s name was Giuseppe but only went by Joseph. Any help you can give me would
be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, all the family members that might have more info. are long gone!
Hi Emma,
One thing I did was to look in the white pages of the Italian phone book (you’ll find it online) for Accettura for people with my family name. I then mailed each a letter (written in Italian, if you can do that) asking that they reply to me via email (don’t forget to include that address). That is how I finally located my cousins in Italy. Be sure to also include as many names and dates from your family in Italy as possible.
I hope that helps.
Jim
Hi Jim I enjoyed your piece on Accettura. It’s a shame I didn’t know you before. All my family live in Accettura and speak perfect English. My name is Giovanni and I live in Nottingham, England.
They could’ve helped you with your search.
Ciao Giovanni,
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I wish I had known you before also!
Jim
Hi Giovanni,
My relatives are from Accettura, and they are Zaccara, Marone, Campanelli, Amorosi, Spagna, Giliberti, Tambone…
Do you know anything about the Zaccara, Marone, or Campanelli families?
Best,
Jennifer
Jenniferzaccara@gmail.com