Torre Piromallo – Once the summer home of my 3rd Great Grand Parents Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook Nobili Napoletani Nobili Napoletani is a great website that is dedicated to the Noble Families of Naples.  In addition, it provides some links to other good websites for Neapolitan and Italian research in general.  To be fair, finding your name on this site does not guarantee that you descend from that family or a branch of that family.  A lot of hard research needs to be done to confirm. Unlike researching family in the US on let’s say ancestry.com,  researching in Italy is much harder, but not impossible,  The best place to start is the antenati site, which gives birth, death and marriage records starting around 1806.  While not every person is on there yet, more and more are added every month.  The site is in Italian, but they do have some pages that you can click the flag and get an English translation, or you can use this google link.  They google translations are not the best, but you will get the picture. Even if you are not sure about your family being noble, the Nobili Napoletani is a great site for anyone researching the History of Naples.  Some things that stood out was the information about the seats one Naples.  Basically, these families ran the many sections of the city.  We will be doing another post soon about another great website that lists more noble families of Italy.  During the Spanish reign over Naples, because there was a shortage of Spanish nobles, they began to marry into Italian families.  In many cases, names were changed to look and sound more Italian.  One example of this is Pope Alexander IV, the Borgia Pope.  His name in Spanish would be Borja.  His daughter, Lucrezia Borgia, had an affair with one of my GGGGG Grandfather’s.  Francesco Gonzga. If you are not sure, need some help or have a road block that you can not resolve, you can always call on a professional for help.  I used Bella Italia Genealogy.  Alex and his team are based in Campania are excellent and very reasonable.   You can find his link and others here. Nobili Napoletani page shots of my two main families Caracciolo and Piromallo. Helpful links on the Nobili Napoletani, using google translate where available: List of all the names Stemarrio or Crests Stories of the Kings  I have direct line into the Normans, Swabians, Angevins and Argonese. List of Titles Seats of Naples Knight Orders My great grandfather’s that were Knights of the Spanish Golden Fleece.  Note:  Carlo Maria is not direct, Click here to go to our Bookstore Click here for Italian American books on Amazon Prince Marino Caracciolo C 1625 Me 1977

Listen to Ky White explain “Gateway Ancestors”, how to get a special book or chart on your ancestors and much more.  Including “WAS RAGNAR REAL”.   Ky White is an expert in researching and charting American Founders and Medieval Royalty and Nobility. See my chart above in the main picture. Contact Ky Link to order a chart:  https://ancestralcharts.com/product/personalized-family-charts/Link to order a The Genealogy of the Crusaders: https://ancestralcharts.com/product/the-genealogy-of-the-crusaders-triumphs-and-tragedies-1st-ed/ email: ky.white@ancestralcharts.com website: www.ancestralcharts.com Me and my 8th Great Grandfather Prince Marino Caracciolo II from Avellino at around the same age. Me today, dressed as the prince at his hunting lodge. Buy my book to get the full story. Click here to join our group on Facebook

Excerpts from my book “Farmers and Nobles” Shortly before the NY World’s Fair opened in 1964, my Uncle Frank and Aunt Dolly opened Frank’s Luncheonette on 108th Street in Corona, Queens. At the time I was thirteen and very excited, as they hired me to work there on weekends and summers while the World’s Fair was open. The Fair (as we called it) was only a few blocks away and we would often have tourists and bus drivers come in to eat. In fact, after the fair closed, bus drivers would drive 50 to 60 miles out of their way to dine at Frank’s Luncheonette and kibitz with Aunt Dolly. Uncle Frank drove trucks when he was young, and later worked as a baker at Leonard’s Up the Station, and ran a fish store in the Bronx for several years. Frank’s was a small place with only eight or ten stools and no tables. But we did good business and a lot of take-out. At the front there was a candy and cigarette counter and a place to hold the Daily Papers. Then the lunch counter and soda fountain with a back room with the stove and griddle. We also had the soda cooler that kept the bottles in cold water. My duties included stocking the candy and cigarettes, putting together the Sunday papers, making fountain sodas and malts (yeah real malts), egg creams (yum), and ice cream sundaes. As time went on, I would make the rice and chocolate pudding. I would also deliver orders to some of the local businesses. However, the very best thing about working at Frank’s Luncheonette was the perks. Aunt Dolly was a great cook, as was Uncle Frank. So I had my pick of menu items. My favorite was the eggplant parmigiana or the meatball hero. Uncle Frank would make onions on the grill with a load of butter and paprika that would smother your cheeseburger- always a great choice. On cold days, a nice bowl of chicken soup. Breakfast was a Pechter’s corn muffin, buttered and grilled, or one of their cheese danishes. And of course, anything from the fountain, whenever I liked! Click below to order through Janaway Click below to order through our website 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2022 This book was a great read and so informative. I learned so much and hope the author continues to write more. Great work and recommend this An interesting story of a families journey. Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2022 Wonderful story of families and the journey to find where they all intersect. Great period pictures shows the true spirit of family. Incredible singular heritage Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2022 The genuine historical connection is long overdue. Believe me, we had some great characters. My aunt and uncle rented the place from “Butch”, who also happened to be my Aunt Ann’s cousin. Butch was a taxi driver, and his home was behind Frank’s Luncheonette, with an alley, where Butch would park his car. About once a week, we would hear a loud scraping sound as Butch would get a little too close to the wall of the store. “Rocky the Barber” (Pal Rocky) would come in for a chat and his Gini Stinkers (di Nobili cigars), quite aptly named. My cousin’s husband, Al, would deliver the bread from Leonard’s bakery every day and order a cup of coffee (10 cents) and leave me a 90-cent tip! Cousin Lou Mina (Mina’s Fuel Oil) would come in and say to me, “I’ll have a soda…. JERK,” and laugh. I later worked for Lou and boy, do I have some stories about that job. My dad, who worked for the NY Daily News at the time, would come in sometimes and if he ordered a tea, it had to be filled right to the very top of the cup. After my tenure, my cousin Cathy (Frank and Dolly’s daughter) worked there, and my sister Lori too. Eventually Frank’s son Lou took over for a while.

Corona, Queens Summers in Grandma’s Backyard Some of my fondest memories are the parties in my grandmother’s front yard in Corona, Queens.  Ever since I can remember, from about the mid 1950’s until 1971, every Nicoletti summer party was held in that yard.  Rain or shine, it did not matter, the 9 sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren would gather. My dad would work on Sunday’s, so if mom was taking too long, I would walk the 5 blocks in College Point to Uncle Tom’s and hitch a ride with him.  Uncle Tom would let me drive the long stretch along College Point Blvd. to Roosevelt Ave., which was always fun!  I loved to be one of the first ones there, but that meant humping to the Cammeratti’s or to the soda warehouse, both about a block away. Typically one or more aunts would be in the kitchen making sauce or meatballs, and if you were lucky, you could grab one before it hit the sauce.  But more about the food later. Slowly, but surely, everyone would start to arrive, and as they did grandma would get happier.  We would have the aunts and uncles and cousins of course, and then the cousins of cousins, and sometimes the cousins of the cousins of cousins.  As we got older, the boyfriends and girlfriends would come too.  Pity the non-Itlians…, they needed to manage the names and the food. Yes, I will get to the food. But first, “go kiss your aunt”. The Food First, seating was at a premium in grandma’s backyard, there was very little around the table under the roof, and that was usually reserved for Grandma and Grandpa and the senior aunts and uncles, although, the aunts spent a lot of time in the kitchen.  You could then default to the aluminum table(s) set up in the sun ( older cousins ) but you might be able to squeeze in.  Next was the ledge along the grapevines, and finally the ledge leading to the basement stairs ( mom’s did not like that ledge ).  If you would ask where should I sit, Uncle Mike would raise is middle finger and say “sit on this.” While the aunt’s were making the “gravy and gravy meat”  ( I did say sauce earlier ) Uncle Tom was stoking the BBQ,  Uncle Tom would start with chicken livers and bacon.  OK I passed on that, then put on the chicken basted with Italian dressing using sprigs of basil as the brush.  I’m not a fan of lamb, but he would have skewers of lamb that we would squeeze on lemon juice, very nice.  But, the coup de gras, was the CHIVALET.  Thin sausage of lamb, parsley, and cheese.  We would line up, Bellaciccos roll in hand, waiting, and waiting and waiting.  Once you got your sausage, you got back on line with sandwich one, to get sandwich two. Of course we had some other Nicoletti specialties like Eggplant Parmigiana,  Lemon Chicken and Manicotti.  Click the links to see the recipes. Up until the mid 1960’s in August during grandma’s birthday, their was a feast on the block.  Right outside the gate, every year, was the Zeppole stand.  Three for a quarter.  Other desserts were the fruit and nuts, of course, but we would also get 5 gallons of Lemon Ice from the Lemon Ice King of Corona.  Or sometimes just walk there.   And cookies from Mangiapane’s. Depending on the occasion, and if we were lucky, there would be Pizza dolce or homemade crumb cake. Click here to join Italian Genealogy Group on Facebook Uncle Tom (sans beer) Grams smiling The Entertainment As I said earlier, for many years the entertainment was the feast right outside grandma’s backyard.  There were all the typical games, food ( not that we needed any ) the stage with Italian singers etc.  It was sad when the feast closed down. We also made our own entertainment.  One of my older “Lou” cousins, decided to knight the younger cousins and give us weird names that you could not remember.  He used grandma’s cane  as the sword, and bop you on the head if you did not remember your name.  Did I say this was entertainment! At some point, Aunt Mary would break into the standard Italian songs, and everyone would join in the singing.  Uncle Tony would plat the harmonica, or do his Charlie Chaplin imitation. Before he passed away, Uncle Nick Mina, would just make everyone crack up.  He was one of the funniest guys ever. But, the real fun would start with the kids “talent contest”  we would sing or dance and our uncles would throw change.   Zia Rachel, would play a fake piano for the dancers,  and slap her arm ( as in “F” you ).  One time, when my cousin John was dancing, Uncle Mike gave him a quarter and Zia Rachel ten bucks for her piano.  That was really a scream. So sad that these days are gone, but we all have our memories of Grandma’s backyard.

Bret Thoman discusses his early Italian Roots, becoming an Italian language scholar and eventually marrying his Italian wife and living in Italy. St. Francis Pilgrimages is owned and operated by Bret Thoman. Married since 2002, and professed Secular Franciscans (Third Order Franciscans) since 2006, they currently live in Loreto, Italy with their three children. They have organized over 125 pilgrimages and personally journeyed with 1,600 people of more than 20 different nationalities. Destinations include all of Italy, the Holy Land, Spain and Portugal, Medjugorje, Poland, and more. Groups have originated in the US, Canada, Ireland, Guam, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia; they have been large and small and consist of parishes, families, schools, youth groups, retreat centers, secular Franciscan fraternities/ regions, and more. Bret has a master’s degree in Italian and a certificate in Franciscan studies. He has worked as a teacher and translator of Italian, as a flight instructor and airline pilot, and has written and translated numerous books. Katia was born in Southern Italy. She lived in Assisi for 7 years where she graduated with a degree in tourism from the University of Perugia and worked in several hotels. In Assisi she developed lifelong friendships with the Franciscan friars and sisters. www.stfrancispilgrimages.com Podcast Click here to join our group on Facebook Video