S.S.Marco Minghetti Passenger Vessel 1900

Update August 7 2010: The family names are confirmed as Mariano PediVellano and Marianna Bova-Conti  

My research has now uncovered some interesting facts as you will read below. Back in 1999 Mary and spent 3 weeks in Italy and driven the 2 hour trip to Vellano, it was wonderful, the top of a mountain, a beautiful picturesque area north east of Florence. We have a video of the trip and pictures as well. With all the various spellings of the name including Pedi villano, Pede Villano , Vellano, Pedi Vellano I wouldn't doubt that this is where our family name started ... long before Sicily!

So here's my theory on how we arrived with the name DeVellano.  My (webmaster Fred II) great grand father arrived in New York, like most other immigrants didn't speak /Read/Write English. My research shows Mariano was 22 years of age with 3 other young men from Termini Imerese, Sicily . This is the actual Document . The ship manifest  shows that he did not speak/read/write English, but 1 of his fellow travels did. He arrived on the SS  Marco Minghetti in the year 1900. As a result he was met at the US border by USA Immigration who didn't speak Italian. I'm betting that when asked his name ...he answered  Mariano Pedivellano from Termini Imerese. Much too difficult for USA of the day...so it was incorrectly written in the record as Mariano Pedvillano ,The immigration officer wrote down that he was heading to Chicago to meet with a relative. And he had $20.00 in his pocket. Then we have a gap till he shows up again in 1911 Canada Census and his name is shown incorrectly as Mary Anna Divillano by a volunteer census taker in 1911.  Then as time went on different docs show that the name became Mike Devellano (1935 death certificate shows Mary Devellano)

And the ship manifest is part of the search

This is the first time the name was incorrectly spelled by immigration in 1900

The correct spelling of the family  name is PediVellano

Click To Zoom In View The Top 4 Lines

We have a record of him in the Italian records which show he got married in Termini Imerese in 1903 to Marianna Bova-Conti  source: http://www.termini-imerese.org/  A screen shot of the record is located in this album from http://www.termini-imerese.org/  . The database also shows the birth of Salvador and Francesco (Sam and Frank). See the screen shots of all docs here:

Additionally I am researching the vast database of records from www.ancestry.ca and www.ellisisland.org and have tried different spellings and came up with a lot of great information. Click here for more docs

That Mariano PediVellano (Mike Devellano) was from Termini Imerese, Sicily early in his life and he met Marianna Bova-Conti and married ( marriage certificates).  According to the immigration records posted on www.ancestry.ca if he had $20.00 in his pocket and we like to say that IF he could come up with $1.00 more he could have ended up in California :-) BUT he came to Canada sometime between 1900 and 1903, Is shown in the 1911 census as living On Main street in Prince Edward County , Picton Ontario area.. Eventually  they moved to Toronto and then the family grew from these humble beginnings. Although there are a few time gaps the writer will continue to update the records as facts appear.

www.ellisisland.org

EllisIsland shows tons of documents for bova-conti and PedeVellano, and Angela Pedevilano in the archives versus Pedivellano.

Feb 8 2009: I have now located one of the grandsons of this person Angela Pedevilano ( versus our PediVellano)

My grandmother was Angela Pedevilano, my grandfather was Rocco Di Pietro...lo and behold their names are on the ships manifest on your website!!!
Angela and Rocco had sons...Charles...Andre..(my father born new york 1902) ...Rocco...Lucien. daughters..Mary..never married...Nella Cuva.
Charles was missing and presumed dead during WW1 in the lost battalion in the Ardennes...Andrew died in New York 1972...Lucien..Mary and Nella all passed in the 70s from natural causes...I was the only child of Andre and Rose Mauro DePietro...for some reason my father changed the Di to De..never told me why.The family lived in Hells Kitchen Manhattan, moved to 112th street then 116th street and then Hunt Ave. in The Bronx. My grandmother lived in the house there until her death but all my families records were lost in a house fire. My fathers sister Mary had done some research many years ago and told me of the family crest of the shoe and that " we were born to the purple"...the family was nobility in Sicily...Thats about all I know but it was great to find your site and get info on my family.
Best regards
Bill De Pietro
Greenfield, Massachusetts 

Click To Make Sicily Map Bigger

As on August 7 2010 the webmaster Fred has connected to Tony Pedivellano (45yrs) who is a distant relative, Mary and Fred are planning a trip to Sicily and Italy May 2012.

'To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is not having seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the key to everything.'

So said Goethe. Tuscany might want a look in, and Rome might beg to differ, but Sicily, with a history of foreign occupation across the centuries, is certainly fascinating, with a real pot-pourri of culture, cuisine and architecture. Plus the odd volcano.

Sicily was chosen by the Gods of Olympus as the scene of their stories of love and hatred, of passion and revenge, of sudden wrath and deep compassion, and today it's still a land of fire and passion. (Click here for a potted guide and history.)

It's also a land of great beauty and contrast, not least the contrast between what the local politicians say they'll do with the money, and what eventually ends up getting built/maintained/improved.

http://www.knowital.com/sicily/

Sources:

1. This is a database that may also hold answers as time moves on: http://www.termini-imerese.org/  

2. LDS.org (Latter Day Saints) has microfilmed the civil records for Termini Imerese for the years of 1820 thru 1910. 

3. And This Is The Largest Database On Earth Created By The Mormons LDS  http://www.familysearch.org/

4. This is a great resource link  http://www.cyndislist.com/portsentry.htm

5. And this is Canadian  http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/022-500-e.html

6. Ontario Database: http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/common/collections.htm

7. http://www.censusfinder.com/ontario-canada-census-records.htm

8. http://ontariocensus.rootsweb.com/transcripts/10251-1.html

9. www.ancestry.ca

( Notice the name of the place Vellano (frazione di pescia) 

 Is This Where It All Began?

Vellano, Italy

Back to the year 1300  Vellano, Pescia, Italy Northern Italy

This place in Vellano goes back a lot longer then the last 100 years of my great-grandfathers life. This goes back to the year 1000 and the castle in 1300. So we KNOW for a fact that the original couple Mariano and Marianna came from Termini Imerese, Sicily, but If the family name is Pedivellano D'Vellano or Di Vellano or De Vellano perhaps all started back in Vellano, northern Italy. Those spellings are all so similar that we all might be connected to those in some manner back in history.

In Vellano, there is an old...family name is VELLANO so my guess is that our name is a derivative of the original. The town was unified by Giuseppe Garabaldi.  Giuseppe Garibaldi (July 4, 1807 – June 2, 1882) was an Italian patriot and soldier of the Risorgimento. He personally led many of the military campaigns that brought about the formation of a unified Italy. He was called the "Hero of the Two Worlds", in tribute to his military expeditions in South America and Europe.

Vellano is a Walled Mountain Village as a protection from marauders in the years 1000-1300 Most Italian  Villages Have This Protection

The castle of Vellano dates back to the 10th century, Giuseppe Garabaldi played a major role in defending Italy during regional up risings and wars. As a result there is a plaque that recognizes him as a hero of the village, it's posted above the old church door. There are about 600 people in Vellano, (Tuscany, Italy) beautiful mountains and lush green valleys, the wine is considered of the best in the world...Tuscany. There are no Vellano's left in the Village, but there are Vellano's in different places in Italy and New York , NY USA.

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