Question about personal family and Sicily

[dixiemafia]

I know this is not about the mafia, but I wanted it here so it would be seen by those who are good at all this.

I had an Aunt who was a Di Puma and I know for a fact they were from Sicily. One of my questions is this, is there a way to try and find out where they came from in Sicily? I seen one site mention Corleone but not sure if it's legit.

Another question I have is it seems when they immigrated to the U.S. they went to California. Was that normal, or was California a major port for Sicilians in the early 1900's? It seems in the 1910's when they immigrated, maybe as late as 1920-1922. It seems one of my Aunt's sisters moved to Santa Clara California first and then the rest came along with her Mother and they all ran bars out there including my Aunt before she moved to Alabama after marrying my Uncle out there. I can't seem to find their journey to California, so they either came to the East Coast and then went cross country or went directly to California, but that is where I'm also lost.

My last question is she had a son named Sammy, he was not my Uncle's son but he was from a previous relationship but my Uncle raised him since he was very little until my Uncle died. My Aunt and Uncle owned a bar and she continued to run it after his death, including getting arrested for selling beer on Sunday out of the bar in the 60's But my last question is this, isn't "Sammy" short for Salvatore? Or was Sammy used as a nickname for other names? Trying to find him and his family has been next to impossible, so I figured I would turn to y'all to help on what Sammy could have been short for. Salvatore didn't help me much either, so I'm wondering if it could be for another name?

Any help is much appreciated and thanks if you let me keep it in this section at least long enough for it to be seen and answered and then we can move it to General Discussion afterwards if necessary. Thanks!

[bronx]

simone, ensalmo,

[johnny_scootch]

Dixie this won't give you anywhere near an exact answer but it could help point you in right direction.

http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani

[Angelo Santino]

I know this is not about the mafia, but I wanted it here so it would be seen by those who are good at all this.

I had an Aunt who was a Di Puma and I know for a fact they were from Sicily. One of my questions is this, is there a way to try and find out where they came from in Sicily? I seen one site mention Corleone but not sure if it's legit.

Another question I have is it seems when they immigrated to the U.S. they went to California. Was that normal, or was California a major port for Sicilians in the early 1900's? It seems in the 1910's when they immigrated, maybe as late as 1920-1922. It seems one of my Aunt's sisters moved to Santa Clara California first and then the rest came along with her Mother and they all ran bars out there including my Aunt before she moved to Alabama after marrying my Uncle out there. I can't seem to find their journey to California, so they either came to the East Coast and then went cross country or went directly to California, but that is where I'm also lost.

My last question is she had a son named Sammy, he was not my Uncle's son but he was from a previous relationship but my Uncle raised him since he was very little until my Uncle died. My Aunt and Uncle owned a bar and she continued to run it after his death, including getting arrested for selling beer on Sunday out of the bar in the 60's But my last question is this, isn't "Sammy" short for Salvatore? Or was Sammy used as a nickname for other names? Trying to find him and his family has been next to impossible, so I figured I would turn to y'all to help on what Sammy could have been short for. Salvatore didn't help me much either, so I'm wondering if it could be for another name?

Any help is much appreciated and thanks if you let me keep it in this section at least long enough for it to be seen and answered and then we can move it to General Discussion afterwards if necessary. Thanks!

Yes, Sicilians went to California and within that was a Corleonesi element. If you want to pm me your ancestors details I'll see what I can dig up. Your anonymity is safe with me.

[Angelo Santino]

Did some looking and actually found something interesting, about my own lineage. I have a relative from Visicari connected with relatives from CDG who was in LA in 1929 before the stock market crash, during the depression she went to Mexico where my relatives there once owned a small town outside of Mexico City, remarried in 1936 to a Mexican and moved to Tequila (the town where te-kill-ya was first made. I believe I met what would have to be her great second neice at a reunion several years ago. She models.) Her aside, seems most of the family married with other Itals and their descendants, much like in the US. But they still have connections to both CDG and CDG by way of France where there's another nest. Never looked into this side of the family before and learned another angle of chain migration. My relatives weren't OC but there's a Mexican angle to Italo immigration. Might have been a factor in why Frank Milano absconded to Mexico after formerly being boss of Cleveland. He was rumored to have connections to Monterrey that city as well as my beloved Saltillo not far from it has a high density for Itals, mostly Sicilian desendants from my experience but there most likely were Calabrese there as well.

[B.]

Sammy can be a nickname for any number of names: Salvatore, Saverio, Santo, Simone, Rosario, probably others. It can make finding records for guys who changed their names to Sam/Samuel difficult even when you have a last name, as there are so many possibilities.

[dixiemafia]

Thanks for the nickname issue, I will use those names to search for him.