This is a work in progress I can and often do make typos and mistakes if you see something that is not correct, Please let me know. I appriciate any help I can get. This website contains only those who have passed away, with the exception of a couple, with their permission names only, so I could connect a peticular person to the line. For information about the living, you would need to contact me directly.Since there are no live people on this site (except for the afore mentioned) I feel it is ok to publish the access code, it is "piana" with out the quotes, this I
believe will make it so you can print out what you want. To help you to locate your peticular relative I have put the initials of the parent's given names after the subject's given name.. When there was time I tried to write a little about the person, if you want to write something that you would like me to put by relative's name, or perhaps a photo,or document, please send it to me I will be happy to put on the site. Please take a look at the links as well as the photos and please feel free to sign the guest book so we see who was here.
MY ARBERESH AND SICILIAN FAMILY
This website is dedicated to the descendants of Tommaso Manzanares and Anna Basile in the hopes that we will get to know our ancestors, and appriciate our
Arberesh/Sicilian history and our culture that we all share and in doing so, get to know one another as well...... This is how I began and now things have grown and many new and very distant cousins have met each other. The Mezzanares family actually began in Spain as MANZANARES, Our Tommaso came to Palermo sometime before 1749 where he was Married to Anna Basile, all the Manzanares, Mezzanares, and Mazzanares in Italy are descendants from this Tommaso.... All Mezzanares in America are descendant from this Tommaso. Our Mezzanares' came to Piana Dei Greci in about 1830 and Married in to the Arberesh, some of them came to America, some are still in Piana. Some Manzanares remained in Sicily and Sardenga, some Mezzanares still remain in other parts of Sicily, Some Mazzanares are in Palermo, Bologna and Beilla, we are all of the same beginning.
The Clementi's are an old family in Piana as are our ancestors on that side, there is so much to learn of our Arberesh history and culture. The Arberesh arrived in Piana about 1488 from Albania.
MY BRITISH FAMILY
In this process of researching my family, I began to also look at the British side I had very little information, but with the help of some wonderful cousins and other people I have been able to put together the beginnings of a family tree for my Saunders, Giddings, Gould, and Johnson lines. Our end of the family came here from England, first they went to Canada and then some went on to America. There are descendants from the Saunders in England, America, Canada, New Zealand and possibly Australia. Our Saunders seems to have orriginated from Dinton Buckinghamshire England... There are Giddings and Gould descendants in England, Canada and America. Goulds orriginated in Sommerset around Shepton Mallet, and We are not sure where the Gidding's are from, we pick up Thomas giddings in Bristol, but feel he was born somewhere else. Hopefully these trees will grow and we will all know each other too, little by little. Many of the Birthdates in England are actually baptism dates, so please be careful quoting them.
My German Family
Recently I have discovered I have some German roots, although I have no information where in Germany they are from, I know they went to Canada, and from there one, my great grandmother Emma Amelia Schultz, went to Washington State, I do not know much about her history but I am honored to find more of her descendants and we are working on her.
Jo Saunders