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Italian Roots Discovered!

Leave a Comment / Carra, Italian Family History / Megan / November 30, 2025 / Foundling, Italian Genealogy, Mota Sant'Anastasia, Salavatore Carra, Sicilian Heritage, Violetta Tiberina

The brick wall has crumbled down!! For us Carra descendants, we have always known that our great grandparents came from Italy. I’ve spent years pouring over record indexes and records trying to find the exact location, as well as Grandpa Sam’s real name and the reason why Grandma Violetta had the surname of Tiberina and not her alleged father’s surname of Guaruaccia. I’m thrilled to say that I now have ALL these answers and discovered a shocking revelation in the process!

What document finally broke down the brick wall? I got my hands on my uncle Tony’s birth certificate from 1913! On the record, it lists his father’s name as Salvatore (Sam) Carra and under the place of his father’s birth it lists the specific location of “Motta Sant’Anastasia, Italy”.

Armed with this new information, I began searching in the Italian records for birth and marriage records in this specific location and found Salvatore’s birth record along with his marriage record to Violetta in Motta Sant’Anastasia, Catania, Sicily on September 30^th, 1897. On the marriage record, it listed Violetta’s birth location of Regalbuto which is a town located in Enna, Sicily. She was 17 when she got married to Salvatore Carra and he was 23.

The following year on October 12, 1898, Violetta gave birth to their firstborn son, Carmelo. He lived only 2 weeks before passing away. She then gave birth to a baby girl named Caterina on May 8^th, 1900. She lived only 5 months and passed away on the 7^th of October, 1900. Three days later, on October 11^th, 1900, Joseph Annabale was born in Catania and Violetta and Salvatore raised him as their own. Records show they had another son named Carmelo on January 25^th, 1903. His death date is currently unknown, but he also died in as an infant or child. Then on Christmas day in 1903, she gave birth to son, Natale (Nick) Carra. She was pregnant with Pietro (Peter) when her husband Salvatore immigrated to the USA in 1907. She gave birth to Pietro in Catania on July 10^th, 1908.

In 1910, Violetta joined Salvatore in Hibbing, Minnesota leaving behind her three sons with her mother Santa who had been widowed since 1900 when her husband Filippo Guarnaccia died in August of that year.

It has always been odd to me that on all the records, Violetta’s surname was listed as “Tiberina” or some other variation of the name. Then I realized her parents’ names weren’t listed on her birth record index or marriage record. I tracked down her original birth registration in Regalbuto, Enna, Sicily and though it was in Italian, I could tell there was a story there due to it looking different than all the others. I enlisted the assistance of a translator (THANK YOU Catryna Katero!) and got the answers I was looking for! Violetta was a founding! According to the account listed in her birth record (see photos below), she was born on January 28^th,1881 in a house on Via Santo Rocco (house # unknown) to “unknown” parents. She was given the name “Violetta Tiberina” by the midwife who attended her birth. After her birth, she was taken by a woman named Carmela Gussio to the Provencial Foundling Hospital in Catania. She was delivered along with a letter, two diapers, a blanket and a sling.

Source: Nati Stato civile italiano > Regalbuto Conservato da: Archivio di Stato di Enna Comune/Località: Regalbuto Segnatura attuale: 3274

Violetta Tiberina’s Birth Record Transcription

–Birth Act Record Number 41—

Date of Registration: January 28, 1881

Time of Registration: 10:30 am

Municipality: Regalbuto

Province: Enna

Region: Sicily

Appearing in the Municipal Town Hall before myself, Dr. Alfonso Campione, Councilor delegated as per act dated November 9th, 1879; duly appointed Civil Status Officer for the Municipality of Regalbuto is the following declarant to present a register his birth.

Declarant: Vita Stancanelli

Declarant Age: 52 years

Declarant Profession: Midwife

Declarant Residence: Regalbuto

____________

Gender: Female

Newborn’s Name: Violetta Tiberina

Date of Birth: January 28, 1881

Time of Birth: 5:00 am

Birthplace: Regalbuto

Birthplace Address: Via Santo Rocco,

No house number provided

____________

Father’s Name: Unknown, not provided

Mother’s Name: Unknown, not provided

____________

The given name, ‘Violetta’, and the surname, ‘Tiberina’, were imposed on the newborn.

Present as witnesses for this declaration and for this Act:

Witness1: Giovanni Cardaci

Witness1 Age: 33 years

Witness1 Profession: Farmer

Witness1 Residence: Regalbuto

—and—

Witness2: Vito Stancanelli

Witness2 Age: 26 years

Witness2 Profession: Farmer

Witness2 Residence: Regalbuto

The aforementioned newborn was received at the Provincial Foundling Hospital in Catania.

Carmela Gussio was responsible for delivering this document for the Director of that establishment. Delivered together with the letter was the newborn and the following items: two diapers, a blanket, and a sling. There were no marks on the newborn’s body.

This Act has been read to all those present and signed by myself. The declarant and two witnesses were unable to sign as they claimed their illiteracy.

–Signature–

Officiant: Dr. Alfonso Campione

Officiant Title: Civil Status Officer Delegate

Since this discovery, I have learned that this was quite common during this time. The two main reasons were illegitimacy and extreme poverty. If a baby was born out of wedlock, it was considered too shameful and the babies were taken to foundling hospitals which had a reputation of being overcrowded with less-than-ideal living conditions. Click here to learn more about Foundlings.

At some point, Violetta was taken in by Santa and Filippo Guaruaccia and raised in Catania. There is no record of formal adoption as they would have been more of foster parents or guardians since she was considered a foundling. Only children with known parents had formal adoptions and even then it was extremely rare for the period.

These new discoveries shed some light on why Violetta may have taken in Joseph. In addition to losing multiple children, she was also likely born illegitimately and taken in by a family that wasn’t her own.

I’ve now been able to trace our Carra line back three more generations in Motta Sant’Anastasia, Catania, Sicily. While I have also traced both Santa and Filippo’s lines, I now know that they are not our blood ancestors.

I’m currently analyzing my father’s Paternal DNA matches to see if I can solve the mystery of Violetta’s true parentage. It may take me a long time to get there but let’s just say that I’m committed to the task!

Italian Roots Discovered! Read More »

Solving the Mystery of What Happened to Uncle Nick

Leave a Comment / Carra, Italian Family History / Megan / September 7, 2025 / Mystery Uncle, Nick Carl

Perhaps the most exciting find on my family research journey was finding my great uncle Nick alive in Chicago at 36 years of age! According to the family narrative, he left home as a teenager and likely joined the mafia in Chicago. It was speculated that he died at a young age possibly in some gangster related incident. While none of that was ever proven, the fact that he was NEVER heard from again made it seem like a possible conclusion to reach. According to his brothers, he never once called, wrote or visited his family after he left Kalamazoo.

Natale Carra was born on Christmas day in 1903 in Sicily. At the time of his birth, his father Salvatore (Sam) was 29 and his mother Violetta Tiberina was 22. His parents emigrated to the United States in the mid 1910s and left him behind with his grandmother, Santa, and two brothers, Annibale (Joe) and Pietro (Pete). On November 11th, 1911, at age 8, he and his brothers boarded the White Star Line Ship the S. S. Romanic in Palermo, Sicily with their grandmother Santa. After a week and half at sea, they landed on the shores Boston Massachusetts. Their final destination being Hibbing, Minnesota to reunite with the rest of the family.

By 1920, the family had moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan and according to the US Census, Nick was 15 years old and attending school. During this time, Al Capone and other mafia figures were recruiting Italian men in Kalamazoo and other Midwest cities. In an effort to avoid being involved, they decided to drop the vowel at the end of their name and changed it from Carra to Carl to sound less Italian. When looking though the city directories and yearbooks during this time, you will see the household all going by the surname “Carl”.

Shortly after 1920, nick left Kalamazoo never to be heard from again.

After years of searching, I was thrilled to find him in the 1940 US Census living on Montrose Avenue in Chicago! He was 36 years old and working in a machine shop as a Milling Machine Operator.

While he does have a WWII draft registration card from February of 1942, unlike his brothers, Nick never served in the military.

In April of 1942, he filed his first papers to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. As listed on both his draft card and naturalization record, he was listed as 5′ 8″, 210 pounds with brown eyes and brown-grey hair.

Two years later in July of 1944, he completed the naturalization process, became a US citizen and officially changed his name from Natale Carra to Nick Carl.

After 1940, I could no longer find any records of him in Chicago and I thought his story would end there. I gave it a rest for a while until the lack of closure and the drive to find answers for our family who had always wanted to know what happened to him, pushed me to keep digging.

I decided to broaden my search nationally and look for any and all death records I could find. I came across a death record for a Nick Carl who died in Newark, New Jersey in 1980. My initial thought was that it couldn’t be him. New Jersey? Died in 1980? BUT to my surprise…it was him! Not only did his name match but so did his birth date and place!

I then had a new state to look in and I was able to locate him in the 1950 census living as a boarder in the house of George and Helen Van Over. He is listed as 46 years old, never married and looking for work.

Since 1950 is the most recent census available, I’m unable to find him in 1960-1980.

Having his date of birth, death date from the death index and since he never married or had children, I was able to send in for his death record for genealogy purposes. It arrived in April 2024 and I was SO EXCITED!

According to the record, he worked for Tobacco Machine & Supply Co in Roseville, New Jersey. Due to New Jersey law, his cause of death information had been redacted but his death was listed as an emergency and he died at the College Hospital for Medicine in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey on January 13th, 1980 at age 76. He is buried at the St. Gertrude Cemetery in Colonia, New Jersey.

His lawyer was listed as the informant on his death certificate which suggests that he died alone.

Perhaps we will never know why he left his family, never returned, never married or had children. But now we know that he lived a long life and is resting in peace in a beautiful cemetery in New Jersey where we can pay him a visit and let him know that he was dearly missed.

Solving the Mystery of What Happened to Uncle Nick Read More »