Taormina, Sicily
Sometimes the biggest barriers to genealogical research are the ones you can’t control. A few days ago I received an email from the Comune of Messina informing me that my search for the marriage record of Giuseppe and Giuseppa Sulfaro was unsuccessful because “the person in question is not listed in the indices of civil status records from 1866 to 1895.” The response irritated me because I am so certain that their marriage was in 1879, but I can’t check for myself because Italy is an expensive plane ticket away. Also, the response seemed to infer that neither Giuseppe nor Giuseppa Sulfaro turn up in any records within that time period, which I know for a fact is untrue, having already found records mentioning them in their children’s births.
The second barrier occurred today when I learned that the Family History Center that I had ordered my microfilm to be delivered to has closed and will “send the microfilm to the next nearest Family Center”. The microfilm was sent from Salt Lake City almost a month ago, and still has not been received. I had to make a phone call to someone’s personal number to find out about the closure. Biggest thing I have learned: Nobody will tell you anything unless you ask the questions. So, without this very important microfilm my research will be stilted. Let’s hope that it will turn up soon!
On the bright side, I have added a Resources page with useful links to sites with Italian records. I also added a page for my side project self-indexing the Villaggi di Messina records on FamilySearch that are mixed up and rather a mess at the moment.
Josephine