......THE QUAGLIATA  FAMILY
........GENEALOGY PROJECT
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NEWS

* 1/1/2024 - Happy New Year!  It's our 23nd year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors

* 1/1/2023 - Happy New Year!  It's our 22nd year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors

* 6/26/2022 - Paola Quagliata emailed to say it was "nice to read your research."  Thank you Paola!

* 4/11/2022 - Michael Pisa emailed us updated genealogical listings for his branch.  Michael's grandmother is Jane (Giovanna?) Quagliata (b.1903), and he is the great great great grandson of Mario Quagliata (1843-19??) through Mario's first marriage and is a member of the Rochester/Lyons Quagliata family.  Thank you Michael!

* 3/15/2022 - Our contributor Vincent Matulewich sent us an update to our genealogical listings - Vincent and his wife, Toniann, had another child in 2018.   Vincent is part of the large New York branch that traces back to Sebastiano Quagliata (16??-1???).  Belated congratulations to Vincent and Toniann!

* 1/27/2022 - Our contributor Ramiro Quagliata, sent us more genealogical listings for his branch.  Thank you Ramiro!

* 1/1/2022 - Happy New Year!  It's our 21st year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Last year we had contributions from a previously unknown branch in Argentina.  Many thanks to all our contributors

* 10/4/2021 - Ramiro Quagliata, a member of one of the Argentina Quagliata families, contributed a well reseached addition to Richard's Chart. An entire branch we didn't know about from Forza d'Argro, Sicily.  Thank you Ramiro!

* 9/12/2021 - Nathan Steele, a member of the St. Louis Quagliata family, emailed us some much needed updates on his branch of the family.  Thank you Nathan!

* 4/28/2021 - Our long time contributor, Kyle Pagnutti is continuing his extensive research on the Castellammare branch.  He sent in some new information and has connected some of our outlying lineages.  Many thanks for all your efforts Kyle!

* 4/16/2021 - Elaine Sloane, one of our contributors form the NYC/Connecticut Quagliata family, sent an email and we were happy to inform her that more updates had come in for here lineage.

* 1/1/2021 - Happy New Year!  It's our 20th year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 12/21/2020 - Mike Pagano, our contributor form the NYC/Connecticut Quagliata family that is originally from Forza D'Agro, Sicily, sent us some updates.  Thanks Mike!

* 10/11/2020 - Colleen Wierzbicki emailed us last February asking for help in locating her grandfather's lineage.  She emailed today to let us know she has located her family - she is the great granddaughter of Francesco Paulo Quagliata.  Great news, and thanks for the update Colleen.

* 9/3/2020 - Tysen Quagliata emailed us some infor on his lineage. Tysen's mother is Caprice Quagliata who has previously contributed a listing.

* 7/28/2020 - Tayla Quagliata sent us an update on her branch. Tayla is married to Christopher Quagliata of the Ayr Queensland, Australia family. Christopher is the son of our long time contributor Rita Quagliata. Tayla and Christopher welcomed their first child this year - Hendrix Luke Quagliata. Congratulations! And thank you for contributing Tayla!

* 6/3/2020 - Katherine Ippoliti, one of our contributors who's grandmother was Carmela Quagliata, sent us an update on her branch - the Pennsylvania Quagliata family.  Last year about this time Katherine and her two sons visited Forza D'Agro, Sicily - home town to many Quagliatas.  She sent us a pic (on the right, click for a larger view).  Thank you Katherine!

* 2/5/2020 - We got an email from Colleen Wierzbicki whose father is a Quagliata from New Brunswick, New Jersey. She's looking for help locating her grandfather. We gave here information on three lines we know of in New Brunswick. Hoping that info helps.

* 1/1/2020 - Happy New Year!  It's our 19th year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 11/20/2019 - Salvatore DeRose emailed us.  His grandfather John DeRose is a nephew of my grandfather, Mario Quagliata (1907-1995).  Salvatore had been searching everywhere for information on his extended family without success.  Then he came across our website and contacted me.  I"m so glad we hooked up and I'm providing him the help needed.

* 5/31/2019 - We got an email from our long-time contributor, Kyle Pagnutti.  He sent some updates and corrections for the Castellammare lines.  Thanks Kyle!

* 5/17/2019 - We got an email from Gino Cassaniti of the Sydney, Australia branch.  He sent an update - he has to more children: Mila and Adriana.  Congratulations Gino!

* 1/1/2019 - Happy New Year!  It's our 18th year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 11/21/2018 - Our family member and long-time contributor, Vittorio Quagliata sent an email.  He was recently in Messina, Sicily and visited the Messina Regional Museum where he was able to see two well known paintings by Giovan Battista Quagliata (aka Giambattista Quagliata and Giovanni Quagliata) - Immaculate Mary and Virgin Nativity.  Vittorio also sent a great picture of himself standing between the two paintings (seen on the right, click for a larger view).  Thank you Vittorio!

* 7/20/2018 - Toni Vallee emailed a genealogical listing. Her great grandmother was Gertrude Quagliata from Castellammare del Golfo. From the information Toni contributed, it appears her line might be related to the large Castellammare branch beginning with Sebastiano Quagliata (16??-1???). Thank you Toni.

* 6/23/2018 - We got an email from Doug Quay - his surname was changed from Quagliato.  His father, Pasquale Quagliato, was born in Pettorano Sul Gizio.  Doug enjoyed our website and was curious about possible family connections.  It's certainly possible given the very similar spellings - they could be spelling variations of the same name, which, through research, is known to happen.

* 1/1/2018 - Happy New Year!  It's our 17th year online.  Family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

*11/28/2017 - Luigi Riggi emailed some family information to us.  Luigi's great grandmother's brother, Nicolo Dispenza, married Marta Quagliata of the Caltanissetta branch.  Thanks for the additional information Luigi!

*9/11/2017 - Richard Quagliata, my cousin who helped start this website, emailed with sad news - his brother Michael died back in June.  He was only 63.  Prayers and condolences to Michael and Richard's family.

*8/15/2017 - Amy Bizzarri's Melrose Pepper article was published in the Chicago Tribune yesterday, August 14, 2017.  I was happy to see Amy included some of our interview in her article and I'm very happy to say my grandfather Mario became part of the story.  You can check it out here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/recipes/ct-melrose-peppers-food-0816-20170810-story.html

* 7/11/2017 - Amy Bizzarri, a freelance writer, contacted me for an interview.  She's working on an article for the Chicago Tribune on Melrose peppers - those super sweet, delicious peppers my family has been growing from many years.  I'm hoping she might use some of her notes from me in the article!

* 7/3/2017 - Santina Gambrill, whose mother is a Quagliata related to the Tully, Australia family, emailed to offer an additional listing of her branch.  Thank you Santina!

* 1/1/2017 - Happy New Year!  It's our 16th year online.  We've had lots of visits this year but few contributions.  Many thanks to all our visitors and contributors.

* 12/22/2016 - We got an email from Leslie Smith.  She's not related but grew up in Chicago and was looking for a concern that would sell her dried Melrose Peppers.  We gave her some suggestions.  Good luck Leslie.

* 7/23/2016 - Jamie Gindhart emailed some info on her family.  Her great grandmother was Antoinette Quagliata.  She married a Pasquale Basico and became Antioinette Quagliata Basico.  Thanks Jamie!

* 4/6/2016 - Vincent Matulewich sent in some more info for the Castellammare branch, updating the listing of his family.  Thank you Vincent!  

* 1/17/2016 - We got an email from Kyle Pagnutti saying he has a genealogist in Palermo who will help him with the Castellammare branch.  Kyle is hoping to find a connection between the Castellammare branch and the Messina/Forza/Sant'Alessio branch.  Thanks Kyle!

* 1/1/2016 - Happy New Year!  We are now into our 15th year online.  The pace of incoming information has slowed some, but family members are still discovering our website and making contributions.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 12/29/2015 - Our contributor Vincent Matulewich has sent in an update for the Castellammare branch - baby Azriella born in 2014.  Congratulations Vincent!

* 12/12/2015 - Kyle Pagnutti is continuing his research on the Castellammare branch.  The lineage connections have become clearer and Kyle has sent in a couple of corrections.  Thanks Kyle!

* 10/12/2015 - Sam Quagliata of the Sydney AUS family emailed to say hello and that his son is studying on exchange in Indiana USA.  He's looking to connect with family possibly in the area.

* 9/3/2015 - Kyle Pagnutti and I have finally updated the listing of his Castellammare branch with the results of his outstanding research.  We were able to bring together some branches from Castellammare into one large lineage.  Kyle has also supplied us with a nicely done genogram of the oldest section of his branch, pushing the lineage back into the 1600s.  You can check it out here.  Many thanks to Kyle for all his work and contributions!

* 8/4/2015 - Kyle Pagnutti has been doing some new research at his local LDS center.  He has discovered the parents of his line's patriarch possibly pushing the lineage back into the 1700s.  Thanks Kyle!

* 7/6/2015 - Our contributor, Kyle Pagnutti, emailed with some corrections and additional information.  He also asked for help setting up a listing of his own family name in the style of Richard's Chart.  Of course we'll be glad to help him.

* 5/2/2015 - Ignacio Barcia, whose great grandmother was Pascuala Quagliata (from Uruguay), emailed looking for help with his lineage.  We couldn't provide any information, but sent him some research tips.

* 5/2/2015 - Kyle Pagnutti, a member of the Castellammare Quagliata branch, emailed us a large listing of his branch.  We're also going to check some information he has that indicates the father of his branch's patriarch, Giuseppe Quagliata, was a brother of Mario Quagliata (1843?-19??).  Thanks Kyle! 

* 3/23/2015 - We got an email from Tony Quaglietta.  He's doing some family research and wondered if we could help.  I sent him some information.  Tony provided us with a listing of his family.  Thanks Tony!

* 1/1/2015 - Happy New Year!  We are now into our 14th year online.  We still have family members discovering our website, as well as information coming in from contributors.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 8/20/2014 - Russell Errigo, a member of the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family, emailed an update to his family listing - his youngest daughter, Gianna Kay Errigo.  Thanks for the update Russell, and congratulations.

* 7/6/2014 - We got an email from Cathy Caruso Trezza.  Her grandfather, Rocco Caruso was born in Quaglietta, Italy, and she wondered if we had any links to a Caruso.  We do: Emily Caruso married Gino Cassaniti of the Sydney, Australia Quagliata branches, under Cirino Quagliatq (1840?-1????).

* 5/8/2014 - Today we cancelled our account with Comcast, which has been the host of the Quagliata Genealogy Project since 2003.  We've been working on this move since November of 2013 when we registered the domain name (quagliatagenealogy.com) and made arrangements with a new host.  The website was put in place with the new domain and address, but we also kept the Comcast address active.  Messages were posted at the former address about the new domain and new address for six months.  As of May 8, 2014, the Comcast address is no longer active and will not bring up the website.  Hopefully, by now, everyone has saved the new address.  But if not, a simple web search of "Quagliata" will bring up the new address.

* 4/6/2014 - I got an email today from Annette Marotta.  Her grandfather was Nicholas Quagliata from Balvano. The family name got changed to Guagliata by US Customs in 1905.  Annette was looking for more information on her branch.  Unfortunately, we don't have any information to pass on at this time.  We did add her family to Richard's Chart in hopes someone will find it and offer more information.

* 3/14/2014 - Jeannine Scheeringa emailed me to ask for more of Grandpa Mario's pepper seeds.  She runs Scheeringa Farms & Greenhouses in Highland, Indiana and participates in Chicago's Farmers' Market program.  This is the second year she's growing Grandpa Mario's peppers.

* 3/1/2014 - Today I got an email from Amelia Galier Louis.  Amelia is the great-great granddaughter of Pietro Quagliata (1870(69?)-1946).  Their family is part of the Castellammare branch.  She's happy to have found our website and has contributed a narrative of her family and some genealogical listings.  Thanks Amelia!

* 1/30/2014 - I got an email today from Angelo Quagliata.  Angelo is the great great grandson of Angelo Quagliata (1887-19??), son of my great great grandfather Mario Quagliata (1843?-19??).  He just discovered our website and emailed in some genealogical contributions. We're very happy that family from this branch have discovered our website and we look forward to more correspondence.  Thanks Angelo!

* 1/1/2014 - Happy New Year!  We are now into our 13th year online.  We still have family members discovering our website, as well as information coming in from contributors.  Many thanks to all our contributors.

* 12/3/2013 - Jeannine Scheeringa emailed me to say they had excellent luck growing Grandpa Mario's pepper seeds at Scheeringa Farms & Greenhouses in Highland, Indiana. She said, "I had several standing orders from true Melrose pepper admirers! (you could pick out the true Italians that were recreating a grandma's recipe!!!)  We also babied the plants & they produced all summer. I'm positive that I will have return customers looking for Grandpa Mario's Melrose peppers. Thanks again and I'll be contacting you again after the first of the year. Happy Holidays"

* 11/10/2013 - My father, Joseph T. Quagliata passed away today, age 83.  He was in Florida enjoying his friends and family.  He dealt with cancer for many years, sometimes in remission for long periods of time.  It finally caught up with him.  I flew down on the seventh of November and put him in hospice, and he passed peacefully.  He'll be missed this holiday season and always.

* 9/14/2013 - My second cousin Richard Quagliata and his wife Lauren came to Lansing for a visit.  My wife and I had them over to our house, and then we went out to dinner at Troppo in downtown Lansing.  It was great to meet them and we had a a lot of fun visiting.  There's a picture on the right we took on the occassion (click for a larger view).  That's me on the left, then my wife Sue, Lauren and Rick on the right.

* 8/6/2013 - Vincent Matulewich emailed us with some additional genealogical listing information for his family.  Thanks Vincent!

* 7/5/2013 - Elaine Pagano Sloan, who contributed to our website some years ago, emailed to say: "I am enjoying reading about our family via your webpage. Thanks for doing such an amazing job!"  Thanks Elaine!

* 5/15/2013 - Valeria Quagliata of the Castellammare branch that is now located in Buenos Aires emailed us with some additional genealogical listing information for her family.  Thanks very much Valeria!

* 4/6/2013 - I got an email from Tiffany Cooney of the Lyons/Rochester family.  They're gearing up for this years reunion in July.

* 2/23/2013 - Anthony Galier a family member from the Castellammare branch, sent some information and a correction.  Thanks Anthony.

* 2/7/2013 - I've been exchanging email with Jeannine Scheeringa.  She runs Scheeringa Farms & Greenhouses in Highland, Indiana and participates in Chicago's Farmers' Market program.  We've been discussing a deal that would allow her to grow Grandpa Mario's Peppers commercially.  We have reached an agreement and I've sent her 1500 seeds for the upcoming growing season.  We're not sure how the peppers will do in a farming environment, since they've previously only been grown in gardens.  We'll see how they do.  If you shop in Chicago Farmers' Market spots you might see peppers labeled "Grandpa Mario's Peppers".

* 1/1/2013 - Happy New Year!  2012 saw an interesting development mentioned below - another Quagliata coat of arms.  This one from the Padova family courtesy of Salvatore Corso.  Thanks to Salvatore and  all our contributors.

* 12/11/2012 - I exchanged email with Martina Gardner in Arizona.  Her mother's name is Sandra Jean Quagliata of the Lyons/Rochester family.  Martina met Toni Quagliata (of the Cleveland family) in Arizona.  She spent some time reading our website and enjoyed it.

* 12/6/2012 - Sheila Perino is just about done with her research on the Castellammare Quagliatas.  She sent me her semi-final birth/baptism listing.  Hopefully I can get the new page up in 2013.  Many thanks to Sheila!

* 10/18/2012 - Salvatore Corso emailed in some new research that sheds some light on the Quagliata branch Padova.  It's very interesting that this branch was living in the area of Padova since 1690 and has a coat of arms dating from 1848, which can be seen on the right.  Salvatore also sent a nice article from “La Sicilia” (March 6, 2011) which presents Padova Quagliata family information and photos, and mentions our website - printed in Italian (PDF here).

* 8/9/2012 - Valachie Quagliata contacted us as a possible relative.  He's from Papua, New Guinea.  Both his parents passed away when he was a child.  We don't have much information to go on.  Hopefully someone will contact us with more information.

* 7/3/2012 - Got and email from Kathy Quagliata of the Lyons/Rochester branch.  They're having their annual family reunion July 29th at Seneca Lake Shelter #1.  It is $5.00 per person and children 12 and under are free.  They will have two meals 12 noon and 4 PM.

* 4/30/2012 - Valentina Quagliata sent a email to us in Spanish.  It appears to be from somewhere in South America.  I'm working on this to see if we are related.

* 2/3/2012 - Shelia Perino sent word or her continued work on the Castellammare lineages.  The progress is slow as she works around missing films, films that are mislabeled, no indexes, and the like.

* 1/3/2012 - Grandpa Mario's Pepper's are as popular as ever.  Still getting requests for seeds this year.  Leon Deprest from Albuquerque, New Mexico asked for some.  He's originally from Elmwood Park just north of Melrose Park.  Enjoy Leon.

* 1/3/2012 - Happy New Year!  2011 was another great year and we celebrated 10 years online.  We still received some good contributions and our website continues to grow.  A special thanks to Sheila Perino Sapienza for the contributions she has made working on the Castellammare lineages.  And thanks to all our contributors.

* 12/14/2011 - Shelia sent in the final 2011 additions/corrections to the lineages she is currently working with.  She's has such a wealth of information that we've decided to create a separate page for the Castellammare lineages.  Stay tuned - that's coming in 2012.

* 11/10/2011 - Rob McKeon emailed in a correction for Richard's Chart in the lineage of Caterina Quagliata (1894-1979).  Thanks Rob.

* 10/5/2011 - Shelia's research is really bringing in some great information for our genealogy listings, but she also emailed us this interesting bit: "In all the name clutter I forget to mention something interesting.  There is considerable art talent in my family and in the branches of my Ancona/DiBona cousins who are all descendants of Rosalia Quagliata.  My father was a painter and a wood carver with a BA and MA in art.  My grandfather was a painter and there are painters, woodcarvers, designers, photographers etc. throughout our families.  Much more of these occupations than one would expect by chance alone."  I agree.

* 9/5/2011 - Earlier this year I got an email Joe Zammuto asking for Grandpa Mario's pepper seeds.  Joe's maternal grandfather was born about 30 miles from grandpa Mario.  Mario was born in Termini Imerese, Sicily, and Joe's grandfather was born in San Guisseppe.  Joe's paternal grandfather Zammuto was born in Aragona, Sicily, maybe a hundred miles away.  I sent him some seeds and at the end of the growing season Joe emailed to say: "Once again, thank you for the seeds.100% germination, all grew great in my garden and my family and I love them.  They are wonderful.  Great raw, grilled or with eggs.  Saving seeds now.  I let them dry about 2 weeks before storing.  Your Grandfather's name comes up many times as we enjoy them."  Thanks Joe, that's nice to hear.

* 8/9/2011 - Shelia and I have been exchanging emails as she continues to research the Castellammare Quagliatas.  Great news:  She has just checked some of St. Anthony di Padova's records for male Quagliata marriages.  Shelia is beginning to work out the ancestry of Castellammare lines and may be able to tie them all together.

* 7/5/2011 - I got an email from Sheila Sapienza.  She is distantly related to Quagliattas from Castellammare del Golfo.  She was there doing family research recently and also has access to Catholic Church records through her local LDS family history center.  She generously offered to share her research with us which goes back to the early 1700s.  You can see her contributions here, five lineages are listed.  Many thanks to Sheila for sharing her excellent research.

* 5/27/2011 - Daniel Ashkeboussi, the son of Christine (Quaglietta) Ashkeboussi, emailed wondering if we might be related.  Quaglietta is one of the spelling variations we've come across.  And curiously, there is a town named Quaglietta very near Balvano - the hometown of a the large Quagliata family in southern Italy.  He was hoping to obtain more information about his family name.

* 5/3/2011 - We got some emails for Trixie Rossier (a Quagliata relative) and her friend Andrea Zamora.  They contributed some information on one of our Quagliata branches and were also looking for help locating a family member who also contributed.  Hopefully they will find the information I provide helpful in their search.

* 4/9/2011 - We got an email from Steven Lynchard.  His great great grandfather is Antonio (Anthony) Quagliata (1882-1975), who was born in Castellammare Del Golfo, Sicily.  Steven sent in a genealogical listing to update his branch.  Thanks Steven!

* 3/15/2011 - Gino Cassaniti of the Syndey, Australia Quagliata family, emailed us.  Gino, the grandson of Concetta Qugaliata, emailed in some updates and corrections for his branch on Richard's Chart.  Thanks Gino!

* 2/10/2011 - A note to let everyone know this is our 10th year online with the Quagliata Genealogy Project - 2001 to 2011.  We've had thousands of visitors over the years and many contributors.  I've made up a special little icon out of the Quagliata Coat of Arms to celebrate the occasion - shown on the right and the main page.  Thanks to all !

* 2/7/2011 - Valerie Colavito Cooper emailed to say: "I just finished reading 'The Joy of Growing Up Italian American'.  Wow, I thought I was reading about my life.  I brought back a lot of memories.  Great Article. Thanks."  Glad you enjoyed it!

* 1/10/2011 - We got some email from Jeff M which said in part: "I used some information from your website for a school project.  Of course I cited everything.  I thought your site was great.  Your Italian American History page was great.  There was a lot of information on there that I didn't know.  My family came here  from Sicily (I'm not sure what part) and bought a farm in Pennsylvania.  The other side of the family worked on the railroad."

* 1/1/2011 - Happy New Year!  2010 was a bit slow, but we still received some good contributions and our website continues to grow.  Thanks to all our contributors.

* 12/18/2010 - Francesca (Quagliata) Panuccio emailed to say her aunty Santa (Quagliata) Currenti, went to Sicily a few months back.  Francesca asked her to check on births, marriages and deaths records while she was there. Santa found some information that included the names of Giuseppe Quagliata's (1858-1939) parents - Cirino Quiagliata and Concetta Cassiniti.  There's a slight discrepancy in the dates, so we're waiting for everyone to have a chance to put their thoughts in on this discovery.

* 10/13/2010 - We got an email from Paul Russo.  He's not related to the Quagliata family, but came across our website and very much enjoyed it.  He emailed to say he found the article on the origin of the Quagliata surname very interesting, and commented: "I was particularly interested on the paragraph discussing the making of  the semi-soft "Quagliata" cheese, and the association of this word to your surname. I was born in Francofonte, Sicily, a very small hill-top town in the province of Siracusa, but geographically much closer to Catania (Francofonte is mentioned two times in the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana"). I can confirm to you that as a young boy in the early 1950's, 'quagghiata' was a very common food item in Francofonte, especially in the winter, and was always made from goat milk. Cows' milk did not exist in those parts of Sicily."  Thanks Paul!

* 5/13/2010 - Francesca (Quagliata) Panuccio, one of our long time contributors, emailed additional genealogy listings and a very nice photo of  Giuseppe Quagliata and his wife, Santa Cardillo.  Thanks again Francesca!

* 3/16/2010 - Vera Guagliata Fariello emailed some information for her branch of the family.  Vera is the second Guagliata we've heard from in the last several months.

* 3/5/2010 - Long time contributor Joanne Curro emailed in a updated.  Joanne mention she hasn't been well.  We hope she recovers soon.

* 3/3/2010 - Terry Schiazza emailed some updates.  Terry's great grandmother is Anna Quagliata born in Pettorano Sul Gizio, Italy.

* 1/4/2010 - Our contributor Stéphane Quagliata, from Lyon, France, sent in some great photos and letters for his family narrative.  It will take me a while to work some of the photos into the website.  Thanks Stéphane!

* 1/2/2010 - Happy New Year!  2009 was an exciting year for our website.  Once again, our long time contributor, Vittorio Quagliata came up with some great discoveries.  My favorite was the old woodcut engraving of Giovan Battista Quagliata (1603-1673).

* 12/18/2009 - Anthony Palmisano emailed in some information.  His great grandmother was Frances Cecela Guagliata and was from Termini Imerese, Sicily.  She came to America in 1903 with her husband Giuseppe Palmisano.

* 10/15/2009 - Stuart Pollack emailed to comment on our website's article on Melrose peppers.  His email is typical of the several emails I get every year about Melrose peppers and the variety Grandpa Mario's created.  Stuart wrote, in part: "You've collected by far the best information on its history that I've been able to find, and I am greatly appreciative that you shared it on your website.  Your Grandpa Mario's pepper also sounds wonderful. Do you have seeds available for others, or plants in the spring?"

* 9/16/2009 - Francesca (Quagliata) Panuccio continues to work on her branch.  She's contributed many updates and some great photos.  Thanks Francesca!

* 8/16/2009 - Elaine Pagano Sloan emailed some updates.  Her father was Joseph Frank Pagano, son of Concetta Quagliata Pagano.  Turns out she's related to Mike Pagano.

* 7/10/2009 - Frank Quagliata and Alexandra Quagliata visited Italy. When in Sicily, they visited Piedmonte Etno and tried to look for the death certificate of Salvatore Quagliata.  Three Salvatore listings, all died before 5 years.  They now think he died in Rendazzo.  Every little bit helps.

* 7/9/2009 - Another of our contributors, Leonardo Quagliata, emailed in some updates for his branch of the family tree.  Thanks Leonardo!

* 7/6/2009 - Susan Brunasso emailed a wedding photo for Vincenzo Quagliata Galier and Giuseppa Ferlito taken in Sicily in April 1920.  Also the life story of Vincenzo in his own words.  I'm going to try to get this up on the website. Thanks Susan!

* 6/6/2009 - Our long time contributor, Vittorio Quagliata emailed some exciting news.  In his research, he came across an engraving of Giovan Battista Quagliata (1603-1673) - a small version can be seen on the right.  Vittorio also sent in some other interesting information, all of which I will be working into the website.  Thanks Vittorio!

* 5/19/2009 - Francesca Panuccio emailed in a nice narrative of her branch's history, as well as a fantastic photo of Carmelo Quagliata (1884-1956) and Camela (Rinaudo) Quagliata (1886-1955).  I'll be working on integrating the contributions into the website soon.  Thanks Francesca!

* 5/14/2009 - Susan Brunasso emailed us to contribute some research she did on the Quagliata family.  She's related in a round-about way: her brother-in-law, Vincent Cesare is the great grandson of Pietro Quagliata (1870-19??).  This line changed their last name to Galier.  Vincent also contributed a genealogical listing and some family history.  Many thanks.

* 4/16/2009 - Long time contributor Rita Quagliata emailed in updates for the Ayr Queensland, Australia family.  Thanks Rita!

* 3/31/2009 - Our contributor Francesca Panuccio emailed in updates for the Sydney, Australia Quagliata family.  Thanks Francesca!

* 3/3/2009 - Martin Fernandez Quagliata of Montevideo, Uruguay, discovered our website and emailed in his complements.  Martin also provided us with a nice genealogical listing of his branch of the family. Thanks Martin!

* 2/26/2009 - We got an email from David Ross, writing into to compliment our website.  He found the story on Grandpa Mario's Peppers very interesting.  He wondered where he could buy seeds or plants.  Since my harvest from last year provided a lot of seeds, I sent him a few.  Needless to say, David was very happy.

* 1/18/2009 - One of our contributors from the Sydney, AUS, Quagliata family - Francesca [Quaglaita] Panuccio emailed a nice update to her branch of the family as well as a photo we're planning to work in to the narrative on the main page. Thanks Francesca!

* 1/1/2009 - Happy New Year!  2008 saw another year of growth for our website as contributions continued to come in and our Contributors list grew even larger.  We updated the sub page: The Coat of Arms of Giovan Battista Quagliata, as well as our Ancient Quagliata Lineage chart and the Quagliata Origins chart.  Thanks to all who have emailed and a special thanks to our contributors.

* 12/28/2008 - Alfio Quagliata of Terme Vigliatore, Sicily, emailed to say how much he enjoyed our website and how much he learned from it.  He also contributed some family history and a genealogical listing.  This is also a first for our website: Our website has been up since 2001 and Alfio is the first person from Sicily who contacted us over the internet.  Many thanks to Alfio for taking the time to email us!

* 11/30/2008 - We got an email from Francesca [Quagliata] Panuccio of the Sydney, Australia Quagliata family.  Francesca sent a large update with much new information on the Sydney branch.  Thanks Francesca!

* 11/16/2008 - Today I posted a lengthy update to the sub page: The Coat of Arms of Giovan Battista Quagliata.  The page now covers four related topics: the Quagliata Coat of Arms, the history and facts surrounding the origin of the Quagliata Coat of Arms, our hypothesis concerning the origin of the Quagliata Coat of Arms (probably in the 13th or 14th centuries) and a section on the heraldry, symbols and rank displayed in the Quagliata Coat of Arms.  The newly updated page contains a wealth of information and provides interesting reading.

* 11/10/2008 - We received a very nice email from Domenic Petti.  He visited our website and really enjoyed it.  Here's what he had to say, "I stumbled across your website.  I started reading and could not stop till I read every word.  What an enormous amount of work went into this, well done!  Thank you for sharing and God bless!"  It's very satisfying to know that those outside the family can also enjoy our web site.  It's praise and appreciation to all those who have contributed over the years.  Thank you Domenic!

* 10/26/2008 - There's been quite a bit of activity and work on the Caltanissetta family branch of the Quagliata tree.  We have been exchanging email and information with Vittorio Quagliata and Salvatore Corso.  We also informed Stéphane Quagliata of our conclusions that his family is part of the Caltanissetta Quagliata branch.  Stéphane has emailed back to say, "I'm waiting for more information, photographs and documents about the family from my aunt, who 's researching our genealogy.  I hope to have the resulting information soon."  Thanks to our contributors: Vittorio, Salvatore and Stéphane for their efforts in gathering information on the Caltanissetta Quagliata branch.

* 10/15/2008 - Vittorio Quagliata of Rome emailed his thanks for putting him in contact with his second cousin Salvatore Corso.  He also said he might be related to Stéphane Quagliata of Lyon, France.  Stéphane's grandfather was named Agostino Quagliata.  Vittorio's grandfather had an older brother named Agostino Quagliata (born about 1878?) who went to Morocco at the end of the 1800s.  The family lost track of him.  Now, it appears to Vittorio that Stéphane's grandfather might be from the Caltanissetta family.  After years of research, I can say the name "Agostino Quagliata" is very unusual, so this is very possible.

* 10/14/2008 - Salvatore Corso of Rome emailed.  His grandmother is Laura Quagliata, daughter of Giuseppe Quagliata (1840?-1920?) fram Caltanissetta, Sicily.  This makes Salvatore a second cousin of our long-time contributor Vittorio Quagliata of Milan.  Of course, we put them in touch with each other.  Salvatore contributed updates to Richard's Chart and some interesting family history:  Salvatore's grandmother, Laura Quagliata married Salvatore Corso and they had 21 children - quite a number, even in those days.  Salvatore's father was the 20th child born.  Salvatore also said he discovered information that indicates Giuseppe Quagliata's (1840?-1920?) family my have originated in Venice.  This is very interesting as we have suspected that the Quagliata coat of arms my have been originally given to a Quagliata from central or northern Italy (based on the Ghibellini's castles displayed on the coat of arms).  Many thanks to Salvatore.

* 9/8/2008 - I had a lot of stuff going on in the spring, followed by more projects and vacation time in the summer.  The upshot is I had several emails that got backlogged.  Over the last couple of days I've managed to get all the website's backlogged email answered.  Hopefully we're back to staying on top of things.

* 9/1/2008 - Andrew Hoover emailed a request for help with his family's connections to our tree - his wife's great grandfather was Pasquale Quagliata.  We hooked him up with our contributor, Donna Schiazza, who has good knowledge of Pasquale Quagliata's descendants.  It turned out that Donna and Andrew's wife are related.

* 7/28/2008 - We got an email from Agustina Quagliata or Argentina. Her grandfather, Pascual Quagliata was born in Balvano and moved to Argentina in 1906 and we already have a listing for her family.  Agustina contributed more genealogical listings.  Thanks Agustina.

* 7/27/2008 - Stéphane Quagliata of Lyon, France emailed a contribution that included a genealogical listing, family history information and a photo.  Stéphane is the only son of Agostino Quagliata born in Casablanca, Morocco in 1944.  Stéphane's grandfather, Gaspard Gabriel Quagliata, was born in September 1909 in Tunis, Tunisia.  He died in 1966 in Agadir, Marocco.  Stéphane included a photo of the Agadir harbor in which you can see a sign for Gaspard Quagliata's wrought iron enterprise which ran from 1950-1960.  The information has been added to Richard's Chart, and the photo will be added to the narrative section soon.

* 7/11/2008 - Angie Atkin from Australia emailed us for some help deciphering her family crest.  Her family name is Cuccomarino and they're from Serrata (Reggio Calabria), Italy.  Their family crest if very similar to ours.  Through a series of emails and information, we were able to glean some information from the crests.  I will be updating the website with the information in the near future.

* 6/15/2008 - We got an email from Valeria Quagliata, a member of the Naples Quagliata family.  She sent in some more genealogical listings for her branch.  Thanks Valeria.

* 5/12/2008 - Tony Spera emailed to say: "I came across your webpage about your grandfather in my search for information on Melrose peppers.  A really fascinating story, especially the fig tree."  He was having trouble germinating his homemade pepper seeds.  We sent him instructions on how to do it properly as wells as some seeds for Grandpa Mario's peppers..

* 4/3/2008 - Karen Busca, mother of Mike Pagano (one of our contributors) emailed a request for some help researching the pedigree of Stellario 'Frank' Quagliata  1885-1959.  We provided some information and sources that helped solve her problem.  She also promised some additional info concerning Concetta Quagliata Pagano (b.1891).

* 3/8/2008 - My brother's wife asked me for help: she was having a jeweler make a signet ring with the Quagliata coat of arms on it for my brother's Christmas gift.  I helped out with a good image and description, and then ordered one for myself.  The finished ring turned out well.  Click here for a couple of pictures so you can have a look.

* 1/10/2008 - We got an email from Zina Cavallo of Brisbane, Australia.  Her maiden name was Quagliata and her father immigrated from Calatabliano, Sicily about 40 years ago.  She is interested in contributing to our project and is working on gathering information.  We're looking forward to hearing back from her.

* 1/5/2008 - Happy New Year!  2007 was yet another big year for our website.  Once again many visitors emailed us information causing our Contributors list to grow.  Richard's Chart is now over 50 pages long.  Our most important discovery since we've been working on the project occurred in 2007 - Vittorio Quagliata, of the Caltanissetta (Sicily) family, came across Iana Quagliata's booklet on the life of Giovan Battista Quagliata (1603-1673).  The information contributed by Iana on the famous artist helped link up the Sicilian and mainland Quagliata lineages, as well as providing us with an illustration of the Quagliata family coat of arms.  Thanks to all who have emailed and a special thanks to our contributors.

* 12/25/2007 - Merry Christmas to all.  We hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!

* 11/25/2007 - The last couple of months have been pretty slow.  Just a few emails - family members keeping in touch, but no new information. 

* 9/27/2007 - Chris LaVilla of the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family come across the passport of Angelo Quagliata (1886-1932) and sent us a scan of it. Thanks to Chris and we hope to see her at the reunion next year.

* 8/13/2007 - We heard from Gilles Guagliata over the weekend. He emailed to share some discoveries he's made in his family research. He found a Francesco Guagliata (G on Civil registration, Quagliata on baptism registration) born 1832 in Palermo, and married to Maria Casimo. Francesco's father, Vincenzo was born 1792 or 1793 and married to Giuseppa Lo Monaco. Then he found five other children of Vincenzo: Gaspare 1826, Fernandino 1836, Carmela 1838, Rosalia 1841 and another Fernandino 1844. He's trying to find more about Vincenzo. Gilles says Vincenzo lived in Palermo and was tailor. He's going to continue his research on some church registrations he found between 1491 and 1825 in Palermo. Good luck to you Gilles.

* 7/27/2007 - My wife and I (Mike and Sue Quagliata) attended the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family's annual family reunion.  It was held on Sunday July 15, 2007; at Fair Haven Beach State Park in New York.  My father (Joseph Quagliata b. 1930) also attended with his friend Joan Gooley.  The weather was perfect, the food was great and it was a lot of fun to visit with everyone.  On the way back home to Michigan, we stopped in Cleveland to visit with John and Carl Quagliata.  They treated us to dinner and we had a great time talking about family, Sant'Alessio, Forza D'Agro and telling stories.  We also stopped in to visit John and Carl's brother Alfred and met his wife Kathy and two children Natalie and Anthony.  We were very happy to be able to see everyone.

* 6/17/2007 - I finally have the new information integrated into the website - for the most part.  I'm still trying to figure out how I want to integrate the information into Richard's Chart.  The Home page has a bunch of new material on it and there are a couple of new pages. One has some of Giovan Battista Quagliata's paintings displayed, and the other is an information page on Giovan Battista Quagliata's Coat of Arms.  I'm still tweaking things out and working on a solution for Richard's Chart, but for now, there's plenty of new information to enjoy.

* 5/10/2007 - MAJOR ANNOUCEMENT: Vittorio Quagliata, of the Caltanissetta (Sicily) family, and one of our biggest contributors, has sent some fantastic news.  While researching the family, Vittorio came across a booklet on the life of Giovan Battista Quagliata (1603-1673).  The booklet reported that Giovan Battista's father Giovan Domenico Quagliata was from Rome.  Giovan Battista eventually became a famous artist, working in Messina.  The viceroy of Sicily, Don Juan José of Austria, granted Giovan Battista a noble title, a coat of arms, and lands in the countryside area of Forza d’Agrò, between the city and the sea, where later developed the new city of Sant’Alessio Siculo, from where most of Giovan Battista Quagliata's descendants come.  The booklet was written by Professor Iana Quagliata for her degree essay.  She lives in Monza, in the Milan area, and generously sent Vittorio three copies of her book.  So, it now appears certain all the Quagliatas from Sant'Alessio and Forza are related back through Giovan Battista.  It is also is very certain that the Quagliatas from the north side of Mt. Etna (Piedimonte Etneo and Fiumefreddo) are also related in this way.  It's possible the rest of the Quagliata families in Sicily are related back to Sant'Alessio and Giovan Battista, just as the old stories about 'the little town south of Messina' have always said.  Furthermore, since Giovan Battista Quagliata's father was from Rome, it is highly likely he was a member of the Balvano family group, which would tie the two Quagliata lineages - one from the mainland (Balvano) and one from Sicily (Sant'Alessio) - together.  You can see why this is such an important find.  I'm currently working on integrating this information into the website.  Once again, many thanks go to Iana Quagliata for her research and contributions, and to Vittorio Quagliata for his continued research and contributions to our project.

* 4/14/2007 - We got email from another Guagliata.  This time, Jennifer Guagliata.  We've previously had email from Gilles Guagliata, Henry [Guagliata] Sprance, and Justin Guagliata.  Jennifer wondered about whether we might be related.  We are fairly sure that Guagliata and Quagliata are variants of the same surname. We recently did some research on the origin of the Quagliata surname and its variations. We came to the conclusion that it originated as a occupational name, like Baker or Cook, and is related to the production of a traditional cheese called 'Quagliata'.  The Sicilian version of the word is 'Guagghiata'. The surname most likely was originally used for people who made the cheese - like people who made bread where surnamed Baker. Early on, changes in spelling frequently occurred between father and son. Also, surnames often underwent changes over the course of time and different dialects could produce a variety of different spellings and pronunciations.

* 3/26/2007 - Filomena Di Stasio emailed in a contribution for her family.  Her great grandfather was Gerardo Quagliata, born in Balvano, Italy.  Balvano is home to a large Quagliata family.  It turns out that Filomena's branch is connected to Antonio Quagliata's, another contributor to our project.  They are second cousins.  Currently we have four lines that trace back to Balvano.  We fairly sure they are all related, but we haven't made any direct ties yet.  Thanks to Filomena for her contribution.

* 3/18/2007 - Carlo Ippoliti emailed in a genealogical listing of his family.  Carlo's paternal grandmother was Carmela Quagliata, making him a relative of the Sant'Alessio Quagliatas.  Also, Carmela's father, Francesco Quagliata, was probably from Forza D'Agro, Sicily. Since our main tree is from Forza, Francesco was most likely related to Mario Quagliata (1840?-19??), but at this time, we don't know the nature of the relationship.  Thanks to Carlo for his contribution.

* 2/24/2007 - We'd like everyone to know that the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family is having their "32nd Annual Quagliata Family Reunion" on Sunday July 15, 2007; at Fair Haven Beach State Park of New York.  The park is located on Lake Ontario, southwest of Oswego, New York, on Rte 104A, 2 miles north of Fair Haven (map here).  There are some accommodations close by Fair Haven.  Rochester International Airport is located in nearby Rochester, NY (driving directions from Rochester to Fair Haven), accommodations in Rochester.  Syracuse Hancock International Airport is located in nearby Syracuse, NY (driving directions from Syracuse to Fair Haven), accommodations in Syracuse.  We're looking forward to seeing everyone there.

* 2/3/2007 - January was pretty slow.  Just a few emails - family members keeping in touch, but no new information.  Sue and I are getting ready to visit my father in Florida.  We leave on the 10th and can't wait as the winter here in Michigan has been brutally cold for the last three weeks.

* 1/4/2007 - Happy New Year!  2006 was another big year for our website.  Once again many visitors emailed us information causing our Contributors list to grow.  Richard's Chart is now 49 pages long.  We also added a new page on the origin of the Quagliata name, as well as a Site Map.  Thanks to all who have emailed and a special thanks to our contributors.

* 12/30/2006 - We've got the new website map up and running.  It will make navigating the website much easier.  We'd also like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

* 12/9/2006 - Our best wishes to everyone for a joyous holiday season.  We're working on a new feature for the website - a site map.  We might have a working version up before the end of the year.  Happy Holidays and Buon Natale!

* 11/20/2006 - Katherine Ippoliti emailed to say her paternal grandmother's maiden name was Carmela Quagliata.  Katherine was looking for help in tracing her genealogy.  Carmela's father was named Francesco Quagliata. Checking the Ellis Island site we found out Francesco was from Forza D'Agro, Sicily.  Hey, that's our home town!  Sure enough we had a marriage record with Francesco's parents on it to get Katherine off to a good start.  We now have that line listed on Richards' Chart.

* 11/18/2006 - I've added another section to the page about the origin of the Quagliata name.  The new section covers the history of the Quagliata surname.  Check it out here.  I've also added a small page on Mario Quagliata's (1907-1995) pigeons.  It's an interesting article about his championship pigeon racing.  Check it out here.

* 11/7/2006 - We've added another page to The Quagliata Family Genealogy Project website.  The new page is about the origin of the Quagliata name.  We polled a number of family members from around the world to confirm our findings and there are a number of links to Italian websites.  Check it out here.

* 10/20/2006 - Nina (Quagliata) Puccio emailed some family information and photos.  She is a member of the NYC/Castellammare Quagliata family.  Nina has been working with us to expand her family listing with a large update of her branch.  She has also contributed some fantastic photos which we have used in her family narrative.  Many thanks to Nina for her help and contributions to the project.

* 10/9/2006 - We've added another page to The Quagliata Family Genealogy Project website.  The new page is about my grandfather Mario Quagliata's (1907-1995) peppers.  He was avid vegetable gardener and developed his own strain of sweet green frying peppers.  You can check out the new page here.

* 10/6/2006 - Christine LaVilla emailed a large update to Richard's Chart.  Chris is the great great great granddaughter of Mario Quagliata 1840?-19??) through Mario's first marriage.  She is part of the large Rochester/Lyons Quagliata family.  Her grandmother is Jane [Quagliata] Cacciola.  Thanks to Chris for all her help.

* 9/22/2006 - An email came in from Uruguay sent by Mariana - no last name given.  She said her great-grandmother was Maria Carmela Quagliata - she was the daughter of Antonio and Lucia Quagliata. Maria was born in Balvano in 1873. She and a brother named Giuseppe Quagliata emigrated to Uruguay from Balvano, Italy.  The names here look like the might belong to Luciano Quagliata's branch (he's in Argentina), also from Balvano.  So I've sent Luciano the information and he is checking to see if there is a relation.

* 9/10/2006 - We got an email from Natalie Quagliata of Cologne, Germany.  She sent in an update that joined two separate listings on Richard's Chart.  Originally, Umberto Quagliata of Piacenza, Italy contributed a listing, and then sometime later Natalie contributed a listing.  Both listed Napoli, Italy as the origin of their lineages, but until now, we hadn't confirmed they were related.  Turns out that Umberto is Natalie's uncle.  Thanks to Natalie and Umberto for their contributions.

* 8/19/2006 - An email came in from Don Smedley.  His wife, Connie Pagano Smedley, is the daughter of Joseph Frank Pagano who is listed on Richard's Chart in the listing contributed by Mike Pagano.  Joseph was the brother of Mike's grandfather, Dominic Pagano.  So Mike's father, Gerald, and Connie are first cousins.  Don and Connie wanted to get in touch with Mike and share family genealogy information.  We hooked them up.

* 7/24/2006 - My father, Joseph Quagliata and his brother, Edward Quagliata attended the Lyons/Rochester family's "31st Annual Quagliata Family Reunion" on Sunday July 23.  They had gorgeous weather and a great time.  On Saturday, David Quagliata, of the Lyons/Rochester family, took them out to visit the old family farm in Zurich, New York.  My dad's group really enjoyed the visit.

* 7/23/2006 - We got an email from Justin Guagliata. He is researching his family genealogy and noticed "The Quagliata Family Genealogy Project" had been contacted by Henry [Guagliata] Sprance and Giles Guagliata and asked for help getting in touch with them.  We've provided Justin with contact information.  Justin said Henry Sprance is a descendant of Ernesto Guagliata, Justin's great grandfather.

* 7/22/2006 - We'd like everyone to know that the Quagliata family in Ayr, Queensland, Australia is having their "1st Quagliata Family Reunion" on Saturday May 5, 2007.  Further information such as accommodation, venue, directions etc will be made available at a later date.  However for anyone who is interested in attending, we currently require an estimate of numbers for venue and carting arrangements.  We will require names, how many attending from their family and where they're from.  Overseas families can arrange fights to Sydney International Airport and then to Townsville Airport.  We're looking forward to seeing everyone here for our 1st Reunion and hopefully one of many.

* 7/10/2006 - Italy wins the World Cup scoring a 5-3 win on penalties over France.

* 6/28/2006 - We'd like everyone to know that the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family is having their "31st Annual Quagliata Family Reunion" on Sunday July 23, 2006; at Fair Haven Beach State Park of New York.  The park is located on Lake Ontario, southwest of Oswego, New York, on Rte 104A, 2 miles north of Fair Haven (map here).  There are some accommodations close by Fair Haven.  Rochester International Airport is located in nearby Rochester, NY (driving directions from Rochester to Fair Haven), accommodations in Rochester.  Syracuse Hancock International Airport is located in nearby Syracuse, NY (driving directions from Syracuse to Fair Haven), accommodations in Syracuse.  We're looking forward to seeing everyone there.

* 5/24/2006 - Thanks to the research of John Quagliata of the Cleveland family, we got a major break through on Mario Quagliata's (1843-19??) lineage.  John has found Mario's parents - Carmelo Quagliata and Rosa Pagano.  Mario was born May, 20, 1843 in Forza D'Argo, Sicily (we had long suspected that Mario was from the north side of Mt Etna).  We have no additional information on Mario's first marriage, but John found Mario's second marriage and birth documentation of more children.  Mario married Maria Cristina Barcellona July 5, 1875 in Catenanuova, Sicily, on the southwest side of Mt Etna.  The marriage document says Mario was a stonecutter.  This is probably the reason for his wide ranging travels in Sicily - he had to keep moving to the site of new work on large churches or public buildings.  We now have documentation for eight children: Rosa (1872-1874), Carmelo (1874-1881), Pietro (1876-19??), Giovanni (1878-1945), Rosa (1881-19??), Carmelo (1883-19??), Giuseppe (1885-1971) and Angelo (1887-19??).  Thank you John Q!

* 5/17/2006 - We got an email from Antonio Quagliata of Rome which is posted in the 'Recent Emails' below.  His family is from Balvano, Italy.  That's the fourth family we have from Balvano.  In three of the families, the name of the family patriarch is Antonio, strongly suggesting they are related.  If anyone has more information on the Balvano families, please send it in.

* 4/22/2006 - We've had some interesting developments regarding the birth places of the children Mario Quagliata's (1843-19??) second marriage - to Maria Barcellona (Pietro, Giovanni, Angelo, Giuseppe and possibly eight others).  We now know at least some of the children were born in Catenanuova, Sicily.  Catenanuova is on the southwest side of Mt Etna about 20 miles west of Catania.  It's also on a rail line that can be taken to Termini through central Sicily.  We now have documentation that shows both Pietro (1876-19??) and Giovanni (1878-1945) were born in Catenanuova.  Angelo's (18??-19??) marriage certificate gives his place of birth as Catania.  After confirming where Pietro and Giovanni were born, it seems possible that the information on Angelo's marriage certificate is slightly mistaken and that he might also have been born in the town Catenanuova, in the Province of Catania.  We're now trying to determine where Giuseppe (1885-1971) was born.  If it turns out Giuseppe was born in Catenanuova, that means the children were most likely all born there and the family was living there from roughly 1875 to 1885.  It follows that possibly Mario (1843-19??) might have been born in or around Catenanuova.  Thanks go to Richard Quagliata (St. Louis family), Michael Quagliata (Chicago family) and John Quagliata (Cleveland family) for their work on this lineage.

* 4/4/2006 - After seeing reports in the United States about Cyclone Larry, the terrible storm that hit Australia March 22, I emailed a few of the Quagliata family members there in hope of finding everyone was okay.  Thankfully, after hearing back from everyone I email, I'm happy to report, as far as we know, no family members were injured.  However, there was plenty of damage.  Here's a snip from Sara [Quagliata] Hughes' reply:  "Cyclone Larry was 290 km in wind speed and 150 km across.  It has shredded the town of Innisfail in the centre of the eye of the cyclone.  This is the town where the Paolo Quagliata (1898-1975, gen 3) lineage live.  We are some 65km away and we have suffered no structural house damage but environmental and crop damage etc. We had no electrical power for a week and out on our property we ran things like water and fridges on generator power.  Our town has suffered severe economic damage in its crops like tropical fruit, bananas, sugar cane and nuts.  There is already over 4,000 unemployed as a direct result of the crops being flattened.  There will be many more people unemployed because of course services spin off from the population.  The government has been good army, state emergency services, etc brought in from all over Australia.  The community mateship is unbelievably wonderful.  People have given of their time, skills and where it is possible money.  Australian company's have been generous. It has been estimated by our Premier of State that the effected area has sustained 1.5 billion dollars of  loss (immediate).  Really glad to hear from you.  Sara"

* 3/15/2006 - Congratulations to John Quagliata of the Cleveland family. After many hours of work/research, John has managed to tie together the three families from Sant'Alessio. You can check out the listing here.

* 3/4/2006 - A lot of information came into the website in February, much of it due to the dedicated work of John Quagliata of the Cleveland Quagliata family. John has been visiting the Mormon Church in Cleveland to get access to the birth, death and marriage records of Sant'Alessio Siculo. He's been using the records to help connect the three family lines we have coming out of Sant'Alessio - the Cleveland family, Louis/Narcissus Quagliata's family, and Roberto Quagliata's family. John has worked out Roberto's connection and is now working on the Louis/Narcissus family. It's hard work as John is going through old Sicilian records in Italian on a microfiche system. John is also working on Mike Pagano's Quagliata connection. It's interesting to check the last few recent emails to see how lineages can connect, sometimes through a seemingly unimportant bit of information. And our sincere thanks go to John Quagliata for his hard work and many contributions to our project.

* 2/4/2006 - Donna Schiazza emailed us another Quagliata lineage.  Donna's great grandmother's name was Anna Quagliata.  Her parents were Pasquale and Roselia Quagliata.  All three were born in Italy.  Anna married Vencenzo DiCocco and they immigrated to Stubenville, Ohio.  Donna is interested in acquiring more information on this Quagliata lineage.

* 1/28/2006 - I got an email from Mike Pagano a couple days ago.  Mike's great grandmother's name was Concetta Quagliata and Mike sent in a genealogical listing of his Quagliata branch.  The family settled in Connecticut and NYC, but were originally from Forza, D'Agro, Sicily, which is on the east coast just south of Sant'Alessio Siculo.  That's in the area north of Mt. Etna where quite a number of our relatives are from, so we're excited to have the new information Mike sent.  Family members are now spread out in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.  We've decided to dub this large family the NYC/Connecticut Quagliata family.  You can take a look at the listing here, on Richard's Chart, and read the narrative here.

* 1/28/2006 - Jeff Quagliata of the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family emailed to say he was heading to Italy on Monday (January 30) to work the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin for NBC.  He wondered if I could provide him with some Quagliata contacts in that area of Italy.  So I sent him information on Vittorio Quagliata, Louis Quagliata and Umberto Quagliata.  We're hoping to hear back from Jeff on his exciting trip.

* 1/23/2006 - Sarah Davies sent us some terrific news from Florida.  Her daughter, Elise Quagliata, got great reviews for her performance of the lead role of Carmen in the Pensacola Opera's presentation of "Carmen" (reviews can be found here and here).  Congratulations to Elise!

* 1/4/2006 - Happy New Year!  2005 was quite a year, our biggest one yet.  Many relatives and friends emailed in comments and information causing our Contributors list to grow.  Richard's Chart almost doubled in length and we finally added a page for family narratives from branches not directly related to Mario Quagliata (1843-19??) - More Quagliata Narratives.  Thanks to all who have emailed and a special thanks to our contributors.

* 12/24/2005 - We hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season.  Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

* 12/23/2005 - Angelo Quagliata of the Cleveland, OH family emailed us link to his website, AngeloQ.  His website contains some family information and scans.  Check him out.
 
* 12/22/2005 - Antony Quagliata (see below) got back to us with some family historical information and a genealogical listing.  Thanks Antony!

* 12/2/2005 - We got an email from Antony Quagliata who lives in Belgium.  Antony's father, Domenico Quagliata, was born in Balvano (Potenza in Italy) and for love immigrated to Belgium.  Antony has two sisters: Romina and Mélina Quagliata.  We hoping to get more details on Antony's family tree.

* 11/8/2005 - Our main man, Richard Quagliata, has been busy researching again.  Richard is in touch with a historian in Termini Imerese, Sicily who is currently doing some research on Richard's grandmother Agostina Restivo - she married Giovanni Quagliata, a son of Mario Quagliata's (1843-19??) second marriage.  While doing that job, the historian came across marriage certificates for two of Giovanni's brothers - Pietro and Angelo.  Pietro Quagliata married Michela Pusateri on August 25, 1902.  The document shows his parents as Mario Quagliata and Maria Barcellona.  The bride's parents were Antonino Pusateri and Francesca Schiavo.  There was a note saying Pietro was not born in Termini Imerese.  Angelo's marriage document shows the bride as Enrichetta Iacono.  They married on April 15, 1910 in Palermo.  It shows Angelo's parents as Mario Quagliata and Maria Barcellona.  The bride's parents were not listed.  It also said Angelo was born in Catania, Sicily.  Catania is on the east coast of Sicily southeast of Mt Etna. That fits in with Mario's (1843-19??) first marriage being in the Mt Etna area.  This is a great addition to our knowledge - now we know that after Mario remarried, he stayed in the Mt. Etna area for awhile.  Ever so slowly the picture becomes clearer.  Congrats to Richard and many thanks for his continued efforts.

* 11/7/2005 - John Quagliata of the Cleveland, OH family emailed.  John has been working on a detailed listing of his family members and has contributed it to the website.  John's work helped us to untangle some wrong conclusions and also helped to join up together three branches of the Quagliata family from Sant'Alessio.  A big thank you to John!

* 11/6/2005 - Henry Sprance, descendant of Ernest Guagliata, emailed.  He is the second Guagliata to contact us.  There's a news item posted 8/19 from Gilles Guagliata.  Both Henry and Gilles point to Palermo, Sicily as the home town of their respective families.  So, it looks like they might be related.  Also, as we outlined in the 8/19 item, the original spelling of Guagliata might have well been Quagliata.  Henry said, Ernest Guagliata emigrated to the US from Palermo, Sicily about 1915.  He had a brother living in Chicago named Vincent, a physician and another brother in Rockford, Ill. who was a pharmacist, Edward.  Henry's branch of the family settled in New York (Brooklyn) and Henry's grandfather entered the US through Ellis Island, and his name is on the wall of immigrants.  We've decided to add the Guagliata information to the website.  Hopefully, Henry can supply more information.  The update should be completed next week.  Thanks to Henry.

* 11/4/2005 - Rita Quagliata of the of the Ayr Australia family sent in news about the band her two sons are in.  The 4T0 news announced North Queensland talented band "A 14" are finalists in the Australia Wide Music Oz Awards.  The band will be featured at the Sydney event on December 1st.  Congrats to Christopher and Carmelo Quagliata, and the rest of the "A 14".  For more info on the band, click here.

* 11/3/2005 - Tuesday Adam Quagliata sent us an email.  He's from Phoenix, Arizona, but originally from Long Island, New York.  He was looking for some help in getting started on tracing his family tree.  His grandparents were from northern Italy, but have passed away.  I sent him some advice.  The best source of family information is the older people in the family. Those family members need to be interviewed, notes taken and photos copied or collected.  The reason is - once those family members pass away, the knowledge they had is no longer accessible.  Doing research in public records requires a starting point. So the knowledge of a home town or relatives' names can make the search much easier.  I told Adam if he knew the county where his grandfather died in NY, he could order a death certificate.  That document should include the date and place of birth, the father's name and mother's maiden name (his great grandparents).  Birth certificates and marriage certificates are also helpful.  So Adam is on his way and hopefully he will be reporting the results of his research back to us.

* 10/26/2005 - We got an email from Umberto Quagliata of Piacenza, Italy.  Umberto's family is originally from Napoli in southern Italy.  Welcome to the global Quagliata family Umberto!  You can check out his email below in the Recent Email section.

* 10/6/2005 - A couple days ago, Vittorio emailed a rescan of one of his photos - it turned out great.  In the meantime, I had been preparing a new page for the website titled, "More Quagliata Narratives."  The purpose of this page is to provide a place to post family information and narratives of lineages that have an unknown linkage to our main tree.  Everyone has been included and Vittorio is the first to provide photos for his narrative.  You can check out the new page here.

* 9/15/2005 - Sarah Hughes emailed from Tully, Australia. Her birth name was Rosaria Maria Quagliata.  She found our website by accident while looking for information on Piedimonte Etneo, Sicily.  Of course we've got Piedimonte listed on our website because it is the home town of two of our family branches.  We've requested additional information from Sara and are looking forward to her response.

* 9/12/2005 - Vittorio Quagliata emailed two photos. One of his great grandfather Giuseppe Quagliata with military medals and one with Giuseppe and his three sons: Vittorio (Vittorio's grandfather), Agatino (or Agostino) and Guglielmo.  I'm working on them and eventually will get them posted on the website.  Thanks again Vittorio!

* 8/19/2005 - We got an email from Gilles Guagliata who is researching his family genealogy.  This turned out to be quite an interesting exchange.  Gilles said he got back to 1860, and is trying to reach further back.  He wrote about the curious similarity in the spelling of our surnames.  Gilles says he sometimes "found bugs" between G and Q on old records and wondered if it was possible that a mistake in records made Quagliata into Guagliata.  I checked the Ellis Island website and found only 21 entries for Guagliata, while there were 66 entries for Quagliata.  Also, I noticed that many of the towns listed as the "Last Place of Residence" for Guagliata entries were towns I know to be home towns of Quagliata family members - Balvano, Linguaglosssa, Palermo and Termini (the home town of my family branch).  Considering the very close similarity of the names, and those numbers - 21 versus 66, I would guess that the names are the same and that possibly Quagliata was the original spelling (since there were 3 times as many references to Quagliata on the Ellis Island website).  Another piece of evidence can be seen at the Gens Labo website where you can search for Italian surnames.  When you enter Quagliata for the cognome (last name), you get returns from 78 different towns.  When you enter Guagliata for the cognome, you get returns from only 7 towns.  Most likely the original family name was Quagliata and at some point, not too far back in time, possibly around 1860, someone decided to spell it with a G instead of a Q. From that point, the Guagliata name has spread into 6 other towns from Palermo.  We're hoping to hear more from Gilles.

* 8/2/2005 - Our cousin and contributor, Vittorio Quagliata of Milan emailed a more detailed listing of his branch of the family tree.  We have updated Richard's Chart with the new information.  Thanks Vittorio!

* 7/19/2005 - I just returned from the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family's "30th Annual Quagliata Family Reunion".  It was held on Sunday July 17, 2005; at Fair Haven Beach State Park in New York.  Brenda Smith (a major contributor to this website), Rosemary Bowler and other members of the family did a terrific job organizing the reunion.  My wife (Susan) and I (Michael Quagliata), and my father (Joseph Quagliata b. 1930) are members of the Chicago Quagliata family, and we made the trip to attend.  We had a wonderful time.  It was great meeting all the Quagliata's from the Lyons/Rochester family.  We arrived about lunch time and stayed until after dinner.  There was all kinds of good food, dessert and drink.  My father was so happy to meet with relatives, he was talking with family the whole time he was there.  We could see our own family in a couple of the faces there and some Lyons/Rochester family members said my father looked very much like Pietro Quagliata.  I got to meet the family members who helped out so much in putting together the Lyons/Rochester information on our website - Linda [Quagliata] Kenny, Brenda Smith and Jennifer Quagliata - shown with me in the photo on the right (from left to right: Jennifer, Michael Quagliata, Linda and Brenda, click for a larger view.)  To view more photos and information about the 2005 reunion, click here.  Many thanks to all for a very special day.

* 7/19/2005 - I met Chris Parker (son of Barbara [Quagliata] and Ken Parker) at the NY Quagliata reunion.  I enjoyed meeting Chris, his wife Elizabeth, and their two children Lindsey and Emily.  Chris, a commander in the Navy, was on leave after being stationed near Kuwait.  Chris told me his cousin, Scott Quagliata (son of Bud Quagliata) is stationed in Iraq performing dangerous duty.  Our hopes and prayers are with Scott and his family for Scott's safe return home. 

* 6/30/2005 - At the end of May we got an email from Joanne Curro, a member of the Sydney, AUS Quagliata family.  She sent us more genealogical information on her branch of the family tree.  I've finally gotten the appropriate updates completed, including additions to the "Welcome" page and Richard's Chart.  Thanks to Joanne for her continuing work and contributions to our website!

* 6/14/2005 - Vittorio Quagliata of Milan, Italy emailed.  This is the Vittorio quoted in the "Welcome" section of the main webpage.  He said, "I'm working on a family chart with all the Quagliatas in Italy related to me. I assure you that I’ll send my family chart as soon as I’ll get to the bottom of it!  I’ve met Louis Quagliata of Milan, but I’m not related to him.  I am from Sicily - so was my father Francesco, my grandfather Vittorio and my great-grandfather Giuseppe, who fought with Garibaldi and won three medals.  I hope to be of any help with the construction of your wonderful site.  My best regards, Vittorio."  Vittorio also translated the Italian marriage certificate of Concetto Trovato and Antonina Quagliata.  Thanks again to Vittorio for his help and I can't wait to see his family chart.

* 5/20/2005 - Rita Quagliata of the Ayr Australia family wrote in to say "A 14", the band her two sons are in, played in a large rock concert in Ayr.  Congrats to Christopher and Carmelo Quagliata.  To check the details and photos, click here.

* 5/4/2005 - We got an email today from Antoinette Quagliata.  She is a member of the Long Island Quagliata family first brought to our attention by Carlo Quagliata.  Antoinette sent in a nice genealogical listing as well as some family history.

* 4/27/2005 - Jennifer Quagliata of the Rochester/Lyons Quagliata family sent in some corrections for her branch of Richard's chart.  Thanks Jennifer!

* 4/26/2005 - Today we got an email from Mary Trovato, who lives in Sydney, and is a member of the Ayr, AUS Quagliata family.  She sent in a large amount of updated information for her branch of Richard's Chart.  Thanks Mary for your continuing efforts!

* 4/13/2005 - Back on March, 31, we got an email from Mary Trovato, who lives in Sydney, and is a member of the Ayr, AUS Quagliata family.  She mentioned some members of her family met Luciano Quagliata of Argentina who was on holiday in Australia.  Luciano left his email address, so I was able to contact him.  Yesterday, I got an email from Luciano that included some family details.  We've updated Richard's Chart with the genealogical information Luciano sent and added Luciano's name to the Contributor's list.  Many thanks to Luciano for taking the time to provide us with his family information.

* 4/13/2005 - We did more rearranging of the website and extended the Quick Chart on Richard's Chart so it includes clickable links to the lineages of unknown linkage.

* 3/31/2005 - We got an email from Mary Trovato, who lives in Sydney, and is a member of the Ayr, AUS Quagliata family today. She sent in some updated information for her branch of Richard's Chart. Thanks Mary!

* 3/24/2005 - We did some rearranging of the website and added a "Contributors" page.  The new page contains a fairly complete list of family members who have contributed to the website.

* 3/8/2005 - Sam Quagliata emailed us a nicely detailed chart of the Sydney, AUS family. We updated Richard's Chart with the new information. Sam also took the time to send a couple photo scans of family members taken sometime in the 1940s. We cleaned them up and used them on the Narrative page. Thanks to Sam for all his work and contributions!

* 2/8/2005 - We got an email from Melchor Quagliata of New York, NY. His family is originally from Castellammare and came to New York after being in Argentina for a while. Melchor said, "My father was born in Argentina in the 1940's. My grandfather and I share the same name - Melchor Quagliata. I did not see that name on the list. My grandfather's parents came from Castellamare del Golfo, Sicily. My grandfather also married a woman named Antonina. There seems to be a genetic disposition on the part of Quagliatas to marry women named Antonina. It is also my sister's middle name. At the turn of the century [1900], the Quagliatas owned or worked on a large olive farm in Italy. My grandfather moved from Italy to Argentina and there I have a large family. My dad has a cousin in Argentina and I believe he has met some Quagliatas in Sicily who still live on that farm that has been passed down for generations." We are hoping to gather more information on this family as they are related, probably farther back than Mario Quagliata (1843-19??).

* 1/12/2005 - Coincidentally, with the item just below, Manuela Quagliata of Italy emailed us. Her brother is Leonardo Quagliata who is mentioned in the item below. She emailed to offer her help with the lineage from Castellammare. Also, she mentioned that next week, she would be in New York and then in Boston. She was hoping to meet me. Unfortunately, I can't. I live in Michigan. But, were going to try and hook her up with the New York City Quagliatas.

* 1/10/2005 - We got an email from Joseph Quagliata of Brooklyn, NY. Joseph sent in some interesting information that is helping us tie together some lineages of unknown linkage on Richard's Chart. After examining the information, we could see that his cousin, Joanne (Josephine Quagliata) Markopoulos had emailed us back in February of 2004. More possible lineages are related including ones sent in by Daniel Quagliata and Leonardo Quagliata. This is all very exciting and we're looking forward to working on this information.

* 1/6/2005 - Mary Trovato from Sydney, AUS sent in a big update for Richard's Chart along with a marriage certificate for Concetto Trovato and Antonina Quagliata and a couple of terrific photos, including a wonderful group photo of the Ayr, Australia Quagliata family c.1949. Photos and documents are always a great thing to have. Many thanks to Mary for the nice addition to our website.

* 1/1/2005 - Hello everyone.  And Happy New Year!  2004 was a great year for our website, as we've added many new branches and expanded some of our previously know branches.  I've decided to add this "News" and "Recent Email" feature to the website.  We've been online a little more than three years now and the pace of new incoming information has really accelerated.  So to help those interested, we're going to use this section as way to keep up with what's going on with the website, information acquisition, new contributors and family news.  Thanks to everyone who has emailed us.




 RECENT EMAIL

From Dominick Santoro - Possible relative
Date: October 22, 2012
Mike,  [Quagliata] That was my great grandmothers maiden name. She was from S. Alessio Siculo?  Forza D'agro and married a Puglisi...Nicola Puglisi. I would love to help you . .  get back to me. Dominick Santoro.

From Salvatore Corso - One of our contributors emailed some new and exciting information.
Date: October 18, 2012
Ciao Mike,  How are you? It’s been a long time since we e-mailed. I have some news for you! I received from my cousin Laura a copy of Giuseppe’s Quagliata’s family Coat of Arms [image here]. Unfortunately the copy is not in color. It confirms, as I had mentioned, that our branch of Quagliata originates from Padova, proved now by the inscription on the Blazon. Below the crest is the following inscription, I will try to translate:
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“[Quagliata] Ancient family of the Veneto Region, originating of the city of Padua, where it was aggregated since 1690 to the Board of Nobles of Padua, its ancestral nobility, was confirmed with sovereign resolution on 14 May 1828, as revealed by the Historical Blazon Dictionary of the Commander Giovan Battista Crollalanza”
.
Here’s the story of how the Corso’s got it:  My uncle, Vittorio Corso (Laura’s father), started a search on the Corso genealogy in the mid ’50 early ‘60ies, due the fact that his father had the title of Barone di Gisira , and of course, was wealthy enough, as this was, and still is, a very expensive hobby. Vittorio’s grandfather (your contributor, and my cousin in Milan), got news of it, and asked all the Quagliata’s to help with the research, but no one was interested in spending time nor money in the search (considering the post war times). He wanted to preserve the Coat of Arms, and again no one was interested in keeping it for the future generations. So at the end, he presented it to my uncle Vittorio, knowing he would take care of it. Ever since, It has been hanging on the wall, next to the Corso’s Coat of Arms, for almost 60 years! Now, I guess that this proves that we are not of the same Tree, but have the same surname…
PS: I’ve enclosed a newspaper article [PDF here], that appeared on “La Sicilia” from March 6, 2011 on which the Quagliata site is mentioned.
Salvatore

From Leon Deprest - Leon asked for some of Grandpa Mario's Peppers seeds. I sent him some.
Date: January 3, 2012
Hi Mike:  Yes, I am from Elmwood Park. My 82 y/o mother still lives there. I miss the old neighborhood. I also recall going to the Italian festivals in Melrose park. I used to work at Gottlieb Hospital in the 1970's as an
Orderly in the Emergency Room!  Also, I am very appreciative for you to share some of your grandfather's
pepper seeds with me. I'm sad to hear that you don't grow figs. You can grow one tree in a large container and move it into a cool garage or shed for the winter. I know of a Greek lady in Indiana that grows fig trees in
the large black plastic garbage cans that have wheels on them. She just rolls them into her garage for the winter. Thank you ever so much Mike. I will reimburse you. God bless you, Leon

From Paul Russo - complementing our website and contributing some interesting information.
Date: October 17, 2010
Hello Michael,   I am not related to the Quagliata family, but I was browsing at the website, and I found it to be incredibly very well put together and very detailed and organized. Congratulations for a job well done! I am also working on a similar Genealogy and History project for my family's ancestry, and I can appreciate all the work that you have done.
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While reading the section "Origin of the Quagliata Name", I was particularly interested in the paragraph discussing the making of  the semi-soft "Quagliata" cheese, and the association of this word to your surname. I was born in Francofonte, Sicily, a very small hill-top town in the province of Siracusa, but geographically much closer to Catania. I can confirm to you that as a young boy in the early 1950's, 'quagghiata' was a very common food item in Francofonte, especially in the winter, and was always made from goat milk. Cows' milk did not exist in those parts of Sicily.
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There was  also another word associated with/related to  'quagghiata', and that was "u quagghiu" (il quaglio in Italian), literally: "that/it which coagulates or curdles", and this term can best be described as the generic way to refer to the whole soft coagulating mass that eventually becomes the 'quagghiata' , "the product" that is eaten. 
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With regards to the comments from Sara Hughes of Sydney, I think that I can perhaps shed some more light to the menu item "quagliata". It most likely refers to a very common description, in Italian, whereby by attaching "ta" to the end of a certain words, it creates a new word that refers to ".... a multitude of the same items". In this case "quagliata" (quaglia-ta) would have been a dish/plate full of  several 'quaglia' (quail). Quails are very small, and on the rare occasions when you find quails on a restaurant's menu in Italy, they will always serve  you a dish with several quails in it. Other words that fall into this category, in Italian, are: pastata, grigliata, etc. 
.
Good luck with your website and your Genealogy Project    Best Regards,    Paul C. Russo,

From Anthony Palmisano - contributing information to our project.
Date: December 18, 2009
My great grandmother was Frances Cecela Guagliata and was from Termini Imerese, Sicily and came to America in 1903 with my Great Grand father Giuseppe Palmisano.

From Susan Brunasso - contributing information to our project.
Date: May 18, 2009
My name is Susan Brunasso and I am helping my brother-in-law Vincent Cesare with his genealogy research.  I was happy to find your site on Google and I have some information from Vince to add.  Every birthday Vince's grandfather [Pietro Quagliata (1870-19??)] would tell the family about his life and the stories have been written down which helps a great deal in research.  [Susan includes a wonderful story of the history of this family line that we will work in the Narrative section of the website.]  I did some searching for Angelo Qualiata's family... [Attached links to record for:] Grazia Currenti and Rosario Quagliata.   Hope this is helpful.  Susan Brunasso

From David Ross - inquiring about Grandpa Mario's peppers.
Date: February 26, 2009
Hi Michael,  I really enjoyed reading the history of “Grandpa Mario’s Peppers” on your website.  Can I buy them or the seeds?  [I offered to send David some seeds]  Thanks for all this wonderful info. I would be honored to accept your offer of seeds and growing information. I grew up in Chicago (near north side) and now live in NE Wisconsin. Katie and I love to cook Italian mostly and would love to add Grandpa Mario's Peppers to our menu. Please let me know of any costs.  Best regards,  David & Katie Ross

From Salvatore Corso - his grandmother is Laura Quagliata.
Date: October 14, 2008
Dear Michael,  My name is Salvatore Corso and I live I Rome, Italy. Yesterday I came across your website of the Quagliata Family. Well, it surprised me very much as I have always known  that my grandmother was a Quagliata from Caltanissetta. After reading your site, I started to make some phone calls, to the few relatives in Sicily to whom I still have some contacts, to get more information about my granny’s family. It came out that Giuseppe Quagliata [Salvatore's great grandfather], the hero of the family, had beside the three sons that are shown on the picture, also four daughters named Clorinda, Silvia, Laura (my granny) and Marta. Laura got married to Salvatore Corso (my granddad) a wealthy Baron by the end of 1800, and they had 21 children, and my father (b. 1918 – d. 1989), was the 20th. Through my cousin Laura Corso, I got in touch with Lucia Locelso one of Clorinda’s children, who is a retired teacher in Monza (She told me that her brother Antonio has still our grandfather's sword). I haven’t been able to get in touch with other family members, but I got news that Giuseppe Quagliata’s origin was from Venice, that would match with the loose string of that part of the family. I got also news that at the change of the century (the last one, not this one), Guglielmo became Station Master in Cosenza and moved there, where he got married and had 6 children ( I don’t have all the names yet, I’ll let you know asap). The youngest one was Michele, who was a judge – unfortunately he died in his late forties / early Fifties, shortly after having married (he got female twins). One last piece of information I got: one of my father’s brothers Angelo, due the Spanish disease  in 1918, became deaf mute in his teens and the family decided to marry him to one cousin of the Quagliata family… (I’ll investigate) and they moved to Torino (where the last Winter Olympic games took place), shortly before or after the war. One last thought… could it be that Giuseppe and Mario where brothers ? as they fought at the same time in the same war. It was common in those days that relatives, friends and people from the same area went together to war !   Hoping to hear from you soon.   Sincerely, Salvatore

From Katherine Ippoliti - A Quagliata descendant looking for genealogy help.
Date: November 19, 2006
Dear Quagliata Family, Hi, my name is Katherine Ippoliti.  I am trying to find out information on my paternal Grandmother.  Her maiden name was Quagliata.  Her given name was Carmela.  She was born in Pottsville, PA.  Her father was Frank (probably Francesco) from Sicily (Catania, I believe).  Do you know any Quagliata's
from Pennsylvania area?   < Yes, we helped here out, she's a relative! > Dear Mike, Wow.  The internet is amazing!  You’ve just written about my Granddparents/Great Grandparents.  I know that Francesco (the first one you mentioned) married an Anna Trimboli (maybe from Calabria) and their daughter (my Grandmother) married Carlo Ippoliti (from Abruzzi... Marciano S’antagelo and Ripattoni).  Thank you so much for your input, it is extremely helpful...  I’m going to go back to your site right now.   Sincerely, Katherine Ippoliti

From Carlos F. Poli - Attorney for Santiago Quagliata and his sons Pedro Sergio and Claudio Alejandro.
Date: November 7, 2006
Where are you Mike?  Santiago is living in South America, Argentina.  He has 2 cousins who live in the USA, Miguel and Santiago Quagliata.  Santiago born at Dock Sud, Avellaneda, Argentina, and is now living at Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He is son of Pietro Quagliata, who born at Castellammare del Golfo, Sicilia (Pietro died some years ago).    Best regards from the south - Carlos Federico Poli

From Derek Galier - His forbearers changed their name from Quagliata to Galier.
Date: November 2, 2006
I came across your web site and couldn't stop reading!  It's great!  Like Tony Galier, I too am a great-grandson of Pietro Quagliata from Castellammare del Golfo.  I have many family pictures of Pietro's family before they immigrated to Ohio.  I'd be happy to scan and pass along if you're still accepting details.
Thx for all the efforts!   Derek (Quagliata) Galier

From Grace Di Thomas-Di Virgilio commenting on our website.
Date: October 25, 2006
Hello, I just wanted to compliment you on your impressive website.  I plan to explore it more in depth when I have some down time.  I'm very interested in Italian-American history and would like to do a family history webpage of my own.  My ex-husband is an historian and scholar (among other things) and conducted research both here in the US and in the Abruzzi about folks emigrating from his family's village of origin on the Adriatic coast to several places in the U.S. and in southwestern PA in particular.  So, I've a bit of familiarity with what is involved on the research end (plus, I'm a librarian).  Enough about my interest and background.  You deserve congratulations for the creation of this site.  Your images are stunning and the design is molto bene!
Take care, sincerely,  Grace Di Thomas-Di Virgilio

From Nina (Quagliata) Puccio contributing family information.
Date: October 20, 2006
Hi Mike,  My name is Nina (Quagliata) Puccio, related to Salvatore Quagliata from Castellammare del Golfo.  My grandfather was Salvatore who immigrated to NY about 1910 with his brother Nicholas, sons of Guiseppe who was married to Palma (Columbo).  Incidentally, to go one generation back, Guiseppe’s mother and father were named Salvatore and Nicolena Quagliata.   My father Salvatore (Sammy) born 10/20/1925 and died 7/14/1995 and would have been 81 today, was son to Salvatore and Antonina (Pecora).  Guiseppe and Palma Quagliata had not only 2 sons, Nicholas and my grandfather Salvatore, but 4 other children named, Gertrude, Maria, Josephine and Nicolena.  I am enclosing 3 photographs. I can give you more information of my father’s and my generation if you would like to continue. Thank you.  Nina Puccio

From Mariana of Uruguay contributing family information.
Date: September 22, 2006
My name is Mariana.  My great-grandmother was Maria Carmela Quagliata. S he was the daughter of Antonio and Lucia Quagliata.  She was born in Balvano in 1873.  She and a brother named Giuseppe Quagliata emigrated to Uruguay from Balvano, Italy.  I hope this information is helpful.   Regards, Mariana
(The above is a rough translation of the original Spanish email:  Me llamo Mariana y mi bisabuela era Maria Carmela Quagliata Re era hija de Antonio Quagliata y Lucìa Re habìa nacido en Balvano en el año 1873. Tenìa un hermano Giusseppe Quagliata que habìa emigrado tambièn a Uruguay todos habian emigrado de Balvano Italia. Espero que la informaciòn te sirva . Me parece muy bueno tu trabajo. saludos Mariana)

From Natalie Quagliata - updates for Richard's Chart.
Date: September 10, 2006
Dear Mike, You may remember that I contacted you about a year ago and I just found my name again in the Internet. I tried to further fill in names to the family tree. Some names are still missing, but I believe that I can add them later.  Best regards from Cologne,   Natalie Quagliata

From Chris LaVilla - granddaughter of Jane [Quagliata] Cacciola.
Date: August 15, 2006
Hi Mike, Greetings from Rochester NY.  I came across the web site and am sorry I was too late for the [Lyons/Rochester] reunion.  I am Jane Quagliata Cacciola's granddaughter Christine.  My mom is Marie, her oldest daughter.  I am overwhelmed by your site and amazed at the research that has been put into it.  I loved the picture that you have of my mom and her siblings.  We now have a lost heirloom in that. I have truly enjoyed finding out my history! Thank you for all your great work. Your cousin,  Chris Graef LaVilla

From Catherine Masi - a nice comment about our Italian American History page.
Date: July 25, 2006
I just wanted to thank you for printing this history http://home.comcast.net/~m.quagliata/iahistory.html. My grandparents all came from Italy but I feel disconnected from my heritage because my family moved from New Jersey to California many years ago, when I was only 9 years old. Reading this makes me wish they had never left.
Thanks again,   Catherine

From Justin Guagliata researching family information.
Date: July 23, 2006
Hello, My name is Justin Guagliata and i'm writing you after finding your site. It's hard to ignore the similarities between our last names and I also wonder if my last name was at some point Quagliata. In your news section you mentioned being contacted by Henry Sprance who is a descendant of Ernesto Guagliata (my great grandfather). I've just begun piecing my genealogy together and would love the opportunity to speak with Henry Sprance and find out where he fits into the puzzle. I was also contacted by Giles Guagliata approximately two years ago but lost his contact information. If you are still in contact with either of these individuals, please forward them my email address.
Sincerly,  Justin Guagliata

From Rita Quagliata - Q family reunion in Australia!
Date: July 22, 2006
Hello Mike,   ANNOUNCEMENT:
We'd like everyone to know that the Quagliata family in Ayr, Queensland, Australia is having their "1st Quagliata Family Reunion" on Saturday 5th May 2007. Further information such as accommodation, venue, directions etc will be made available at a later date. However for anyone who is interested in attending, we currently require an estimate of numbers for venue and carting arrangements. We will require names, how many attending from their family and where they're from. Overseas families can arrange fights to Sydney International Airport and then to Townsville Airport. We're looking forward to seeing everyone here for our 1st Reunion and hopefully one of many.
Rita Quagliata

From Antonio Quagliata of Rome contributing genealogical information.
Date: May 17, 2006
[Rough translation]
I am Antonio Quagliata born 1965 in Tricarico [near Portenza]. I am now a resident of Rome. My father is Giuseppe Quagliata born in Balvano in 1931 and now resides to Tricarico. He is the son of Antonio Quagliata of Balvano, passed away in 1966. My grandfather had other siblings, Carmine, Carmela etc.. He was married to Matturra Costantina. My father has 3 brothers (Carmine, Gerardo - passed away, and Rocco) and two sisters (Angela and Caterina). They have all sons and grandsons. They are scattered all over Italy. PERHAPS THIS NEWS CAN BE USEFUL TO YOUR GENEALOGICAL SEARCH. I have a brother (Domenico) and one sister (Anna Antonella).  Salutes.
([Original Italian text] Sono Antonio Quagliata nato il 1965 a Tricarico (MT). Sono residente a Roma. Mio padre è Giuseppe Quagliata nato a Balvano il 1931 e risiede a Tricarico. È figlio di Antonio Quagliata di Balvano, deceduto nel 1966. Mio nonno aveva altri fratelli, Carmine, Carmela etc.. Era sposato con Matturra Costantina. Mio padre ha 3 fratelli (Carmine, Gerardo – deceduto – e Rocco) e due sorelle (Angela e Caterina). Hanno tutti figli e nipoti. Sono sparsi un po in tutta l’Italia. QUESTE NOTIZIE FORSE POSSONO ESSERE UTILI ALLA TUA RICERCA GENEALOGICA. Io ho un fratello (Domenico) e una sorella (Anna Antonella). Saluti.)

From Stefanie Pagano, her great grandmother was Concetta Quagliata.
Date: April 16, 2006
I'm sorry not to have sent anything I was just interested in your project. The other day I typed in my father's name Stefan Pagano and added an "o" (Stefano) which was my great grandfather's name and your site came up. What caught my eye was Concetta Quagliata of which I had heard my dad speak of. I then saw that my cousin Mike has been corresponding with you. I thought I saw some photo's at my grandmother's - I'll have to ask her. Thank you for taking the time to contact me I've always had an interest in my family background.
Sincerely, Stefanie

From Tony Galier
Date: August 2, 2005
Mike, I was doing some playing on the internet and came across your site. I remember being told as a child that when my grandfather's brother came over from Italy, the immigration officer encouraged him to change his surname. I was told the original family name was Quagliata. As my grandfather's other siblings arrived in America, they adopted the Galier surname. I'm going to contact my aunt, gather some additional information, and give her your URL. I'd like to see if I've remembered the story correctly and if there is a link between our families.
In the meantime, if you know of a link, or have any questions, please contact me.  Tony Galier

From Sam Quagliata of Sydney, Australia. Sam helped us fill out his family branch on Richard's Chart and sent in a couple of great photos.
Date: March 8, 2005
Hi Mike, The webpage is getting better by the day and provides all us Q’s around the world a focal point on our heritage. I have had some discussions with my parents to see if I can add some substance to the family tree and have done some work which may fill in some of the blanks upwards and certainly add a lot in the way of younger generations. I have also attached a photo depicting my grand parents and some of  their children. Keep up the great work… I’m sure you didn’t expect it to get this interesting!    Regards, Sam Quagliata

News from the Lyons/Rochester Quagliatas
Date: February 23, 2005
We'd like everyone to know that the Lyons/Rochester Quagliata family is having their "30th Annual Quagliata Family Reunion" on Sunday July 17, 2005; at Fair Haven Beach State Park of New York.  The park is located on Lake Ontario, southwest of Oswego, New York, on Rte 104A, 2 miles north of Fair Haven (map here). 
I'm planning on attending with my wife and father.  A couple of my father's siblings also might attend.  We're looking forward to seeing everyone there. - Mike Q

From Roberto Quagliata of Rome, Italy
Date: November 21, 2004
Hi everyone, This is Roberto. I'm from Rome and have been studying Fine Art in London since 3 years ago. My grandfather's name was Aurelio, and he was from Sant'Alessio. I cannot believe this is for real. I was doing family research on my own after visiting for the first time my grandfather's grave in Asmara (Eritrea -Africa, across the Red Sea from Yemen). It was really emotional. Thanx for the good work you have done. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further information or pictures.