Giovanni Polistena
An ancestor of Mia and Rocco — generation 4 above them.
Every relationship drawn here comes from the family tree, and not one of them has yet been proved by a record. That is the honest state of this archive: the chart shows what Michael Mazza's tree asserts, and the colour tells you only whether anything at all has been read about the person at the other end. The method →
- giovanna pontillo — Act 206 of 1883 names his mother GIOVANNA ROMANO, and the New Orleans manifest of 1908 -- taken from his own statement -- names her Giovanna Romano again. Two independent records on two continents.
The chart still draws the family tree exactly as it was given. This archive does not silently rewrite someone else's research — it marks the edge and shows its working.
What is recorded
Where this comes from
All 16 of the relationships drawn above come from Michael Mazza's family tree, and none of them has been proved by a record this archive has read.
1 record has been read about them:
- Scilla, Nati 1883, atto 206 — born 16 September 1883, Via Grotte 47 — birth register
The tree gives his mother as Giovanna Pontillo. SETTLED, AND NOT IN THE TREE'S FAVOUR: act 206 of 1883 names her GIOVANNA ROMANO, and the New Orleans manifest of 22 February 1908 -- taken from his own statement at twenty-four, half a world from Scilla -- names 'father Antonino Polistena and mother Giovanna Romano'. Two independent records, two continents. He also has a crossing the tree does not record: the S.S. Liguria out of Palermo, bound for Quincy, Florida, on the line immediately after Michele Donato -- whose daughter he would marry about eight years later.
Where the two disagree, the chart above still draws the tree as it stands. This archive does not silently rewrite what it was given — the acts are here.
See this generation on the ancestors page →
Component 1 · every Polistena in the archive →
Photographs
From the family's own tree, contributed by Michael Mazza and relatives. Almost none are captioned — identifications are the most valuable thing you can send.
Others of the same name
These three towns repeat their names relentlessly — this archive holds four men called Rosario Mazza and four called Giuseppe Arena. These are different people, kept apart on purpose rather than merged into one. Why →
- Giovanni Polistena — undated , component 1
- Giovanni Polistena — 1909 , Scilla, Reggio Calabria, component 1
- Giovanni Polistena — undated , component 1
- Giovanni Polistena — dates withheld , Brisbane, Queensland, component 1
- Giovanni Polistena — undated , component 1