A log of the days this archive moved
What Changed
Sixty-two corrections is too many to arrive at cold. This is what moved, when, and what the record was — including the things this archive got wrong and had to take back.
235
corrections and additions
185
resting on a record that was read
104
people absent from the family tree
13–14 September 2026, the second run
Rocco Arena's own marriage act, and two register series nobody knew were there
What the records gave
Scilla, Matrimoni 1888 atto 63
Rocco Arena married Generosa Costa in DECEMBER 1888 — and his own act names his parents: «figlio di FRANCESCO ANTONIO e di SERAFINA ARLOTTA». The correction this site argued for on five circumstantial supports is now a document.
documented
The same act
Generosa Costa's parents for the first time: ANTONIO COSTA and ANNA ARLOTTA. Her mother is an Arlotta, like Rocco's own mother — the two families are tied twice over, and Rocco and Generosa may have been cousins.
documented
Scilla, Matrimoni 1885 atti 73 and 86
Two of Rocco's brothers married seven weeks apart: Giuseppe to Maria Martello on 12 September, Giovanni to Concetta Russo on 29 October. Act 73 writes the father out in full, which proves «Antonio Arena» is Francesco Antonio.
documented
Scilla, Morti 1891 atto 134
ARENA FORTUNATO, ten days old, died at Via Grotte 70 on 1 October 1891 — a son of Giovanni and Concetta Russo, born about 21 September, and not in the family tree.
documented
Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1836 atto 17
Mariano Mazza, 30, bracciale, son of IGNAZIO and GIUSEPPA PULVIRENTI, married Agata Catalano of Macchia. Recorded as a LEAD, not a fact — the bride's given name and the groom's age both sit awkwardly.
documented
What this archive had wrong
- This site said Antenati's Scilla marriages ran 1905–1913. They run 1866–1913 — forty-eight volumes — alongside 46 of banns and 81 of deaths. The error had blocked at least three searches.
- The 1836 index was read here as «Mazza ORAZIO»; the act says IGNAZIO, and the argument built on the misreading — that Rosario named a son Orazio — is withdrawn.
- Two leads from the death indexes were opened and one failed: Arena Raffaela «fu Antonio» is the daughter of Antonio Arena and TERESA PONTILLO, not of Francesco Antonio. Francesco Antonio's death is still unfound.
- The Orazio Arena who died at Scilla in 1895 is NOT the Orazio the family tree gives Rocco as a father: his wife is Concetta Maria Nestro and his parents Antonio Arena and Serafina Deluca. A third household.
- For about an hour The Crossings said Clementina Arena's 1921 crossing was not found. FindMyPast already had it. Two free indexes of the same manifests disagree about who is in them.
Every one of these is still on the page where it was first argued, with the reasoning that led to it. Nothing has been quietly deleted. An archive that only ever agrees with itself is not doing any work — and the retractions are the part a reader can check the method by.
13 September 2026
Two register series opened, and four generations came out of them
What the records gave
Piedimonte Etneo, Matrimoni 1871 atto 14
Rosario Mazza and Leonarda Bonanno married 30 April 1871 — both single, both born there, both braccianti. All four parents named, hers for the first time anywhere: Gaetano Bonanno and Anna Cavallaro.
documented
Piedimonte Etneo, Nati 1845 atto 64
Rosario born 2 June 1845 at eleven in the morning, declared by his father Mariano, 36, a bracciale, with Maria Catalano, 36. The tree says 1850.
documented
Piedimonte Etneo, Nati 1843 atto 101
Leonarda Bonanno born 7 November 1843. Gaetano Bonanno dated to about 1807, Anna Cavallaro to about 1805.
documented
Scilla, Nati 1854 atto 76
Giovanni Arena born 30 April 1854, declared by his grandfather GIOVANNI ARLOTTA, 75, marinaro, «figlio del fu DOMENICO» — the deepest name in this archive.
documented
Scilla, Matrimoni 1885 atti 73 and 86
Giuseppe Arena married Maria Martello on 12 September; Giovanni Arena married Concetta Russo on 29 October. Two of Rocco's brothers, seven weeks apart, both sons of Francesco Antonio Arena and Serafina Arlotta.
documented
What this archive had wrong
- The 1854 index gave the mother as ROSA Arlotta and the date as 20 April; the act says SERAFINA and the thirtieth. Giovanni Arena is Rocco's BROTHER, not his cousin.
- Three Giovanni Arena this site kept apart are ONE MAN — born 1854, married 1885, father of Giuseppe in 1892, sailing in 1899. The birth search had failed because it trusted a declared age three years out.
- The 1836 Piedimonte index was read here as «Mazza ORAZIO»; the act says IGNAZIO. The argument built on that reading — that Rosario named a son Orazio — is withdrawn.
- This site said Scilla's marriages on Antenati ran 1905–1913. They run 1866–1913, forty-eight volumes, and the error had blocked at least three searches.
- For about an hour this page said Clementina Arena's 1921 crossing was not found. It was found months ago, on FindMyPast. Two free indexes of the same manifests disagree about who is in them.
Every one of these is still on the page where it was first argued, with the reasoning that led to it. Nothing has been quietly deleted. An archive that only ever agrees with itself is not doing any work — and the retractions are the part a reader can check the method by.
Where to read the detail
For Michael is the list itself, grouped by kind, with the source for every line. Scilla and The Mazza carry the acts and the arguments. Open Questions says what is still not known and what would settle it, and What Has Been Read says which volumes have been opened — including the ones that came back empty.