Definite way to truly make connections between family lines?

Question

Hi everybody,

I am taking a break from studying for next week's college finals and decided to do some research on the Trissino line again. Honestly, I am starting to think I am going on a wild goose chase trying to connect my Trizzino line to the Vincentian noble family of the Trissinos. Could I be grasping at straws on this one?

The fact that [Giangiorgio Trissino| Trissino-1] was listed in my grandfather's notes seems to suggest that he had heard or sensed that there could be a connection but based on my search thus far, it doesn't seems very likely. The evidence pointing to it is that they were a large family based in Italy with a long term feud between the different lines that may still exist today causing them to unassociate their names simply by changing to from "ss" to "zz" but that seems like a bit of a stretch to me.

What I am starting to realize is that there is much more against this assumption that there is substantiation for it. I mean just geography alone appears to be a major issue. The Trssino line lived in Vicenza, Italy (WAAY UP NORTH!) while the Trizzino family lived in Sicily (WAY DOWN SOUTH!) , albeit on the north coast in Palermo. With that being said, there is less of a likelihood of there can be a connection geographically. Also, from my research, my family has been in Sicily since at least the late 1600s while I have not found any southward movement in the Trissinos at all and I have confidence in my line up until 1650 where I start find little to no Trissino info that is surely related to my that famous line.

 

I did not say this as eloquently as I intended but my question is there a general guideline to deciding whether or not two family lines connect with or without knowing direct lineages?

Answer 1

My husband's Centanni family is said to have originated in Northern Italy, but due to a family feud, moved away from  trading ports in Venice and Florence in the north of Italy to ports all over the Adriatic and eventually to the Palermo area. They moved  into argriculture, which worked until the land gave out due to deforestation and war. They survived the Cholera epidemic because earlier generations picked up some East Euroean genes by intermarrying with women from the Baltics, which made them less susceptible to cholera. They were in Alia, Palermo, Sicilia, Italia by 1750 and probably earlier.

You could have ancestors who migrated to the port of Palermo who are related to ancestors in  Northern  Italy. Or you could be related to my husband through all his cousins in the Palermo area.

Sharon

Comments

Thanks for the info, Sharon! I guess it is possible but still doesn't seem all that likely!

Looking at your profile, I see 4 surnames that are common between your list and mine.

In alphabetical order they are:

BURKE: (My best friend's mom's maiden name)

DRISCOLL: (My great-grand aunt (?) from New York [Mary Maloney|Maloney-483] )

Fischer/Fisher: my Bohemian ggg-grandmother who married my ggg-grandfather [Anna Kristof|Fisher-4498]

Kopp: Bohemian Frank and Catherine Kopp who came to Ohio in 1866

 

No Italian connection possibly known now.

Thanks,

Mike

 

 

Answer 2

Every case is different.  But if there is a link, it will usually be through a single individual, not some kind of mass migration of half a clan.  Often that person will be an obscure younger son of a younger son.  If you're lucky, you'll be able to pin him down.  Mostly you won't.

The only place to look is at the bottleneck.  You'd need to figure out when and where the Trizzinos first appeared in the south. This may not be where they were most numerous later.

Once the branches have separated, they're separate.  Even in Italy, you don't need a family feud for people to lose touch with their 2nd cousins, long-distance or not.  You wouldn't expect to find evidence at later periods.

Random connections may exist that don't go through the gateway bottleneck, but they don't tell you anything about anybody else, so they don't answer the question.

Bear in mind that the connection will be shared by a lot of people and you won't be the first person to look.

There's always a story, but that means nothing.  If it turns out to be true, somebody's grandad got lucky - he didn't know it was true when he was making it up.