Nick Andreola Jr

Ancestors

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Nick Andreola [send private message], Tina Andreola [send private message], and Kelly Andreola [send private message]

Biography

General Notes

2013 Notes

I cannot remember when or by whom I was told that our ancestors had gone to Albania to live for some time and then returned to Italy. The dialect or variation of their language, I was told, had been changed because of this Albanian experience. As I’ve done a little more research, I’ve learned that there is an entirely different cause for the dialect. It appears that some portion of our heritage (just how much remains to be determined) is directly from Albania. The pieces I have so far begin over 500 years ago.

The big picture in the mid-1400’s:

Southern Italy is ruled by the King of Naples.

The Ottoman Empire is in the process of crushing the remnants of the Byzantine Empire and has successfully conquered Greece (at the Southern border of Albania).

An outstanding figure in world history, Gjergi Kastrioti Skenderbeu (AKA Skanderbeg & The Dragon of Albania) [~1405-1468], has united the various princedoms and provinces of Albania in 1443 and has successfully stopped the Ottoman Turks from invading Albania for 25 years. Leaders like Skanderbeg in Albania, John Hunyadi in Hungary and to a lesser extent Vlad III in Wallachia (yes, Dracula!) are credited by most historians with delaying the Muslim advance and giving the rest of Europe time to solidify its defenses.

Skanderbeg and the King of Naples are very close allies. I haven’t found any explanation of why, perhaps just as a future fall-back, in the early 1460’s Skanderbeg sends ~5000 Albanians to live in Italy. After Skanderbeg’s death, the resistance begins to crumble and many more Albanians flee. The King of Naples welcomes a large number of these refugees into his domain. Some of these refugee populations, now known as the Arbereshe, settled in groups creating new villages. One of these is Casalvecchio di Puglia (Albanian:Kazallveqi).[Pronounced by my Aunt as Ka-sal-veck]

This village is, according to our oral tradition as well as what appears on the immigration documents, our family’s point of origin prior to coming to the USA. There is a plaque commemorating Gjergi Kastrioti Skenderbeu's life gracing a building at #11 Corso Skanderberg, which is one of the main streets in Casalvecchio. Also note on google maps that the main ‘state’ highway, SP10, running from Torremaggiore connecting into SP5 (which goes into Castelnuovo Della Daunia) is called the Viale Albanesi d’ Italia (the section near Casalvecchio).

Since we see some Castelnuovo listings on the immigration documents I include what little bit of info I could find about Castelnuovo Della Daunia: “The old name was Castelluccio degli Schiavi, the word "schiavi" referring to the Slavic populations that took refuge in Apulia and other parts of Italy starting from the late 15th century.”

The two towns are so close to each other, I’m not sure yet if I can separate out who actually came from either.

2013 update....It is now certain that the Andreola heritage is from Albanian roots and that our 'cousins' still living in Casalvecchio consider themselves to be "Arbereshe" ^[1].

September 2014 Notes

I started this family tree investigation out with the Andreola portion first. As this date, significant progress has been made on all family lines except the Andreola line. I'm still struggling to gather information from overseas. I'm currently doing a fairly broad dive into my Tilton family centered in Ogle County, IL. and my Walton/Delp/Hackler family centered in Grayson & Lee Counties, Virginia. I intend to return to the Banks-Standley-Frost families after I complete these efforts. {is there really ever such a thing? HA!}

One thing that has become increasingly clear as I research my maternal ancestors; my grandmother & grandfather represent the "reunification generation". What I mean by that is that the overwhelming majority of my 'Greats' & 'Great-Greats' on my grandmother's side (the Waltons, Hacklers, Keeneys etc....) fought for the South in the Civil War with the opposite on my grandfather's side ( the Frosts, Tiltons, Banks etc...) predominantly being veterans from the North. Audrey & Jack are the first couple I've found that married across these former "enemy lines".

August 2020 Notes

I have taken a genealogical break and haven't been active here in a couple of months but want to add a few general notes to all the cousins and to those who share ancestry, often through Milford Massachusetts back to Casalvècchio di Pùglia Italy, that have discovered my efforts to connect us at this website. I have immensely enjoyed the contacts and e-mail exchanges with all of you recently.

UPDATE 3/28/2021: I have moved all of this information into a personal category. You can get to the category by this link:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Andreola-1%2C_Casalvecchio_List

As you look at any of the profiles of people associated with Casalvecchio, you can also click on the green box titled Categories near the top of the page (followed by "Comments", "Matches" & "Sources"), this will take you to the bottom of the page where you'll see Categories: Andreola-1, Casalvecchio List, clicking on that link will also take you there.

Sources

1. ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arb%C3%ABresh%C3%AB_people