About – Welcome!

My name is Carmen Papallo and I was born and raised in Meriden, Connecticut.  My parents were both born and raised in Martone, RC, Italy.  Meriden is home to many families from Martone that immigrated to America.  Many Martonese emigrated to Sydney, Australia and I have hundreds of cousins that reside there today.

I have been to Martone several times growing up and I even went to preschool there.  I have many great memories from these visits.  I have been interested in my family history for many years, but have been doing serious research since 2009.  While doing this research I have found that many of the families in Martone are related because of the small size of the town.  About 80 surnames have been there since the 1700’s or earlier.

I have access to the civil records for Martone from 1809 to 1910.  I plan to index all of the records and work towards ultimately creating a Martone Family Tree.  I look forward to helping anyone interested in their family history, sharing stories, and teaching others about my research.  Ciao!


Comments

About – Welcome! — 33 Comments

    • Hi Michael! I have access to the Martone Birth, death, and marriage records from 1910 back to 1809. If you can give me any info (names, age, birth dates, etc.) on your grandparents/great-grandparents it would help me locate some specific info for you. My Uncle was Giorgio Macri and he was married to my Aunt Caterina Galilea. Have a nice weekend and hope to hear from you soon. Carmen

      • My name is Paul J.Sinicrope. I was born and raised in Meriden CT, with my two older brothers, David J. and Anthony P. Sinicrope. My mother was Anna DeSalvatore from Bristol, Ct. My grandfather was Antonio Domenico Sinicrope, born on November 22, 1879 in Martone, Italy. He came to the United States about April 9, 1901 and lived in Norton Heights (Darien) with his wife and seven children until he moved to Meriden. He lived at 16 Pine Street in Meriden when he was naturalized on March 28, 1938. His wife was Caterina Pizzonia.

        My family is putting together our genealogy. I am planning to visit Martone this summer/fall and am looking forward to see where my grandfather was born. I looked to see if the name still existed in Martone but did not find our name there.

        • Hi Paul, Happy New Year & thanks for reaching out. It appears your surname was changed from Sinicropi to Sinicrope. I looked at the available birth records for Martone for years 1876 – 1883. I found your Grandfather’s birth record and a great uncle Nicola. Your Grandfather’s record shows he was actually born on 10-22-1879 and has info written in the side notes about his marriage in Maria Giuseppa Carmela Pizzonia on February 13, 1901. Your GGrandfather was Michele age 35 and your GGGrandfather was Rocco and GGrandmother was Tomasina Cotrona age 23 her father was Vincenzo. I did not find Rocco’s birth record, but I found Tomasina Cotrona’s birth record – father Vincenzo age 42, mother Anna Ientile age 42. I will send these records to you via email. I found Vincenzo’ birth – father Giambattista age 24, mother Caterina Reale. You will need marriage records to confirm this info. This should give your family a good start with your family tree. Let me know if you need any more help. Carmen

        • Hi, Paul, my name is Mike Catalano from Greenwich CT. My Grandfather was born in Martone and I just found this site. The wild thing is I know your wife Cathy from our days at Southern CT State College. I have been sending you guys Xmas cards for years.. ;>) I would love to share info and stories. The town is very small and we may be related.. Hope you and the family are well.. Mike Catalano

  1. Hi Carmen,
    I too grew up in Meriden. I was born in Martone. My father’s name was Mario Macri and my grandfather was Alberto Macri. They were very well known for their bakery in town. I also would love to know if you have any info on my family. Thanks!

    • Hi Silvana. Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner. My notifications were not working properly. Can you give me some dates for Mario or Alberto, spouses, etc? It will hopefully help me locate some info for you. The records that I have access to go from 1910 back to 1809. Thanks! Carmen

  2. I am trying to locate my mother’s birth certificate …she was born on March 22, 1914 in Martone…Her name was Maria (Mary) Fiorino…can you point me in the right direction..pls. Advise

    • Hi Jennie, I don’t have records beyond 1910. I also don’t see any Fiorino’s in my info. You can try to write to the comune in Martone and see if they will send you a copy of her birth certificate. They should be able to locate it since you have a specific date. You can also email the Diocese in Locri for her baptism at biblioteca@diocesilocri.it. Please let me know if you have any luck obtaining more info. I may then be able to help you work back further. Carmen

  3. Hello Carmen, I hope you are still responding to this thread. We are probably related! My great grandfather was from Martone. His name was Georgio Rocco Giovanni Macri, born 20 August 1889. He immigrated to Meriden, and that is where my grandfather and father were born. George died 4 March 1984 in Meridan. I have acquired some of George’s paternal line back to his grandfather but I have not been able to verify it (just from someone’s file on FamilySearch). I would love to know what you might have about their history in Martone! Hope to hear from you soon. –Michelle

    • Hi Michelle, can you verify who Giorgio’s mother was or his wife? Was his mother Maria Giuseppa Natalisa Calvi? Was his wife Maria Oppedisano? Please let me know. I have a bit of info if this is the correct family. Thanks. Carmen

  4. Hi Carmen.
    This is such a great thing you are doing! I have been wondering for so long about my heritage and have tried to ask around but didn’t get too far. Thanks for doing this.
    Would love to find out dates and names of my great great grandparents.
    My father, born in Martone Raffiello Georgio Mesiti,(1/21/1930) His parents
    Marietta Galluzo Mesiti and Nicola Mesiti
    My dads grandparents Raffiello Mesiti & ___??_____
    would love to find dates of Great and Great Great grandparents if you have the records that is awesome
    I can try to get birthdates of my grandparents Nicola and Marietta…
    Thanks again. Gina

    • Hi Gina, I have no info newer than 1910 so I would need a birth date and location for Marietta Galluzzo to try and find her birth record. I am emailing you a pdf with more info that I had available. Carmen

  5. Hi Carmen,
    I was born and grew up in Meriden. My grandfather, on my mothers side, was Giacomo Macri. I believe he was born in Martone on July 28, 1888. He came to the USA in April 1911. I don’t have any other information. It would be great if I could find his birth records to see who his parents were.
    Thanks, Joe

    • Hi Joe – I sent you an email with the record for your Grandfather and the basic translation of it. Hope it helps you with your research! Take care. Carmen

      • Thank you very much for responding to me and getting me my grandfathers birth record. It has given me information that I did not have access to before. I appreciate it very much.

        I didn’t know much about Martone, but Martone.info has educated me a lot.

  6. Carmen
    Caio Bello – My name is Bryan Martone and I am heading to Rome to run the marathon next week, then heading to Naples, Salerno etc…I was in the web a few weeks ago and saw not one but two towns named Martone ( one south of Naples – a town of tailors) and another one in Calabria. I am looking for the one in Naples/Napoli or Campania. Any help you can provide would make me eternally grateful. I have included my email below and if you can send me an email I will send what we believe is the family crest. gratzie Bryan Martone

    • Hi Bryan. I am only familiar with my Martone in Reggio Calabria province. I only found info on a San Martino just south of Naples. Good luck with your race and enjoy your travels!!

  7. Hi Carmen,

    do you have any access to death records from 1955? My dads sister passed away then and i’m trying to find information of where she died and where she was buried. Her name was Lina Agostino. Born in July 1954 and died in 1955. my grandparents names were Vincenzo Agostino and Emma Vumbacca. Thanks Anna

  8. Hi Carmen, do you have any information on Natale Calvi DOB 12/25/1894 and Immaculata Bellina or Bellini, born in 1895. I would love to learn more about my grandparents.Thank you, Suzanne

    • Hi Suzanne. I found the birth record for Natale Calvi. I did not find one for Immaculata in Martone and I checked 1893 – 1898. There marriage would have been after 1910 and that is when the civil records stop. I will email you the record with some additional info.

  9. Hi I’m searching for information on Rocco Calvi and Filomena Calvi; Also, anything on the Giacco family. Rocco Calvi (immigrated to Boston) and Antonio Giacco (Immigrated to Meriden, CT) were born in Martone, Antonio Giacco married Genefreva Giacco from Gioisia Ionica. Any documents on birth & married records would be great! I know Rocco & Filomena had children born between 1920 and 1935 names: Tristano, Rosa, Giuseppe and Vincenzo (Vincenzo nato 1935). Outside of this information, I don’t have much else other than family stories. Any information would be great!

    • Hi Vincent – I definitely have info on the Giacco family. I have known the family for most of my life. I will have to see what I can find out about the Calvi family. I will email you anything that I find. How are you related to these families?

    • Hi Jamey – Hope you are doing well. It is exciting to hear that you are going to visit Martone. Have you ever been there before? I hope you both have a great time!!

  10. HI, my grandparents were Rocco Calvi and Filomena Agostino Calvi. I’m trying to find the parents’ names of both. Both lived in Martone. Rocco was born in 1898 and Filomena in 1901, although I am not certain if he was born in Martone. Let me know if you can find anything. Thanks. Marisa Calvi-Rogers.

    PS: My father Vincent Frank Calvi was born in 1934 and my mother, Maria Giacco was born in 1941. They both lived in Martone.

    • Hi Marisa – I have been trying to locate info on your grandparents. I did not find a birth record for either of your grandparents in Martone around the years you provided. Many of the Agostinos were from Gioiosa Ionica and I did find Pasqualina Maria Filomena Agostino born in 1901. I suspect we may be related along this line too based on our 23 & Me info. I will email you directly to see if you have any additional info that may help with your search. Thanks for reaching out!

  11. Hi Carmen,

    Do you have any information on Nicola Agostino born 11/05/1908.
    He was my grandfather that I never got to meet as he passed away before I was born.
    Thank you
    Nick Agostino
    Sydney Australia

  12. Hey, I’ve been searching high and low trying to find birth records for my great grandfather born in Martone in the 1880s. Please email me if you think you could help. Thanks so much for helping out!

    • Hi Indy, sorry for the delay in replying to you. The site is not notifying me when I get messages. Please provide me more info like your grandparents names and birthdates, g-grandparents names and birthdates. Anything that will help me to try and find some info for you. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you. Carmen

  13. Hi Carmen

    I am sure we are related. My mother is Janet Papallo (born in Meriden and raised in Southington). Her Father is Francis T Papallo and his father Rocco was born in Martone. I would love to connect you to my family tree

    • Hi Donald, sorry for the delay in replying to you. Our lines connect in the early 1800’s with Antonio Papallo & Maria Lombardo. Your line ties in with their son Pasquale and mine with their son Giambattista. Reach out if you need anything else. Carmen

Leave a Reply to Joe Coppola Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *