Re: ANDREOLA surname PERANO / ANDRIOLA family Newark NJ

Posted by Bill on August 24, 2009 at 08:15:04:

In Reply to: Re: ANDREOLA surname PERANO / ANDRIOLA family Newark NJ posted by Kimberly on August 09, 2008 at 06:24:27:

Hello Kimberly. I hope you view this reply. I know it has been a long time since you posted your message. If you have not yet unravelled the mystery of the Andriola family tree, then here it is!!!!!

We are indeed cousins, probably 5th or 6th removed??? My great, great grandparents were also Vito and Antonetta Andriola. We descend from a very large family. Vito and Antonetta had many, many children. They lived on Palm Street in Vailsburg section of Newark.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I obtained our "Andriola" family tree going back to about 1860. It was given to me by the grandson of Lena Andriola, who was the eldest of Vito and Antonettas children. I have obtained some wonderful stories about Vito and Antonetta. I have also confirmed where they came from in Italy!!!!!!!!

I had difficulty finding the name of the town, for several reasons. First, my grandmother and one of her brothers insisted that they came from Salerno province near Naples. One of her other brothers hired a geneologist do a family tree and was told that they came from Chieti province of Abruzzo. We did not believe this to be true, as the Andriolas always maintained that they were Napolitan! We were never told that we were Abruzzese.

It turns out that the geneologist was totally WRONG!!!!!! Vito and Antonetta were indeed from the Naples area. They were from the Town of Teggiano, Salerno Province, in the region of Campania. (FYI, Teggiano is a beautiful, medieval hilltop town in the Diano valley, about 75 miles south of Naples). The name of the town was told to me by Lena's grandson, who confirmed it in the vital statisitcs on record in Newark.

Incidentally, I also had a difficult time tracing the Andriolas back to Teggiano because "Andriola" is not the proper spelling of the name!!!!!! It is "Andriuolo". It somehow got changed, probably during the immigration process. We always knew that the name had been changed, but my grandmother and her siblings were not sure of the original spelling. Some thought it was "Andreola" with an "e" and others maintained that it was "Andriulo" with a "u" and an "o".

Knowing that Vito and Antonetta came from Teggiano, confirms the spelling was "Andriuolo". Andriuolo is a very traditional and common surname in the town of Teggiano. By the way, Antonetta's last name was "Petrillo".

I have more information to share if you would like. My grandmother Vera (Andriola)Scannella is 89, and she has maintained contact with many of her Andriola first cousins. I have obtained a list of all of the descendants of Vito and Antonetta. The list includes our generation. I do not know your last name, but you are probably included on the list! There are hundreds and hundreds of us!

Please post a reply, and I will forward to you my contact info so that we can share information about our descendants. I will be happy to provide you with a copy of the Andriola family tree going back to 1860 in Teggiano, Italy.

Sincerely, your distant cousin Bill.