If you search your ancestors in Villalba, in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicilia region, the documents about your Italian family are stored in the City Office archives and in the parishes in the town.This is where to start your family history research.
Civil Records in Villalba
In towns and villages of Sicilia and in Caltanissetta province registry offices were established in 1809: it means that you could find your ancestors records in Villalba town hall archives as of that date.
(If your goal is to get your Italian Citizenship and you need official certificates from Villalba, please follow this link)
.
So, if your ancestors lived in Villalba during the past centuries, then you should start your family research from the City Office of Villalba to know more: our local expert is ready to help you in your research!
Otherwise, if you think to contact the town hall by yourself, we suggest you to read our tips for your search. They are useful advices to search in Sicilia and of course in Villalba too!
Next picture shows the demographic trends in Villalba from the Italian Unification (1861).
This is a necessary info to understand how many people lived in the town in the past.
To go on quickly in your research is important to know if the last name you are investigating is a frequent surname in Villalba. As more your surname is common, as more it could be difficult to find the right branch of your ancestors family in Villalba archives, expecially if you have not exact dates.
It could be useful for you to know that some of the most common surnames in Caltanissetta province are:
Alessi, Amato, Amico, Anzalone, Burgio, Cammarata, Caruso, Cascino, Catalano, Di Dio, Falzone, Faraci, Ferrara, Ferrigno, Giannone, Giardina, Giordano, Giunta, Greco, Licata, Lombardo, Macaluso, Mancuso, Marino, Martorana, Mastrosimone, Messina, Milazzo, Mistretta, Morreale, Nicosia, Noto, Palermo, Palumbo, Piazza, Polizzi, Riggi, Rizzo, Romano, Russo, Sanfilippo, Scicolone, Sorce, Spinello, Valenza, Vella, Ventura, Vullo.
Church Records in Villalba
Church archives in Caltanissetta province may store even older information. You will find religious records of the same events (births, marriages and deaths) but, most important, you could go further back in time!
So in case you would like to go back in centuries, it’s good for you to know that the parish registers in Sicilia started during 1500!
They are far less accessible expecially from abroad and very hard to read and decipher if you are not used and skilled.
But our local genealogists, are graduated in history and archivistics so, with their expertise, they can research the church registers of Villalba on your behalf.
Anyway for our experience, if you plan to come here, we always suggest to start the research months before the arrival.
In this way you will avoid to waste your holidays in the offices or in the churches dealing with italian bureaucracy .
(Remember that archives are not open to public and officers and priests are not required by law to give you access to the local archives)
With the results gathered by our genealogist before your arrival, you will have more free time to visit the town and surroundings on your ancestors footsteps.
Another important source of information are the notary documents available to expert researchers in the State Archives.
If you are in Sicilia and you are able to decipher old italian handwritten documents you can reach the archive here:
Archivio di Stato di Caltanissetta
Address: via P. Borsellino, 2/2a – Caltanissetta
Phone: +390934591600
Days and opening hours: mon, wed, thu, sat: 8,00 – 13,30; tue, fri: 8,00 – 18,00 weekly closing: Sunday; no reservation
If you need a professional help from our local genealogist in Villalba area , write to villalba@italianside.com or fill the form here.
Our expert will study your request and will reply to you with a plan and a quote for your family research.
If you want to read this page in other languages:
– Italiano
– Espanol
– Portuguese
Here below you can read the messages received from other visitors in Villalba forum:
if you only want to discuss with other people interested in genealogy in Villalba feel free to leave a message below.
I will be in Sicily in October 2023 and would like to visit Villalba, which is where my grandparents were born. Their surnames were Zoda and Plumeri and they arrived in New York between 1897 and 1905, married and moved to Trenton, NJ where they raised their 7 children. They opened the Venice Restaurant on Warren Street in the 1930’s, I believe, and it closed around 1955.
If there are relatives of mine in Villalba or anywhere in Sicily, I would like to contact them and hopefully meet up with them while I am there. Or if anyone reading this can help me identify family members or friends in the U.S. I am happy to be in touch with them as well.
Looking for any info on my 2nd great-grandmother, VINCENZA FERRARA. She was born in Villalba, Caltanissetta, Sicilia, Italy.
She moved to Trenton New Jersey. She married Giovanni Ferrara and they had children. I believe one of the childrens name was Ignazio Ferrara and he had a half sister named Concetta Sferlazza(Fiordaliso)
My grandparents came from Villalba. My grandfather worked for my grandmother’s family. They ran away together to the US around 1920s. No one seems to remember his last name since it was changed during arrival at Ellis Island, which was not uncommon back then. It was something like Schiffanelli (pronounced as such), but the people on Ellis Island wrote it on their papers as Steffenilla. Is there any way I can find out any background at all? No one seems to know.
Bonjour je suis Silvio TRAMONTANA filS de Salvatore TRAMONTANA née à villalba mes grands parents sont née à villalba Michel TRAMONTANA . Nous somme originaire de villalba et habitons à Lyon en France. Nous savons que nous avons de la famille à Trenton nj. Nous somme venu en Amérique en décembre mais nous ne somme pas parvenu à trouvez notre famille. On serais heureux de rencontrer notre famille !Nous parlons français et italien j espère que vous êtes bien la famille de Trenton que nous cherchons ! On viendras vous voir si c’est est le cas ! Vous êtes les bienvenus en France ‘ vous accueil avec plaisir !
Silvio, my family is the Trenton Tramontana family. Most have died or moved away – I live in Florida now. You could find some of that same family in Hamilton Township, NJ, which is just outside of Trenton.
My family’s name is Tramontana.
I would greatly appreciate any and
all information that might exist
in connection with this family.
Thank you for your kind attention
to this matter.
Carole
Carole,
I live in New Jersey and my great aunt, who is 98 years old parents were born near a town near Villalba, San Cataldo. She was raised on a street in Trenton, N.J. with a family with the name Tramontana. I believe they were from Villalba.
When I was a little girl, I use to go to the Tramontana butcher shop for my grandmother. This was located in North Trenton also, where most of the Sicilians settled. If I can be of any help, I will ask my aunt for you about the Tramontana family she grew up with. Valerie
Valerie, if there is any Tramontana information you can give me I would be grateful. I was raised in North Trenton (Phillips Ave.) and my grandfather had the store on the corner (there was another Tramontana store on Vine Street). I went to St James, and the bar and grill on the street was the “Villalba.” My father belonged to the “Villalba Society.”
I am looking for information on the family of Salvatore Ferrara (1827–1898). My great grandfather was one of his sons (Biagio). Biagio married Liboria Barone on April 4, 1900. Biagio came to the US in 1906 and I believe his siblings stayed in Villalba. I will be visiting Villalba in May of 2017 and would like to know where I would start my research to find out more about the Family of Salvatore Ferrara and Orazio Barone(1849–1927)