The Mazza Archive
Part II · Four grandparents, four families · openingContents

Four grandparents, four families

Part II · 🇮🇹

Every person has four grandparents, and they are the honest unit of a family history: four separate families, four separate depths of evidence. These four were born within eight years of each other in three towns that had no connection. The chapters take the quarters in turn: Piedimonte Etneo (the Mazza and the Nicotra), Briatico (the Prostamo and the families around them), and Scilla (the Arena, and the Polistena).

Start reading: The Four Quarters →

  1. II.1The Four QuartersFour separate families, four separate depths of evidence, side by side.
  2. II.2The treesFour Italian families, four different depths of proof, each drawn in the form its evidence supports.
  3. II.3Our line, drawnEvery branch of the ancestry followed to the end of what is known, as a single chart.
  4. II.4The SpineThe longest descent the family tree asserts, from Briatico in 1697 to Brisbane; its top four generations carry no source.
  5. II.5The AncestorsEveryone standing behind the line, counted generation by generation against the number there ought to be.
  6. II.6The MazzaThe surname this archive is named for is also the most fragmented thing in it.
  7. II.7The NicotraA line that reaches generation six on both sides and crosses four comuni; the man it is named for is still missing.
  8. II.8The Mazza Name LineThe Mazza name reached back four generations and stopped; it now runs seven, and every step in Sicily is a document.
  9. II.9The ProstamoEvery Prostamo in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  10. II.10The MellusoEvery Melluso in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  11. II.11The AnileEvery Anile in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  12. II.12The BarbutoEvery Barbuto in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  13. II.13The VentriceEvery Ventrice in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  14. II.14The ArenaSailors of Scilla for at least four generations: the family tree has the wrong father at the top, and the registers have the rest.
  15. II.15The CostaEvery Costa in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  16. II.16The ArlottaEvery Arlotta in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  17. II.17The RussoEvery Russo in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  18. II.18The PolistenaEvery Polistena or Polistina in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  19. II.19The DonatoEvery Donato in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  20. II.20The PontilloEvery Pontillo in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.
  21. II.21The SofiEvery Sofi in the archive, and how they are and are not joined to one another and to the other families.

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