04/08/2025
Genealogy search tip: sometimes the name that's indexed on a site like Ancestry isn't actually the ancestor's name. Be creative with your search terms, leave off surnames, and always look at the original image. Here's an example of why!
This is an 1886 NYC passenger list for an Italian family from Potenza. The first man, Giorgio Scala, is followed by what is actually his wife and children--but you wouldn't know that from the index, and the wife and kids are kind of unfindable. Why?
The lady under Giorgio is listed not as Margherita Scala but as "Moglie Margherita." Below her are boys "Figlio Nicola" and "Figlio Gaetano." And that's how they're indexed--first name Figlio, last name Nicola. But "figlio" in Italian isn't a name; it means "son." And "moglie" means "wife." So, this is actually Margherita Scala and her sons Nicola Scala and Gaetano Scala, the family of Giorgio. This record absolutely exists, but it wouldn't show up if you'd searched for "Gaetano Scala"! Whatever human (or AI) indexed this record didn't understand the context and took what was printed at face value.
Not all records are organized the same, and what we think doesn't exist might just be transcribed in an unexpected way. Stay flexible, friends!
