Methods & Sources
Researching the Interlicchia Family
Building the Interlicchia World Family Tree required decades of painstaking research across multiple countries, languages, and archival systems. This page describes the methods and sources used.
Church Records
Parish registers from Valguarnera Caropepe and surrounding Sicilian towns provided baptismal, marriage, and death records dating back to the 17th century. These records are the foundation of the tree.
Civil Registration
Italy introduced civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths in the 19th century. These records, held at local and regional archives, provided additional documentation for later generations.
Immigration Records
Ship manifests, Ellis Island records, and immigration documents from Brazil, Argentina, France, and Switzerland helped trace family members who emigrated from Sicily.
Family Correspondence
Direct contact with Interlicchia families worldwide — through letters, emails, and personal visits — provided living testimony and family documents that filled gaps in the archival record.
Census Records
Census records from Italy, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina helped confirm family relationships and track the movement of individuals and families over time.
The research was led by Joseph R. Manusia, in cooperation with Elizabeth 'Bette' Sasso and Stephanie Thorne Broche. Their combined efforts over many years resulted in the declaration in March 2010 that all Interlicchia in the world are one family.