Ustica sape

Sicily Trip – April 2010
By Marlene Robershaw

Missing a boat departure off of the Island of Ustica (Isole di Ustice) in the Tyrennian Sea, allowed God to bring my son Tom and I a beautiful Blessing.

Before leaving for a planned 9 day trip to the family ancestral city of Palermo, Sicily, Tom had found a website about the beautiful Island of Ustica, located about 1 ½ hours off the port of Palermo. The island of Ustica is situated about 67 km north of Palermo Sicily. Beings this was his 1st trip to Sicily (my 3rd), I wanted him to really see everything he wanted, so we added it tour our list.

As the time got closer to leave, I was preparing my paperwork and decided I should bring copies of our ancestral history in Sicily. As I was looking closer at the documents, I discovered for the 1st time, that one of our great, great, grandmothers, Maria Manfre, was born in Ustica. It was a small notation on her marriage certificate, to Salvatore Anello, I had never noticed. When I shared that exciting news with Tom, he felt it was a sign we should go.

So far, during my last 2 visits to Palermo I had been admitted and walked the gardens of the Villa Tasca, great, grandmother’s family, the Anello’s, had worked as gardeners. I had spent many miles walking up and down Via Vittorio Emanuele , the main road in Palermo that all of our ancestors would of used to go to town, up the hill to the famous Monreale Cathedral and to the port where they left for America in 1900-1903. The Cathedral, like most of the historical structures in Palermo, was constructed in the 1100’s.

This trip would therefore include the Ustica Island, but just for the 6 hours round trip via boat schedule. There was a lot to see in just the 6 days left for sightseeing when you deduct all the flight time. I came prepared with the document containing the Ustica birth notation. I had found information that the Municipal office had birth certificates back to the 1700’s. When we got there we found the office, but alas, they only have records back to 1820, and great, great, grandma Maria Manfre was born in 1816.

When you can’t find information in civil records, step #2 is church records. This was going to be easy, only one church on this small Island. However, the church and Padre were busy that day with a funeral at the church, then the cemetery. Oh well, we did get in 2 long treks up Ustica’s mountains and saw Bronze age sites and tombs, and fortresses.

We arrived at the dock to wait for the boat early, after all, this is our only transportation back to Palermo, our hotel and suitcases. We wondered why no one else was waiting for the boat. We waited and waited, till about ½ hour after it was due. I had round-trip tickets and they showed 3:00 pm, and it was now 3:30 pm. How can someone sell you a ticket and then not send a boat ?? Little did we know that the 3:00 boat is way at the other side of the island where we had no access to, used for cargo and cars, plus we were not informed about this detail.

We were desperate and I was heartbroken. We had no clothes or belongings for spending the night. We approached the first people we saw, some restaurant owners fixing up there store. They were very calm and helpful and assured us we could get a ticket at the ticket office in the morning and catch the morning boat out. They helped us get a hotel room and even drove us there. As we approached the hotel, which was one block from the church, I noticed the Padre out in front talking with townspeople, he might be available.

We registered and as Tom got settled in our room, I went to see if I could get a word with the Padre. Padre Lauro Vattuone was so helpful. He informed me that the files were not easy to access. I offered to leave some money and my address so someone could send me the document later if ever found. But Padre Lauro told me that we needed to get this done before we left in the morning. He said he had a friend that might help him look it up, and come back in 10 minutes.

Tom and I were there in 10 minutes, sat down, and in just a few more minutes, the Padre and his friend appeared. I will never forget his words, Padre Lauro said “ God has smiled on us today, we found the birth certificate.” Wow, what a miracle, and in such a short time. The record shows the parent’s names, name given to the baby, and the padrini (Godparents.) It turns out that the Padre’s good friend Vito is the town historian and one of the former mayors. He has a historical office with all the old pictures and history of Ustica, which we later visited.

Next, Vito announced he had a surprise for us, he ushered in a lady and introduced her as the “last” Maria Manfre. She is our cousin, coming from the same line of ancestors. We met her and her daughter and some of her grandchildren. She then invited us to her house, where we met her sister Rosa and cousin Pietro Bertucci. We had coffee and Italian rolls, and a lot of fun talking with them in our partial Italian and some English. All was understood, “capisco.”

Pietro Bertucci worked in NATO (S.H.A.P.E. – Belgium) while General Haig was the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and had served in the Italian Air Force. We all exchanged addresses, emails, websites, and blogs.

What a thrill to be connected with these descendants of a great, great grandmother that gave birth to my great grandmother, Rosalia Anello, in 1845. What we thought was an inconvenience was God’s opportunity to bless us. How typical of life. It was a lesson that we will remember. Proverbs 16:9 says “Man plans his way, but God directs his steps.” How thankful we are for God’s direction that day.

Our family has now expanded back and forward. From Great, Great, Grandmother Maria in 1816 to new cousins in this 21st Century on the Island of Ustica. We are now considered “Usticesi”, in fact the Manfres were some of the first people to colonize the Island in the late 1700’s. And add to that information that they were sent from Lipari to help colonize Ustica and keep the Barbary Coast Pirates out.