What's New

nota bene: Many first names are passed down through the generations. Pay close attention to the lineage of each name lest you become confused. With almost 200 years of family here, it can easily get very confusing!

27 July 2008 Posted new complete Balassone web database after receiving new information over the past few months, including family information from Dawn Balassone

1 August 2007 I have located the descendents of Giovanni Balassone, brother of my grandfather Luigi, who went to South America at about the same time as Luigi and Vincenzo came to America. He settled in a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina and had at least 3 children, one of whom may still be alive.

19 March 2005 Got bored and created an image for the main page. First part of a complete revamping of the page.

1 March 2005 I have posted a second database of all Balassones I have discovered in my research that I have been unable to link to my own Balassone line. These names range from those found on microfiche records from Sulmona dating to the 17th century right up to the present with Balassones contacting me over the internet asking if we are somehow related. I am posting that database in the hope that other Balassones may connect with one another. Please contact me with any new information and corrections. Thanks

29 Nov 2004 The Balassone database is now online and comprehensive as of this date. Generated from my Personal Ancestral File database, it is a no nonsense but very detailed database of all known descendants of Bonafacio Balassone (b~1650)

May 25 2001 Under Calenti/Costa images, a copt of the original ship manifest for Pasquale Costa's first entry into the U.S. through Ellis Island in 1896. Also listed are Angela Lercara (maybe his aunt) and Maria Castiglione (maybe related to Stephen Costello, i.e. Stefano Castiglione, who sponsored Pasquale in the U.S.

May 2001 Ellis Island ship manifests are now online and I've just begun looking through them. Though there is only access to the transcriptions and not actual images of the pages, there is a wealth of information. Have downloaded images of the arrivals of Guido, Giovanni, Angelo and Anselmo Calenti, Anna and Luisa Macaluso, and Luigi Balassone, including information about the ships they arrived on. Will now start integrating that into the stories of these individuals.

November 2000 Received enormous amounts of information from John Colamosca, contacted on the internet, who had gathered information on the Balassones of Sulmona while doing his own research. As a result of this information, the Balassone line can be traced back to Bonafacio Balassone, born in the mid 1600's. Because of the scope of the information, it is no longer possible to do an image to plot the Balassone family. I have simply used the LDS genealogy program "Family Search" to create a default web page and GEDCOM. Look for it on the Balassone page.

15 July 1999 Created new image map for Balassone family, showing newly discovered Salvatore Balassone and Camilla Morante. Separated pages for Pasquale Balassone/Maria Scudieri and Teodorico Balassone/Rita Gizzi.

14 July 1999 From FHC microfilms of Sulmona Civil records: Found the birth record of Teodorico Balassone, the father of Maria Balassone, who is the mother of Vincenzo and Luigi Balassone. Teodorico was born in 1820 to Salvatore Balassone and Camilla Morante. Salvatore and Camilla had at least one other son, Roberto Pietro Antonio, born 4 Mar 1824.

6 July 1999

Received a letter from Maria Silvana Balassone of Sulmona Italy, whose mother Angiolina (daughter of Teodorico) is a first cousin to my mother Florence. Maria's letter included information on a hitherto unknown brother of Antonio Balassone named Salvatore, and his descendants. For more information, see the link to Pasquale Balassone, father to Antonio and Salvatore.

29 May 1999 Added the following images:

  • Anthony Balassone and Jean Mahoney, wedding picture, with their bridal party.
  • Florence Balassone and Achilles Calenti wedding picture, with her parents Emma and Luigi Balassone.
  • Confirmation picture of Florence Balassone at about 10 years old.
  • Confirmation picture of Achilles F. Calenti at about 10 years old.

20 May 1999

  • New image map of Balassone/Leo and more information on Pasquale Balassone/Maria Scudieri (parents of Antonio), and Teodorico Balassone/Rita Gizzi (parents of Maria), grandparents of Luigi and Vincenzo Balassone. Gotten from FHC microfilms in May 1999.

28 April 1999

  • Translation of marriage record of Anna Macaluso and Pasquale Costa.
  • More complete information on the descendants of Salvatora (Rose) Costa.
  • Created new image map reflecting newly discovered ancestors of Anna Macaluso and Pasquale Costa.
  • Expanded on personal pages of ancestors of Anna and Pasquale, particularly Salvatore Costa and Luisa Lercara.
  • Standardized most pages on the Calenti/Costa side, adding background color and nicer "return" buttons

22 April 1999.

  • Information on the family of Antoinette Milano Grillo, daughter of Luisa Costa Milano courtesy of Rosemarie Grillo Di Benedetto, her daughter. For the first time we have the names of all the children of Luisa Costa and Giovanni Milano.
  • Photocopy of the marriage certificate of Anna Macaluso and Pasquale Costa

22 March 1999. Thanks to Shirley Rizzuto and her research at the LDS repositories in Salt Lake City, we now have the following information about the Costa line.

  • Birthdate of Salvatore Costa, approximate birthdate of his wife Luisa Lercara (Larcara). Also, the year they were married.
  • Information on the second marriage of Salvatore Costa, who remarried after obtaining a civil separation from Luisa Lercara (note new spelling).
  • The parents of Salvatore Costa, moving us back an entire generation in the Costa history! The new Patriarch is Pasquale Costa, born about 1804. He married Giocoma Raimondi (b.about 1806) about 1825.
  • Complete information about the parents of Anna Macaluso, as well as the grandparents of Anna Macaluso, Silvestri Macaluso (b. about 1815) and Anna Carpneri (b. about 1823) married about 1838.
  • Almost complete information on the parents of Letizia Amata, the mother of Anna Macaluso. Her father was Luciano Amata (b. about 1820) and Maria Grazia Raimondi (b. about 1825) They were married about 1845.
  • More complete information about Anna Macaluso's marriage to Filippo Gristina (Christiana). The name is Gristina on all Sicilian documents. Anna had two children with Filippo, a daughter who died at 2 and Angela. Filippo was a shoemaker.
For a better sense of this, refer to the generational map. As an example, Perina Costa is my grandmother, Pasquale Costa is my great grandfather, Salvatore Costa is my great great grandfather and Pasquale Costa is my great great great grandfather.

11 March 1999. Updated the electronic phone book and added the following people:

  • Darlene Paganelli Valley
  • Brendan Schelker
  • Lawrence Biggie
  • Anna Marie Tesoriero

07 March 1999 Added these photos

  • Angelina Balassone on her wedding day
  • Rita and Sonny Costa with Clifford, 1951
  • Salvatore Balassone, son of Vincent Balassone, high school graduation(?)

03 March 1999 More photos added on Calenti/Costa side.

  • Perina Costa Calenti
  • Luisa Costa Milano and Giovanni Milano
  • Calenti sisters with Lee Stratford Jr.
  • Joe Costa and wife Millie with daughter and mother in law, and Lil Costa Troiano and husband Charles.
  • Mary Costa and Lee Stratford, 1938
  • Postcard from Carmine Calenti, 1945
  • Gloria Mercurio, mid 1930's
  • Mary Costa, 1927
  • Joseph Costa and family

19 Sep 1998 More photos added on Calenti/Costa side, courtesy of Rosemary Costa Naccarato.

  • Pasquale Costa
  • Buster and Rose Orlando (Anna Macaluso's grandchildren from her first marriage.)
  • Mary Costa and her daughter Gloria Mercurio

Sep 1998 Complete rewrite of the Calenti/Costa images area, with descriptions now included on same page as image.

Aug 1998 More complete information on the family of Francis Costa provided by his children Marlene Costa and Rosemary Costa Naccarato.

08 Jun 1998 Wedding picture of Rita Balassone and Sonny Costa provided by Sonny Costa.

12 May 1998 Information on the descendants of Flore LEO provided by her grandson John Chupay III.

11 Apr 1998 Received information from the Public Records Department in Sulmona Italy on all the children of Antonio and Maria Balassone (Parents of Luigi and Vincenzo) as well as the parents of Antonio and Maria, thus taking us back an entire generation in the Balassone family.

1 Mar 1998 - 6 Mar 1998 Complete rewrite of the pages with image maps moved to their respective family areas. Each family area now has a generational list created from my software program, which is GEDCOM compatible. Photo album area is now also roughly separated into the different families.

25 Feb 1998 Added two new images:

  • Mass cards of Pasquale and Anna Costa
  • Joseph Costa and wife Millie

24 Feb 1998 Information on the descendants of Carmine Calenti provided by his daughter Mary Kay Calenti Cersosimo. Information on the Cacciapaglia family provided by David Cacciapaglia, great grandson of Mary Balassone and Dominic Cacciapaglia.

2 Feb 1998 Much more information about the Balassone and Leo families contributed by Jean Mahoney Balassone. Much fuller family line of Vincent Balassone and Antoinette Leo contributed by Jeanne Balassone and expanded by Richard Balassone.

1/13/98 More photos added, all marked

  • Lil Costa Triano and son Carmen
  • Florence Balassone at 2 years old
  • Ralph Cacciapaglia at confirmation (?)
  • Florence Balassone and father Luigi at her wedding.

1/8/98 Information on the descendants of Anthony Balassone and Jean Mahoney provided by Jean Mahoney.

11/25/97 Thanks to Kris O'Connor, granddaughter of Anna Balassone O'Connor, for providing biographical data on the descendants of Anna and her husband. She also sent two images, one of Mary Balassone with her aunt Antoinette (Auntie) and one of Virginia Balassone.

11/18/97 Added some information on the Virginia Balassone family courtesy of her daughter Karen Cocco Olivo and information on the Anna Balassone family, courtesy of her grand daughter Kristine O'Connor.

11/14/97 - More photos added.

  • Virginia Balassone
  • Antoinette Balassone
  • Balassone sisters (2 of these)
  • Anthony Balassone
  • Florence Balassone wedding picture
  • Another war picture of Achilles F. Calenti
  • Angelina Balassone

11/7/97 - The wedding picture of Virginia Balassone and John Cocco. Includes Emma and Luigi Balassone and all of their children.

2/15/97 - The story of Joseph Costa, taken from a letter written by his daughter Anna Marie Costa Tesoriero on 7 Jan 1997.

2/10/97 - Family photo of Pasquale and Anna Costa and four of their children. Taken circa 1917. Also early pictures of Salvatora (Rose) Costa, Joseph Costa, Mary Anne Costa, and Francis Costa. Special thanks to the children and grandchildren of Joseph Costa for providing these images.

1/23/97 - Death date and given name of Francis Costa and information regarding the family of Joseph Costa supplied by James and Joseph Tesoriero, grandsons of Joseph Costa. Joseph Costa now has his own page.

1/8/97 - birth and death dates of Michael Balassone, death date of Mary Balassone, and name of Michael Balassone's wife supplied by Mary Lou Balassone.

12/26/96 - All of the children of Emma and Luigi Balassone and all of the children of Guido and Perina Calenti have been given their own page. Now I need up to date information on my uncles, aunts and cousins!

11/19/96 - Many new photos,
including:
Group picture, possibly Easter Sunday
Joe Paganelli and Rosalie Calenti
More pictures of the Calenti children as young adults
Luigi and Emma Balassone at their 50th wedding anniversary. Rita Balassone at College Hill

10/9/96 - Many thanks to Sonny Costa and his son Cliff for providing new pictures for the electronic album. They include:

Guido Calenti Family, circa 1940
Luigi and Emma Balassone with daughter Angelina, circa 1954
Rita Balassone at age 20
Rita Balassone Costa later
Rita in front of the Stardust, Las Vegas
Perina Calenti with sons, circa 1942
Sonny Costa on Motorcycle
Sonny Costa.

Information on the Rita Balassone Costa and Frederick "Sonny" Costa family is now available from the Luigi and Emma Balassone page.

10/6/96 - Photos of three of the Balassone children in later life. Mary, Anna, and Anthony.

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