Nicolangela Polito

Francesco's wife, Nicolangela was the daughter of Fortunato Polito and Emmanuela Cimmino.  She was the mother of 7 children in 11 years (between her ages of 26 and 37).   I have not been able to find information yet about the death of daughter, Loreta.  But she buried 5 of her other children (2 dying in 1848), and the final death in 1879, just 6 months after the death of her husband.  Children often did not live to adulthood in pre-twentieth century Italy.  Nicolangela lived for 20 years as a widow in Forio.  It must have been a difficult life for her.  Her only surviving son, Filippo lived until 1925 and was the only one who emigrated to America in 1897 (two years prior to her death).  Here is a copy of her Atti di Morte (or death certificate):

Francesco Filippo Nicola Ferrigno 6 Oct 1810-23 Jun 1879

The first Ferrigno that I have found much information about is Francesco Filippo Nicola Ferrigno
who was born on October 6, 1810.  I found a copy of his Atti Di Nati (the equivalent of his Italian birth certificate).

It shows that his father was named Antonio, a fisherman "pescatore", who was 30 years old and was married to his mother Loretta Scotto Di Michele.  So Antonio would have been born in about 1780.
Antonio's father was named Francesco who is listed as "fu" or deceased.  So, even though I have not found records for Francesco, we know from this record that he died prior to October of 1810.

Francesco Filippo was born at number 30 Via Torrione on in the commune "town" of Forio on the
island of Ischia.  He was also a fisherman and was married to Nicolangela Polito who was born on December 31 1814.

Ischia-Island Home

The Ferrigno family came from a small town called Forio on the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples, Italy.  Here is what Wikipedia says about it:

Ischia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈiskja]) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal, it measures approximately 10 km (6 miles) east to west and 7 km (4 miles) north to south and has about 34 km (21 miles) of coastline and a surface area of 46.3 square kilometres (17.9 sq mi). It is almost entirely mountainous; the highest peak is Mount Epomeo, at 788 metres (2,585 feet).^[2] The island is very densely populated, with 60,000 residents (more than 1300 inhabitants per square km).

Ischia is the name of the main comune of the island. The other comuni of the island are Barano d'Ischia,Casamicciola Terme, Forio, Lacco Ameno, and Serrara Fontana.

Forio, better known as Forio d'Ischia, pronounced forìo with an accented "i", is the commune with the largest area on the island.   So, the commune of Forio on the island of Ischia is part of the province of Napoli (Naples), which is part of the region of Campania.

Beginning

My goal is to save insights and information as I collect them about my husband Anthony's family
to share with our son and grandsons and great grandchildren about what a proud heritage they have.