Serafina Mondello (c.1751 – 1831-09-08⟮1⟯Portale Antenati) was my 5th great-grandmother, being the matrilineal great-grandmother of Benedetta Todaro. Her father was Lorenzo Mondello. Serafina is notable for being the last identifiable ancestor in my father’s matrilineal line, and thus is the earliest traceable bearer of his mitochondrial DNA; his DNA was not tested in his lifetime, so I don’t know what haplogroup it belongs to, but perhaps one day another testee will emerge.
Mother mystery
Serafina’s 1831 civil death record⟮1⟯Portale Antenati does not list her mother’s name, only her father’s, which is not uncommon for early records. For a long time, I was puzzled by an annotation on her entry in the annual index to the death records⟮2⟯Portale Antenati, which looked to me like it might name her mother. In 2018, I discussed it with a staff member at the Salt Lake City Family History Center, who offered a theory (which proved wrong). The answer, which I figured out in 2026 with the help of AI, is rather boring: The note simply says that Serafina’s mother is unknown (“ignota”).
Her mother would extend the matriline another generation.
DNA
Serafina’s mtDNA was passed down to my father through his mother, but neither had sisters with descendants. However, my great-grandmother Josephine Latteri had three sisters, who all married (in Italy), and at least one of who immigrated and has American descendants. So, the haplogroup might still be identified one day.
Family
No siblings of Serafina have been found. If she had any, they likely died before available records started in 1820.
She married Giovanni Rubino (say 1746 – bef 1820⟮3⟯He is noted as deceased in his daughter Teresa’s death record.). His parents are unknown. They had these known children, all born, married, and died in San Fratello to the extent recorded:
- Rosa Rubino (c.1781 – 1865-01-01⟮4⟯Portale Antenati), my ancestor. She married Benedetto di Fede (say 1775 – bef 1836). Only one child of this couple is certain, with a second probable:
- Giuseppa di Fede (c.1810 – 1891-05-07), married widower Filadelfio Todaro (1807 – bef 1890) on 1836-10-17⟮5⟯Portale Antenati. They were my ancestors as the parents of Benedetta Todaro. She remarried to Salvatore Nobile.
- (?) Marianna di Fede (c.1810 – 1839-02-04⟮6⟯Portale Antenati), died aged 28 apparently unmarried, though her marital status is, unusually, not recorded. Her death record, the only record found of her, shows her parents as the late Benedetto di Fede and Rosa Cali. It would be surprising for the mother’s surname, when she was still alive, to be wrong, but errors are possible. A different couple of nearly the same names, of which no other record is found, seems unlikely; and the surname Cali is not otherwise found locally. The record also had written on it that Rosa was deceased, but then this was crossed out.
- Teresa Rubino (c.1790 – 1820-04-18), married Filadelfio Carbonetto.⟮7⟯Portale Antenati
- Innocenzo Rubino (1795⟮8⟯Aged 26 at marriage and 28 at death. – 1824-04-04⟮9⟯Portale Antenati; note his father is wrong (Pietro Rubino) and his mother’s surname is listed also as Rubino, but it is clearly the same person as on the marriage record.), married Maria Sberna on 1821-09-11⟮10⟯Portale Antenati.
- Benedetta Rubino (c.1802 – 1850-02-27⟮11⟯Portale Antenati), married first Giuseppe Sberna (brother of Maria) on 1830-04-27⟮12⟯Portale Antenati, second Antonino Abramo on 1846-05-08, when she is recorded as 43 and he as 25⟮13⟯Portale Antenati.
Footnotes
- ↑ ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ He is noted as deceased in his daughter Teresa’s death record.
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Aged 26 at marriage and 28 at death.
- ↑ Portale Antenati; note his father is wrong (Pietro Rubino) and his mother’s surname is listed also as Rubino, but it is clearly the same person as on the marriage record.
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati
- ↑ Portale Antenati