documented read in a primary record · very likely several records agree, no single one says it all · hypothesis fits the evidence, not proven · open no evidence yet.
01 / Laganadi, Reggio Calabria
The family
Laganadi is a small village on the slopes of the Aspromonte, about ten kilometres north-east of Reggio Calabria. Its civil records are held by the Archivio di Stato di Reggio Calabria, and its parish books by the diocesan archive of Reggio Calabria-Bova.
Domenico Surace (died 1863) and Grazia Romeo (died 1875) had at least six children there: Alessio (1841), Caterina (died 1899), Angelo (1847), Antonio (1849), Anna and Giuseppe. documented
Antonio Suraci, a carpenter, had lost his first wife and a newborn daughter in August 1877. In 1878 he married Francesca Versaci, a spinner. They had two known sons: Michele Domenico, born 4 August 1879, and Luigi, born 26 December 1881 according to the civil record. documented The parish book seems to give the 25th, and in Brazil the family remembered his birthday as Christmas Day.
02 / The American branch
Angelo Surace in Cleveland
Angelo Suraci, Antonio's brother and Luigi's uncle, was born in Laganadi on 8 March 1847 and married Anna Princi in 1877. Their children born in Laganadi include Domenico (1878), Francesco (1883) and Rosa (1887). On 4 June 1909, aged 62, Angelo arrived at Ellis Island on the SS Neckar from Naples, with his wife and four children, bound for Cleveland, Ohio, where his son Francesco already lived. He died in Cleveland on 31 March 1914; his death certificate spells his name Angelo Serace. very likely
The link between the Angelo of Laganadi and the Angelo of Cleveland rests on three records that fit together: the 1909 passenger list (Laganadi, wife Princi, children with matching names and ages), the Ohio death certificate (parents Domenico and Grazia) and his 1847 birth record. His 1877 civil marriage record has not been seen yet.
If you descend from Angelo Surace and Anna Princi of Cleveland, you are very likely a cousin of the Brazilian Sorage family.
03 / Carangola, Minas Gerais
Luigi in Brazil
On 12 April 1902, on a farm in the district of Carangola, “Luiz Sorate”, aged 20, a farm worker, married Isolina Vecchia, born in 1884 in Casalbuttano ed Uniti, near Cremona. He declared himself born in the “City of Mecina”, which sent the family looking in Messina, Sicily, for almost twenty years. He died in Carangola on 26 September 1936 as Luiz Sorage, a merchant, leaving eight children. documented
That Luigi Suraci of Laganadi and Luiz Sorage of Carangola are the same man rests on the names of both parents, his exact ages in 1902 and 1936, and the Christmas birthday. No single record says both things yet. very likely
04 / The open question
What we don't know
After December 1881 Antonio, Francesca and their sons vanish from the Laganadi records, while Antonio's brothers and sisters keep appearing in them. The simplest explanation is that the four left together, probably in the 1880s. hypothesis
We don't know when they left or through which port, where Antonio and Francesca died (before 1902), or what became of Michele. open
05 / Sources
Sources
Civil records of Laganadi on the Portale Antenati: Luigi's birth, 1881, no. 30 ↗ and Antonio and Francesca's marriage, 1878 ↗. Parish books on the diocesan archive portal ↗. Angelo's 1909 arrival ↗ and 1914 death certificate ↗ on FamilySearch. The full list is on the Portuguese page. We don't republish document images; the links lead to the official portals.
For relatives
Do you descend from the Suraci or Surace of Laganadi?
I would love to hear from you, especially if your family remembers a Michele Suraci born in 1879, or relatives who went to Brazil in the late nineteenth century.
Write to rsorage@gmail.com.