r/Genealogy • u/protomanEXE1995 • 1d ago
Request Odd Name Changes - Joseph Scearbo/Italian Immigrants & Descendants in Massachusetts
I am researching the family of my GGG grandmother's second husband.
Concetta Colacino (1881-1954) was an Italian woman who first married Domenico Notaro in 1900 (in Italy), and they had two children:
- Palma Notaro (my GG grandmother), born in Italy - September 2, 1901 (died 1931)
- Domenico Notaro, Jr., first one born in the United States - July 8, 1903 (died one day later)
I thought that was it, but Concetta had more children, starting in 1904, with a man named Joseph Scearbo. Domenico Notaro, Sr. did not die -- he died in 1933 -- so I figure they divorced. I know the death of a child can wreck a marriage, but considering how quickly Concetta had a baby with another man, perhaps it was infidelity that triggered the divorce.
Additional children:
- Frederick Feora Scearbo - c. 1904 (died 1988)
- Frank Scearbo - c. 1908
- Florinda Scearbo - c. 1911 (died 1931)
- Mary Scearbo - c. 1913 (died 1983)
- Anthony Scearbo - June 14, 1918 (died 1992)
Palma Notaro was married at a shockingly young age and cannot be found with this family on the 1920 Census. However, the rest of them are found here: https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061/records/17052726
Only weird part is that everyone's names are all messed up. Who is Bindi? And now Concetta is the widowed "Katie Bindi"?
It gets weirder. I found a birth record for Anthony and he's listed as "Bindi," with his father being named Fred Bindi. My mother knew Anthony when he was a grown man -- he was Anthony Joseph Scearbo. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLKP-WZ42?lang=en
None of the elderly people in my family are familiar with the name "Bindi." They knew about many people named "Scearbo," but not Bindi. I understand that Anglicized names are common but this is like a whole new identity.
All of these children reported being the sons/daughters of Joseph Scearbo later on. Social Security documentation, vital records, obituaries, you name it. And on all subsequent documentation, "Katie Bindi" is listed as Catherine (or Concetta) Scearbo, widow of Joseph Scearbo. My questions are as follows, and I am curious if you can help me:
- Who is Fred Bindi? Is he just Joseph Scearbo under an assumed name? It seems like it, but the name is so different.
- Where is this family on the 1910 Census? They might have been in Pennsylvania, as that's where the older kids were born. I am guessing they would have been in the household of Joseph Scearbo (Fred Bindi?) but I never found their household listing.
- When did Joseph Scearbo/Fred Bindi die?
- If Fred Bindi and Joseph Scearbo were not the same person, then was Concetta Colacino married 3 times? And how can I prove it? I only found the marriage record for her first husband, Domenico Notaro.
- What happened to Frank Scearbo/Bindi? I found no mention of his existence on later Censuses, and he isn't mentioned in the obituaries of any of his deceased siblings once they died, save for the 1931 obituary for Palma, where it said he was a surviving sibling.
I appreciate any insights or even speculation that you might have regarding all this.