Calling All Maglios

I have created the Facebook page Maglio Famiglia.  http://www.facebook.com/groups/maglio/   

Please consider joining the group and tell us about your Maglio family.  Where in Italy did they come from?  How and when did they get where you are now?   

My goal is to see how we are all connected.  I also have a DNA project, which will help us figure out exactly how we are related.  http://www.familytreedna.com/public/maglio/

Maglio: The Surname DNA Project

   Have you had your DNA tested?  Did you get many close matches or like me did you get none?  I have no matches with the same surname.  The closest matches to my Italian yDNA were some Welsh guys.  If the Welsh connection were a few generations back, I’d be worried about my paternal line.  My closest DNA connections are 2000 to 3000 years ago.  This really doesn’t help me find my Italian roots.

   This doesn’t mean that my DNA testing has been in vain.  I’ve learned a lot about my origins.  I’ve used the DNA to trace my tribal migration from the Caucasus Mountains, across Europe and down the boot of Italy.  There is even a strong argument that a connection exists to the Etruscan culture.

   Since I am the first Maglio to be tested on the Family Tree DNA site, I guess it is up to me to start a project to gather all of the distantly related Maglios together.

   For all of you who have been tested and have no close connections it’s time for us to take the bull by the horns.  Let’s be the leaders.  Let’s create our own projects.  So, I’m creating a Maglio surname project on Family Tree DNA.  They make it easy and it’s free.  It’s free because they hope to get revenue as you invite other folks with the same surname to be tested.  FTDNA does offer discounted tests to project members.  It’s a win-win.

   “If you build it, they will come.”  Just because I start a project doesn’t mean that the Maglios will come flocking.  I’m going to need to get the message out.  I’m going to have to find them.  Like any relationship, it will take some wooing.

   Rather than just contacting random Maglios and asking for DNA, I have set up a Facebook group called Maglio Famiglia.  I plan to invite every Maglio on Facebook.  This will give us an opportunity to chat, compare stories and build connections.

   If anyone out there has been through this already, tell me about your experience building either a Facebook or Family Tree DNA surname project.

11 - 11 - 11: Day 4 - Favorite Old Photos

In celebration of November 11th, 2011, 11-11-11, I will be writing all month long about my favorite things in groups of 11.

Here are 11 of my favorite old photos from my collection:

The marriage of Eliza Ovens to Ben Hallett - Wiltshire, UK 1864 

Hathorn family on the lawn - St George, Maine 1898 

Shahbazians together in America 

Krause siblings - Illinois 1886 

 Maglio family outing  ~1930

Maglio family portrait - 1917 

Krause family on the farm - Calhoun Co, Illinois 1921 

Three generations of Clark family - Arlington, Massachusetts 1885 

 Clarks and Reads - 1885

Schulz family and friends - St Louis, Missouri 1898

Four generation of German women - Albig, Merke, Schulz, Krause - St Louis, MO 1906

Next Up: Favorite New England Ancestors

Maglio: Origins and Variations

   Maglio is a surname of Italian origin and ultimately derived from the Latin malleo- and malleus with a translation of mallet or hammer. The surname falls into the category of occupation names, the other categories being patronymic, geographic and descriptive. Translation and origins of surnames is not an exact science as language changes with time, location and necessity.

   One translation of the name Maglio is ‘wooden mallet’ for the slaughtering of cows. While a mallet is/was used in the slaughtering process, caution should be exercised in assigning the origin there. Each type of hammer in Italian has a unique name. The mazza is a sledgehammer or any hammer used in the working of stone. The martello is the more typical hammer used in woodworking. The maglio is a mallet specifically used in metalworking.

   As we look at variations of the name we can see a larger picture emerge. Magli is the plural form and means mallets. Magliare is ‘to hit with a hammer’ and maglietto is a gavel. Another set of variations gives a different grouping of definitions. Maglia is mesh, maglione means sweater and maglieria means knitting. Two sets of words with similar spelling seem unrelated until we look at cotta di maglia. Cotta di maglia is chainmail. The interwoven forged metal rings of chainmail are assembled in a pattern that resembles knitting. In this light a maglio is a mallet specifically used for the creation of chainmail (maglia).

   Two towns in Italy share the Maglio naming, Magliolo in the Liguria region and Maglie in the Puglia region. The coat of arms for each town tells a similar story on the origin of the name. The coat of arms for Magliolo shows a hammer raised above an anvil, reinforcing the metalworking definition. The coat of arms for Maglie contains three interwoven rings like links in a chain.

   An early precursor to croquet was a game called pallamaglio which originated near Naples, Italy. Pallamaglio literally means ball-mallet. The game found its way into France as paille-maille in the court of King Louis XIV, who created a playing field in the garden of Tuileries palace. Not to be outdone King Charles II created a field in London at St James’ Park. There is now a street there (and a cigarette) that derived its name from the English version of the game – Pall Mall. By the 18th century the word mall took on the meaning of walkway or promenade (as in the National Mall in Washington, DC) and today means shopping plaza. The next time you are enjoying a leisurely stroll past Cinnabon and the Sunglass Hut you can thank the Italian word for mallet – Maglio.