Over the years I have had trouble documenting my maternal great-grandmother's maiden name.  I had tried to confirm it with my usual favorite source - The U.S. Social Security Application.  On this particular form the applicant must insert the maiden name of his or her mother.  I looked at the information my grandfather and his brother filled out. The application done by my grandfather, Frank Tsiones, states that his mother's name was Anna Manutes.  My mother did not think that sounded correct, but she was not sure what the name should be.  His brother, Christ Tsiones, wrote his mother's name as Athanasia  Maniatis (it is very hard to read). It is unclear what the maiden name was.   I then looked at the 1865 General Election lists from the village of Kapareli, searching for surnames that were similar to what I saw on the Social Security Applications. There were 7 men listed in the 1865 Election Lists with the name Maniatis.   No ...

Nogales, AZ, near the US/Mexico Border ANTON AND LOUIS: THE PROTO BROTHERS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN BORDERLANDS Published in The National Herald, April 23-29, 2016 Issue Authored by Steve Frangos, TNH Staff Writer ------------------------------ We are excited to announce that  The National Herald  has given Hellenic Genealogy Geek the right to reprint articles that may be of interest to our group.  ------------------------------ CHICAGO- Anton and Louis Proto remain key figures in the development of the early Arizona/Mexico borderlands. While these two Greek immigrant brothers initially only sought to establish their own livelihoods, they simultaneously helped to literally create the economy of this expansive area. Serving as what can only be called cultural go-betweens, the brothers were incredibly agile in their decade-long movements back and forth across cultures and political borders. Great wealth and bitter tragedy were both reape...

My brother likes to frequent Thrift Stores in his free time.  He always keeps an eye out for something that might be of interest to me and this book is his latest find.  (Note:  anyone interested in purchasing a copy of this book can find used copies on Amazon.com along with other used book sites) "A GREEK JEW FROM SALONICA REMEMBERS"  by Ya'acov (Jack) Handeli Introduction by Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize Winner Translated from Hebrew by Martin Kett Originally published in Hebrew as "From the White Tower to the Gates of Auschwitz" by "Korot" Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1992. Following the title page of this book is a map titled "Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life In Europe". The age, by 1939, of the Jewish communities of Europe -- It shows Greece as having the oldest population in Europe - 2,239 years of Jewish communities existing in Greece. Contents: The White Tower Gentle Words and a Painful Truth - Foreword by E...