Welcome!

Let’s explore the world of Italian genealogy together, one person at a time.

Mary

Founder and Chair

...over the years we've had fieldtrips to museums, libraries, and even Roslyn's ethnic cemetery! I'm very proud that we have supported each other in our quest to find our Italian ancestors, sharing tips, resources, and celebrating successes.

Sign up for meeting notifications​

Name
Email Address

Please Donate

As many genealogists know, there are many talented and interesting speakers outside our Group. Unfortunately for us, these outside speakers typically require fees for their presentations (generally $75-$200). As our Group has no dues, we are dependent on webinar sponsors and talented IIG individuals for our meeting presentations. This page has been set up to provide information on making a tax-deductible donation toward securing professional speakers.
There are two ways to do this:
1) electronically from the EGS Special Interest Groups page
OR
 2) mailing a check payable to “Eastside Genealogical Society” with the notation “IIG donation” and sending it to Eastside Genealogical Society, PO Box 374, Bellevue, Washington 98009-0374.
PLEASE NOTE: The Paypal site can accept credit cards the same as most online sites; no Paypal account is needed. We also ask for a minimum donation of $5 as the Paypal utility charges IIG a small fee for each transaction.
Thank You very much for your support!

IIG Meeting – October-2025

DATE:
TIME:
TOPIC:
PRESENTER:

18-Oct-2025 (Saturday)
1:30 pm (PDT)
In Peace and War – Italian Military Research
Joel Cole

Description: This presentation will cover the wealth of genealogical information available in Italian military records, which have existed since Italian unification in the 19th century and in some places as far back as 1792. The records discussed will include conscription lists (Liste di Leva) detailing biographical and physical information for all eligible males, and military service files (Fogli Matricolari) tracking a soldier’s service history, promotions, and assignments. Additionally, four other lesser-known Italian military records will be covered. Since these records are organized by military district and province rather than by town, they are especially useful for tracing ancestors whose specific hometown is unknown. The presentation will guide researchers on accessing these records, whether by requesting them from a provincial State Archive (Archivio di Stato) in Italy, searching digitized records on sites like FamilySearch or Portale Antenati, or understanding the location of military archives based on the time period.

Speaker Bio: Joel Cole was born and raised in Padova, Italy. He has been involved with Italian Family History for over 30 years. He accompanied his father Trafford for his first genealogical research in Maniago, Italy, when he was 15 and since then he has been fascinated by family history. He has worked as a researcher for over 25 years, visiting almost every State Archive in Italy and almost 1,000 parish archives. He is familiar with paleography having taken several classes in Italy, and with Latin documents, having studied it for over 10 years. Joel has presented in many international genealogical conferences about Italian Family History and has worked for years for private companies performing research in all of Italy, consulting Civil records, Parish and Diocesan Catholic records, Notary records and many more sources. In 2015 he moved to Utah covering several roles for FamilySearch. He is currently the content strategist for Southern Europe, including Italy. Joel’s research specialties are: Italy, Southern Switzerland and Istria-Croatia. Expert at deciphering ancient Italian and Latin documents.

If you aren’t a registered member, please request a Zoom meeting invitation by clicking the button below.

Upcoming Meetings & Events

Scroll to Top