A

ncestry and genealogy have seen a recent
boom in popularity. With a host of services
available to those wanting to trace their lin-
eage, the curious can swab their mouths, send their
DNA away and have the past illuminated in six to
eight weeks.
Matthew Larcinese of West Bloomfield has a dif-
ferent approach. Larcinese started Digging the Past
Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on DNA and archival
research to trace ancestry. The organization specifi-
cally looks at Y-DNA, which traces the paternal line.
Coupled with archival materials such as wills and
birth notices, Larcinese fleshes out a more complete
picture of the past. Drinking with the locals is some-
times part of the process as well.
“I have these stages to my research,” Larcinese says.
“
Archives, DNA and Guinness stout.”
While researching his own family in Abruzzo, Italy,
Larcinese made a surprising discovery. He found the
last will and testament of an ancestor from 1580. The
will indicated that the ancestor had significant wealth

and owned a good deal of land.
“We didn’
t know why, and we didn’
t know how.
We weren’
t noble or royalty or anything like that,”
Larcinese says.
Larcinese tested his own Y-DNA, which reveals
common ancestors. He was then contacted by a DNA
expert who told him about some of his forbearers.
“When I got my Y-DNA done, my matches were
all Jewish,” says Larcinese, who previously thought he
had no blood connection to Jews. “I had no concept
of what was going on.”
Larcinese began more archival research this year.
In April, he traveled to the town of Gessopalena
where his ancestors lived as recently as the 1960s.
Larcinese looked through books of property records
and noticed that his family was showing up in the
1700s as land managers.
“Basically, they’
re liquidators. If you can’
t pay your
taxes, they’
re going to sell your land. At the same
time, my family starts showing up as moneylenders
and tax collectors,” Larcinese says.
Jews were commonly moneylenders and tax col-
lectors during this period because the church forbid
Christians to lend money to other Christians and
charge interest.
Another revelation gave Larcinese pause. In his
archival research, he noticed that the Larcinese line
combined with another family called Jacobuccio in
the 1500s. That surname is a derivative of Jacobi,

12 January 3 • 2019
jn

continued on page 14

ROB STREIT SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

jews d
in
the

Reclaiming
the Past

DNA helps
West Bloomfi
eld
man discover his
Jewish roots.

ABOVE: Why the menorahs are there is a mystery. LEFT: Matthew

Larcinese in San Martina, Italy. BOTTOM: The ruins of his ances-

tral home, circa 1790.