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.