Where the Name Is Cut in Stone
Every grave recorded under any spelling of this surname, gathered from the memorial indexes. Ninety-six of them. One is in Croatia.
A register entry says a person existed. A grave says somebody paid for them to be remembered, and kept paying — and where the family was standing when they did it. So the map of the graves is not the map of the parishes. It is the map of where the family ended up.
Antonio Defranceschi, 9 Apr 1894 – 11 Feb 1946
Kaiserlich und königlich Marinefriedhof — the Imperial and Royal Naval Cemetery at Pula, laid out in 1862 for the Austro-Hungarian fleet and its dead, and still standing. He was fifty-one when he died on 11 February 1946, nine months after the war ended and a year before the treaty that took Istria out of Italy. His name is in the burial register this archive already held, and it is the one entry where the paper and the stone agree.
One grave — in the indexes. Against forty-nine in the United States, twenty-two in Italy and fifteen in Australia.
The reason is partly the indexes: Croatian cemeteries are barely covered by the volunteer memorial sites, and this figure is not a census of the ground. But it is also real. The Istrian Italians left after 1945, and in Istria and on the Kvarner a grave whose lease is not renewed is cleared and re-let on a cycle. Where nobody was left to renew, there is nothing to photograph.
Except that the family holds photographs of two more
Which is the whole argument against reading a memorial index as a map of the ground.
Inside a genealogy file in the family's own papers are 247 photographs. Two of them are graves, and neither is in any index.
The first is on the Kvarner coast: a standing stone with a cross and two oval porcelain medallions — a woman, and a man in a fedora. The cutting reads “Ovdje počiva u miru Božjem — ANA DE. FRANCESCHI — ✱ 19.IX.1863 ✝ 28.V.1936”. Here rests in God's peace. Below the dates the word suprug, husband, begins a second inscription that the photograph cuts off before the name.
The second is a bronze plaque in a lawn cemetery four hundred kilometres inland from Melbourne, and it settles a date this archive had from two sources that disagreed: “ZDRAVKO FRANK DEFRANCESKI, died 22nd December 1979 aged 58, beloved husband of Rosa, loved father of Anton and Vivian, loved grandfather of Dean, Lisa, Antonia and Carla.” The cemetery record was right and the family's own file, which gives 1999, is wrong. The four grandchildren named on it match the family structure exactly: two are Anton's, two are his sister's.
And there is a third, of Ivan Defrančeski, 1925–1995 — polished granite, a plain incised cross, the name cut in Croatian orthography, flowers on the neighbouring slabs.
Horsham, Victoria
The end of the Pfullingen story, and it is not California.
| Name | Dates | Plot | Cemetery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruža “Rosa” Defranceski | – 1 Feb 1996 | SOUTH 2-D-23 | Horsham, Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia |
| Zdravko “Frank” Defranceski | 1921 – 22 Dec 1979 | — | Horsham, Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia |
| Zorafko Frank De Franceski | – 27 Dec 1979 | CENTRAL 2-J-10 | Horsham, Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia |
| Antony De Franceski | 1943 – 28 Jun 1999 | 3/3 - 9/BF | Willowbank, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia |
In 1943 Zdravko Defranceski was taken by the Partisans, held three or four months, and went straight to Germany — a clerk pencilled it on the back of his sickness-fund card. He worked at Reutlingen as a motor mechanic. On 22 February 1949 he was on a resettlement roll with his wife Ruža, of Fužine, and their small son, IRO number 135801.
He is buried in the Wimmera, in western Victoria, under the name Frank. He died on 22 December 1979, aged fifty-eight. Ruža followed him on 1 February 1996, and lies in the same ground, South 2-D-23. The cemetery holds a third entry for him under a mangled reading of his name, Zorafko Frank De Franceski, dated five days later — a burial date recorded as a death.
And Antony De Franceski, the child entered on the French camp card in 1947 with the single word enfant written across the fingerprint boxes, died on 28 June 1999 and is buried at Willowbank, in the City of Ipswich — in Queensland, an hour up the highway from Brisbane. This archive withheld his name while there was any chance he was living. There is not.
Millbrook, New York
| Name | Dates | Cemetery |
|---|---|---|
| Gerda Seedorf de Franceschi | 15 Jan 1913 – 9 Oct 2012 | Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York, USA |
| Joachim Bruno deFranceschi | 12 Aug 1907 – 6 Jul 2000 | Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York, USA |
Joachim Bruno deFranceschi, 12 August 1907 – 6 July 2000. The FamilySearch index gives his birthplace as Callignana — a clerk's slip for Gallignana, which is Gračišće. He is, so far as this archive can establish, the only person born in the parish of the direct line whose grave has been found anywhere. He lived to ninety-two, in Dutchess County, and his wife Gerda Seedorf — a German name, and a marriage that has its own story somewhere — outlived him by twelve years and lies beside him.
Where they cluster
More of this name lies in one churchyard in Connecticut than in the whole of Croatia.
| Cemetery | Where | Graves |
|---|---|---|
| New Saint Francis Cemetery | Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | 9 |
| Cimitero Comunale Monumentale Campo Verano | Rome, Lazio, Italy | 8 |
| Cimitero di Santa Maria di Sala | Santa Maria di Sala, Venezia, Veneto, Italy | 6 |
| Cimitero di Giubiasco | Giubiasco, Ticino, Switzerland | 4 |
| Broken Hill Cemetery | Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia | 3 |
| Horsham Cemetery | Horsham, Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia | 3 |
| Saint John Cemetery and Mausoleum | Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA | 3 |
| Saint Andrew's Catholic Cemetery | Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada | 2 |
| Cimitero di Dolo | Dolo, Venezia, Veneto, Italy | 2 |
| Cimitero di Vigonza | Vigonza, Padova, Veneto, Italy | 2 |
| Hillside Cemetery | Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | 2 |
| Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery | Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan, USA | 2 |
| Lake City Cemetery | Lake City, Missaukee County, Michigan, USA | 2 |
| Loud Cemetery | Loud Township, Montmorency County, Michigan, USA | 2 |
| Maryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum | Niles, Cook County, Illinois, USA | 2 |
| National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona | Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | 2 |
| Nine Partners Cemetery | Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York, USA | 2 |
| Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Columbarium | Whiting, Ocean County, New Jersey, USA | 2 |
| Saint John Neumann Cemetery | Chalfont, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA | 2 |
| Saint Marys Catholic Cemetery | Washington, District of Columbia, USA | 2 |
| Saint Peter Cemetery | Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | 2 |
New Saint Francis at Torrington holds nine, and the neighbouring Saint Peter and Hillside cemeteries hold four more between them — a single Connecticut brass-and-clock town with thirteen graves of this name. Two of the Torrington graves are children who died in the same year, Lina, eleven, and Mario, seven, both in 1925. Campo Verano in Rome holds eight; Santa Maria di Sala in the Veneto six, of whom three are men who died in 1942, 1944 and 1945.
The whole gazetteer
53 cemeteries · everything is listed; the filters only narrow it
96 burials in 53 places, and 21 of those places hold more than one of this family. A shared plot is a decision somebody made.
| Where | Who lies there |
|---|---|
| New Saint Francis Cemetery Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | Bartolo DeFranceschi1882 – 1952 · plot Section 15 · aged 70Clotilde Toffoletti DeFranceschi1886 – 1965 · plot Section 19 · aged 79Dennis Martin DeFranceschi4 Nov 1948 – 8 Jan 2020 · plot Section 19 · aged 72Francesco DeFranceschi1886 – 1937 · plot Section 19 · aged 51Giovanni “John” DeFranceschi11 Nov 1876 – 18 Mar 1934 · plot Section 19 · aged 58Lina DeFranceschi1914 – 1925 · plot Section 19 · aged 11Maria DeFranceschi1878 – 1925 · plot Section 19 · aged 47Mario DeFranceschi1918 – 1925 · plot Section 19 · aged 7Mary DeFranceschi1886 – 1972 · plot Section 15 · aged 86 |
| Cimitero Comunale Monumentale Campo Verano Rome, Lazio, Italy | Adalgisa De Franceschi22 Sep 1886 – 3 May 1960 · aged 74Alberto De Franceschi1 Oct 1913 – 23 Jul 1983 · aged 70Amedea De Franceschi13 Jun 1925 – 21 Jun 1996 · aged 71Amedeo De Franceschi1 Jan 1894 – 6 Jun 1925 · aged 31Anna Panella De Franceschi23 Jul 1880 – 19 May 1951 · aged 71Caterina Iacobelli De Franceschi31 May 1867 – 11 Jan 1963 · aged 96Mario De Franceschi9 Apr 1898 – 24 Aug 1984 · aged 86Oreste De Franceschi5 Mar 1876 – 21 Oct 1954 · aged 78 |
| Cimitero di Santa Maria di Sala Santa Maria di Sala, Venezia, Veneto, Italy | Davide De Franceschi9 Dec 1875 – 1926 · aged 51Florinda De Franceschi1896 – 1961 · aged 65Giovanni Silvio De Franceschi15 Feb 1914 – 1942 · aged 28Giulio Valentino De Franceschi14 Feb 1911 – 1951 · aged 40Guido De Franceschi1907 – 1945 · aged 38Raffaele De Franceschi13 Feb 1918 – 1944 · aged 26 |
| Cimitero di Giubiasco Giubiasco, Ticino, Switzerland | Margherita DeFranceschi1921 – 1991 · aged 70Pietro DeFranceschi1884 – 1957 · aged 73Remo DeFranceschi1919 – 1975 · aged 56Rosa DeFranceschi1885 – 1956 · aged 71 |
| Broken Hill Cemetery Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia | Giacomo Defranceschi– 19 Nov 2012John Defranceschi– 7 Mar 2019 · plot GENE 5Robert Defranceschidates unknown · plot Catholic, XA, row 11, plot 16 |
| Horsham Cemetery Horsham, Rural City of Horsham, Victoria, Australia | Ruža “Rosa” Defranceski– 1 Feb 1996 · plot SOUTH 2-D-23Zdravko “Frank” Defranceski1921 – 22 Dec 1979 · aged 58Zorafko Frank De Franceski– 27 Dec 1979 · plot CENTRAL 2-J-10 |
| Saint John Cemetery and Mausoleum Middle Village, Queens County, New York, USA | Antonio De Franceschi22 Feb 1897 – Jun 1979 · plot Sec 53, Row P, Grave 111 · aged 82Bruno De Franceschi– Sep 2015 · plot Sec RMAP, Crypt 1-031FJohn A. De Franceschi– Dec 1952 · plot Sec 53, Row P, Grave 111 |
| Cimitero di Dolo Dolo, Venezia, Veneto, Italy | Anna Maria Carrara De Franceschi1927 – 2003 · aged 76Romano De Franceschi1924 – 1987 · aged 63 |
| Cimitero di Vigonza Vigonza, Padova, Veneto, Italy | Placida Maria Giacomello De Franceschi5 Sep 1909 – 8 Jan 1997 · aged 88Vittorio Giulio De Franceschi8 Feb 1904 – 17 Jan 1988 · aged 84 |
| Hillside Cemetery Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | Leonard DeFranceschi1908 – 20 Aug 1969 · plot Old Section P · aged 61Mary DeFranceschi1886 – 8 Nov 1972 · plot Old Section P · aged 86 |
| Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery Southfield, Oakland County, Michigan, USA | Cosmo DeFranceschi24 Oct 1899 – 18 Jan 1972 · aged 73Mary Grace DeMicco DeFranceschi30 Aug 1909 – 28 Jan 1994 · aged 85 |
| Lake City Cemetery Lake City, Missaukee County, Michigan, USA | Emanuele DeFranceschi4 Nov 1899 – 1 Nov 1977 · plot East 166-2 · aged 78Mary Piai DeFranceschi3 Nov 1901 – 2 Feb 1990 · plot East 166-1 · aged 89 |
| Loud Cemetery Loud Township, Montmorency County, Michigan, USA | Don Gerard DeFranceschi10 Nov 1956 – 26 Apr 2010 · plot Block 2, Lot 34, Grave 3 · aged 54Maria Ann DeFranceschi9 May 1962 – 1 Mar 2010 · plot Block 2, Lot 34, Grave 2 · aged 48 |
| Maryhill Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum Niles, Cook County, Illinois, USA | John A. DeFranceschi26 Feb 1962 – 16 Oct 2019 · aged 57Nicholas J. DeFranceschi8 Jul 1990 – 8 Jul 1990 |
| National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA | Benito De Franceschi8 Oct 1938 – 10 Feb 2022 · plot Section 60A, Site 45 · aged 84Joni M. De Franceschi13 Dec 1939 – 28 Feb 2016 · plot Section 60A, Site 45 · aged 77 |
| Nine Partners Cemetery Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York, USA | Gerda Seedorf de Franceschi15 Jan 1913 – 9 Oct 2012 · aged 99Joachim Bruno deFranceschi12 Aug 1907 – 6 Jul 2000 · aged 93 |
| Saint Andrew's Catholic Cemetery Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada | Maria De Franceschi2 Feb 1923 – 24 Apr 1997 · aged 74Mario De Franceschi17 Aug 1919 – 1 Sep 2012 · aged 93 |
| Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Columbarium Whiting, Ocean County, New Jersey, USA | Duilo DeFranceschi10 Jun 1921 – 12 Jun 2003 · aged 82Nella DeFranceschi4 Feb 1921 – 10 Jun 1992 · aged 71 |
| Saint John Neumann Cemetery Chalfont, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA | Evelyn DeFranceschi20 May 1929 – 20 Oct 2005 · plot Section 3, Range 4, #22 · aged 76Joseph DeFranceschi26 Mar 1929 – 15 Jan 2013 · plot Section 3, Range 4, #22 · aged 84 |
| Saint Marys Catholic Cemetery Washington, District of Columbia, USA | Luigi “Louis” DeFranceschi3 Nov 1873 – May 1950 · aged 77Teresa Fior DeFranceschi1882 – 13 Feb 1955 · aged 73 |
| Saint Peter Cemetery Torrington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, USA | Alfred DeFranceschi1914 – 1999 · aged 85Edith M DeFranceschi1915 – 1996 · aged 81 |
| Alter Katholischer Friedhof Dresden Friedrichstadt, Dresden, Saxony, Germany | Matthäus Franceschi del Campo1790 – 1844 · aged 54 |
| Arlington National Cemetery Arlington, Virginia, USA | Kristy A DeFranceschi9 Sep 1960 – 28 Nov 2011 · plot Columbarium 7-D-13-3 · aged 51 |
| Calvary Cemetery Woodside, Queens County, New York, USA | Giovanni De Franceschi24 Mar 1846 – 22 Dec 1916 · aged 70 |
| Cementerio Municipal Viejo Yauco, Puerto Rico, USA | Pascuala Rodriguez De Franceschi1812 – 1894 · aged 82 |
| Cementerio Trujillo San Germán, Puerto Rico, USA | Eloina Rodriguez Garcia De Franceschi1901 – 13 Sep 1941 · aged 40 |
| Cemitério da Irmandade Arcanjo São Miguel Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil | Rodolpho De Franceschi– 16 Jul 1971 |
| Centenary Memorial Gardens Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | Mario De Franceschi15 Sep 1938 – 29 Jan 2013 · plot The Avenue, Tree 16, Site 15 · aged 75 |
| Cimitero di Montà Padova, Veneto, Italy | Augusto De Franceschi26 Feb 1879 – 9 Nov 1950 · aged 71 |
| Cimitero di Tignale Tignale, Brescia, Lombardia, Italy | Luigi De Franceschi4 Dec 1912 – 13 Dec 1987 · aged 75 |
| Cimitero Monumentale di Milano Milan, Lombardia, Italy | Zaverio De Franceschi1847 – 1924 · aged 77 |
| Colchester Cemetery Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada | Joseph “Joe” De Franceschi22 Sep 1946 – 27 May 2022 · aged 76 |
| Desert Memorial Park Cathedral City, Riverside County, California, USA | Tobias Edward DeFranceschi15 Jun 1911 – 28 Mar 1972 · plot C1, 223 — indigent burial · aged 61 |
| Fawkner Memorial Park Fawkner, Victoria, Australia | Corrado De Franceschi2 May 1941 – 3 Sep 2000 · plot Special Lawn, Section B2, Grave 5 · aged 59 |
| Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York, USA | Edward “Dado” de Franceschi1952 – 1967 · plot HIC, 873 · aged 15 |
| Florida National Cemetery Bushnell, Sumter County, Florida, USA | Maria Delia Velázquez de Franceschi28 Sep 1932 – 20 Dec 2023 · plot Section 607, Site 1078 · aged 91 |
| Glen Eden Memorial Park Livonia, Wayne County, Michigan, USA | B. A. Defranceschi1943 – 1994 · plot Memorial Wall — Chapel of Memories · aged 51 |
| Gungahlin Cemetery and Crematorium Mitchell, Canberra, ACT, Australia | Cesare De Franceschi– 30 Jan 2005 · plot HS/10/01/00/084 |
| Holy Cross Cemetery Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia, USA | Albino DeFranceschi1895 – 2 Oct 1932 · aged 37 |
| Kaiserlich und königlich Marinefriedhof Pula, Grad Pula, Istarska, Croatia | Antonio Defranceschi9 Apr 1894 – 11 Feb 1946 · aged 52 |
| Lakeside Memorial Park Kanahooka, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia | Mario De Franceschi6 Oct 1924 – 11 Jul 2012 · plot Serenity 1, Site 35C · aged 88 |
| Lilydale Memorial Park Lilydale, Victoria, Australia | Adelia De Franceschi22 Mar 1930 – 2 Jul 2013 · aged 83 |
| Lilydale Memorial Park Lilydale, Yarra Ranges Shire, Victoria, Australia | Adelia Defranceschi22 Mar 1930 – 2 Jul 2013 · plot Yellow Gum North (DA), Row 17, Grave 9 · aged 83 |
| Long Island National Cemetery East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA | Joseph De Franceschi– 26 Apr 1940 · plot F, 2918 |
| Masonic Cemetery Clinton, East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, USA | Brad Joseph DeFranceschi17 Sep 1969 – 9 Oct 2017 · aged 48 |
| Melbourne General Cemetery Parkville, Victoria, Australia | Attilio De Franceschi– 30 Jul 1969 · plot Roman Catholic, Compartment NBV, 18 |
| Oconee Hill Cemetery Athens, Clarke County, Georgia, USA | La Bambola De Franceschi1909 – 1909 · plot EH |
| Padua Main Cemetery Padua, Veneto, Italy | Mario De Franceschi19 Jun 1933 – 26 May 2024 · plot Vecchio Settore, Reparto 2, Campo 1, Fila 1 · aged 91 |
| Rookwood Catholic Cemeteries Rookwood, New South Wales, Australia | Fabiola De Franceschi– 21 Mar 1985 · plot Cr Lwn 5, Plot 205 |
| Saint Charles Cemetery East Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York, USA | Basilio De Franceschi– 17 Jun 1994 · plot Section 48, Row S, Grave 113 |
| Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery River Grove, Cook County, Illinois, USA | Attilio “Til” DeFranceschi21 Nov 1925 – 9 May 2010 · plot Section Y, Block 19, Lot 45, Grave 1 · aged 85 |
| Warrill Park Lawn Cemetery Willowbank, City of Ipswich, Queensland, Australia | Antony De Franceski1943 – 28 Jun 1999 · plot 3/3 - 9/BF · aged 56 |
| Woodlawn Cemetery Bronx, New York, USA | Conchita Z. De Franceschi– 5 Jul 1923 · plot Primrose, Section 185, Lot 15004NE, Grave 2 |
Nothing matches that.
Two graves this archive knows of and cannot find
Valentino Defranceschi's tomb in the cathedral at Rijeka, which he made for himself with an epigraph in 1785 — the same man who came from Carnia, was made a citizen of Fiume in 1739 and built the chapel of St Helena in 1764. And the old family tomb before the altar of the church at Piska, near Omiš, with the arms carved on it, belonging to the Giovanni who led volunteers to the siege of Imotski in 1718. Neither is on any memorial index. Both are described in print. Somebody should photograph them.
What this page is not
It is not a survey of the ground. It is a survey of what volunteers have photographed and typed up, which is heavily weighted to the English-speaking world and to Italy. Croatia, Slovenia and the Istrian villages are almost entirely absent. Read the count of one Croatian grave as a fact about the record, and only then as a fact about the family.
Source: Find a Grave memorial index, searched under Defranceschi, De Franceschi, DeFranceschi, Defranceski and De Franceski. Each name links to its own memorial.
The full bibliography, with what each source gave and where it is weak →