LINDO/WALKER/PIZZA/SYLVESTER

by Sylvia J Walker
(Birmingham, Alabama, USA)

I have been working on the genealogy of my husband's family for a number of years and everything leads back to Jamaica.

Norman Pizza, thought to have been born in New York 07/23/1896 to Adina Lindo was actually born as Norman Vivian Sylvester to Adina Lindo in Kingston Jamaica.

Another person in the family Harold Hermann Walker, known to have been born in Panama 12/14/1908 to Louise Stewart was found to be born in Kingston Jamaica as Harold Hermann Sylvester. Harold's father was named as Montague Walker on a 1917 New York passenger list. Both parents were deceased and Adina Lindo was called his paternal grandmother.

Adina b.1873 was mother to Lancelot Vance Pezzo b.1893, Norman Pizza b.1896 and Reginald Walker b.1898. Montague Walker b.1875 is believed to be her stepson.

Adina was married to James Herman Pizza father of Lancelot and Norman. She was married to Reginald Walker b.1853, father of Reginald b.1898 and Montague Walker b.1875.

Both Harold and Norman are connected to the Sylvester name through birth certificates. The family has no knowledge of Sylvester.

We have found no records of Adina's marriage to James Pizza or Reginald Walker.

We have found no records for the birth of Lancelot Vance Pezza. He changed his name from Pizza to Pezza.

We did find a marriage license for Norman Sylvester Pizza married to Lillian Lutz in the Panama Canal Zone.

The marriage license is how we were able to tie the Sylvester name to the Pizza/Pezza and Walkers.

Adina has claimed all her children were born in New York and she was born in Rhode Island. We no longer believe this to be true. We believe all of them were born in Kingston.

We find it very strange that the Sylvester name is tied to Harold and Norman who both have different mothers.

This may not be what you had in mind when you said start writing....but here it is anyway.....Any ideas on the Sylvester name?



Hi Sylvia

I know how frustrating and rewarding family research can be. Things you thought you knew turn out to be all wrong, or not as clear as you thought they were!

Are you sure Adina was married? The stigma attached to being an unmarried mother at that time may have led her to reinvent herself. Is it possible that the Sylvester could be Adina's family name, which she gave to her children at birth?. At some point either she or they could have changed their surnames to match their fathers'.

I too have a surname in my family that can't be accounted for beyond 3 generations, and it's driving us crazy, especially since it's the family name that all my siblings and I were born with!

I'm publishing your page just in case there's someone out there to help. If you don't want it on the web, let me know and I'll remove it.

All the best,
Allison