Centenario

One hundred years ago today my great-grandmother arrived at Ellis Island with her daughters Lucia, Carmena, and Maria Giuseppa. While her family back home in the Mediterranean celebrated festa dei sette pesci, the Christmas Eve feast of the seven fishes, Angelina's first glimpse of America was the icy air of New York Harbor. Despite traveling in the relatively luxurious second-class accommodations, it was probably not a very happy day for her. And she still had another 200 miles of travel to reach her destination of Muncy, PA, her waiting husband, and her new life. More on that later.

Ticket to Ride: October 30, 1911

The Immigrant Journey

The Feast of the Seven Fishes

Ticket to Ride

OCTOBER 30, 1911
Great-Grandmother Angelina purchased a ticket for a trip from Italy to America on the SS Madonna. The ticket was purchased in October but the ship didn't sail for another two months. The second class fare for Angelina and her three daughters was $115.33. The youngest girls, Carmena and Giuseppina ("Josephine"), occupied "half-spaces".

Did you catch that date? This receipt is 100 years old today! Stay tuned - the big blog-a-bration will be in a couple of months when the ship comes in.

PLAY ALONG AT HOME:
Immigrant Ships Trancribers Guild
Ship lists transcribed by volunteers

Ellis Island
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In the Army Now

JULY 31, 1899
On this day in 1899 Great-Grandfather Raffaele earned this large, impressive certificate from the Italian Army. I heard many colorful stories about Raffaele but it seems everyone forgot to mention this accomplishment. 

Turns out the immigrant shoemaker was also a tiratore scelto, a sharpshooter. 

Italian Military Records
Family Search Wiki

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Ancestry

Every Italian Family Has a Josephine

JULY 8, 1906
Every Italian family has a Josephine - ask around if you don't believe me. In our family she was my grandmother's sister. Her given name was Maria Giuseppa, and occasionally she went by Maria Giuseppina. She is pictured here along with a her birth record from Sannicandro di Bari issued in 1908.

Great-aunt Josephine was not our only Josephine, but she was the main one. We had a few spare Josephines by marriage - technically they count if you're keeping score, depending on your relationship to the husband. For me there is really only one and it has to do with this picture.

My grandmother did not organize her family pictures in any way that would make a family historian happy: stashed in envelopes, stacked in the basement, stuffed in assorted boxes. When i was growing up a typical visit always began with tour of the house, rummaging through drawers of the oldest pieces of furniture, staring at the old photos and trying to identify the people I knew or had heard of.

The day I ran across the picture of Josephine, posed on the chair with her big sassy hat, was the very day the family research began. You see, until I laid eyes on this picture I never even knew my grandmother had a sister named Josephine.

The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy: Use the Web to trace your roots, share your history, and create a family tree (Everything Series)
by Kimberly Powell

Genealogy Online For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
by Matthew L. Helm

Hat in the Ring

JULY 1, 1904
On this day in 1904 great-grandfather Raffaele wrote a letter to the big-wigs in Provincia di Bari. I'm fairly certain I have the letter translated, if not word for word then at least the high points.I'll post the translation in a couple of days - I want to milk this letter for awhile.

Is this is a copy of the letter or the undelivered original? I suspect the original. Two documents are referenced as enclosed with the letter and since I'm in possession of these items it looks very much as if the letter and attachments were never sent.

This letter looks pretty darn good for 100+ years, amirite? It was discovered in 1992 following the death of my great-uncle along with many other delicious family treasures. Hundreds of photos, letters and documents were found in unbelievably good condition considering no special protective measures were taken.

What's that I hear? It's a chorus from my favorite song: Old photos and documents should be stored in archival quality boxes and albums!

Preserving Old Photos & Documents
Warning: This page starts off with a big Warning!

Pioneer Jumbo Scrapbook Storage Box, Sage Green
Acid- and lignon-free rocks

First Papers

JUNE 18, 1941
After 32 years in the U.S., Great-Grandfather Raffaele applied for citizenship. This ratty little letter is an acknowledgment from the INS, a receipt for Raffaele's application to file a Declaration of Intention. This was the first step toward becoming an American citizen and was usually referred to as "First Papers".

Actually, this is Raffaele's second application that I know of - the first attempt was in 1917 and I haven't yet figured out why a second application was necessary. Both world wars were in full swing at the time of each application. You might think he was stricken with a burst of patriotism for his adopted homeland and wanted there to be no mistake about which team he was on. But this is doubtful since the application process could take up to five years from first papers to naturalization certificate. Perhaps he got cold feet after the first application in 1917. Many aliens filed more than one application, to the great delight of family researchers.

I believe Raffaele's road to citizenship was detoured by good old-fashioned family obligations. 1920 was not a good year for his family and I suspect he was unable to attend to his application. Stay tuned.

Types of U.S. Naturalization Records
from Genealogy Branches

They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins
Loretto Dennis Szucs

Fan Mail

Well, lookit at me - blogging for one week and already receiving fan mail. I received an email about the "X" markings next to each passenger on the detail of the San Giovanni passenger list. I assumed, based on the number of X's on this list that it was merely an action to note the passenger had embarked or disembarked the ship, but after a little snooping online it's becoming clearer that that the X was not merely a casual notation. Apparently markings varied by port and year of arrival and were used to signify the immigrant was temporarily detained, or held for a special hearing.

There is an "X" next to my great-grandfather's name on the San Giovanni passenger manifest. Well, I'll be darned. Looks like I have some more research to do! It's time to find out what the "X" means. Thanks for the email Karen D. - the link below leads to a great article which explains all of the scribbles found on passenger lists.

A Guide to Interpreting Passenger List Annotations
by Marian L. Smith, Historian, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service 

Late to the Party

MAY 25, 1909
On this day Great-Grandfather Raffaele arrives in America on the San Giovanni, one of 1,074 passengers. He traveled with quite a few "cittadini" from his hometown of Sannicandro di Bari, many with surnames from his family: Mossa, Chimienti, Sacchetti, and others. I assume they are relations of some sort but I can't claim them without confirmation.

You can see by the detail that Raffaele (passenger #27) was a 40 year old shoemaker when he arrived - much older than most of the passengers on the ship. More on that later.

Search for your ancestors on the Ellis Island site:
The handwriting on the records makes this a tough site to search - if at first you don't succeed try misspelling your ancestor's name.

Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s
Ancestry.com

Tune in tomorrow to learn what information you will find on a two page ship list.