Sometimes searching for ship records can be difficult because of errors or omissions in data entry by archivists. It can be a difficult job to read and transcribe old lists and records, so I have the utmost respect for those who tackle this task.
In the case of my great-grandmother Francesca Mangano, her record was not easy to find but I believe I happened upon it through determination and luck. I always thought that her last name was "Falco" but upon seeing her marriage certificate learned that her maiden name was actually Mangano, and her mother's maiden name was "Falco". So I had been searching incorrectly for a record for "Francesca Falco".
I do the majority of my searching for records through my ancestry.com family tree. For the most part records are more abundant through this paid service and fairly easy to find. However in this instance I could not find a record for Francesca Mangano.
I knew that Francesca was married in Italy and that her husband immigrated first and then she stayed in Italy with her first born son, Stefano Marchiano. They came over together. It took searching for Stefano Marchiano on the Ellis Island website and then scouring the record at 200% magnification to find the line with "Francesca Mangano" which looks like it was crossed out or perhaps the document was folded there and it appears like a line over her name and entry.
What I learned from this record:
The ship's name is Giusseppe Verdi and it arrived on December 24, 1919 - Christmas Eve!! The trip took 14 days from Napoli, Italy.
Francesca was married, around age 33, could not read or write, was meeting her husband, came from Italy from the town S. Demetrio and her nearest relative is her mother Maria Falco, she plans to go to Westerly, Rhode Island.On page 2 you see that her husband is Nicola Marchiano.
Below her line is her son Stefano Marchiano, age 9.
Below Stefano is a name I cannot read but is apparently the sister of Francesca. I really wish I could make out her name. She also lists Maria Falco as mother however her destination is Brooklyn, NY. On page 2 I can see that her husband is Rose Demetrio of 1405 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn, NY and immediately wonder and assume that this is how Nicholas and Francesca eventually ended up living on Gates Avenue.
When I spoke with my Uncle Nat Marchiano, he remembered that his grandmother had arrived on a holiday and now we can confirm with the ship record. We visited Ellis Island and after watching videos I was imagining the conditions of travel on a ship sailing through the Atlantic Ocean in December. How cold they must have been! Then often times they departed the ship and took an unheated ferry to Ellis Island and may have had to wait on the ferry for an undetermined amount of time to wait for "processing". Then arrive onto Ellis Island and be scrutinized for any disease by people who probably didnt speak Italian. It amazes me what our ancestors went through to start a life in America.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Francesca Mangano
Today I came across the marriage certificate for Nicola Marchiano and Francesca Mangano. They were married on October 23 of 1909 in the town of San Demetrio Corone in the Province of Cosenza in the region of Calabria, Italy.
Francesca's father was Natale Mangano and her mother Maria Falco. She was 20 years old at the time of marriage and Nicola was 23. His parents were Carlo Alberte and Maria Samarra. The marriage certificate indicates that his parents were no longer alive. I wonder if these are the names of his birth parents in Albania - or if they are the names of his adoptive parents when he fled to Italy?
I wonder if his last name "Marchiano" is from the Albanian parents or his adoptive parents?
It would be interesting to contact the town in Italy to try to track down a birth certificate for Francesca Mangano.
Francesca's father was Natale Mangano and her mother Maria Falco. She was 20 years old at the time of marriage and Nicola was 23. His parents were Carlo Alberte and Maria Samarra. The marriage certificate indicates that his parents were no longer alive. I wonder if these are the names of his birth parents in Albania - or if they are the names of his adoptive parents when he fled to Italy?
I wonder if his last name "Marchiano" is from the Albanian parents or his adoptive parents?
It would be interesting to contact the town in Italy to try to track down a birth certificate for Francesca Mangano.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Pilgrimage to Ellis Island
March 31, 2011 marked the 100th Anniversary of my great-grandfather, Nicholas (Nicola) Marchiano's, arrival to Ellis Island. He was aboard the ship, Friedrich der Grosse, which departed from Naples Italy on March 17th, 1911. On the ship manifest, he is listed on line 6 and from this document we learn that he was 25 years old, he could not read or write, his nearest relative in Italy was his wife "Francisco" (Francesca), his destination was Westerly, Rhode Island but he did not yet have a ticket to get there, he paid for his ship's fare, he had $25 with him, he had never before been to the US, he was 5 ft 6 in tall, had moles on his face, and he came from the town of S. Demetrio C. in Cosenza, Italy.
To honor and celebrate this journey - a few of Nicholas Marchiano's descendants decided to make a pilgrimage to Ellis Island on the date and time that Nicholas would have arrived 100 years prior. Natale Marchiano (grandson), Gregory Mannino (grandson) , Nicholas (grandson) Mannino, Nicole Mannino Johnson (great-granddaughter) , Ainsley Mannino (great great granddaughter) and Jack Mannino Johnson (great great grandson) all embarked on this historical journey to Ellis Island.
If you have never been to Ellis Island, I highly recommend a visit. It served as the main port of immigration to our country from 1892 - 1954 when over 12 million immigrants passed through its portals. In the museum, there are stories, artifacts, audio and video tours where you can try to imagine the experience of the immigrants.
What sticks in my mind after the visit was the length of the journey that my ancestors took from the Port of Naples, Italy to Ellis Island. For my grandfather, Nicola Marchiano, the journey lasted 15 days in a crowded ship where the steerage passengers were often treated like cattle. The first sight they would have seen would have been the Statue of Liberty - an amazing beacon of hope at the end of a long journey. Then once they arrived to New York Harbor, they had to take a ferry from the ship to Ellis Island, and the ferry was not heated or cooled and they often had to wait hours with no food or drink to actually get onto the Island and then be processed. Once on Ellis Island, the customs process could take anywhere from several hours to several weeks or longer depending on the circumstances.
I dont know how long Nicola had to wait on Ellis Island, or how he got to Westerly, Rhode Island, however I do know that he earned money then sent for his wife and son to come which would happen in December 1919. More about that in the next post.
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| Friedrich der Grosse |
If you have never been to Ellis Island, I highly recommend a visit. It served as the main port of immigration to our country from 1892 - 1954 when over 12 million immigrants passed through its portals. In the museum, there are stories, artifacts, audio and video tours where you can try to imagine the experience of the immigrants.
What sticks in my mind after the visit was the length of the journey that my ancestors took from the Port of Naples, Italy to Ellis Island. For my grandfather, Nicola Marchiano, the journey lasted 15 days in a crowded ship where the steerage passengers were often treated like cattle. The first sight they would have seen would have been the Statue of Liberty - an amazing beacon of hope at the end of a long journey. Then once they arrived to New York Harbor, they had to take a ferry from the ship to Ellis Island, and the ferry was not heated or cooled and they often had to wait hours with no food or drink to actually get onto the Island and then be processed. Once on Ellis Island, the customs process could take anywhere from several hours to several weeks or longer depending on the circumstances.
I dont know how long Nicola had to wait on Ellis Island, or how he got to Westerly, Rhode Island, however I do know that he earned money then sent for his wife and son to come which would happen in December 1919. More about that in the next post.
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