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.
