If you read my post on May 29, 2015, you will know I was looking for the ship record for Maria Falco. I have had a great few weeks in my family history searches! I decided to tryout familysearch.org and entered much of my family tree information into the new website. It's a bit clunky at first - but was worth the effort. The site is free and it uses a different search algorithm than ancestry.com so with the same information different results become possible.
I was able to locate a ship record for Anna Maria Falco on the ellisisland passenger search website. She arrived on July 23, 1920, Ship Name: Italia Passenger ID: 100222150293. She is listed on line 3 of the manifest, which states she is 75 years old and a widow. This is in contrast to her death certificate from 1933 which states she was 72 at the time of death in 1933. I am inclined to believe that the ship record may be more accurate for a few reasons, which I will detail below. Also on the manifest, it states her occupation as housewife and lists her nearest relative in Italy as a daughter, Vittoria, who lives in Acri, Italy. The record states she paid her own passage and was in possession of $25. It states she will be meeting her son at 59 Pierce St, Westerly, NY. Well - I know that this should be Westerly, RI - and this address is consistent with records for Nicola Marchiano and wife Francesca. The manifest indicates she is meeting a son, Francesco, in Westerly. At first I assumed it was a mistake and meant daughter - however I have found the ship records for Francesca's older sister Anna Mangano who was meeting her husband, Francesco Gencarelli, who resided at 48 Pierce St, Westerly, RI. So - perhaps Maria Falco was heading to her older daughter's home.
Anna Mangano arrived on March 5, 1910 with her five children. She was 36 years old. Her children's names were Maria Bambina Gencarelli, Cosimo Gencarelli, Angelo Mario Gencarelli, Maria Angela Gencarelli, and Domenico Demetrio Gencarelli. On the manifest, we learn that Anna is married, she is a farm laborer from S. Demetrio Corone and her nearest relative in Italy is her father, Natale Mangano. She is heading to meet her husband, Francesco Gencarelli at 48 Pierce St, Westerly, RI. She has black hair and a scar on her upper lip.
Unfortunately, the Ellis Island website no longer allows users to print or save the record image for free - however with a free account you are able to view the records online which are hyperlinked above.
Based on the fact that Anna Mangano was 36 at the time of her arrival, this would put her birth year at around 1874. We know that her father is Natale Mangano, who would have still been alive in 1910. If Maria Falco is her mother - then it would make more sense that Maria was 75 at the time of her arrival in 1920 which would have made her 88 at the time of death and a birth year of around 1845 . Another possibility is that her father, Natale, had Anna with another wife. I don't know the answer, but I am leaning toward Maria Falco being her mother, with the earlier birth year - which would make her more likely to be the mother of Anna who was born in 1874.
According to family lore, Francesca did not get along with her older sister, Anna. When Nicola first arrived in America - he resided in Westerly, to be close to the family of the older sister - however when Francesca arrived with her son, Stefano - she did not get along with her sister and couldn't wait to move away - which is what sparked the move to Brooklyn.
I have more information to come - but will sign off for now. Hope you enjoy! Let me know your thoughts in the comments section!
