help for a newbie!

scarecrow66 · Mod Joined: Jul 15, 2008 Posts: 20

I am researching my ancestors for possible dual citizenship. I think I have found my GGF, whose name is Angelo Russo. His DOB is Dec. 1894 and he was born in Italy, and came to the US sometime in the late 1800's. Was married to Rose Russo, and they had 5 children. I remember my father saying that my ancestors were Calabrese (Calabria ?) and Bruseze (Abruzzi?). I have no idea where in Italy my GGF was born, and I do not know how to find out. I don't know where my GGM was born either. I do know that my GF was born here in the US, in New Jersey, so if I can trace my GGF back to Italy, that is really the hardest part. I also would like to find out birth records for my GGM and DOD records for both, as well as marriage records for them, but don't know where to begin since I don't know where they lived in Italy. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I also know that as of 1900 he was still an alien in this country (according to census records that I found). I don't think he naturalized, at least not before my grandfather was born in 1897.

Michele

Poipu04 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject: Re: help for a newbie!

Did you look at www.ellisisland.org ?

Are any of these the right person? Just search for Angelo Russo and 1894 for the birth year. Look on the original manifests and see if you recognize the names of any fellow passengers he may have been travelling with or whether the person sponsoring him sounds familiar. Do you have www.ancestry.com? If Angelo was in the US during WWI or WWII he may have registered for the draft. That may have a birth place.

Exact Matches (5)
Name of Passenger Residence Arrived Age on Arrival Passenger Record Ship Manifest Ship Image
1. Angelo Russo Anacapi 1907 13 View View View
2. Angelo Russo Assiolinga, Italy 1912 18 View View View
3. Angelo Russo Ortodonico, Italy 1912 18 View View View
4. Angelo Russo Sicata, Girgenti 1913 19 View View View
5. Angelo Russo Trainont, Italy 1914 20 View View View

Poipu04 · Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject: Re: help for a newbie!

BTW, what town in New Jersey did they live in? I found a draft card for an Angelo Russo on ancestry.com from NJ, but the DOB is Dec. 1893. Also, what was his profession (if you know), that may help narrow it down.

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Hi Michele and welcome to Gente.

Can you clarify a couple of things?

You said your Great grandfather was born 1894 and then the last line you say your grandfather was born 1897. Your great grandfather would have only been 3 years old at the time of your grandfathers birth - can you give us a different year of birth either for your grandfather or great grandfather?

Your great grandfathers wife's name was Rose - what was her maiden name?

Can you give the names of their children, approximate years of birth and if the child was born in USA or Itlay?

Can you post the 1900 census you found? If not what state and county did you search, who was living with your great grandfather at that time and what was his approximate age?

This info might help forum members to better assist you.

Thanks - Elizabeth

scarecrow66 · Mod Joined: Jul 15, 2008 Posts: 20

Thank you, you were all so helpful!!

So sorry, my GGF was born in 1849 ( I transposed the numbers). He settled the family in Vineland, NJ. I don't know my GGM's maiden name yet. Of the 5 children they had, I think there were two born in NJ, Salvatore (my GF, in 1897) and Horese, but I can't read the year off the census. The census is the 1900 United States Census, the Twelfth Census of the United States. According to the census he was 50 years old at the time it was taken, (1900) and he was an alien. Also, if it helps, at the time of the census, he and his wife had been married 17 years.

The other children born are: Nina, Regina, Pasco (BTW, Salva is what is listed on the census, but I am thinking they meant Salvatore.....which would be my grandfather.....the DOB of Salva matches my Grandfather so it seems likely it is the same person)

I retrieved it off of familysearch.org, the actual URL is pilot.familysearch.org...tart.html. The reason I believe this is the accurate one is because one of my aunts (one of my dad's sisters) told me there were some brothers and sisters of my grandfather, and the names match what came up with the Angelo Russo that I found here.

I have checked Ellis Island records, but haven't found any that match up with his DOB, at least that I can see. I thought it would also list at least his wife as a passenger with him, but maybe this is not correct? I don't think he was in the military, but I don't really know anything about him so who knows. My aunt mentioned an ARCangelo, said he was a farmer. Maybe his name was shortened to Angelo when he came over, but it was really Arcangelo? At any rate, she attached all the abovementioned children with Arcangelo, so its gotta be one and the same. If you look for an Arcangelo, you don't get much. If you search for Angelo, there are a bunch of hits, but I don't know how to do this!!! I have also been searching on Castlegarden.com, which was another port of entry that was open BEFORE Ellis Island. There are alot of Angelo Russos listed there, but again, which one is the right one?

I did sign up for ancestry.com in the beginning, but just the 2 week trial.

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Found the information on the kids traveling with the mom and dad but can't get the manifest to come up. Maybe someone with ancestry.com can get it. Here are the text's of the records. The manifest might have it listed by one of the names where they were from in Italy.

First Name: Arcangelo
Last Name: Russo
Ethnicity: Italie, Italie
Last Place of Residence:
Date of Arrival: Mar 09, 1896
Age at Arrival: 45y Gender: M Marital Status:
Ship of Travel: Paria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0699

First Name: Rosaria
Last Name: Russo
Ethnicity: Italie, Italie
Last Place of Residence:
Date of Arrival: Mar 09, 1896
Age at Arrival: 35y Gender: F Marital Status:
Ship of Travel: Paria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0700

First Name: Pasquale
Last Name: Russo
Ethnicity: Italie, Italie
Last Place of Residence:
Date of Arrival: Mar 09, 1896
Age at Arrival: 5y Gender: M Marital Status:
Ship of Travel: Paria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0701

First Name: Mariana
Last Name: Russo
Ethnicity: Italie, Italie
Last Place of Residence:
Date of Arrival: Mar 09, 1896
Age at Arrival: 2y Gender: F Marital Status:
Ship of Travel: Paria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0702

First Name: Regina
Last Name: Russo
Ethnicity: Italie, Italie
Last Place of Residence:
Date of Arrival: Mar 09, 1896
Age at Arrival: 10months Gender: F Marital Status:
Ship of Travel: Paria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0703

Can someone with ancestry try and get the manifest and post it?

Thanks Very Happy

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

Strange that I could not locate any records on Ancestry. When I did a search for all passenger records travelling on ship Paria, no records came up which indicates the ship name is incorrect. I'll keep trying to see if I can find anything. My guess is the ship's name was Patria.

Biff

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Hi Biff,

I used the steve morse site gold form and got Pasquale and Regina (which gave me the ships name). To get the rest of the names I searched by ships name contains, date of 1896 and starting letter R of the last name. I keeps telling me there's difficulty when I click the link for the actual manifest.

Thanks for you help.

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

Lordie, I don't know what's been going on with Ancestry the last week or so. Seems like ever since they made improvements? to their site that searches are taking a good long time and images are taking even longer to load. In any event,

Here's the ship manifest image for the records Elizabeth found. Correct name of the ship is the Patria. Lines 699 and following.

6 Mar 1896 manifest for the Russo family

Last residence: Foggia--could be the town or the province
Having a hard time deciphering Rosaria's maiden name.
Naturalization notations for daughter Mariana.

Biff

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

For reference, here's the 1900 census for the family which Michele found.

1900 census for the Russo family
Name: Angela Ruoss
Home in 1900: Vineland, Cumberland, New Jersey
Age: 50
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1850
Birthplace: Italy
Relationship to head-of-house: Head
Spouse's Name: Rose
Household Members
Angela Ruoss 50
Rose Ruoss 38
Pasco Ruoss 10
Nina Ruoss 8
Regina Ruoss 6
Salva Ruoss 3
Horese Ruoss 1

One point which others on the board might be able to clarify. Since Michele's grandfather Salvatore was born in New Jersey, doesn't that rule out dual citizenship or can it be obtained from his great grandfather who was born in Italy?

Biff

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Thanks so much Biff kiss

I can't make out the maiden name of Rosaria either. I was going to rule out the name starting with a "C" until I looked toward the top. I tried a search on Foggia with C, A, O names and came up empty. Looks like one of the ending letters is a q, g or an f (maybe).

Maybe Foggia will ring a bell with someone in Michele's family.

As for dual citizenship, I don't have a clue.

Thanks again for getting that manifest !!

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

Hi, Elizabeth Smile

I did the same search using the same letters with Foggia! And like you came up empty. Really frustrating since all the other names on the manifest page are written so legibly.

I was able to locate Pasquale's WWII Draft card but it states Italy as birthplace with no particulars. Also located his WWI Draft card but am having trouble opening it on Ancestry. I'll try later.

Biff

scarecrow66 · Mod Joined: Jul 15, 2008 Posts: 20

Wow, you all found a ton of information!!! As for what Biff wanted to know, according to italiandualcitizenship.com, I should be able to obtain dual citizenship through paternal lineage as long as my great grandfather (Angelo) did not naturalize BEFORE my grandfather was born. So far, according to what I am seeing, Angelo was still an alien according to the 1900 Census, and my grandfather, Salvatore, was born in 1897. However, getting all the documentation I need for the application may be really difficult!!! I was really happy to see that somebody found a child named Mariana, because that is one of the children my aunt mentioned, and I see it was traced to Arcangelo (which was most likely shortened to Angelo)!!!! I am starting to get excited.....As for any of the towns that you listed (Foggia) ringing a bell with anyone in my family, forget it. Nobody knows anything. Unfortunately my grandfather didn't tell a whole lot about his family to anyone, and there are only 2 sisters left. I already picked the brain of the youngest one and she knows the most. My dad passed away 11 years ago, but according to my aunt, nobody told him anything!!! He was the baby of the family....

So, I have printed everything you all found, thank you SOOOOO much!!! As a side note, I sent away for a copy of Salvatore's SS application, so that I can see who he put on the form as his parents. On his death certificate my father only listed Salvatore's father (Angelo Russo). Hopefully that will come back and show Rose or Rosario/Rosaria. I do have his SS# and birth and death dates, but again, nothing for her.

What should I do now?

Michele

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

My best guess at this point for Rosaria's maiden name:
It appears to be CUERQUE which phonetically equates to QUERQUES which I did locate on paginebianche with most listings in Foggia.

Biff

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Nice finds Biff.

I'm posting the link for all the towns in the province of Foggia ......... maybe one of these town names will sound familiar to a family member.

en.comuni-italiani.it/...index.html

Michele please take a look and let us know if anything looks like it might fit.