born somewhere in calabria

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tjcort
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born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

My grandfather , Antonio Cortese, was born in Calabria. My records say " , il 16 Luglio del 1876 nel region di Calabria. I know that I am entitled to dual citizenship if I could locate my grandfather's birth record. I have researched the records at Ellis island .org and there a dozen other " Antonio Cortese's with the approximate date of birth but no match yet

Does anyone know of a reliable researcher that could research and obtain an official birth certificate ? How much should it
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by ricbru »

Hello tjcort,
if your grandfather was naturalized, you should find the name of birth town on declaration of intention and petition.
Otherwise, it is difficult because in Calabria there are more than 400 comunes.

http://www.circolocalabrese.org/databas ... _towns.asp

You can try to contact the following Calabrian State Archive, and ask them to research for you using index of birth records for the year your granfather was born

Catanzaro

http://wwwdb.archivi.beniculturali.it/S ... TANZARO%22

Cosenza

http://wwwdb.archivi.beniculturali.it/S ... COSENZA%22

Reggio Calabria

http://wwwdb.archivi.beniculturali.it/S ... ALABRIA%22

Also try to contact this person, he has your lasts name

http://www.circolocalabrese.org/databas ... search.asp

If you can't write italian use this web, it will help you

http://www.circolocalabrese.org/resourc ... /index.asp

I hope it helps, bye Ricbru
tjcort
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

Thanks Ricbru, I have wriiten to the 5 state offices in Calabria, but of those that responded, no records were found. I'm eligible for dual citizenship but without having a specific commune I'm not sure how else to proceed ?

Could the State records be wrong or missing some folks ?
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by ricbru »

Hello,
sometimes records during the years are lost or burnt because of WWII.
Sometimes it takes a lot for the people who works at State Archive, even months.
You should see on naturalization records, it is the easies way.
Otherwise, but it is crazy, contact all the village's civil records office of Calabria.
See you, bye ricbru
tjcort
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

My grandfather has never Naturalized so there are no records.
Are there only 5 central archives in Calabria ? Do you think I could hire someone in Italy to research the archives in person ?
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by DonnaPellegrin »

tjcort,

Can we narrow down the Ellis Island list a bit? Where did your Antonio settle in the US? Have you found him in the census? Census pages can tell you the year of immigration. That can further narrow your search. Did he have brothers or sisters that came also? What were their names? Was he married? Did his wife immigrate? Did his children immigrate? Help us to help you find him at Ellis Island.

Your grandfather picked a bad year to be born in Calabria. Much political upheaval. I am also researching in Calabria. There was a struggle going on between the newly formed Italian government and the Catholic church at this time. I can find birth records in 1876 in the comune I am researching, but not 1866-1871 and not 1877.
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by wldspirit »

Did your grandfather marry in the Us or Italy? If the Us, did he marry in the Catholic church? Were his children baptized?
You may be able to obtain records from the parish he attended........did he have brothers/sisters, or parents immigrating to Us? Have you checked for death certificate or obituary? Have you placed him on a census, which will list immigration date...... (although they can vary with memory.....)

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tjcort
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

thanks Donna,

I'm not 100% certain about Ellis Island, I just assumed that since he had some brothers in NJ that he may have landed there. My family is deceased so their not much help atleast in this world.

What I do know for a fact is:

He was married in Morton, PA as I have his marriage record and he lists his birthdate as July 16, 1876. He was never naturalized and I have a certificate of Nonexistance from the INS.

I've written to all of the 5 State archives and to a few communes but no luck yet, so I back to where I started. Not much I know but the time between letters to/ from Italy is very long .
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by wldspirit »

Sorry Donna, was checking census while posting.....or would have seen yours.....LOL
There is a Tony and an Antonio in NY for 1910, ages are off by a year or so.......if we can have the name of wife and children, should be able to locate........
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

wldsprit, I've also seen his listed on the 1920 Census record in Philadelphia
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by tjcort »

His first wife was Maria DiBlasi and I'm not sure where that marriage took place, either in Italy or the US. His second wife was to Christina and that's my Grandmother that I have a record of
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by VaDeb »

Do you know what year he died? If he lived until 1942 and never became a citizen he would have to file an alien registration card. You can obtain a copy of this. It may have his town of birth.

Alot of good advice has been given to you. Make sure you have collected all the documents from the US. YOu will need many of them to apply for Italian citizenship and you may find some additional clues.

Find the family on the 1930 census to make sure their status is listed as AL for alien. If it is PA, a declaration of intent had been filed, but he hadn't become a citizen.

To summarize:
Antonio Cortese born 16 July 1876 in Calabria, comune unknown.
Date and port of immigration unknown.
First wife was Maria DiBlasi, date and place of marriage unknown
Second wife was Christina ? year and place of marriage?

Do you know the names of their children that would have been living with them in 1910, 1920 and 1930? It will help find them on a census. This will help pin down a date of immigration. What is the year of the earliest US record you have found?

Debbie
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by wldspirit »

1920 census info........( tried to link....but had trouble with imageshack.... :roll: )


Surname CORTESE
GivenName ANTONIO
Age 42
Sex M
Race W
Birthplace ITAL
State PA
County PHILADELPHIA
Location 26-WD PHILADELPHIA
Year 1920

Antonio - immigration 1897.....could be 1891
Christina - age 22 - immigration 1911
Lena - daughter - 4 1/2 -
Louis - son - 3 1/2
Biaso - son - 7 1/2
Rose - stepdaughter - 15
Antonio - son - 13
Bruno - son - 12

All children born in Pennslyvania..........

do you know if Antonio had any brothers or sisters? Parents names?
Mfjp is great with manifest.........hopefully we can have something for you yet this evening.........
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by DonnaPellegrin »

Hey wldspirit,
Good work! Take another look at that 1920 census. Looky who is living next door! Gotta run.
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Re: born somewhere in calabria

Post by wldspirit »

Oh my.......I really need to break down and get glasses......LOL,
hopefully Mfjp can link this........we should be able to find the manifest now.........thanks Donna...... :wink:

wldspirit
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