Benvenuto's and Natale's from La Spezia

[tonyfatl]

My great-grandmother Luigia Maria Anna Benvenuto (1891-1976) immigrated to USA in 1910 (her brother Isidoro in 1913) and I have her Ellis Island info and I have a copy of her birth certificate (15 Jan 1891) from La Spezia. It list her father as Fortunato Grandoli Benvenuto and her mother as Maria Domenica Natale. We never knew a thing about her parents and just wondered if anyone had any information about those families in La Spezia or suggestions about how I might try to investigate.

[maestra36]

There are, unfortunately, no microfilmed records for the town of La Spezia or for the region of Liguria in which it is found.

You will have to write directly to the town to try to get information about your ancestry.

This is an email address for the anagrafe or registry office in the town-the office which houses vital records:
anagrafe@comune.sp.it (no spaces in the email address)

UFFICIO ANAGRAFE -Coume di La Spezia
Piazza Europa 1,
19124 - La Spezia (SP)
Italia


If you write to the town (via email or regular mail), you need to do so in Italian.
The following websites should help with that::

http://www.circolocalabrese.org/resourc ... /index.asp
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tters.html

Do not send any money. Just include a self-addressed, but not a stamped, envelope. Copies from the town should be free.

I would try to estimate the year of marriage for Fortunato Benvenuto and Maria Natale, based on when their children were born. I see Isidoro born about 1888, so you need to go earlier than that. Try to give a range of years, but not too broad a range. The problem here is that you don’t know how many children were born to this couple. Luigia and Isidoro could be among the youngest of the couple’s children, so when you give an estimate, keep this in mind. If requesting the couple’s marriage record, I would ask for the names of each of their parents, as well as their ages at marriage. This information should be in the town’s registers.

Also, according to Isidoro’s passenger list, his father was living in Pegassano (the correct spelling should be Pegazzano, which was a frazioni or hamlet of La Spezia. The records for this frazioni should still be in with the La Spezia town records.

The official website for the town of La Spezia is as follows:
http://www.comune.sp.it/

[maestra36]

I also found marriage information for Luigia in Michigan, as follows on the pilot site of www.familysearch.org:

Groom's Name: Luigi Degrandi
Groom's Race:
Groom's Age: 27 years
Groom's Birth Date: 1886
Groom's Birthplace: Italy
Bride's Name: Luigia Benvenuto
Bride's Race:
Bride's Age: 22 years
Bride's Birth Date: 1891
Bride's Birthplace: Italy
Marriage Type:
Marriage Date: 11 Oct 1913
Marriage Place: Grand Rapids, Kent, Michigan
Groom's Father: Felice A Degrandi
Groom's Mother: Marie Marotta
Bride's Father: Fortunato Benvenuto
Bride's Mother: Maria Natale
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband:
Film Number: 2342701
Frame Number:
Digital Folder Number: 4209234
Image Number: 542
Reference Number: v 3 p 118 rn 12496
Collection: Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925

[maestra36]

also on the pilot site of www.familysearch.org there is a death record for Isidoro in W. Va.



http://beta.familysearch.org/

His name appears as Isidoro Benvenuti. I think it could be the same person, but his parents names are not on the record. It does say he was born in LaSpezia. You can access the actual record. You may have to register though with a user name and password to do so, but the site is free

[tonyfatl]

maestra36 -

Thanks for the information. I'll have to work on getting a letter together to send off.

Also thanks for the link for the death record of Isidoro, I was told he died in West Virginia but have never found any information on him besides his Ellis Island record. Maybe I'll find some more about him!

I'll put another post in about Luigia's husband family, you sound knowledgeable so maybe you can help me there too.

Thanks.

-Anthony

[maestra36]

Anthony
on the family search pilot site, under WWII draft registration cards, 1942, there are cards for W. Va. There is one for Isidor Benvenuti. These cards are alphabetical according to last name, so you should be able to access it.
Peg

[tonyfatl]

Thanks Peg,

That gave me a birth date and a death date and location! That's the first info. on Isidoro in years.