Marriage on the Ship

[marymary52]

Is it possible for two single people to get married on the ship/boat on the way to America?
Supposedly My grandmother Annie /Anna Arena and Luigi Scognamiglio/ Scognamillo go married on the ship. I cannot find anything on her arrival She died in NY in the 40's

[113yearslater]

I imagine so, although it might have been more common and easier for people to be married at Ellis since they had a mechanism in place for that. On a ship with a zillion other people milling around, it might be hard to grab the chaplain and do it, but Ellis had a system in place to prevent single women from debarking without being met by a relative for their own protection. And if she were pregnant and arriving with her beau, they pretty much required the couple to marry before leaving the station for reasons of -- I am not making this up -- "moral turpitude." Might she have been married at Ellis Island?

[johnnyonthespot]

Can you tell us more about Luigi and Anna? Year of birth? Year of immigration? Where they lived in the US?

There are more than 2,200 Scognamiglio's listed in the current Italian telephone directory and just 2 Scognamillio's. I leave it to you to identify the correct spelling.

http://www.paginebianche.it/ricerca?qs=Scognamiglio&dv=

[marymary52]

Maybe Arena is Jovina??

[marymary52]

Sorry just delete my post I found something that might be their marriage cert. luigi Scognamiolo and Annina Jovina Could it be possible a Jovina could be a Arena?? I'll let you know when the certificate comes in the mail.