Does Italy have records of their citizens who boarded ships?

[DeFilippis78]

Ive been reading a lot of books about Ellis Island. I read that when Italian citizens boarded the ships to come to America they had to fill out paperwork or passports before their trip, for the Italian government. Is this true and when did it start? Do they have these records still?

[johnnyonthespot]

Alicia,

Since he left Italy relatively late in life, you may be able to obtain his Italian military records from the state archives. The military records will show both his place of birth and residence at time of conscription. Definitely worth a shot. Let's assume that he was born somewhere in the *province* of Naploli and send off the following letter/email:

16 febbraio 2010

[your name]
[your address]


Archivio di Stato di Napoli
Piazzetta del Grande Archivio, 5
80138 NAPOLI
ITALY

Egregii Signori,

Mi chiamo [your name here], ed abitare negli Stati Uniti all'indirizzo sopradetto.

Vi scrivo ora affinche mi aiutiate per fornire:

• FOGLIO DI CONGEDO ILLIMITATO
• REGISTRO DI LEVA

per i miei bisnonno:

• [great-grandfather's name JONES ROBERT] nato nel Provincia di Napoli [date of birth] paternità [father's given name/nome if you know it], maternità [mother's maiden name if you know it "SMITH JANE"]

Sarà mio onere il rimborso per le spese di uso del servizio e costi di spedizione. Mi faccia sapere l'importo corretto.

Distinti saluti,

[your signature]

Full names should be written in lastname firstname format in all caps, thus "SMITH JOHN". Dates should be written dd month yyyy with the month spelled out in all lower case (01 febbraio 1885). If you don't know the exact date, put "circa 1856".

Basically, the letter says,

Dear sirs,

My name is ... I live in the United States of America at the address above.

I am requesting the full military discharge records and conscription record for my great-grandfather who was born in ... on ... His father's name was ... and his mother's maiden name was...

I will be pleased to reimburse you for the cost of copying and postage if you will let me know the amount.

Sincerely,



You could try making the request by email (as-na@beniculturali.it); personally I prefer the formality of a written letter but have had good luck sending emails to state archives. The cost usually comes to just a few Euros.

[DeFilippis78]

You know Carmine, there is not a single question I ask that you dont have a solution for. You should write a book

I am going to try this and I hope it works. Ive tried everything to find out more about him. Ive spent months and all I have is a one census and a ship manifest. It doesnt help he died in his early fifties though so there isnt much American documentation.

Of course Ill be back on looking for a translation to any response!

Alicia

[johnnyonthespot]

You know Carmine, there is not a single question I ask that you dont have a solution for. You should write a book

Well, I try...

Let's hope they don't come back with, "Sorry, we must know the birthplace before we can search our records."

[DeFilippis78]

Well I got his death certificate that sadly says place of birth is Italy, no town
Alicia

[corrado]

It depends on the priest, the chruch records are the BEST, they are supposed to put the name of the town on the marriage record. Of course in this business we can't speak in 'should' because that isn't always the case, and the handwritting could easily be illegiable. But I find them very useful.

[DeFilippis78]

Well they were married in New Jersey so Im not sure if its the same as Italian church records.My own marriage certificate says names, date of marriage, the church and witnesses.Thats it. Im hoping years ago they were more in depth Plus back when they got married I dont think marriage licenses were required either.We shall see!

Alicia

[johnnyonthespot]

Well they were married in New Jersey so Im not sure if its the same as Italian church records.My own marriage certificate says names, date of marriage, the church and witnesses.Thats it. Im hoping years ago they were more in depth Plus back when they got married I dont think marriage licenses were required either.We shall see!

Alicia

When you get the marriage certificate, see if you can determine the name of the church where the service was performed. Sometimes it will just give the name and address of the priest who performed the service; if the church still exists that should be enough info to enable you to track it down.

With that information, contact the church secretary and ask if they can search their records for any additional information on the bride and groom. I had luck doing exactly this with a Roman Catholic (of course!) church in Westchester County, NY.


If the church no longer exists, try the diocese which services the general area.

[DeFilippis78]

delete

[maestra36]

Some towns did keep track of their emigrants-they actually tracked the goings back and forth of their town members to locations such as the U.S. and Argentina and back to their towns, since for many, emigration was initially only temporary. You would have to either contact the town in question or a local historian from your town to find out if your town kept such emigration registers. These may be referred to as "liste embarchi," but that may just be what the person who had access to such lists in one of my ancestral towns called them.

[misbris]

Alicia,

Did you check FHC? I found church records for Newark, NJ quite easily.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/library ... umns=*,0,0

[DeFilippis78]

Im new to the family search website and Im not sure how it works. Can I see this info online or do I have to order the films to the nearest research center?


Alicia

[PeterTimber]

Dear Alicia I too am adding to the din that comes with your inquiry with a factual account of sources of official records that may be helpful to your inquiry with a history component for your knowledge.

In 1869 the Italian government began requiring people to obtain passports to move WITHIN Italy while the USA and many other countries did not require passsports, so many Italians left Italy without an official passport.

The Italian government used passports to make sure young men did not emigrate to avoid their military service when the newly formed Italian nation came into being. As a result the police were responsible for passports which are still issued today by the QUESTURA (head of the internal police) in each province/ The archives where these passport records are kept are NOT OPEN to the public.

Because Passport records are hard to find you may want to check withthe ANAGRAFE office in each comune. I realize there some duplication within this succinct history but I just wanted to tie it all up in one cohesive manner. =Peter=

[DeFilippis78]

Peter,

So basically your saying it will be impossible to ever get a copy of his passport right? Is that the same for military records? Its all twisted now. I need to find his birth town. It was suggested I try to obtain his military records to get it. So I contacted archives and they said to get the military records I need the birth town! Ha!. So its a dead end there. I appreciate this little bit of history though. Time to talk to St Anthony again, which I remember once you suggested to me. And it worked!

Alicia

[PeterTimber]

You can send an e-mail to the POLIZIA DI STATO (Questura) at www.poliziadistato.it/scrivici and click on english but then you have to switch over to PASSAPORTO and to the far right is SCRIVICI (write to us) and fill out your first and last name, e-mail address. Under that is Province but you write inthe box "ESTERO" meaning overseas from Italy and again ESTERO under city

Below is a place to send your message. In short brief english explain that you want information about the town of origin solely by his name and birth date or birth year of the person (PUT IN HIS NAME AND birth date or birth year or approximate year. They may consider your request.

Get back if you need assistance. =Peter=