Antonette Massanelli Mystery Grows

[chrisdamato]

Ok, so I'll need to go to an LDS library to get earlier records. Thank you.

[chrisdamato]

UPDATE:

My father went to Calvary Cemetery in NYC on Wednesday. There he found Antonette's grave!!!!! She and her mother Rose Massanelli are buried with Vincenzo Mento and Giovanina. So, not only did they all live in the same household on the 1900 census, they all wound up being buried together.

On the headstone, the name is Anna Fernandes 1890 - 1920. Therefore, I believe that the Anna Fernandez who died in NYC in 1920 is my great grandmother. I anxiously await receipt of the death record, which should have been here by now!!!

Thank you all for your help. Someday I hope to repay you with help of my own.

[chrisdamato]

One mystery solved, another mystery begins!!!

I just received Antonette's death certificate. I was expecting to put a "bow" on everything and now I am confused all over again. The death certificate lists her father and mother's name! Two problems, first, her mother Rose is listed with a different maiden name. We had previously thought that Massanelli was her maiden name, but this seems to say otherwise. Also, her birth record from Laurenzana indicates that the father did not wish to recognize the child and was not on the record. Who, then, is this father listed on the death cert??? I am having trouble reading Rose's maiden name and Antonette's cause of death. Any help would be appreciated.

Oh, and before anyone else asks, yes, this is the right person. The address is correct.

I apologize for the poor quality of the scan.

[MaurizioPerrone]

Is possible, maybe, the name of the father written on the death act is the father who did not recognize. Most time when the baby was from illegitimate birth, the father did not recognize, this was common situation and the Italian law allow this. But of course, the mother Rosa knew the identity of the father even if he no recognize, so is possible she tells the daughter. But in Italy even if the daughter know the true identity of the father, she cannot write this name on her marriage act, and the official cannot write on the death act (even when is common knowledge). Only if the father legally recognize the child, then she can write. In the United states I do not think there is no restrictions of law to write the name of the father, so sure, any person can write the name of the father even if he no recognize on the Italian birth act.

[chrisdamato]

Thank you. I found a Frank & Rose Petro living in Pennsylvania in 1900. They came from Italy in 1891 & 1888, respectively. It was the only Petro found on Ancestry.com. I wonder if that is just a coincidence. Antonette was living with her own mother Rosa in NYC in 1900, so the Rose Petro from Pennsylvania is not her mother, but maybe that is her father Frank???

Has anybody been able to read her mother's maiden name and the cause of Antonette's death?

[qnana]

I think cause of death is lobar pneumonia - albeit carelessly written!

Fascinating story!

[chrisdamato]

Can you make out mother's maiden name? It definitely begins with an R. The last letter looks the same as the last letter of the father's name too. I believe his name is Petro. Could it be Rose Romo?????

[maestra36]

One question for you, Chris-
did you check with the cemetery office to make sure the date of burial given on this death record matches the date of burial of your ancestor in Calvary Cemetery?
I just want you to be 100% sure that this death record is for your ancestor.

[maestra36]

My other question to you is did you receive a second page with this death record which gives the informant's name? I ask because, if the informant who signed the record was a family member, then you can verify that this record is definitely for your ancestor.

The other thing is that I have found many mistakes concerning mothers' maiden names on NYC death records, sometimes to the point that the names given aren't even close to the actual surnames. That information is only as accurate as the knowledge of the informant who gave the information.

[maestra36]

Chris
I also think the first letter of Rose's maiden name is a B and not an R-possibly Bano. The first letter is definitely formed differently than the first letter in Rose.
Peg

[maestra36]

Also it's washed out, but it looks like this person was only living in the U.S. for 10 years and in NY for 10 years. Can you make out the age of the person on this death certificate?

[chrisdamato]

She was 30 years old when she died. I have the manifest from her first arrival in the U.S. when she was about 4 yrs old. It says the purpose of her trip is "sojourn", so she probably left and came back in time to be included on the 1900 census. She may have left again before eventually coming back to stay prior to her death.

[chrisdamato]

I just found Antonette's sister Maria Carmela Missanelli in the birth records for Anzi. She was born in 1867. Could someone please take a look at this record and tell me:

1) What the exact date of birth
2) Is there a father listed

She married Giovanni Marcoguiseppe in Anzi in 1886. It is record #3 for that year. Is there a father listed on that record?

[suanj]

Chris, Maria Carmela Missanelli was born the 20 march 1867 from Rosa Missanelli( age 20 in 1867) and unkonwn father
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1149 ... nelli1.jpg
suanj

[chrisdamato]

Ok, so now I have confirmed that Antonette and Maria Carmela were BOTH born to unknown or unrecognized fathers. Can I take it to mean that perhaps the mother Rosa was not such a nice person?? I know this is crazy, but it is sounding more and more like Rosa was perhaps a prostitute?