Ernest Montavon from Salerno, born @1888?

[michelle_m]

hello! i have not been able to find any real information about my grandfather, Ernest Montavon, who allegedly was born in Lucerne, Switzerland but grew up in Salerno Italy.
i am specifically interested in his mother and father's name, and the rumor is that his father (my great-grandfather) was a professor at the university of Salerno.

Ernest came to the US in 1920(ish) and was naturalized in 1928. there is actually another Ernest Montavon who was born in Michigan, but the 2 are not the same. i have seen them get mistaken for the same person online.

my grandfather's first wife was Anna Ochiatta (sp?), but the story was that she did not like america and chose to go back to Italy. he then married my grandmother, Vincenza Manzione, who's first husband Pasquale Sarlo had passed, and they had my father, Ernest Mark Montavon in CT in1942.

i would greatly appreciate anyone who can help me unravel the mystery of my grandfather's early life, as well as revealing my great-grandparents! fingers crossed...

[vj]

Hi!
Do these records from ancestry. com belong to your family?
Thank you, Valarie

CT Death Index

Name: Ernes Montavon
Death Date: 2 Nov 1969 Death Place: Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut
Age: 77 Years Birth Date: abt 1892
Marital Status: Married
Spouse: Vinc
State File #: 23478
Residence : Waterbury, New Haven, Connecticut
Gender: Male Race: White

1942 WWII Draft Registration Card
http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/3286/1942.jpg

Name: Ernest Montavon
Birth Date: 3 Oct 1892 Birth Place: Salerno, Italy
Residence: New Haven, Connecticut

[vj]

If this is your Ernest Montavon, you can order his SS Application for $27
It will list his parents and place of birth

SSDI
Name: Ernest Montavon
Date of Birth: Wednesday October 03, 1888
Date of Death: November 1969
Est. Age at death: 81 years, 1 months
Last known residence:
City: Waterbury; Plaza County: New Haven State: Connecticut ZIP Code: 06704
State of Issue: Connecticut, 1936-1950
Number: 047-01-xxxx

Social Security Application SS-5

His SS# is available here if you don’t already have it:
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ ... _form=true

About the SS Application:
http://genealogy.about.com/od/online_re ... equest.htm

The SS-5, or Application for Social Security Number is a great resource for learning more about individuals who died after about 1960, and generally includes the following:
- Full name
- Full name at birth, including maiden name
- Present mailing address
- Age at last birthday
- Date of birth
- Place of birth
- Father's full name
- Mother's full name, including maiden name
- Sex
- Race as indicated by the applicant
- Whether the applicant ever applied for Social Security or Railroad Retirement before
- Current employer's name and address
- Date signed
- Applicant's signature

Order form SSA-711 (can be done online):
http://www.ssa.gov/foia/html/foia_guide.htm

[michelle_m]

yes, valerie, this is him!!

there are some documents that list his year of birth as 1892, and others that say 1888. i have several original papers from my father, and it actually looks like HE changed the dates from 1888 to 1892 for whatever reason.

thank you very much, it's worth $27 to find his parent's names as i am having no luck anywhere. i just joined ancestry and was able to find very little besides what you also found. i also saw that my cousin mistakenly added the person with the same name from MI to our tree, but it is not my grandfather.

thanks again, i will try this new route and see what i can come up with from there!

[vj]

Hi!
His 1930 census is also 1892...
It would be terriific if we could find his ship manifest.
Maybe tomorrow.
Ancestry is really slow tonight - I think they're doing an update over the next couple of days.
Valarie

[michelle_m]

thanks very much for your help... you guys are wonderful!

[vj]

possible 1920 manifest from ancestry. com
line 30
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/1188/1920j.jpg
next page
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5093/192001.jpg

Arrival Date: 3 Jan 1920
Ship Name: Duca degli Abruzzi
Port of Departure: Napoli
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Name: Erneste Mantovan
Birth Year: abt 1889
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Birth Location: Italy Birth Location Other: salerne
Ethnicity/Race­/Nationality: Italian (South) (Italian)

[michelle_m]

very cool! and that is one of the most common ways my last name is misspelled, even today! hahaha.

i am really hoping that i am able to find his parents names and that it takes me even further... my father never knew them, and i am thinking if it's true my ggrandfather was a professor in salerno, there should be some info on him if i can find his name.

i just joined ancestry. com a few days ago, so i am digging little by little. i wish i had more hours in the day to dig around! thanks very much for posting this, too. it's so interesting finding this stuff, and i would love to eventually visit salerno/contursi in person. it's so beautiful!