FATHER AND DNA TEST

[campcantreg]

My husband never knew his father. His mother became a widow when he was a toddler. When he was 9 years old, she remarried and had more children from her second marriage. My husband’s father’s family was from Teggiano-Salerno. He never knew any family or relatives from his father’s side. His mother was Irish.

About six months ago he took the Ancestry.com DNA test to possibly locate relatives on his father’s side. Seems he is getting matches to Taormina, Sicily.

Now here is the thing about all this, his father’s family came from Teggiano. However, his baptismal Godparents were from Sicily. The families knew each other and become close when living in the same four family house back in Brooklyn.

We don’t know what this means. We are now left with more questions than ever before. Please help with any suggestions.

[carubia]

Has he contacted any of those possible relatives in Taormina? Have you tried investigating the genealogy of the Godparents?

No offense to anyone - I'm sure Teggiano is lovely - but I'd rather have ancestors from Taormina than Teggiano.

[campcantreg]

We appreciate the response. Seems with genealogy research, we must be open minded. Sometimes what we always believed or accepted, proves otherwise when it comes to family research. Now, by all indication, we must rethink that probably his biological father was not the person he was led to believe all along as his father.

[PippoM]

If I understand, it seems to me you came too soon to the conclusion that his legal father was not also his biological father.
I mean, matches from Taormina may be distant relatives, who are descendants of someone coming from Teggiano, or viceversa, his family in Teggiano may have had some Sicilian ancestor.

[carubia]

jddalove, this really doesn't seem like the appropriate topic for your question.

But to answer your question, I doubt you'll be able to obtain a copy of his old passport from anywhere unless someone else in your family it. Why won't the comune provide you with a certificato di cittadinanza? Have they given you his birth cert already? How about a certificato di residenza storico?

[carubia]

If you apply at a consulate outside Canada (e.g., in the US) you won't need a certificato di cittadinanza for him, but that information is probably not that useful to you. Only Canadian consulates have this bizarre requirement. Actually, I'm not sure if Vancouver requires it. Do you know anyone in the comune who can speak to Stato Civile on your behalf. How well can you communicate in Italian?

[jennabet]

hi,and thank you,,
i dont know why they wont give me a certificate of citizenship,,they gave me his birth certificate,,but up until 1920 there was no certificate of residenza storico either..

I live in Abruzzo not far from Teramo. When I established residency I inquired if I would need a certificate of citizenship and was told that Italian citizens do not require this document but one could be issued if the citizen specifically asked for it and paid whatever fee was associated with it. I would assume that if your ancestor is deceased and never asked for a certificate of citizenship to prove his status that the commune will not issue one now. I personally don't know any Italian born in Italy and living in Italy who has such a certificate. The reason you were able to obtain his birth certificate is because it was automatically issued when he was born. If he never had a birth certificate, the commune wouldn't issue one of those either.

[jennabet]

Canadian consulates asking for certificate of citizenship is not a bizarre request. My theory as to why the Canadian consulates may ask for this information is because while thousands of Abruzzese did emigrate to the USA at the turn of the century, a later majority of Abruzzese began emigrating to Canada after WWII and up to the mid-60's when the USA was closed to Italian immigration. For example, my own relatives from Teramo went to Toronto in 1961. Therefore the Canadian consulates are likely to be serving mostly Italian immigrants who would still be alive and able to obtain a certificate of citizenship, if necessary. In your case with your ancestor being born in 1914, the consulate is probably asking because instead of going direct to Canada from Italy, your ancestor arrived in Canada by way of France. Obviously the consulate wants to make sure your ancestor didn't live in France and/or obtained French citizenship, which could possibly affect your claim.

[carubia]

Some Canadian consulates (Montreal and Toronto, I believe) list a certificate of citizenship among their required documents for all applicants, regardless of how long ago their ancestors immigrated. I suppose this is because someone born in Italy may not necessarily be an Italian citizen, but if the person had an Italian name and was born in Italy, the normal presumption is that the person was Italian. In any event, a certificate of citizenship would only establish that the comune thought he was a citizen while he was living there. If he left, went to France, and naturalized there, the comune would probably have no more knowledge of this than if he naturalized in Canada.

[jennabet]

As I stated earlier, certificate of citizenship is not a requirement for any Italian citizen living in Italy and if you want one, you have to be alive to obtain it. This type of document will not be issued to the descendant of a deceased person.