immigration to U. S. Thoughts

[peonygirl]

Hi. I am researching my maternal ancestors, starting, of course with my maternal grandfather and his family. As a child, I was told that Diego Gagliano traveled back and forth to America many times. The folklore was it was in pursuit of his wife to be. Now that I am older, I think it was more economical - getting jobs and bringing the money back to Italy. His name is Diego Gagliano -- a very common name. There are multiple manifests listing Diego Gagliano throughout the years 1906 - 1910. I am in the process of weeding out those that were not my grandfather and keeping those are really him before I put him on a "tree" with documentation.

It occurred to me that perhaps people of the same town used a known address in New York, whether or not they were actually going to stay there. Could this be right? That might explain the same name, different ages, all going to the same place.

Truly, researching ancestors is like putting together a giant puzzle! Thanks for any insights you can lend.
Peonygirl

[sacesta]

Hi Peonygirl,

I'm relatively new to genealogy too and you are right. It is just like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle - often with pieces from other puzzles.

Your observations about immigration are on the money too. A lot of immigrants traveled back and forth. They were known as "Birds of Passage". And immigrants from specific comunes in Italy did, in fact, settle together, often on the same block in New York.

I'm several generations deep in my search but the most nagging questions I have about my ancestry have to do with my paternal grandfather's immigration. I know he came to America in 1923, but other than that I know almost nothing regarding his whereabouts from 1919 until 1929, when he married in Brooklyn - a critical time in his life!

Good luck in your search. If I happen upon Diego in my search I'll post what I discover.

Steve

[peonygirl]

Thanks, Steve. Genealogy is truly an exercise in patience but it is worth the "aha!" moment when the puzzle finally clicks together. Good luck to you too...

[Biff83]

It occurred to me that perhaps people of the same town used a known address in New York, whether or not they were actually going to stay there. Could this be right? That might explain the same name, different ages, all going to the same place.

Peonygirl

In the case of my ancestors, the address that was listed for many of them was not a residential address but rather the business address of a fellow Calabres' who had established a store and saloon, acted as a steamship agent and ran a subsidiary post office station. He also translated letters and could handle trans-atlantic money orders. Since they were the birds of passage who boarded in the states, they did not have a permanent address in the states. Their destination address used was that man's business address with the name of a local relative or friend.

Biff

[James]

Hi. I am researching my maternal ancestors, starting, of course with my maternal grandfather and his family. As a child, I was told that Diego Gagliano traveled back and forth to America many times. The folklore was it was in pursuit of his wife to be. Now that I am older, I think it was more economical - getting jobs and bringing the money back to Italy. His name is Diego Gagliano -- a very common name. There are multiple manifests listing Diego Gagliano throughout the years 1906 - 1910. I am in the process of weeding out those that were not my grandfather and keeping those are really him before I put him on a "tree" with documentation.

It occurred to me that perhaps people of the same town used a known address in New York, whether or not they were actually going to stay there. Could this be right? That might explain the same name, different ages, all going to the same place.

Truly, researching ancestors is like putting together a giant puzzle! Thanks for any insights you can lend.
Peonygirl

You are right about multiple people using the same address to immigrate into the USA. Many had no intention of every actually living at that address, but were given a friend or families home address before leaving to come.

[peonygirl]

Thanks, Biff, that does help. The building noted in the passenger manifests was the same building I visited as a child with my parents when we went to see my grandmother. My grandfather died at a young age, of pneumonia in his 40s, and left his wife, Maria, to live there. It was a family building - aunts, uncles, even my parents at one point, lived there, as young couples, probably first married. As an adult, I wondered how they bought a building in New York when there was very little money. Perhaps the agreement was that the commune purchased it - individual families - and used it as the central point of entry. Very interesting!!!!
- PG

[parkergambino]

I've seen a thread elsewhere in ItalGen about these "clearinghouse" addresses where the immigrants might go to be welcomed and have various helpful services performed by friendly comrades. I don't remember the name or location of this thread, though. Anyhow, here I can describe how I spent an incredible number of research hours for naught. I'm a relative newbie at the genealogical research, so I hit a lot of steep learning curves as I encounter (and master?) each new set of research resources. Unlike most sensible researchers, I enjoy inventing a wheel, even if difficult, and then catching up on seeing how others have already invented it - only then am I persuaded that it's round enough for me! Of course, being retired, with some discretionary time, helps me to appreciate the balance between my amusement and my inefficiency.

It seems that on the ship manifests, a lot of immigrants from Castelbuono Sicily, including a number of my ancestral relatives, had listed the address "240 Elizabeth Street" (In NYC) as their destination. Sometimes they were going to "a cousin", sometimes there was a named friend or relative. So I decided to check out the 1910 census to see who actually lived there. I was unable to connect any of the manifest names to this address in the census. Perhaps there are a few 1910 census tricks I should know that I haven't yet learned. Since I didn't have an actual name of an inhabitant of 240 Elizabeth Street, I slogged through finding out the correct identification of the enumeration district, and then basically followed the census taker (on his paper trail) as he made his rounds, around this block, up the next, address by address. Finally I was on the page for the correct block, and he goes 232, 234, 236, 238, 242, and I go WHAT!!!!!! He skipped the building!! Of course, I triple checked my work, and yep, that's the story, almost over. It turns out that several days later, the census guy is making the rounds to visit the buildings that he missed on the first pass. And once again, no record for 240 Elizabeth Street! So according to the 1910 census, there are no recorded inhabitants of 240 Elizabeth Street. My guess is that when they saw that the census taker was approaching, they locked the doors and pretended that no one was home until he went away.

(Sorry for the editorializing, but echoes forward to how the 2020 census might play out are frighteningly striking!)

Parker

Parker