BONGHI FAMIGLIA DA TROIA (FG) / BANGO & BONGO FAMILY IN

[bbango]

Hello,

I am looking for information on my family in Italy. My great grandfather immigrated to the USA with the name Domenick Bango (born 1887). He came over with his brothers James and Louis Bongo (notice the change in the last name). The last names were switched during immigration. My father has talked to some relatives from the Bongo side and they told us the original surname was Bonghi from Troia, Foggia, Italy. In the letter they mentioned they visited the Bonghi Family from Troia and listed some names. When I return home tonight, I will find the letter that was sent to my father and post some more names from the Bonghi Family.

If anyone has any information on this, please reply here or email me at brandonbango@gmail.com

Grazie mille!

[VaDeb]

If you want to research birth, marriage and death records for Troia, they are available on microfilm though the LDS church. Years 1809-1929 (great coverage of years!)

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library ... umns=*,0,0

Here is a post by Trish on how to use these records:
http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/inde ... pic&t=2581

Good luck with your research

[brujaojos]

Hi There,

If you look on Ellis Island, you find there is a Luigi (Louis) Bonghi going to go see his brother, Domenico in Pennsylvania. Also, Luigi left his father, Giuseppe in Italy. Here is the manifest.

Page 1

Page 2

This could be Vincenzo (James) going to see an Uncle in Pennsylvania. He too left his father, Giuseppe, in Italy.

Page 1

Page 2

Now if you can get Domenico's Death Certificate, it could list his parents' names. Also, if you can write for Domenico's Naturalization records, this could verify where he was from and what his name is.

However, as Debbie (VaDeb) stated, there is microfilm for Troia, so I would also try to order the film from the Family History Center and see if the family is there.

If you have more information such as a date of birth for Domenico as well as where he settled, I'm sure we could help more.

Hope this helps for now.
Trish

[bbango]

Thank you for the information! That's really awesome to see the records on ellis island like that.

I found the letter my father had - written to him in 1989. There are many names of children and grandchildren, but there is alittle bit about the brothers (domenick, louis and james) But i will write out what i have here.

Domenick (my greatgrandfather) was the first to come over (unsure of the year) Then James Bongo came over around 1910 around the age of 14 (so she says, the writer of the letter). Then there was Louis Bongo who came over last. She says Louis came over a short time after Domenick and james did. Now thats all the information I have about them (except for the ellis island links now!)

Now it says that those 3 guys had another brother and sister that stayed in Italy. His name was Leonardo Bonghi and the sister was Annetta. Leonardo supposedly lived or lives in Torino.

I have names of Annetta's children who were living at these addresses in 1989.

Michele Lupoli
Via buonfiglio #7
Troia, Foggia, Italy

Giuseppe Lupoli
Via Motteotti 38
71029 Troia Foggia Italy

So that is what i have right now. - I'm going to look into the microfilms and see what I can find there.

Thank you !
Brandon Bango

[VaDeb]

This seems to be your gggrandfathers WWI draft registration card. He is from Troia, but he gives his year of birth as Dec. 10, 1892. Not sure what the source of your date of birth. Is he yours?

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6338 ... ard4vw.jpg

There is also a Dominick Bango born 27 Mar 1886 who died in Aug 1960. If these are not the same man, they are most likely cousins, having the same name and being from the same town in Italy.

[bbango]

well, the birth date is based on research my aunt did probably 5-10 years ago, but i havent talked to her - just something she wrote down.

My grandpa was born in 1924 and dominic died when my grandpa was 12 years old. So, that would be 1936. Atleast that is the information i have gathered. I can ask my grandpa's sister who is still around when he passed away to be sure.

[VaDeb]

No sense re-inventing the wheel. Contact you Aunt and find out what research she has done. Find out what DOCUMENTS she has obtained. Hopefully, she will give you a copy of what she has.

Once you have all this information, its time to get organized. Put your information into family group sheets. There are several good, relatively inexpensive genealogy software programs available. You can download one for free from this site:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library ... umns=*,0,0

Once you see what you have and where you need help post back. Give us names and dates and we will see what we can do to help.

[bbango]

Thanks alot, I appreciate it.

[bbango]

Okay guys, I got a program, Family tree maker and i've inputted alot of the information that I have. One quick question here - the WW1 registration card that was posted by deb, it looks like to me that the name is dominic bongo. Does anyone else think that it is an O written on this?

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6338 ... ard4vw.jpg

Thanks, !

[nuccia]

It definitely is an O in my opinion!

[VaDeb]

This seems to be your gggrandfathers WWI draft registration card. He is from Troia, but he gives his year of birth as Dec. 10, 1892. Not sure what the source of your date of birth. Is he yours?

http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/6338 ... ard4vw.jpg

There is also a Dominick Bango born 27 Mar 1886 who died in Aug 1960. If these are not the same man, they are most likely cousins, having the same name and being from the same town in Italy.

I think it is BONGO. But look at the card closely and there is an X above the signature at the bottom of the card. The signature looks like the handwriting of the rest of the card. I suggest the card was filled out for Dominic and he made an X to indicate it was his information. So you have to consider Dominic probably did not write English, maybe not even read it. He told his information to someone who wrote it down. He signed with an X. So whether it is an A or and O dosen't mean anything. It represents what the writer thought the correct spelling was.

Above is also noted a SS death for a man with this same name. Do you have information to know which is your ancestor? There is a difference of 7 years in the birth date, could be same person, but maybe not. You need to remember that there is a possible "other" Dominic Bongo and as you find records make sure they are "your" Dominic and not the "other" Dominic.

[bbango]

I did notice the X and figured he did not read or write English and that this was written out for him. But when I search Ellis Island, i can't seem to find anything on a domenico bonghi, domenico bongo, dominic bango anything. It says that he is an alien on the registration card, does this mean he didnt go through ellis island??

Also, I talked to my grandma last night and she thinks my grandpa was 15 when dominic died - I thought it was 12. but either way, he died in 1936 or '39 (my grandpa was born in '24).. So I do not believe that dominic bango is my grandpa's father because in 1960 my grandpa's mom was remarried etc.

Are there any other documents that could tell me what year my ggrandfather came to the USA? and with what name?

[VaDeb]

I am getting confused following your family tree. Guess you got information from your aunt.

Have you found this ancestor on the 1930 census? This will give a year of immigration. Dominic Bongo (or variation) was born ? year. What was his wife's name? Children? Where did he live in 1930 (State, City).

Go to this web site:
http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/ellisshort.html

Enter Troia as town and all surnames that start with B. You will find Bonghia and Bongo. I didn't see any Domininc. There are many ports of entry besides Ellis Island. Also depends on the year he came.

Trish posted some Ellis Island records above. Are they your family?

[brujaojos]

Hi There,

Debbie, you've been supplying great information!!!!

Now I did find a Domenico in Ellis Island. Here is the manifest and the information. He too left his father, Giuseppe. He is going to see an Uncle Francesco in Pennsylvania. He was born is looks like Troia (page 2)

First Name: Domenico
Last Name: Boughi
Ethnicity:
Last Place of Residence: Fiovinone
Date of Arrival: Dec 05, 1911
Age at Arrival: 18y Gender: M Marital Status: S
Ship of Travel: Duca Degli Abruzzi
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0001


Page 1

Page 2

Now the age matches up to the WWI Draft Card that Debbie found. The father, Giuseppe, matches the other manifests I gave you.

What you need to do is get the death certificate of Domenico and see who his parents are. You also should write for his naturalization records. This would have what town he was from.

I hope this helps,
Trish

[VaDeb]

Great find Trish. I hadn't looked much on Ellis Island, beyond the post above. Had been waiting for the poster to confirm facts. But, this record does seem to tie the family together. Just need bbango to confirm and see what direction to head in.