Jure Sanguinis - Ancestor Born Before Unification

[SBarretta]

Hello, Everyone! This forum has been an extremely valuable source of guidance for me, and I'm pleased to be making my first post

After witnessing a friend's success story, I became quite interested in claiming Italian citizenship through Jure Sanguinis. My eligible Italian ancestor (through my paternal Grandmother) is not so well documented, and was likely born before 1861. Based on ancestry.com and Familysearch, I've been able to piece together:

• Pietro Longo (Great-Great-Grandfather) born, Italy, 1857-1861(ish)

• He Immigrates to NYC, USA, 1891(ish)

• >>> Based on census information that I have, he never naturalized a US citizen (listed as "AL" on census in both 1905 and 1930)

• His Son, Gennaro Longo (Great-Grandfather), born NYC USA, 1897

• His Daughter, G. Longo (Barretta) (Grandmother), born NYC USA, 1940 (redacting 1st names for privacy)

• >>> Marries H. Barretta (Paternal Grandfather), 1961

• Her Son, R. Barretta (Father), born NYC USA, 1962

• His Son, S. Barretta (Myself), born Upstate NY USA, 1993

Some questions I have are:

• I believe I'm eligible here as my Father was born after 1948 (in 1962), and therefore at that time my Grandmother was legally able to and did pass on Italian citizenship. Would anyone dispute this?

• I'm unsure which commune Pietro comes from, does anyone have any recommendations as to where this info might live? Open to all suggestions!

• If I cannot find his Italian birth certificate or it is non-existent, what else might the consulate accept, if anything? (I've read cases on this forum of consulates potentially accepting varying arrays of US official documents - is this actually true? I understand that I am not trying to prove he was born in Italy, rather that he became an Italian citizen when the nation was founded in 1861.)

• Lastly, I'd applying through the NYC consulate. Can anyone comment on that consulate's helpfulness and responsiveness should I seek similar information to the above from them?

Thanks so much, and apologies for the long post! Please let me know if there's anything I can clarify.

[Italiaup]

I have a couple of ancestry search sites I use to trace my family. Have you tried to search for Pietro to find out where he was born? It might say on his marriage and/or death certificate also. You definitely need his Birth certificate.

[mler]

If your ggf was born in what later became Italy, he became an Italian citizen at the time of reunification. That’s not a problem.

None of the consulates are particularly helpful. You’re pretty much in your own.

[Tessa78]

Hello, Everyone! This forum has been an extremely valuable source of guidance for me, and I'm pleased to be making my first post

After witnessing a friend's success story, I became quite interested in claiming Italian citizenship through Jure Sanguinis. My eligible Italian ancestor (through my paternal Grandmother) is not so well documented, and was likely born before 1861. Based on ancestry.com and Familysearch, I've been able to piece together:

• Pietro Longo (Great-Great-Grandfather) born, Italy, 1857-1861(ish)

• He Immigrates to NYC, USA, 1891(ish)

• >>> Based on census information that I have, he never naturalized a US citizen (listed as "AL" on census in both 1905 and 1930)

• His Son, Gennaro Longo (Great-Grandfather), born NYC USA, 1897

• His Daughter, G. Longo (Barretta) (Grandmother), born NYC USA, 1940 (redacting 1st names for privacy)

• >>> Marries H. Barretta (Paternal Grandfather), 1961

• Her Son, R. Barretta (Father), born NYC USA, 1962

• His Son, S. Barretta (Myself), born Upstate NY USA, 1993

Some questions I have are:

• I believe I'm eligible here as my Father was born after 1948 (in 1962), and therefore at that time my Grandmother was legally able to and did pass on Italian citizenship. Would anyone dispute this?

• I'm unsure which commune Pietro comes from, does anyone have any recommendations as to where this info might live? Open to all suggestions!

• If I cannot find his Italian birth certificate or it is non-existent, what else might the consulate accept, if anything? (I've read cases on this forum of consulates potentially accepting varying arrays of US official documents - is this actually true? I understand that I am not trying to prove he was born in Italy, rather that he became an Italian citizen when the nation was founded in 1861.)

• Lastly, I'd applying through the NYC consulate. Can anyone comment on that consulate's helpfulness and responsiveness should I seek similar information to the above from them?

Thanks so much, and apologies for the long post! Please let me know if there's anything I can clarify.

POSSIBLE arrival in 1891 -
Age gives an approximate birth year of 1859.
Port of departure is Naples.
Pietro Longo
United States Italians to America Index, 1855-1900
Name: Pietro Longo
Event Type: Immigration
Event Date: 09 Oct 1891
Event Place: New York, New York, New York, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Birthplace: Italy
Occupation: Laborer
Ship Name: Cachemire
Birth Year (Estimated): 1859
Departure Port: Naples
Literacy: Unknown
Destination Place: NEW YORK
Transit or Travel Compartment: Staying in the USA [Transit]; Steerage [Travel]
Affiliate Manifest ID: 00000886
Affiliate ARC Identifier: 1746097

A few questions (to help locate a possible place of birth for Pietro)
Married in US or Italy? Name of wife.
Any children born in Italy?
Names of children (in order of birth if possible)
Lived only in NYC?

FYI - I am not able to locate the birth of Gennaro in 1897 in NYC Birth Index... do you have this evidence?

T.

[Tessa78]

Could this be the marriage of your GGF?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24W7-HFF
Gives name of parents as Pietro and Faustina Longo...
and birth year as 1898 in NYC

This looks to be the family of Pietro Longo (Lungo in the document) in the NYS 1905 Census.
The children were born in US - BUT there is a cousin residing with the family.
Antonio Longo/Lungo is age 30, and has been in USA only 2 years. Perhaps finding a manifest for his arrival will give us a clue for the place of birth (or at least residence) for Pietro Longo
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPNX-62H

T.

[SBarretta]

Thanks so much, all! Extremely helpful.

@Tessa78: Wow all of this is amazing, I appreciate the effort very much! Some answers to your questions:

• That arrival document looks promising, all the details add up so far! Very exciting, do you mind sharing how you accessed that database?

• Still unsure where and when Pietro married. His wife was Faustina Guadagno.

• The earliest record I have of Pietro is the 1905 NYS census, and I do not know whether there are any Italian children. His American-born children that I know of are:
  - Maria/Mary - Nov. 11, 1894
  - Teresa - 1900
  - Gennaro - Dec. 4, 1897

• I only have records of Pietro residing in NYC (earliest 1905), however this does not mean he wasn't elsewhere beforehand. I also have (what I believe to be) the record of his oldest child, Maria, being born in NYC in 1894 (NYC births, cn #50050). This could point to Pietro and his wife being in NYC as of this time.

• I have a WW1 military document listing Gennaro's birthplace as NYC, additionally my Grandmother assures me he was born there. However, I also haven't been able to find an NYC birth record for him. I've thought about requesting a search for this from the appropriate archives.

• Should have mentioned this - that marriage you found is a marriage of Gennaro, but not the "right" one - he married twice! My GGM was Margaret Cherico (possibly Chenico), Gennaro's 2nd marriage.

• That is the family of Pietro and Gennaro in the 1905 NYS census! I had the same thought re: Antonio. I haven't found anything, but I've been digging and will continue to do so!

Also, just so all are on the same page, my most valuable sources so far are:

- 1905 NYS State Census (showing the family of Pietro and Gennaro residing in East Harlem NYC): https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse ... sePUB=true

- Marriage record of Maria Longo and Gaetano (later used first name "Tom") Alfano, showing Pietro and Faustina Guadagno as the bride's parents: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24ZH-4TB

- 1940 US Census showing Peter (Pietro) Longo listed as "AL", living with the family of Mary and Tom Alfano: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse ... sePUB=true

Thanks a million!

[SBarretta]

Hi friends! Thought I'd bump this, still searching for my GGF Pietro Longo's place of birth.

Also, I did find my GF Gennaro's birth cerrificate at the NYC municipal archives! (attached)

Thanks a bunch

[Tessa78]

Here is a possible arrival for Faustina Guardagna in 1892 in NY.
Traveling with Francesco Longo, age 9.
Lines 242 and 243.
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/74 ... PUBJs=true

Name: Faustina Guaragna
Arrival date: 15 Jun 1892
Birth Date: abt 1856
Age: 36 Years 3 Months
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality: Italian
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: California

T.

[SBarretta]

Wow, thank you! Very interesting, and I can surely try searching around for Francesco.

Here is a possible arrival for Faustina Guardagna in 1892 in NY.
Traveling with Francesco Longo, age 9.
Lines 242 and 243.
https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/74 ... PUBJs=true

Name: Faustina Guaragna
Arrival date: 15 Jun 1892
Birth Date: abt 1856
Age: 36 Years 3 Months
Gender: Female
Ethnicity/ Nationality: Italian
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
Ship Name: California

T.