my great grandparents

Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
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themelmel
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my great grandparents

Post by themelmel »

:? ok. my grandmother amelia crago (or grieco, sometimes) was born april 16, 1904. i have seen on the 1920 census for pennsylvania that her mother, margarite, immigrated in 1900, and that 'millie's' father, anthony came over in 1910. the same census states that millie's brother joseph was either an infant when margarite came over, or there's the possiblity that she was pregnant with him at the time.

i have no clue of anything about margarite, except that i have seen her head stone in the cemetery that she's buried in. and before we ever saw that my dad didn't even know his own grandmother's name (having been forbidden to call her by anything except grandma out of respect as a child). i don't know her maiden name (if it differed from her married name at all)...i have an approximate birth year of 1880, which that would be about right, since Anthony (my great grandfather) was born about 1878 (or 1879).

i have only recently uncovered what my other great-grandmother's name (given and maiden) may have been at all and would like to have some idea of margarite, just to even the score so to speak.

i know from doing a project on italian immigration (for a project in college) that most of the one's that came over and stayed for any length of time were young men 16-30 or 35. women and children either came with them or followed sometime later.

i guess my question is more about what someone else thinks about this? what would someone else's ideas on this be?
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johnnyonthespot
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by johnnyonthespot »

A couple of thoughts:

The name Crago does not exist in modern Italy and probably not in old Italy, either. Grieco is quite common. See this surname mapping tool.

It was very common for men to come over alone and wives and children (if any) to follow one or several years later. Keep in mind that when women traveled without their husbands, they traveled under their legal name which, in Italy, is always their maiden name. To this day, Italian women do not legaly take on their husband's surname as is common in the US.

Do you know when and where she died? If after 1940'ish, she may have had a social security number. If you can find that (it would be on her death certificate...), you can order a copy of her original social security card application; that will show her name, birthdate, and place of birth as she knew them to be.
pink67
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by pink67 »

The correct lastname should have been Grieco or Greco:

from Ancestry.com:

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
about Francis Antonio Greica
Name: Francis Antonio Greica
County: Mercer
State: Pennsylvania
Birth Date: 7 Jan 1878
Race: White
FHL Roll Number: 1894022
DraftBoard: 3

image:
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gx1T8Zhr

Laura :D
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by pink67 »

November 8, 1901 arrival manifest for Francescantonio Grieco, age 23, travelling with his wife Margherita age 22 (no maiden name is listed) and son Gaetano age 7 months... coming from Castelcivita to Lilly PA to join Margherita's mother Fedele Barbaro?

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0025

Castelcivita is a town in the province of Salerno - Campania region.

Laura

edi to add:

Possibly Francescantonio's mother in law's lastname was Babbaro.... Don't know if it was her maiden name...

1899 arrival manifest for Fedele Babbaro (male, age 50, married, from Castelcivita to Morrisdale PA to join his son Pasquale Babbaro... so Fedele was Margherita's father and her maiden name was Babbaro?....

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0011
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DeFilippis78
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by DeFilippis78 »

I have found with some of my relatives getting their death certificate was very helpful in getting more info. You dont need to know exact date of death. All you need to know is where they died and give them a range of year to search and a name. At least thats all I had to give in my state. If you saw the tombstone you should know place of death , year of death and obviuosly the name, so you should have some luck getting a record. Social security is a definite winner when needing a maiden name. Of course thats hoping they applied.

Alicia
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themelmel
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by themelmel »

this is from ancestry.com... it's the 1920 census...it gives most of the pertinent info that i know of for sure....i'm still working on the death date thing....even though i have actually seen the headstone, at the time i was much younger, and didn't pay much attention to the date of death, not like i would now. i remember it only because my dad was looking at it and said that he'd always wanted to name me after her, but not having known her name exactly, he allowed mom to name me.


Margarite Crago
Home in 1920: Farrell Ward 5, Mercer, Pennsylvania
Age: 40 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1880
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Spouse's name: Tony
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Female
Year of Immigration: 1900
Able to read: No
Able to Write: No
Image: 910
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Tony Crego 41
Margarite Crago 40
Millie Crago 16
Joseph Crago 19
Dominic Crago 13
Rosy Crago 12
Teresa Crago 11
Mary Crago 9
John Crago 9/12
John Fine 23
Sam Noice 26
Tony Firon 25
John Marine 22


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themelmel
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by themelmel »

ok....i was looking at an old query post that i sent to some other sight...and i found some more info on margarite....b. 1879-d.1950....hope this will make a difference.
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themelmel
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Re: my great grandparents

Post by themelmel »

thanx pink....i will definitely look into the info you have passed on...i know the registration card info sounds like it is my gr-grandfather...i'll double check though...ya'll are cool.
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