Joseph Messina

[LenaMessina]

I am new to the geneology world, and I have found myself at a Stand-still pretty early in the game when it comes to my Great Grandfather. Below is the information I have currently:

Name: Joseph Messina
Wife: Mary Grace (AMico?) (also born in Italy)
Date of Birth: May 7th 1890
Came to US around 1910, married around 1912
My grandmother knows that he lived in New York for a while before coming to Ohio, but that is all she knows. My grandfather died before I was born, so I dont have any family to go to for additional information.
I am looking for Josephs parents names and where in Italy he was from.

I have been searching passenger records into new york, but there are so many Joe/Guissepe Messinas that I cant pinpoint which is him. Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I am so intrigued!!



On a side note: Joseph died in a car accident in 1950 in Newark, Ohio and in the newspaper article it stated that Joe had 2 sisters that lived in Italy. DOes that mean that maybe his parents didnt come with him to the U.S? He has four brothers and sisterss that also lived in Newark, Ohio.

[wldspirit]

His death certificate is listed at the following site:


Family Search Record Pilot

[maestra36]

Welcome to the forum and the world of genealogy.

If you go to the website www.familysearchlabs.org (you will need to register with a user name and password) and then go to browse collections, you will see that there are Ohio death records there. I see your Joseph Messina's death record there.

When the screen comes up to search his name, and you type it in, his is the first death listed and you can then view the actual death record. He died Oct 18, 1951. Unfortunately his parents' names are listed as unknown on the certificate, but at least you can retrieve a copy of it.

[Squigy]

Welcome to the forum and the world of genealogy.

That's exactly what I was going to put!

I am looking for Josephs parents names and where in Italy he was from

An interesting fact: Italians almost always named their children after their parents. Do you know Giuseppe's eldest son's name? That should be (should, not definitely) Giuseppe's father's name, too. Same with his eldest daughter being named after his mother, and his second eldest son and daughter being named after Mary Grace's parents.

[maestra36]

on the website www.familysearch.org

I believe this is the marriage information:

Husband Joseph Messina
Marriage: 01 JUN 1913 , Licking, Ohio

Wife Grace Amicon
Marriage: 01 JUN 1913 , Licking, Ohio

[maestra36]

JOE MESSINA 07 May 1890 Oct 1951 SS #274-28-6631 Ohio

This is from the social security index on www.rootsweb.com

You can generate a letter to mail to Social security to get a copy of his application for his social security card. Normally parents' names and his place of birth would be on this document, but there is no guarantee that this information will be there.

[LenaMessina]

WOw, thank you all for your help! His Eldest sons name was Joseph, so I will start there by looking for his Fathers name as being Joseph. (Makes sense because my Father is Leonard Anthony Messina the 2nd and the tradition just keeps being passed on ) Again, thank you all so much, Hopefully I can find his parents and family in Italy, it looks like it will be tough, but im pretty determined.

[PeterTimber]

http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... earch.html

and when you find the town of origin you can obtain family documents free of charge by writing to the town of origin with these form letters
Go to
http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/pearlsofwi ... tters.html

=Peter=

[maestra36]

what are the first names of Joe Messina's brothers and sisters that you say also resided in Ohio? Knowing that information may help you locate him on a passenger list. Could you post their first names here? He might have traveled with one of them to the U.S. or went to one of them upon his arrival in the States. Try using the website www.stevemorse.org to look for passenger lists on Ellis Island. If you go to the third category down, which is the gold form, you can put in Giuseppe Messina and his year of birth and that won't give you too many possibilities. If you could find one of the siblings on a passenger list, you might get a possible town name, although the last residence given on a passenger list is not always the town of birth. You need to find the Italian town of birth in order to proceed with research in Italy.

[LenaMessina]

I actually was incorrect by saying his siblings lived here, I was confusing myself. I did just have a breakthrough though! I believe I found him on a passenger list, and on the document it listed he lived in Castellammare, Trapani, Italy! And his Fathers name is Stefano!!! I am so excited about where this may take me! ANy suggestions with what to do now? You all have been so helpful, I hope that sooner or later I can help others with this journey. It is so rewarding...

[PeterTimber]

Dear Lena I sent you the message above the one above where you go to find the information you need by writing to the town of origin you located with the form letters inItalian I advised you to use. =Peter=

[maestra36]

How do you know for sure that the passenger list you found is definitely your ancestor?

[LenaMessina]

WEll of course I am not 100 percent sure. But on a previous document I found that he was from Trapani, Italy and that he came over in 1912. On the passenger list it lists the correct birth year, Trapani Italy and he was the sole traveler (no other Messinas atleast). Im hoping its right atleast...

[maestra36]

Trapani is both a province and a town name. Also, there are many misspellings on passenger lists, so looking at a short list and seeing only 1 person who has Trapani as his last residence does not prove that this is your ancestor. That was why I asked you if you knew the names of his siblings. This Giuseppe's destination was to a brother-in-law named Francesco Lapiano. Does that name mean anything to you?

[maestra36]

There is a Giuseppe Messina who arrived on the following passenger list-same age

Messina, Giuseppe Gartanna, Trapani 21 1890 1911

This Giuseppe's father was also a Giuseppe. He had a brother named Girolamo living in Brooklyn. He was from a town called Partanna in Trapani Province, Sicily.