1910 census and citizenship status?

[catalanogg]

I'm in the process of collecting documents to apply for dual Italian (American) citizenship, through my GGF (my father's father's father, Salvatore aka "Sam"). He arrived in 1907, had his first child in 1909, and died in 1947. My family unequivocally says that he did not try to become a naturalized citizen before his death in 1947, let alone before the birth of his first child! So, I am waiting for a result of "no records" to come back from USCIS. The consulate says if no records are found, I would need a certified copy of the 1910 census. I've never seen a census record before, so I don't know how this would prove he was an alien.

Here is pretty much all I know about him:

From Ellis Island records:
"Salvatore Catalano" arrived June 16 1907, age 23.
"Canuela de Filippo" arrived July 6 1907, age 20.

Married in ~1908, date/location UNKNOWN.
First Child born January 23, 1909 in Omaha, NE.


I know in 1910 he was living as Sam Catalano with his wife Carmela and their 1-yr old son Joseph in Omaha, Douglas Co., NE. I did a free search on the 1910 census on Ancestry, and it came up with this listing...
***My main question is, even it it does tell something about citizenship... because the names are SO misspelled, does it render this document potentially useless for my needs?***


US Census information - 1910
Douglas County, NE
Sam Patalano, age 27
Carnelia Patalano, age 22
Joseph Patalano, age 1



Thank you so much to anyone who might be able to help me. I am looking forward to reading other threads for advice and tips!

Gina

[pink67]

Hi Gina!

from Ancestry.com the 1910 census you found:

1910 United States Federal Census
about Sam Patalano
Name: Sam Patalano
[Sam Catalano]
Age in 1910: 27
Estimated birth year: abt 1883
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Spouse's name: Carnelia Patalano
Home in 1910: Omaha Ward 10, Douglas, Nebraska
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male
Year of Immigration: 1896
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Sam Patalano 27 head, born in IT, married since 2 years, immigr. year 1896
Carnelia Patalano 22 wife, born in IT, amrried since 2 years, mother of 1 child,
Joseph Patalano 1 son, born in NE

image:
http://postimage.org/image/uqu61kpw/

Laura

[catalanogg]

Thank you so so much for your reply, with the information, and the image! If I'm not mistaken, it says "na" as in "naturalized" (and not "al" as in alien") underneath the "citizenship" section, next to 1896... But do you think this could be inaccurate? After all, I know from the ships log that he came in 1907 and not 1896 as the form says. I feel relieved knowing that their proper names can be seen in the original document.

Thanks again, Laura.

[pink67]

Gina, very often this statements on the census were wrong, look at this:
Again, from ancestry.com:

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
about Sam Catalano
Name: Sam Catalano
City: Omaha
County: Douglas
State: Nebraska
Birthplace: Italy
Birth Date: Nov 1886
Race: Caucasian (White)
FHL Roll Number: 1711761
DraftBoard: 4

He stated he was Alien (non naturalized)
place of birth Carlentini - Siracusa province - Sicily region

image:
http://postimage.org/image/uscqs10k/

possible 1906 arrival manifest:

2 august 1906

Sebastiano Catalano, age 21, single, from Carlentini to Omaha to join his uncle Costantino Aurelio?? in Omaha...
Naturalization mark on his line:
15 9789 12/?/36

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0021

Laura

[catalanogg]

YES, Salvatore aka "Sam" was born in Carlentini, in 1883, and came to the US in 1907. I found his ship manifest,

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0029

not sure if that link will work. His brother's name was Sebastiano, and he also came over from Carlentini.

[pink67]

Possible 1920 census?:

1920 United States Federal Census
about Sam Carolino
Name: Sam Carolino
[Sam Caroline]
[Sam Carolina]
Home in 1920: Omaha Ward 5, Douglas, Nebraska
Age: 36
Estimated birth year: abt 1884
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Self (Head)
[Head]
Spouse's name: Carmela Carolino
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Male
Home owned: Own
Year of Immigration: 1906
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Sam Carolino 36 head, born in IT, naturalized on 1919
Carmela Carolino 32 wife, born in IT
Joseph Carolino 11 son, born in NE
Josie Carolino 10 daughter, born in NE
Dominick Carolino 7 son, born in NE

Image:
http://postimage.org/image/133rwnzc4/

is this record corretc?

Laura

[catalanogg]

YES YES YES. That 1920 record is him! My GF was born in 1922 and was the 5th child, but those appear to be his siblings.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I can't wait to show these to my family!

[pink67]

Gina, if the 1920 census I posted is correct, then the Military enlistment I posted before is wrong for "Your" Sam Catalano... possible the correct record for the WW1 draft card is this:

World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
about Salvedore Catalanio
Name: Salvedore Catalanio
City: Omaha
County: Douglas
State: Nebraska
Birth Date: 21 Jul 1883
Race: White
FHL Roll Number: 1711761
DraftBoard: 4

address: 2206 South 12th street (same on 1920 census)
at that time he was Declarant, not yet naturalized....

http://postimage.org/image/134nbvkpw/

Laura

[catalanogg]

I just checked, and the address listed on the 1920 census is the same address on my GF's birth certificate from 1922. I'd think that this should help me if I encounter any difficulties with the last name difference (Carolino - Catalano).

[catalanogg]

Oh no...

Thanks for your help, but it appears I have been stopped short in my quest for citizenship. My GF was born in 1922, but his parents were naturalized in 1919 according to the 1920 census.

So I guess this means I'm out of luck, then? It doesn't matter that they had three children born before they were naturalized, does it? I guess I would have had to be a descendant of one of them for it to count. Too bad I got my hopes up on this whole thing. I guess I'll wait for the papers to come back from USCIS to confirm the 1919 naturalization, but looks like my luck ran out!

[pink67]

Gina, I'm not an expert with dual-citizenship question, I'm sure that later some other memeber will answer to your question... however, I found on the web this document:

http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch ... ouglas.pdf

only two Catalano are listed:

CATALANO, Rosario, 1919
CATALANO, Sabastino, 1922

Laura

[johnnyonthespot]

I'm in the process of collecting documents to apply for dual Italian (American) citizenship, through my GGF (my father's father's father, Salvatore aka "Sam"). He arrived in 1907, had his first child in 1909, and died in 1947. My family unequivocally says that he did not try to become a naturalized citizen before his death in 1947, let alone before the birth of his first child!

I just want to add a few comments on this matter...

One, everyone I spoke with in my family, including my 80'ish year-old mother was certain that neither of my grandfathers naturalized. As it turned out, both actually did, one in 1935 and the other in 1944. So much for oral history.

Two, there was great pressure - cultural, economic, political (Italy was on the "wrong" side for the first half of WWII) - on Italian immigrants to show their intention to integrate as members of American society. A significant portion of them did just that.

Here is an intersting read: http://books.google.com/books?id=ME82px ... &q&f=false

[catalanogg]

Thank you, I'm going to see if I can check that book out of my local library. Even if I'm not able to get citizenship, I'm still interested in finding out more about my family and our history.

Is there any incentive for people to have lied on the census papers and state they were naturalized? (guess I'm still holding out some hope!)

[johnnyonthespot]

Is there any incentive for people to have lied on the census papers and state they were naturalized? (guess I'm still holding out some hope!)

I think the bigger problem was that many of our immigrant ancestors never learned the english language to any significant degree. We know that in some cases, the enumerator actually used very young family members (children) to interpret for their parents. Essentially, anything is possible from outright lying to simple misunderstanding/miscommunication.

[mler]

Until your find the actual naturalization records, you cannot be sure. Census records were notoriously inaccurate.