Paul Lago Mersino

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James
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Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

Hello, I am trying to find information on Paul Lago Mersino my third great grandfather.

His death certificate here in The United States writes he was born July 21st, 1817 in Italy.

His father's named listed on his death certificate was Joseph. No mother's name was listed.

On his petition for US Citizenship it said he "renounced forever his allegiance to the King of _______ to me it appears to be written as King of Sardinia?

Image

It was written by someone else because at the time I believe he was unable to write.

He died prior to the 1900 US census which would have provided me a lot more information to track!

I tried searching here as seen on other posts, with no luck:

http://antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?q=gallery

I plan a visit here shortly to a presidential library to try to find a manifest of him entering the USA. This might have more information of where he came from in Italy.

I will continue searching until I can find everything I can! It has been a thrill so far being the first in my family to ever find his petition to naturalize and death certificate. Before I started this project no one knew his father's name was Joseph!! It is such a thrill to find a piece of history others haven't yet learned.

Thanks in advanced for any help that can be offered.

James
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

Hi,
the right surname spelling is Lagomarsino, so his italian name was Paolo LAGOMARSINO; I believe he was born in Genoa area, that in the past, before of Italy Union, it was part of Sardinia Kingdom(from 1815 abt).
Regards,
suanj
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

1860 census:

Paul L Marsino

United States Census, 1860

Name Paul L Marsino
Event Type Census
Event Year 1860
Event Place 6th Ward City Of Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 40
Race White
Race (Original) [Blank]
Birth Year (Estimated) 1820
Birthplace Italy
Page 112
Affiliate Name The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number M653



Household

Role

Gender

Age

Birthplace

Paul L Marsino M 40 Italy
Cath Marsino F 38 Baden
Paul Marsino M 4 Michigan
Louisa Marsino F 2 Michigan
Frank Marsino M 0 Michigan
------------------
1870 census:


Paulo Mersino

United States Census, 1870

Name Paulo Mersino
Event Type Census
Event Year 1870
Event Place Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 52
Race White
Race (Original) W
Birth Year (Estimated) 1817-1818
Birthplace Italy
Page Number 31



Household

Role

Gender

Age

Birthplace

Paulo Mersino M 52 Italy
Catherine Mersino F 46 Baden
Paulo Mersino M 14 Michigan
Louisa Mersino F 12 Michigan
Frank Mersino M 10 Michigan
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1 ... cc=1438024
--------------------
1880 census:


Paul Messino

United States Census, 1880

Name Paul Messino
Event Type Census
Event Year 1880
Event Place Hamtramck, Wayne, Michigan, United States
Gender Male
Age 62
Marital Status Married
Race White
Race (Original) W
Occupation Farmer
Relationship to Head of Household Self
Relationship to Head of Household (Original) Self
Birth Year (Estimated) 1818
Birthplace Italy
Father's Birthplace Italy
Mother's Birthplace Italy
Affiliate Name The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
Affiliate Publication Number T9
Affiliate Film Number 0610



Household

Role

Gender

Age

Birthplace

Paul Messino Self M 62 Italy
Catharine Messino Wife F 55 Germany
Frank Messino Son M 20 Michigan, United States
Louisa Messino Daughter F 22 Michigan, United States
--------------
I believe he arrived in USA around 1854...
suanj
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by Tessa78 »

Great finds, suanj! :-D

Here is the possible "Find a Grave" listing which gives his wife's maiden name :-)
PAUL MERSINO
Birth: 1818, Italy
Death: Jun. 22, 1895
Wayne County
Michigan, USA
Family links:
Spouse:
Catherine Schmidt Mersino (1824 - 1893)

Children:
Louisa C. Mersino Holman (1858 - 1936)*
*Calculated relationship
Burial:
Mount Elliott Cemetery
Detroit
Wayne County
Michigan, USA
Plot: Section D, Tier 7, Grave 52.
Created by: John C. Hall
Record added: Sep 05, 2008
Find A Grave Memorial# 29577232

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... d=29577232&

AND*** a Non-population (Agricultural) Census from 1870 showing the acres owned, value of property, number of live stock, and bushels of grains farmed :-)

Name: Pauls Mersino
Location: Hamtramck, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Enumeration Date: 11 Jul 1870
Schedule Type: Agriculture
OS Page: 1
Line Number: 31

Click once to enlarge and again to magnify...
Image

AND*** An Indexed County Land Ownership Map from 1876
Owner's Name: P Mersino
State: Michigan
County: Wayne
Town: Hamtramck
Year: 1876
Image

T.
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

Appreciate the assistance!

I have heard he might be from Genoa before, but haven't been able to find any documentation.

Where could I start to get that type of info?

I am going to goto the national archives here this week and attempt to find the manifest of his arrival to see if he came with Catherine or not... Because I couldn't find their marriage records anywhere in Michigan.
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

Hi,
maybe this record could be right:


Paul Mepino

mentioned in the record of Paul Mepino and Catharine Heucher

Name Paul Mepino
Birth Date 1826
Age 29
Spouse's Name Catharine Heucher
Spouse's Birth Date 1827
Spouse's Age 28
Event Date 31 Jul 1855
Event Place Detroit, Wayne, Michigan

Michigan Marriages, 1822-1995

Indexing Project (Batch) Number M00924-0
System Origin Michigan-EASy
GS Film number 927489
Reference ID p 72 File 1855
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC4H-46G
I understand that his age don't match as a well Catherine maiden name( really we don't know abt that), but it is also possible that he no said his true age... personally, I believe right marriage record,
but it is just my opinion...
your suggestions?
suanj
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

abt Genova's records, the baptism records on line starting from 1838 and just of some commune, so it is a bit hard... the most probable places could be: Genova, San Colombano Certenoli, Chiavari, Lumarzo, Neirone etc.. lagomarsino is a popular surname in the area.. maybe knowing his mother maiden name, we can have just a better idea...
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

Suanj, thanks for the info... I am going to try to verify if the marriage record could be correct. We indeed do not know 100% for sure her maiden name. On Louwisa's death certificate it was stated as Catherine Smith and on Pauls death certificate no spouse was listed.

We have a lot of conflicting information and I am going to try to get a copy of Louwisa's birth certificate to see if that lists the actual maiden name.

I also might try to get the actual microfilm document that was transcribed you linked ->https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC4H-46L Because it could have said 1817 and been misread and it could have been Mersino and looked like Mepino.

Good find, I would have never thought that could be it.

I'll chase this stuff and get back to you.

How do you go about getting records from those places if they aren't digitized?
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

Good find, I would have never thought that could be it.

I'll chase this stuff and get back to you.

How do you go about getting records from those places if they aren't digitized?
I believe that next step is to find the maiden name of Paolo Lagomarsino mother ( or Lagomarsini.. also it exist in Genoa area) ...
then it could be possible for you to write in Genova archive of state asking a search in military records.. but obviously the Paolo name is no enough for a search.. you must have almost the his parent's names ( and by marriage certificate, maybe you will know it!) and the possible birthyear ( and the archivist search also some year before as a well after).. and finger crossed that the archivist will find.. the problem is that the military records of Genova province are very damaged.. so we must hope that the archivist will find.. and having good luck (why no!) you will know the right birthdate, the birthplace( the Commune) and then you can request a baptism certificate in the parish.. if Paul was born in a little town no problem, because in the past was just 1 or 2 Churches, so it is enough to descover by Google the more old church, and to send the request..
Instead if he was born in Genova, maybe it will be also the district on the military record( Genova was a town formed by sestrieri=as a district, a quarter) and knowing the district it is possible to know the probable parish also..

So next step is to find as much infos possible on marriage certificate.. or other documents ..
I spent some time searching the arrival and no luck, but now we are sure that he arrived within 1855...
on the ship's manifest ..so dated... no place names, but by surnames of other italians on the ship we can have a idea abt area...
Hoping helpful,
regards,
suanj
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

suanj wrote:
Good find, I would have never thought that could be it.

I'll chase this stuff and get back to you.

How do you go about getting records from those places if they aren't digitized?
I believe that next step is to find the maiden name of Paolo Lagomarsino mother ( or Lagomarsini.. also it exist in Genoa area) ...
then it could be possible for you to write in Genova archive of state asking a search in military records.. but obviously the Paolo name is no enough for a search.. you must have almost the his parent's names ( and by marriage certificate, maybe you will know it!) and the possible birthyear ( and the archivist search also some year before as a well after).. and finger crossed that the archivist will find.. the problem is that the military records of Genova province are very damaged.. so we must hope that the archivist will find.. and having good luck (why no!) you will know the right birthdate, the birthplace( the Commune) and then you can request a baptism certificate in the parish.. if Paul was born in a little town no problem, because in the past was just 1 or 2 Churches, so it is enough to descover by Google the more old church, and to send the request..
Instead if he was born in Genova, maybe it will be also the district on the military record( Genova was a town formed by sestrieri=as a district, a quarter) and knowing the district it is possible to know the probable parish also..

So next step is to find as much infos possible on marriage certificate.. or other documents ..
I spent some time searching the arrival and no luck, but now we are sure that he arrived within 1855...
on the ship's manifest ..so dated... no place names, but by surnames of other italians on the ship we can have a idea abt area...
Hoping helpful,
regards,
suanj
I went and looked at the microfilm index that was cited in that record you found...

Image

Found more information from that... I will head downtown soon and try to pull the actual document and see what extra information it has.

BUT, what I found is this: The church on that record where the marriage took place is the same church Paul Mersino's three kids got baptized.

Knowing that Louwisa was born a year before this marriage took place I am thinking that this was Catherine's second marriage which is why its Heucher instead of Schmitt. Look at one of the witnesses... It is possible.

The ages still seem way off to me.. BUT... Maybe the person misread the year 181* for 182* ? I will know more for sure when I get the document. Think that is possible?

Thanks again for the help so far, I hope this is the right document!
James
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by suanj »

Hi thanks abt update.
The marriage record is abt your ancestor, no doubt.. abt the Paul age: I believe that he no said the truth intentionally abt the age.. Catherine was so young... he said the right age then... the marriage was on 1855; the petition of naturalization was made on 1857.. I believe that was necessary almost 3 years to saty in USA before to start the naturalization application..
so he most probably arrived before of 1854...
It would be a dream to find his arrival with his birthplace written on! we hope to collect and verify how many possible infos...
Hoping good luck,
regards,
suanj
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

suanj wrote:Hi thanks abt update.
The marriage record is abt your ancestor, no doubt.. abt the Paul age: I believe that he no said the truth intentionally abt the age.. Catherine was so young... he said the right age then... the marriage was on 1855; the petition of naturalization was made on 1857.. I believe that was necessary almost 3 years to saty in USA before to start the naturalization application..
so he most probably arrived before of 1854...
It would be a dream to find his arrival with his birthplace written on! we hope to collect and verify how many possible infos...
Hoping good luck,
regards,
suanj
Suanj, good evening...

The city records department was closed when I made my discovery earlier today, but the church records were open... I went and studied the microfilm for that recorded date from the church listed... St. Marys Detroit.

It appears that it is indeed Mepino, I took photos of all lines on that record, but the name surely seems wrong.

Image

What are your thoughts?
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by Tessa78 »

I am sure suanj :D will be back to give you her thoughts (it is 1:13 AM in Italy right now :-) )
But I am certain she will say that what you see written is Messino, where the first "s" is a long letter... and yes, the two letters together resemble a "p" - and that is as it was transcribed.

See these examples of Italian script for the letter "s"
https://script.byu.edu/Pages/Italian/en/alphabet.aspx#s

I do believe that you have the correct marriage!

T.
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by James »

Tessa78 wrote:I am sure suanj :D will be back to give you her thoughts (it is 1:13 AM in Italy right now :-) )
But I am certain she will say that what you see written is Messino, where the first "s" is a long letter... and yes, the two letters together resemble a "p" - and that is as it was transcribed.

See these examples of Italian script for the letter "s"
https://script.byu.edu/Pages/Italian/en/alphabet.aspx#s

I do believe that you have the correct marriage!

T.
Thanks for the information T.

Since you believe there is a chance it's the correct record here is the images of the entire record: http://www.jamesquandahl.com/wp-content ... s/Mersino/

I know it is horrible quality, but 150 year old document from a microfilm photographed by a phone haha.

If there is a chance this is correct record, I can goto Wayne County offices and try to get their copy of the marriage license.

I have such a hard time understanding those photos.
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Re: Paul Lago Mersino

Post by Tessa78 »

I can read
Paulus (Paul) Messino...
Under his name looks like Borsano Italy (possibly Barzano, Province of Lecco?...Lombardy Region) I believe this would have fallen under Kingdom of Sardinia at the time

Joannes (Giovanni?) Messino (his father?)
Not sure if the Magdalena Gardi under Joannes is possibly Paul's mother...

Catherine xxx Heucher - under which it appears to say nata (born) Schmidt
Then under that, Rxxxxx, Badin (Baden?)
Her parents are possibly Joseph Schmidt and Catherina Bauer(?)
Witnesses appear to be Carl Schmidt and Anthony Erich ????

T.
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