Looking for Rocco Aceste (Acesta)

[sacesta]

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and have only recently begun researching my family's genealogy.

I'm having difficulty finding any documentation online for my paternal grandfather, Rocco Aceste. His name was changed to Acesta sometime after his immigration to the United States.

My father's two sisters were gracious enough to provide me copies of Rocco's Birth Certificate (he was born in Calatifimi-Segesta on 26 Jul 1893), his Honorable Discharge from the Italian Cavalry (discharged 6 Sep 1919), his Marriage Certificate (married 10 Feb 1929 in Brooklyn, NY), his Naturalization Certificate (dated 13 Feb 1945), and his Death Certificate (died 12 Jan 1956 in Brooklyn).

I found Rocco in the 1930 and 1940 US Censuses, but only because he had been living in the 6-family Brooklyn apartment building that his father-in-law owned. His name was so badly spelled on these documents (Rucco Artale on one!) that I would have never found him searching directly.

I suspect his surname is recorded or transcribed incorrectly on these other documents also.

Nor does his name come up on searches of Sicilian documents. It seems there is not much that has been indexed digitally from the Trapani province of Sicily. I've ordered a few rolls of microfilm through a local LDS Family History Center. Hopefully, these films will give me a foothold in Trapani. I know Rocco's parents names were Benedetto Aceste and Vincenza Papa -Aceste.

I'd like to find Rocco on an Immigration Passenger List but have had little success. I have no records to show where Rocco was or what he did from the time he left the cavalry (Sep 1919) until he was married (Feb 1929).

Rocco's niece tells me that Rocco came to America in 1922 aboard the SS Giuseppe Verdi with his younger brother, Camillo. And Census Documents suggest he arrived circa 1923. I have not found Rocco in the 1925 NYS census either.

Any suggestions for finding immigration data on my grandfather?

Steve

[adelfio]

Welcome to IG website yes its unfortunate about the online records of Calatafimi your better off getting church records on film there is more dates Do you know the church he was baptized in
PG LINK
https://familysearch.org/search/catalog ... ,750555-50
Can you post Rocco's Birth Certificate born in Calatifimi-Segesta on 26 Jul 1893?

Marty

[sacesta]

Thanks for the links Marty. Unfortunately, I do not know where he was baptized. The Birth Certificate looks like it was issued from the civil authorities in the province of Trapani, commune of Calatafimi. I uploaded the image to PhotoBucket but I'm not sure how to imbed it into the thread here. This is the url. Hopefully, this works…

http://s1159.photobucket.com/user/saces ... 8.jpg.html

[sacesta]

Update on Aceste search:

On a hunch,I ordered two microfilms from the Church of LDS.

Both films were from the Chiesa Cattolica San Silvestro Papa in Calatafimi.

One roll# 2015877 was of Marriage Records from 1620-1910 and the other, roll# 2015876 is entitled "Battesimi 1863-1910 Pubblicazioni 1908-1910 Matrimoni 1534-1620. Although I know that "Pubblicazioni" means publications, I'm not sure what the it refers to. I expect to find Rocco's Baptismal Record on this roll.

With the expectation that the marriage records would give me the most useful information, I searched first on the more recent film of Marriage Records for the union of Rocco's parents. Figuring his parents were married a year or two before Rocco's birth I found the record within a half hour of loading the film into the reader.

As best as I can tell, the Aceste's were married on the 25th of April, 1892, fifteen months before Rocco's birth. Rocco's parents were easily identifiable on the record since I already knew their names. The record is written in Latin and the names of the wedded couple appear as Benedictum Aceste and Vincentiam Papa (Benedetto Aceste and Vincenza Papa). Their parents are also listed but the handwriting is difficult to read and the jpeg copy is poor. I cannot even guess what either of the fathers' first names are. Benedetto's mother's first name appears to be Antonia and Vincenza's mother's name appears to be Antonina, but neither of their surnames is legible. I'm hoping to get a better copy on my next visit to the Family History Center.

I'm sure these films will be a gold mine of information!



Steve

[adelfio]

Glad you got the church records
Benedetto's mother's name appears to be the deceased Antonia Cusenza and Vincenza mother is Antonia Gruppuso

Marty

[sacesta]

Thank you Marty. Much appreciated!

[sacesta]

Marty,
I'm guessing you are saying that Antonia Cusenza was deceased because of what looks like to me the qdom (quondam) before her name? It appears, then, that Benedetto's father was also deceased at the time of this marriage because I see what looks like it could be qdom before his name also. Is this correct?
Steve