Searching for My Great-grandfather - Clemente Ferraro

[RPOZ51]

I need some assistance in solving a mystery about paternal grandmother’s father, Clemente Ferraro.

I was able to locate records which show that Clemente was born in Maddaloni, Italy in 1854, came to the US on the SS California in May 1900, and died in Jamaica Hospital in Queens, New York in April 1901.

While looking for something else, I recently found a surprise birth record for his daughter, Maria Michela Ferraro. She was born in Maddaloni in late September 1900. So, after Clemente's May 1900 arrival in the US.

The birth record for Maria Michela says that Clemente appeared to report her birth (". . . comparso Ferraro Clemente fu Salvatore . . . "). It also says that Clemente was living in Maddaloni (". . . domiciliato in Maddaloni"). No one in my family knew anything about Maria Michela.

I later found a death record for Maria Michela. She died a few months later, in Maddaloni in January 1901. Her death record says that Clemente was living in Maddaloni at the time (". . . domiciliato in Maddaloni").

So, if I am to trust the information in all of these records, it appears that after Clemente came to the US in May 1900, then he returned to Maddaloni for the birth of his daughter in September 1900. Clemente was in Maddaloni for Maria Michela's death in January 1901. If all of that is true, then Clemente had to have returned to NY after January 1901, because we know with some degree of certainty that he died in Jamaica Hospital in April 1901.

Not that I completely trust them, but I don't know of a reason that these records for Maria Michela would be incorrect.

I guess that is possible that Clemente returned to Italy for the birth of Maria Michela. I know that people did go back and forth.

Great-grandma would have been 5 months pregnant, when Clemente first left for the US. So, they both likely knew that a new baby was coming.

One of my cousins recalls our grandmother saying that Clemente came to the US two times. He only came to the US to earn money, and he wasn't planning to stay. My cousin doesn't recall Grandma saying anything about baby Maria Michela.

If Clemente actually did return to Italy for Maria Michela's birth, I haven't been able to find a passenger ship manifest to confirm that he made a second trip to the US. If there was a second trip, it most likely would have occurred between Maria Michela's death in January 1901, and Clemente's own death in New York in April 1901.

I did electronic searches in Ancestry, FamilySearch, NARA, and Ellis Island for a passenger manifest showing Clemente's second trip to NY, but yielded no hits. There are hits for other people named, "C Ferraro'" or "Clemente Ferraro," but no one that looks like they could be my Great-grandpa. If there is was a second trip, then it's very possible that it wasn't indexed correctly. If that's the case, then I will have to search the manifests manually.

Can someone suggest a place where I can find a list of ships that made the trip from Naples to New York in the January 1901 to April 1901 time frame??

A source for ships making the return trip from New York to Naples would also be helpful.

Thank you all very much!!

Tom

[Tessa78]

There is nothing indicated on the death act for Maria Michela that Clemente was present.
He is listed as the father, and as "domiciled in Maddaloni" which means that it is his permanent home. That does not indicate that he was "residing" there at the time of the child's death.
I believe that your Clemente was in USA at the time of Maria's death, and died the following April.

As to his declaration of the birth, that would not be a mistake. It would have been Clemente.

So, Clemente appears to have returned for the birth, but most likely left again before the death of Maria Michela. Did you search US arrivals from Maria's birth through her death date?

FYI - there are no ship manifests for travel from USA to Italy.

As you your GGM not ever speaking of the deceased child, it was not unusual.

T.

[RPOZ51]

Thank you very much! This is very helpful.

It looks like I need to search passenger manifests again!

Can I ask what makes you believe that Clemente was in the US at the time of Maria Michela’s death in January 1901? Was it something about her death record?

[Tessa78]

There is nothing indicated on the death act for Maria Michela that Clemente was present.
He is listed as the father, and as "domiciled in Maddaloni" which means that it is his permanent home. That does not indicate that he was "residing" there at the time of the child's death.
I believe that your Clemente was in USA at the time of Maria's death, and died the following April.

As to his declaration of the birth, that would not be a mistake. It would have been Clemente.

So, Clemente appears to have returned for the birth, but most likely left again before the death of Maria Michela. Did you search US arrivals from Maria's birth through her death date?

FYI - there are no ship manifests for travel from USA to Italy.

As you your GGM not ever speaking of the deceased child, it was not unusual.

T.

T.

[RPOZ51]

Got it!

Thanks very much - again.

Tom

[Tessa78]

Got it!

Thanks very much - again.

Tom

I will continue to search for a return trip for Clemente, as well.

If I remember correctly, on his arrival in 1900, his destination seemed to read "brother-in-law V{incen}zo Stravino(sp?) in NYC. Perhaps that is a clue we can follow?

Can you post Clemente's death certificate from Jamaica Hospital?

T.

[RPOZ51]

Thank you, Tessa. That is very kind of you to offer, but it is too much for me to ask.

I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble.

I have searched passenger manifests from Naples in the 1900-1901 time frame in every way I could think of, including the Steve Morse site. I did find other people named Clemente Ferraro, and people named C Ferraro, but no one else that looked close enough to be Great-grandpa.

There is either an indexing problem, or maybe Great-grandpa came back as crew?? I don't know. All I have left is the task of searching the manifest of each ship manually!! (that is how I found my paternal grandfather)

The search for Great-grandpa Clemente leads down a genuine rabbit hole!!

With respect to the Stravino brothers, I researched them as though they were my own family. The next person after Clemente in the SS California passenger manifest you mentioned is a man named Pietro Stravino. Pietro reports that he will be staying with his brothers, Vincenzo and Nicola. I located documents which show that the Stravino brothers are from nearby Durazzano, in Benevento. I had a lot of trouble reading the street address on the manifest, but later found an index card which clearly says, "99 Smith Street." That street has been re-named a couple of times, but I did find the present-day location.

Pietro Stravino's daughter married the brother-in-law of my Great-grandmother's niece. That seems to be how they tie together.

I even found the 1915 NY marriage certificate for Pietro's son Alfonso. One of the witnesses to his wedding was a man named Salvatore Ferraro, which is the same name as one of Clemente's sons. Salvatore Ferraro arrived in the US in 1913, so that could be him.

The Stravino brothers all lived in Jamaica, NY.

My grandmother was 18 years old when she married in 1911. My grandmother's processetti includes a 4-page atto di notorieta signed by my Great-grandmother. The attached Page 1 states that Clemente died in America at the end of April 1901.

I wasn't able to find Clemente through simple searches of the NYC vital records. So, I manually searched through all the death records for Queens NY in April 1901. By process of elimination, I found the attached record for a man named "Clement Frerarh." No other names in the search came close. Because the other data in the death certificate match my great6-grandfather, I am going with it.

By the Way - Great-grandpa was buried in the potter's field at County Farm in Brooklyn. What became of his remains after that is a completely different mystery.

[Tessa78]

Thank you for that additional information, Tom. You have certainly been doing yeoman's work in your searches.

I was searching for a death act in Maddaloni in the years following Clemente's death, but was unsuccessful. Many times, when a person dies outside of their town, an official transcript is sent to the town to be recorded. I can see now that the death act has no information about Clemente's relatives, so no record of death was sent to Maddaloni. That is why you have a notarized statement from his wife for the wedding of his daughter. Other than her official statements there are no records of his death which would have been needed for the marriage.

It appears that Clemente had a place to reside when in USA, so it is likely that he returned fairly soon after the birth of his daughter because that is where he would make money. Not finding the manifest is indeed frustrating.

Have you checked arrivals at ports other than NYC?

T.

[Tessa78]

Can you provide the link to the death certificate you posted?
I would like to see the reverse side.

T.

[RPOZ51]

Thank you, Tessa.

I also searched for a death act for Clemente in Maddaloni, and never found one. Thanks very much for explaining the reasons why.

I haven't checked other ports of arrival yet, but that does sound like a logical place to start.

You have been a great help, and I really appreciate all of your efforts.

Tom

[RPOZ51]

Can you provide the link to the death certificate you posted?
I would like to see the reverse side.

T.

I don't have the link with me right now, but it is the New York City Vital Records site.

The entire certificate is attached.

Tom

[RPOZ51]

I just searched Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore using the Steve Morse site and FamilySearch, with no luck.

I also thought about other ports of departure, but I am not sure how likely that would be.

I really think that it is an indexing problem - unless Clemente somehow returned as crew.

I once searched for the manifest of my paternal grandfather. I knew the date and the name of the ship he arrived on. Automated searches produced no results. So, I read the manifest manually, page by page. Sure enough, when his name was transcribed into the database, "Farina" became "Iasina." No amount of automated searching was going to find that!!

There weren't even 100 ships from Naples to New York in the timeframe we are talking about. How long can it possibly take to read them all??

Haha!

[Tessa78]

T.

[SantaNinfa]

Hi Tom (and Tessa) -

I just came across your thread. A little known resource for passenger manifests is the database of outbound Italian passengers. While not comprehensive by any means, hits are often more successful because this databse originates in Italy. Results can then be used to track down the US inbound manifests.

See here: http://www.ciseionline.it/portomondo/default.asp

Here's an example of what a quick search might uncover.

FireShot Pro Webpage Screenshot #356 - 'CISEI - Centro Internazionale Studi Emigrazione Italiana' - www.ciseionline.it.png

Maybe this will help.

My best
Stephen

[Tessa78]

Great resource! Thank you.

T.