Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

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edwardc
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Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

This has been my "brick wall" for the last few years.

I'm trying to track down Carlo Benvenuto, born 1868/1869 in either Casalanguida or Carpineto Sinello, died 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Also looking for his wife Maria DeRisio, born 1876 and died 1951 in Philadelphia.

Carlo's death certificate lists his parent's names as Giuseppe and Claudina Tumini, but Maria's death certificate also lists these same names as her parents! Obviously, whoever supplied the information for one of the death certificates was confused. But I don't know which one.

Carlo has two entries in Ellis Island, both listing his origin as Carpineto (or Carpineto S.), but a copy of his alien registration card lists his birthplace as "Casalanqua, Chieti", which is probably a misspelling of Casalanguida. Carpineto Sinello and Casalanguida are very close to one another. On one of the Ellis Island entries, Carlo was accompanying his cousin Maria Mancini, who was listed as being from Casalanguida.

Carlo and Maria had an adopted daughter, Laura, two sons, Joseph and Anthony, and a daughter Mary. All were raised in Philadelphia.

I have lots of data from US records, but haven't been able to find Carlo or Maria in the Italian civil records for Carpineto Sinello, Casalanguida, or several of the neighboring towns.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help.
@(^.^)@ Ed
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by wldspirit »

Have you obtained naturalization records?
wldspirit
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PeterTimber
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by PeterTimber »

Go to the Provincial archives for any records not found in both towns. You can write to Directress Miria Ciarma, Archivio Di Stato di Chieti, Via F.Ferri 27, Postale 66100, Sezione Lanciano, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy.

If you wish to e-mail them....Mciarma@beniculturali.it =Peter=
edwardc
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

wldspirit wrote:Have you obtained naturalization records?
wldspirit
Neither Carlo nor Maria were ever naturalized
@(^.^)@ Ed
vj
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by vj »

Just for reference, double checked Maria De Risio & her foster child's (Diana De Leo?) manifest.
Last residence & birth place were Casalanguida
1909 manifest
page 2
Lines 6 & 7
edwardc
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

PeterTimber wrote:Go to the Provincial archives for any records not found in both towns. You can write to Directress Miria Ciarma, Archivio Di Stato di Chieti, Via F.Ferri 27, Postale 66100, Sezione Lanciano, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy.

If you wish to e-mail them....Mciarma@beniculturali.it =Peter=
Thanks, Peter. I've written and e-mailed to the comunes several times, but never got an answer. But I've never tried the Provence archives.
@(^.^)@ Ed
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

vj wrote:Just for reference, double checked Maria De Risio & her foster child's (Diana De Leo?) manifest.
Last residence & birth place were Casalanguida
1909 manifest
page 2
Lines 6 & 7
How on EARTH did you find this listing?? I've been thru the Ellis Island database many hundreds of times since the day it opened and never seen it! In fact, I STILL can't find it, even with the data from your images! (Thanks very much!)

I've never heard it said that Laura's name was anything else (like Diana), but there's too many matches in names, places and times for it not to be them.
@(^.^)@ Ed
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by vj »

Hi Ed!
I'm sorry, I should have stated the source
It's on ancestry. com
They came thru Phila
You're so right about Laura's name - she was listed as Lauretta on the
1910 census.
I used the immig year of 1910 off of that census to find the manifest.
It will be interesting to find out why she was listed as Diana on the manifest. Perhaps you'll find her record in Casalanguida?
Valarie
edwardc
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

vj wrote:Hi Ed!
I'm sorry, I should have stated the source
It's on ancestry. com
They came thru Phila
Doh!! I was so excited about finding a record I didn't have that I totally ignored the heading on the second page which plainly says "Arriving at Port of Philadelphia, PA"
vj wrote:You're so right about Laura's name - she was listed as Lauretta on the 1910 census.
Yes, I have that record. I'm also in contact with a cousin who remembers Laura.
vj wrote:I used the immig year of 1910 off of that census to find the manifest.
It will be interesting to find out why she was listed as Diana on the manifest. Perhaps you'll find her record in Casalanguida?
Valarie
Hope so. But the films of the Casalanguida civil records at the LDS only go up to 1865, and I've found no Benvenuto's listed at all. I've written several times to the Casalanguida Stato Civile, but they've never responded to my queries. Maybe I'll have better luck with the province archives.

Although I have no evidence that suggests it, my fear is that Carlo himself was a foundling, as the name "Benvenuto" is one of the "feel well" names that were often given to orphans.
@(^.^)@ Ed
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto-UPDATE

Post by edwardc »

I may have made some progress.

As I mentioned before, the names of the parents (Giuseppe and Claudina Tumini) are the same on the Pennsylvania death certificates for both Carlo Benvenuto and his wife Maria Di Risio.

Since I did not obtain Maria's death certificate until some time after I had gone through the civil records for Casalanguida looking for Benvenutos, I decided to have another look at them, specifically for any Giuseppe Di Risios. And sure enough, there was a marriage record (#20) in 1861 for Giuseppe Di Risio and Claudina Tumini. Since this Claudina was 22, and Maria Di Risio was born in 1876, the date is reasonable for these to be her parents.

But of course, it's not conclusive. I still _really_ need to find Maria (and Carlo's) birth record(s). I e-mailed the province archives (in Italian) about a month ago, but got no response. So I've written another letter to the stato civile in Casalanguida. We'll see what the next 6-8 weeks brings.
@(^.^)@ Ed
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by suanj »

edwardc wrote:
PeterTimber wrote:Go to the Provincial archives for any records not found in both towns. You can write to Directress Miria Ciarma, Archivio Di Stato di Chieti, Via F.Ferri 27, Postale 66100, Sezione Lanciano, Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy.

If you wish to e-mail them....Mciarma@beniculturali.it =Peter=
Thanks, Peter. I've written and e-mailed to the comunes several times, but never got an answer. But I've never tried the Provence archives.
just a advice when you will write in Chieti state archive: better the request for military service paper ( Esito di leva/Ruolo Matricolare) so you can descover where Carlo was born; frankly I believe that Maria DI RISIO( with space in italian spell) was widow of a DI LEO... and she probably remarried to Carlo... If you no found Carlo birth act in Casalanguida or Carpineto Sinello microfilms, the request abt military paper is the better way...
best regards, suanj
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edwardc
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Re: Looking for Carlo Benvenuto

Post by edwardc »

suanj wrote: just a advice when you will write in Chieti state archive: better the request for military service paper ( Esito di leva/Ruolo Matricolare) so you can descover where Carlo was born;
Grazie mille for the suggestion!
suanj wrote: frankly I believe that Maria DI RISIO( with space in italian spell) was widow of a DI LEO... and she probably remarried to Carlo...
I too had similar thoughts. But the evidence is conflicting. In Maria's immigration record, it describes Carlo Benvenuto as the step-father of Diana Di Leo. If I take this term "step-father" as literally accurate, it means that Carlo married Diana's biological mother. On the other hand, the same immigration record describes Diana as Maria Di Risio's foster child, meaning that Maria was not Diana's biological mother!

So, in order for both of these terms to be true, the following sequence had to occur:

1. Unknown Di Leo man married unknown woman
2. Diana Di Leo born
3. Unknown Di Leo man died
4. Carlo Benvenuto married unknown woman, becoming Diana's step-father
5. Unknown woman died
6. Maria Di Risio married Carlo and adopted Diana

However, this convoluted story contradicts the US census data, which claims that both Carlo and Maria were each only married once!

But we all know that terms like "step-father" and "foster daughter" are often used incorrectly, and that the census data often contains errors, so it's not a good idea to attach too much meaning to any one item. I just have to keep looking for more clues!

suanj wrote: If you no found Carlo birth act in Casalanguida or Carpineto Sinello microfilms, the request abt military paper is the better way...
best regards, suanj
One reason I couldn't find it is that Carlo was born in 1869, but the LDS microfilms for Casalanguida only go up to 1865. Hopefully the records for 1869 - 1899 still exist somewhere. But the military records are a great idea. Thanks again!
@(^.^)@ Ed
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