Rivela family of Potenza Italy

[AuntJenny03]

Hi - I'm new to this site so please bare with me...

I'm looking for information on the Rivela family of Italy. It may or may not be the Potenza area.

Rocco Rivela is my Grandfather - born in Italy around 1897. Migrated to the US from Naples, Italy in the early 1900s. I believe his fathers name may be Raffael or possible his brother. He married Elizabeth Karnish after arriving in the United States.

Any information at all would be helpful. I'm not really sure how to research ancestors in other countries.

[vj]

Hello,
Welcome to the Forum !
We'll all be happy to help.
Since records in Italy are found at the comune (town) level, you'll need to know the exact town where your family's births (marriages, deaths) took place.
The town can often be found on US ship manifests, military draft registration cards and death certificates.
Do you have all of your US records? (census, military, ship manifest)
If not, many of our members have subscriptions to databases that may help.
Valarie

[AuntJenny03]

I really don't have alot. I've been searching for years and have only found a few things. I do have the ship manifest... However it is very hard to read. It looks like the town listed on the manifest is potenza. I also have the WW2 draft card but it doesn't say where exactly he was born. It just says Italy.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/A ... nifest.jpg

[vj]

Hello,
Thank you for the update !
Looking at records on ancestry, I can see why he's so tough to find.

Page 2 of his 1914 manifest indicated he was joining a brother Gerardo Rivera(?) in Newark.
Have you done any research on his brother?

No doubt you looked at a possible 1918 WWI Card with same birth date as his 1942 Card, his last name matches his brother's from the 1914 manifest and his father(?) is listed as Raffaele

Perhaps if we can find his census or his brother ...
Valarie

interesting 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card
nearest relative: (?) father Raffaele, mother Rose
---

for reference repeat from above post:

1914 manifest page 1
leaving father Raffaele in Potenza

1914 manifest pg 2
joining brother Gerardo Rivera(?) in Newark

[AuntJenny03]

I have such a hard time reading those documents! I'll do some research on the brother and see what I can find. On the manifest does it say his next of kin is a father name Raffael?? I could barely read that last part.

At some point in his live Rocco did change his name to Revere. Im not sure how or why. The story I've heard is that back then Italian immigrants were looked down upon in society and would kind of be adopted into a family and would take the name of the family...?? Something like that.. So at some point he added Revere to his name. All of his children took the Revere name.

Thanks for your help!!

[vj]

Hello!

I'm so sorry, I was cleaning up my post while you were posting.

Here's a neat article from genealogy. com by by Donna Przecha on why our ancestors may have changed their names:
http://www.genealogy.com/88_donna.html

Valarie

Here's another link to your WWII Card
1942 WWII Draft Registration Card
---

Here are the signatures from both Draft Registration Cards

1918
http://img142.imageshack.us/i/1918m.jpg/
1942
http://img199.imageshack.us/i/1942n.jpg/

[vj]

possible 1930 census

Home in 1930:
681 Raritan Ave
Perth Amboy, Middlesex, New Jersey

head Rocca Bivela 33, abt 1897 IT
- married age 21, abt 1918
- immig 1914, Al
- mold maker, Terra Cotta
wife Elizabeth Bivela 34, abt 1896 NJ
son Joseph Bivela 13, abt 1917 NJ
daughter Rose Bivela 11, abt 1919 NJ
son Andrew Bivela 10, abt 1920 NJ
daughter Florence Bivela 7, abt 1923 NJ
son Paul Bivela 5, abt 1925 NJ
daughter Elizabeth Bivela 2 10/12, abt 1927 NJ

picture Perth Amboy Terra Cotta Company
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/searc ... m_9569.htm

[AuntJenny03]

AWESOME! That's them! Andrew is my father!

So where do we go from here? lol

I haven't been able to trace any family beyond Rocco since he was from Italy.

[vj]

same family 1920 census

name could be Rivera/Rivela...

Home in 1920:
440 Baker Place, rents
Perth Amboy Ward 4, Middlesex, New Jersey

head Robert Riner 22, abt 1898 IT
- immig 1913, Na (naturalized citizen) 1918
- laborer, copper works
wife Elizabeth Riner 24, abt 1896 Perth Amboy NJ
son Joseph Riner 3 1/12, abt 1917 Perth Amboy NJ
daughter Rose Riner 1 5/12, abt 1918 Newark NJ
son Andrew Riner 2/12, abt 1919 Perth Amboy NJ
---

I think the next step would be to find Rocco's naturalization paperwork
Since it was after 1906 it will have his town of birth
The search will probably have to be under both surnames
---

Finding Rocco's brother may help, but it's going to be interesting to figure out what surname he was using

[AuntJenny03]

What exactly is "naturalization paperwork"?? and where should I look for that?


Just out of curiosity... where are you finding all this information?? Ive used ancestry.com, US death indexes, just about every search engine you can think of and all the local court website but haven't had much luck...

[vj]

Great article from about. com on Naturalization, paperwork & where to find records
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/naturaliz ... ecords.htm

I'm finding the records on ancestry
For the census I used your family page on ancestry to find a child of Rocco & Elizabeth
Since you had Andrew listed as being born in Perth Amboy in 1919, I looked for him

ancestry. com
Advanced Search
I filled in only these fields and selected 'exact'

Given Name: And*
Birth Year: 1919 +/- 1
Residences: State New Jersey, City Perth Amboy
Mother Given: Eli*

[AuntJenny03]

I was just looking at the 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card listed above... it looks like one of the questions asks "where were you born?" or "from?" and the response is "B-----". Can you tell what that word is? I noticed its on the card a few different times. Also where is shows the nearest relative - father Raffaele, mother Rose

[Biff83]

If Rocco filed his petition for naturalization papers in Middlesex county, this might help:

http://www.co.middlesex.nj.us/countyclerk/passport.asp

"NATURALIZATION RECORDS:
The County Clerk's office has petitions of naturalization on file for individuals who became United States citizens at the Middlesex County Courthouse from 1806 through 1991. The microfilms are available to the public for viewing, or, if the year of petition or naturalization is known, we will research it for you. There is a $10.00 search fee, a $2.00 fee per page copied and a $5.00 fee for a letter of verification if needed. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CALL (732) 745-3405."

Biff

[AuntJenny03]

I was just looking at the 1918 WWI Draft Registration Card listed above... it looks like one of the questions asks "where were you born?" or "from?" and the response is "B-----". Can you tell what that word is? I noticed its on the card a few different times. Also where is shows the nearest relative - father Raffaele, mother Rose

[AuntJenny03]

Thanks so much for all your help today!