Brick wall: Yennelli

[Tessa78]

Hi Tessa, great find..!
More probable birthplace..: Ventimiglia di Sicilia (Palermo province).. I am a bit positive abt that...
hugs,
suanj

Hi suanj!
Hugs to you!

Yes, that makes more sense since the family story has him coming from Sicily!!!

Sooo... searching in Ventimiglia di Sicilia I was able to locate a possible birth record for Joseph/Giuseppe. The spelling is IANNELLO
The record is dated 2 January 1877 (could be that on the WWI REgistration the month and day were transposed and written as 2-1-1877, which looks like Feb. 1, 1877 in USA???)

Here is a link to the record in Ventimiglia di Sicilia in 1877
Record #2 (bottom left in image)
Father: Antonino Iannello, 29, farmer residing in the town.
Mother: Giovanna Petracosta, farmer, his wife residing with him.
Child born on 1 January 1877 at 5:20 PM at the place at Via Bennardi #40
Child was given the name GIUSEPPE
Witnesses to the record: Giuseppe Dina, 40, farmer; Emmanuele Anzalone, 40, farmer.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/T ... ,353749101

T.

[spencerhahn]

So, I figured it was time for an update. I just received the marriage certificate for my great-grandparents. A bit of searching led me to the passenger listing for my great-grandmother, which provided a town in Sicily. I was then able to find her birth record (the birth date and parents' names match).

Attached are the marriage certificate: and birth record:

Now, if I could only find, to a certainty, my great-grandfather's birth record. I'm still waiting to hear back from USCIS.

[spencerhahn]

Could Josephine's mother's last name be "Mesi"? It reads like "La Mesa" on the marriage certificate, but I've just found an Angela Mesi entry from Montemaggiore who was born in 1847, which would fit the time frame for Josephine's 1885 birth. Here's her information: https://familysearch.org/tree/#view=anc ... n=9K8X-C4M

It looks like the birth record says that her mother's name was "Mesi Angela" and that she was 38 years old at the time of the birth.

[suanj]

Hi Tessa, great find..!
More probable birthplace..: Ventimiglia di Sicilia (Palermo province).. I am a bit positive abt that...
hugs,
suanj

Hi suanj!
Hugs to you!

Yes, that makes more sense since the family story has him coming from Sicily!!!

Sooo... searching in Ventimiglia di Sicilia I was able to locate a possible birth record for Joseph/Giuseppe. The spelling is IANNELLO
The record is dated 2 January 1877 (could be that on the WWI REgistration the month and day were transposed and written as 2-1-1877, which looks like Feb. 1, 1877 in USA???)

Here is a link to the record in Ventimiglia di Sicilia in 1877
Record #2 (bottom left in image)
Father: Antonino Iannello, 29, farmer residing in the town.
Mother: Giovanna Petracosta, farmer, his wife residing with him.
Child born on 1 January 1877 at 5:20 PM at the place at Via Bennardi #40
Child was given the name GIUSEPPE
Witnesses to the record: Giuseppe Dina, 40, farmer; Emmanuele Anzalone, 40, farmer.
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/T ... ,353749101

T.

Tessa by Castle Garden website in effects.. it is mentioned Ventimiglia in Imperia province as last residence...
http://www.castlegarden.org/quick_searc ... id=9356214
but I believe a error.... most probable he was sicilian as the his wife... the problem is to find the Birth town...
hugs,
suanj

[suanj]

well, reading the ship's manifest, the last residence is Ventimiglia di Sicilia, certain to 100%, the surname spelling is Iannello (no Iannelli), age 22 in 1899, joining at uncle Miceli ( no Michele as trancribed on on castlegarden.org)

http://s16.postimg.org/3rmoypy51/iaqnnello.gif
so Ventimiglia di Sicilia as last residence is confirmed... the Birth record found by Tessa could be right.. the problem is abt parent's names... don't matching with the parent's names on marriage certificate...... hoping of to find more...
best regards,
suanj

[spencerhahn]

Any ideas about the first names of Joseph's parents? His father is listed as Santo, and his mother is listed as Pandina. Are either of these names familiar to anyone (I've never heard of Pandina).

[spencerhahn]

I figured an update was in order. I'm still waiting for the USCIS to send the file, but I discovered that Michigan maintains archival records of petitions for naturalization filed when my GGF sought citizenship. They got me the records (via e-mail) in under 48 hours.

The records show that my GGF was born on February 8, 1877, in Pollizzi Generosa, Sicily, as Giuseppe Domenico Iannello. His parents are listed as Santi Iannello and Gandolfa Pantina.

Unfortunately, for my Italian citizenship pursuit, my GGF had a wide variety of last names (and he always listed his date of birth as February 11, 1877 -- is it possible that was the date he was baptized?), specifically:

(1) His petition states that he arrived in New York under the name of Guiseppe Yanelli on June 23, 1900 on the S.S. Frabika (no such ship appears to exist), which sailed from Naples.

(2) His marriage documents list him as Giuseppe Jannella, having married my GGM in 1901.

(3) He is listed throughout the Census records as Vanelle (1910), Vanelli (1920), Venella (1930), and Yanilla (1940).

(4) His death certificate lists him as Yennelli (the same name as is on my GF's birth certificate).

(5) His Declaration of Intention (1939) lists him as Yannella, while his Petition for Naturalization (1941) lists him as Yannelli. Both documents list my GF's correct first name and date of birth.

I'm fairly certain I'll need to figure out how to obtain a court order declaring all of the names to be of the same person (one and the same).

At least I've broken through my brick wall, and have plenty of time (until May 2017) before my appointment with the consulate.

[Tessa78]

I figured an update was in order. I'm still waiting for the USCIS to send the file, but I discovered that Michigan maintains archival records of petitions for naturalization filed when my GGF sought citizenship. They got me the records (via e-mail) in under 48 hours.

The records show that my GGF was born on February 8, 1877, in Pollizzi Generosa, Sicily, as Giuseppe Domenico Iannello. His parents are listed as Santi Iannello and Gandolfa Pantina.

Unfortunately, for my Italian citizenship pursuit, my GGF had a wide variety of last names (and he always listed his date of birth as February 11, 1877 -- is it possible that was the date he was baptized?), specifically:

(1) His petition states that he arrived in New York under the name of Guiseppe Yanelli on June 23, 1900 on the S.S. Frabika (no such ship appears to exist), which sailed from Naples.

(2) His marriage documents list him as Giuseppe Jannella, having married my GGM in 1901.

(3) He is listed throughout the Census records as Vanelle (1910), Vanelli (1920), Venella (1930), and Yanilla (1940).

(4) His death certificate lists him as Yennelli (the same name as is on my GF's birth certificate).

(5) His Declaration of Intention (1939) lists him as Yannella, while his Petition for Naturalization (1941) lists him as Yannelli. Both documents list my GF's correct first name and date of birth.

I'm fairly certain I'll need to figure out how to obtain a court order declaring all of the names to be of the same person (one and the same).

At least I've broken through my brick wall, and have plenty of time (until May 2017) before my appointment with the consulate.

Yes, here is the birth act of Giuseppe Domenico Iannello, son of Santi Iannello and of Gandolfa Pantina, his wife.

#37
Dated 8 February 1877, Birth on 6 February 1877
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/T ... ,246821701

Of course, should you pursue Italian Citizenship, you will need a certified copy which you can request from the Comune of Polizzi Generosa.

T.