Attilio Mancusi of Italy & Massachusetts, U.S.

[nancycallahan]

Hi everyone,

My great-grandfather, Attilio Mancusi, was born in Italy in 1887.

According to his naturalization form, he came to the U.S. in 1907.

He lived near Boston, Massachusetts until his death in 1973.

What I can't figure out, though, is how he got here. I don't know where he set off from in Italy, or where he landed in the U.S. -- only that the passage took place in 1907.

I've checked the Ellis Island site and can't find anything there, and the Massachusetts passenger manifests (for the Port of Boston) only go up to the year 1891.

His father's name was Vincenzo, and his mother was Antonetta Marseglia. I don't know anything more about them, though -- where they lived, how long they lived, etc.

Any ideas on what I could try next?

[peggymckee]

You mention a "naturalization form"--not sure which document you are referring to. Have you tried NARA? I received a certificate of arrival for my GF, which states his port of arrival, ship, date etc. Also his petition has the same information.

Good luck, Peggy M

[BillieDeKid]

1907 Manifest . The transcriber spelled the last name wrong but it is actually correct if you look at the manifest.........line 29.

http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0029

Edit to add comment............says father is Vincenzo and he is going to Bristol Connecticut. And this is where he is from
Sessa Aurunca, province: Caserta - region: Campania

Hope this helps
Elizabeth

[nancycallahan]

Peggy,

I'm not sure exactly which form I've got -- it's actually just an image my uncle e-mailed to me, with the final date of the naturalization and a few other dates/facts, and then a signature. It looks to be just a half-sheet of paper. I haven't looked into NARA yet, but I'll be sure to do that -- thanks!


Elizabeth,

Thank you so much!

May I asked how you found it (i.e., what search parameters you entered)? I thought I'd tried all the different search options -- I must not be as good at research as I'd thought.

The manifest says Attilio was single when he stepped off the boat. If this is correct, then his future wife must have come over separately. (She was also a naturalized U.S. citizen from Italy.) Here's what I know of her:

--Letizia Virgilio was born in Italy in 1890.
--Her first child was born in the US in 1914.
--She was naturalized in 1955
--She passed away in 1983.

This whole time I've been assuming she immigrated in 1907, but I guess that isn't the case -- now it could be anywhere between 1890 and 1914. Again, though, I can't find her in the Ellis Island passage manifests. I'm using "starts with," "sounds like," "alternative spellings"... no luck. If anyone knows of any hints or tricks, I would love to hear them...

[BillieDeKid]

1911 Manifest - Letizia Virgilio.......traveling with her sister. The transcriber had the name wrong on this manifest too but the actual manifest has the correct spelling. Can you confirm that this is the correct manifest?

Page 1
http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0009
Page 2
http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup ... &line=0009

For searching I use Steve Morse gold form
http://www.stevemorse.org/

For both manifests I used the first 3 letters of the first names and the last letter of the last name and birth year......so........Att M 1887 and Let V 1890

Hope this helps.

[nancycallahan]

Thank you again!

I'm pretty sure those are exactly what I was looking for. I e-mailed my uncle for confirmation, but I haven't heard back from him yet.

And thanks also for letting me know how you performed the search. I hadn't tried partials of both names together -- I was trying things like "L Virgilio" and "Letizia V," so it's no wonder I couldn't get past the misspellings.

You've saved me so much "searching" time -- I really, really appreciate it.

[BillieDeKid]

Happy I could help.