How important is this document?

Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
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Tessa78
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Re: How important is this document?

Post by Tessa78 »

Great encouragement, Luigi :-)

I also ran into what seemed like a "brick wall" -

Keep the faith, Chris, and you may find that marriage record...

T.
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Insegnante
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Re: How important is this document?

Post by Insegnante »

Ciao Luigi and Tessa :-)

You are all so nice on this forum and offer such comforting advice.

I've been listing churches that are possibilities. Will be sending out some letters today.
Hopefully I will find the record of their marriage.

Grazie to all of you!

Chris
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KarenChristino
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Re: How important is this document?

Post by KarenChristino »

Chris,

Your church seems to have a new identity -- Have you tried the online parish search through the Brooklyn Archdiocese? You plug in the zip code, which is 11225: http://dioceseofbrooklyn.org/parish_search.aspx

It now appears to be St. Ignatius at that address in the Crown Heights neighborhood. I usually call them first to see what their procedure is. You can also ask if they are holding the records of other nearby parishes. (The parish search map also indicates other churches nearby though it didn't seem to work for me with just an address.)

Another good site for Brooklyn genealogy is http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/

If you want to check the cross streets of the addresses you listed, just select say 850 for the 800 block on that street and check it out on google maps or mapquest along with the church address to see how far it is. Or find their zipcodes and enter them in the Archdiocese church finder.

Karen
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Insegnante
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Re: How important is this document?

Post by Insegnante »

Hi Karen,

Thanks for that great online parish search site... It will save me a lot of time.

I tried the Brooklyn genealogy site a while back and didn't find their marriage listed :-(

Good suggestion for the cross street addresses to help the search :-)
There are/were so many churches in Brooklyn, and I know many have merged or just completely disappeared.

Again, thanks for everything!!!

Chris
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sforza
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Re: How important is this document?

Post by sforza »

Chris,
I'm going through the same process. We can't find my GGF's marriage cert. Searched municipal archives - both the index and microfilm of individual certificates. I then pieced together addresses based on other vital records and census documents. I plotted it all on a map with churches in lower manhattan and brooklyn and started making the calls for baptismal and marriage certs. I got the lists of closed parishes from the archdiocese and wrote the archives for a search of their records. I even located a baptismal cert for their first living child born a mere two years after their alleged marriage - but that same church had no record of a marriage for them. I've gotten through about 30 churches and will probably do another 20 before I give up, even though the likelihood of success is receding.

Given that the chain of relationships is reflected on the birth and death certs, I'm hoping this isn't going to be a deal-killer.

Also, at the end of the day, if there are no church or state marriage certificates, there is no proof of marriage. So as far as the state is concerned, they are unmarried. So if that is the assumption, let the Consulate say that unmarried parents disqualify someone from citizenship. In other words, it's not that there is a missing document, but that there's no evidence that a marriage ever occurred.
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