Immigration Records

November 18, 2018

My First Photo Restoration

Last weekend, while enjoying time in Hopland, California with friends and family, I had an incredible find! Currently, our family is in the fifth generation of staying and playing on this land. My husband’s grandmother was the original family historian on that side of the family. Grandma Shirley left the most incredible treasure trove of documents and photos as part of her legacy. Most of these documents are now in my possession. I have been slowly digitizing them to share with family.

To my surprise, on a trip into the barn, my husband found another (previously unknown) 100+ year old photo. It is a photo of the members of the Star of Finland celebrating 15 years (1896-1911). There are approximately 140 individual photos included. Someone (maybe Agnes Mattson) left markings on the photo to identify her parents (Charles Mattson and Wendla Botmaster, and Uncle and his wife, Matts Mattson). The Star of Finland was a sick benefit society. The information I have found online includes many names from Malax and Solf where my husband’s ancestors immigrated from.

So why does the photo need some love? Unfortunately, being left out in the open in the barn means it was covered in dust and mouse poop. We carefully wrapped the the photo before coming home.

Luckily, my local genealogy society, Marin County Genealogical Society, had Gawain Weaver speak at one of our meetings years ago. Gawain is a photo conservation expert who owns his own conservation studio here in Marin, California.

Since I know very little about photo conservation and this photo is so old, I made the call to Gawain Weaver Art Conservation . After a consultation with Gawain, I contracted with him to clean the photo, make a small fix to a corner, and take high resolution scans.

I am so excited to add this photo to my family archive! After the photo gets some love, I will be sharing it!

Gawain Weaver with Star of Finland photo

July 10, 2017

Serendipity While Traveling

Last month my family had the opportunity to travel to Finland. It was part work for my husband and part vacation travel. Our adventure started when we met up with my husband’s parents, J and S, who had been on their own vacation. Our travel plans included arriving in a few days in the Åland Islands on our way to Finland.

J was very excited to be going to Finland. His great-grandparents, Wendla Båtmäster and Charles Oscar Mattson, had immigrated to the United States from Finland.

Although Wendla and Charles came from towns only 13 kilometers apart from each other, all family oral histories say they met in San Francisco through the Star of Finland Relief Society.

Grandma Shirley, J’s mom, did an excellent job of documenting her family in the 1980’s and 1990’s. I am so thankful to have digital copies of her research! While she had information regarding family in Finland for Wendla, there is really no further information for Charles. Part of this is due to the fact he died the young age of 33. His obituary states he left behind (besides his immediate family) a brother, Matt Mattson, and a sister, Mrs. Lena Carlson. Grandma Shirley had also found out Charles was from the town of Malax, Finland.

Basic searches for Charles did not have any positive results before our trip. I have to admit, I was not very thorough with my research due to the crazy that was the end of the school year.

Back to our trip. The Åland Islands were included in our trip because Grandpa John (J’s dad) had such fond memories from the trip he and Grandma Shirley had taken 40 years ago. We arrived early in the morning after an overnight ferry from Stockholm. The morning was spent enjoying Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. We then made our way to the summer cottage my husband had found for us to stay at. It was gorgeous!

Every afternoon was spent enjoying the front porch. The wifi made it one of the best offices my husband has ever used. I spent some of the porch time on my tablet trying to find more information about Charles Mattson and his family.

Then it happens. I get a hit for Lena Carlson at Ancestry.com. And not just a little hit. A big, bright shiny moment of search success.

It turns out Lena Carlson was just one of variations of names for Charles’ sister. And I was lucky enough to have most of them listed on the Petition for Naturalization I found.

No wonder why I was having difficulty finding her! I have found Lena under every possible variation of the above name plus the additional variations using her husband’s last name, Victor. More proof the family was from Malax, Finland but again no names for Charles’ parents.

So what is the serendipitous moment? About half way down the Petition for Naturalization are questions about Lena’s husband Victor. Guess where he was born? Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland. You will notice Åland is spelled with an “O.” This is not surprising at all since Å with a ring above it is pronounced as “oh”.

Seriously, how crazy that I had traveled a little more than 5,300 miles to find a document online that says Lena’s husband was born only 10 miles from where I sat on the porch with the most incredible view?!

May 1, 2017

Maybe, No, Maybe

I have identified a passport application for my husband’s great-great-grandfather, John Pope. The passport identifies the date John Pope was naturalized in San Francisco, California. I am currently on a quest to see if I can obtain a copy of the original naturalization paperwork or certificate. You can read about my progress in my last post – Yes, No, Maybe…

Last week, I drove into San Francisco to continue my research at City Hall. My first stop was actually across the street at the Superior Court of San Francisco. While I know the original was destroyed in the fire following the 1906 Earthquake, I also know that many people refiled their naturalization paperwork as “restored” records. MAYBE.

A search done by the records clerk showed my John Pope did not file a restored naturalization. While I was there, I went ahead and ordered copies of his probate packet and one for his son, John Rudolph Pope. These are kept offsite and will be available for viewing next week. The clerk in the records room were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.

Next I walked across the street to City Hall. My first stop was the Recorder/Assessor’s office. While they do not hold naturalization paperwork, I have found in the past the clerk’s in this office are the most knowledgeable in the building about who holds what and where. I also cross checked the book/page number with them for the clue I found from John’s grandma Shirley. Then note indicated a copy of the naturalization had been filed with the Registrar of Voters. They did not have the said book/[age combination but pointed me downstairs to the Office of Elections.

The person in the office of elections was a more recent addition to the office. He was kind enough to go ask others in the office to see if the book and page from the clue were kept in their office. He returned to inform me that those records were old enough that they did not have them anymore. NO.

I came home with a mixed bag of outcomes. I am happy to get to see the probate files next week but I was totally bummed my initial MAYBE had not worked out. I decided to keep at my exhaustive search for available records. It was time to do some research into where else a copy of the naturalization paperwork or certificate would need to be filed to meet a requirement for something else.

This led me back to the Passport Application I found online. The application states:

I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the Superior Court of the State of Calif at San Francisco on the 30th day of March, 1904, as shown by the accompanying Certificate of Naturalization; that I am the identical person described in the said Certificate….

The digital copy of the Passport Application is just that – a copy. It need to get my hands on the original. I have made inquiries to the National Archives in Washington, DC where the passport applications are held. They informed me there are passport applications that do have additional paperwork attached. The new plan is to add a research trip to NARA while visiting my parents in Virginia this summer. So I am back to MAYBE.

April 18, 2017

Yes, No, Maybe…

Genealogy research moves at a slow steady pace most of the time. Sometimes research can move in leaps and bounds and then come to a screeching halt. In those cases, I hope you were wearing your seat belt! The whiplash of excitement and frustration can leave you dazed.

Today is the perfect day to tell you what I have learned in the last week. It was more of a seatbelt kind of week. It all started with DNA test results. All three DNA tests I ordered with the New Year’s sale had results posted last Monday, April 10th. For each account, I quickly logged in to view matches and estimated origins. I also created a gedcom file for each person to upload to their family tree.

I decided to take a quick look in Family Search and Ancestry.com before uploading the gedcom files to ensure I had the most complete tree possible for DNA matches to view. The first search was for the DNA profile for my husband’s grandfather. The family tree I have for him is on the limited on the paternal side. Grandpa John’s grandfather was the entryway ancestor on this line. John Pope (Poppe) arrived in the United States from Germany in the early 1880’s. By the late 1880’s he is living in San Francisco and owns a brewery with his partners.

To my surprise, there was a new hint for John Pope (1862-1917) at Ancestry.com. It turns into a jackpot moment! The hint contains a passport application from 1909.

The passport application confirms John Pope was born 3 April 1862 in Sandbostel, Germany. It also gives us new information that he immigrated to the United States about the 10th of April 1881 aboard the SS Salir from Bremen. The application also states John Pope had been living in San Francisco since 1889. The biggest jackpot was John Pope listed he had become a naturalized citizen in the Superior Court of San Francisco on 30 March 1904. YES!

After my celebration dance at the dining room table, I took the time to analyze each piece of information. This is when my YES turned into a NO. It also ties into why today is a good day to tell this story. Today, April 18th, is the 111th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco. The 1906 earthquake killed approximately 3,000 people and left over 80% of the city in ruins after the fires broke out. Most genealogists who do research in this area divide their research into before and after 1906 due to the fires and the documents which were destroyed.

The naturalization papers filed in 1904 are most definitely gone.

I was still really excited to share this new document with Grandpa John this past weekend when we visited for Easter. On Saturday, my husband spent some time with his grandfather assisting him with some computer issues. While they were occupied, I took the Pope binder off the shelf to browse. Grandma Shirley was a genealogist and did an incredible amount of research in the pre-internet days. She left 3-ring binders for each family with all the research she had accomplished. About 10 years ago I scanned everything in the binders to ensure the information is not lost in case of disaster.

I realized flipping through the binder this weekend, I had not done a complete job of scanning documents. I had scanned all the certificates, newspaper clippings, photos, etc. I did not scan the handwritten notes in the pockets of the divider pages. This was a major mistake.

In the binder divider, I found this sheet:

These undated handwritten notes are in Grandma Shirley’s handwriting. They clearly state the original filing of the naturalization paperwork. They also state the papers were re-filed with the courts in San Francisco on 26 March 1908. MAYBE…

The rest of this week I already have planned but next Monday or Tuesday, I will be in San Francisco trying to get copies of the re-filed naturalization paperwork. It has been a fun ride in the last week. I am glad I had my seatbelt on. Hopefully we will continue this story by returning back to YES.

June 4, 2014June 14, 2014

Finding Goodies In What You Have (Part 3)

I am currently writing a blog series about how you miss information if you do not sit down to analyze the document after you find it. Over a year ago, I found the Naturalization paperwork for Fred Capelli online. I tossed it into my “to be processed” folder while on a downloading binge and let it sit for over a year. Low and behold, this was a big mistake because I had missed several pieces of very important information. To catch up on the awesome tidbits I missed by not analyzing the Naturalization paperwork of Alfredo (Fred) Capelli, click on these two links: Part 1 and Part 2.

The last item in Fred’s Naturalization Petition that screamed “I need attention!” was his arrival in the United States.

For years I have been trying to pin Fred down in the Ellis Island records. My problem was I found more than one Alfredo Capelli listed. I needed to figure out which Alfredo was mine.

Fred’s Naturalization Petition provided the details I was looking for. Fred left Havre on April 27, 1900 and arrived in New York on May 3, 1900 on the vessel La Lorraine. I am going to make the educated guess that Havre is really Le Havre, France. Le Havre is the second largest port in France and many of my immigrating ancestors have passed through the port there.

I followed up by finding Alfredo Capelli in a manifest at the Ellis Island website. Sure enough, there was an Alfredo Capelli who traveled to the United States in 1900. The details are slightly different though. The Passenger Manifest reads that Alfredo Capelli arrived 18 March 1900 on the La Gascogne. It appears that Alfredo may have come to the United States with family. There are four Capelli men listed: Guiseppe, Guiseppe, Alfredo, and Carlo. I do not know if they are brothers, cousins, or a little bit of both. All are traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and none are meeting relatives at that location. Each man carried $30 or $40 dollars on them.

Postcard of La Gascogne. Original postcard is available at www.postcardman.net

After doing a little digging, I have to believe the records from the passenger manifest are more accurate than the Naturalization Petition. The answers to the petition were filled in twenty years after Fred came to the United States. I have a feeling he did not remember exactly when he arrived. The La Lorraine supposedly arrived a week before the La Gascogne. Also, a little research into the La Lorraine shows that it was not put into service until August 1900. Lastly, the manifest would have had to be handed over upon arrival to the United States when the ship was processed at Ellis Island.

I have determined the Alfredo Capelli who arrived in the United States in 1903 is not mine. I do have one other passenger list I have identified. Alfredo Capelli made a trip to Italy in 1930. This time he arrived home on September 10, 1930 as a United States citizen. His passport number is listed along with the family address on Vickroy Street in Pittsburgh.

May 19, 2014May 19, 2014

Finding Goodies In What You Have (Part 1)

I try to be organized! I have a pretty good structure set up for my electronic files. I have been moving my digital images from my old filing system to the new one over the last couple of years. I still have about 500 images to add information and citations to the metadata, make sure the information is in my genealogy database, and move the file to its new home.

One of the folders I have under my genealogy folder is called “to be processed”. It is a holding place for files til they meet the steps listed above. I try to keep up with this work but I am behind. In a recent attempt to clean this folder out, I found the naturalization paperwork for my grandfather’s adopted father. I knew that I had this paperwork. What I did not realize was I had missed some great information contained in it.

The information I previously had told me that Alfredo (Fred) Capelli had been born in Como, Italy on 3 October 1878. I know the family was dealt a devastating blow when they lost two of their children in a fire. When my grandfather Celio “Jay” Ciardonei came to the United States at age 5, Alfredo and his wife, Mary (Jay’s maternal aunt) took Jay in as part of their family. You can read more about my grandfather here and here.

One of the first things to stick out to me in the Naturalization paperwork was the locations of Fred’s children. I ordered birth certificates for Mabel, Bruno, and Elsie early in my genealogy adventure. Both Mabel and Elsie had No Record Certifications returned to me. Bruno had a birth certificate that was filed in 1926 (he was born in 1909) stating he was born in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Mabel’s SS-5 paperwork listed Mt. Sterling as her birthplace but this conflicted with the birthplace of Brownsville on her death certificate. Elsie’s SS-5 paperwork listed Alicia as her birthplace but again conflicted with the birthplace as Pittsburgh on her death certificate.

I now have locations from someone who was there for the birth! I quickly went to Google Maps to find these towns. To my surprise the names brought up towns all over the state of Pennsylvania. I know that the family only lived south of Pittsburgh and then in Pittsburgh. I then tried a Google search of the town names and Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

I was surprised to be led to a website about the coal mines in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. I have looked at this website before when researching where the Alicia Mine Works was located. This was the mine that the family lived at when their two children died. All three towns listed in the naturalization paperwork were not actually towns but the mining towns or ‘patches’ that sat next to mines. Here is a map showing the locations of the places my grandfather’s cousins were born.

Alicia Mineworks, Tower Hill Mine Works, and Mt. Sterling Mineworks — Top to Bottom: Alicia Mine Works, Tower Hill Mine Works, and Mt. Sterling Mine Works

Using the available records I have reached the conclusion these are the proper places for the birth of Mabel, Bruno, and Elsie Capelli. Alfredo Capelli was present for the birth of his children, making him a primary source. The information on the SS-5 paperwork for Mabel and Elsie was filled out by them. I believe the incorrect birthplaces listed on their death certificates is due to information being provided by other people.

If you have any relative who worked in the mining community, I highly recommend visiting the The Virtual Museum of Coal Mining in Western Pennsylvania. The site was put together by Raymond Washlaski and Ryan Washlaski. It includes information about coal mines in Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Clearfield, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland counties in Western Pennsylvania. In addition to some information about who owned the mines, I have found history of the mines, maps, and even photos of some of the mine patches (towns). It is an amazing resource!!

June 20, 2013June 16, 2013

Double Whammy! Another Genealogy Jackpot!

As a genealogist you can find small tidbits about family almost anytime of the year. If you are lucky there will be a huge break through every year or two. I have hit the big time twice in the last two months. The genealogy gods have been showering me with kindness this year! My first great find about finding the signature for my 6th great-grandfather can be found here.

I have been trying to identify a hometown in Hungary for over a year now for my mother-in-laws paternal line. We are planning a family trip to Hungary this summer so there has been a lot of work done to identify the family and where they came from. So far my mother-in-law’s paternal grandfather is a concrete wall reinforced with rebar.

I have been working her maternal great-grandparents line as my last hope for finding a place to visit in the homeland. They are John Nagy and Elizabeth Varro from Hungary. On Ancestry.com, I found an entry in the Naturalization Indexes for several men named John Nagy. I was pretty sure I found “my” John since he lived at the same address as my John Nagy did in Whiting, Indiana.

Back in early December 2012 I sent a request to the Indiana State Archives for the naturalization paperwork. Thankfully, when I sent the request I noted it in my research log.

Fast forward to April 2013. As I am getting ready to visit my parents in Virginia and do some research at the Daughters of the American Revolution library, I notice on my research log that I still have not received a reply from Indiana regarding John Nagy. I sent them a follow-up email to check where in the queue I was since our trip to Hungary in August is fast approaching. I received a reply that they had misplaced my original request and would look at mine quickly. I then received another email a week later informing me that the only courthouse in Lake County, Indiana they do not have in the Indiana State Archives is the one I need.(Of Course!!) I was so grateful because the email included information about who I needed to contact to get the records I was looking for.

My next step was to contact the Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society with my request for John Nagy’s naturalization paperwork. Sure enough within 2 weeks a self-addressed envelope was delivered to my mailbox. Genealogy Jackpot #2!

The Declaration of Intention lists his town of birth and his signature!!

Even better, his Petition of Naturalization is a goldmine of information. John Nagy was born in Jablonca, Hungary 15 February 1862. He met a woman named Elizabeth who came from the town of Tenestene, Hungary. They were settled in Jablonca when they had their first child, Mary (my husband’s great-grandmother) in March 1890. In late July 1890, just four months after Mary’s birth, the family boarded the Red Star Line in Antwerp, Germany. They arrived in New York City, New York the 8th of August. The family continued their travels to outside Chicago and settled in Whiting, Indiana. They had five more children between 1896-1905.

Holy Moly! We have a town to visit on our trip this summer. Jablonca now resides on the Slovakia side of the Hungary/Slovakia border. It is about a three-hour drive outside of Budapest to the northeast. I am so excited!! My kids, my husband, and my mother-in-law will all get to visit a town of their direct line in Hungary/Slovakia.

Jablonca satellite view — View of Jablonca, Slovakia from Google Maps

August 30, 2011February 10, 2013

New Documents Add to the Story of my Grandfather

I have written a couple of times about my grandfather, Celio “Jay” Capelli. He was born Celio Ciardonei in Cossano Canavesse, Turino, Italy on December 31, 1914. His parents were Matteo Ciardonei and Adele Siletto.

On March 22, 1920, Celio (5 years old) and his father, Matteo Ciardonei, arrived in the United States on the SS Dante Alighieri. According to the ship’s manifest, Matteo was deported March 31st because he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. This information came from the passenger manifest found on Ellisisland.org almost 10 years ago. I got a printed copy for my Grandfather for Christmas about 8 years ago.

Yesterday, with the free access to immigration records at Ancestry.com, I found another piece to the story. Since I do not have a digital copy of the passenger manifest, I did a search for the last name “Ciardonei.” I was surprised to see several entries for both Celio and Matteo. When I opened each digital image, I realized that they had been included on additional lists in the ship’s paperwork. Specifically, the Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry and the Record of Detained Aliens.

The Record of Aliens Held for Special Inquiry states that 31 year old Matteo was hospitalized upon arrival and given a “tuberculosis cert” designation. He was deported on April 12th at 1:45 pm on the SS Guiseppe Ver??an. Celio was admitted to the U.S. on March 31st at 10:55am.

The Record of Detained Aliens lists my grandfather being held with other passengers from the Dante Alighieri. He was fed 8 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 8 dinners during his detainment. He was released on March 31st. The Disposition column for the other passengers lists the addresses of where they were going. My grandfather’s entry is blank. It is interesting to note that almost everyone else on the list had a Cause for Detention listed as lack of funds. My grandfather’s Cause for Detention is “father in hosp.”

These documents made me very sad last night. I had known that Matteo was brave and left his son with his sister-in-law when he was deported. I had never considered what had occurred between the time Matteo and Celio arrived and when Matteo was deported. It must have been so scary for a 5 year old to be separated from his sick father and be detained for a week. He did not know any English at the time so communication must have been difficult.

The only glimmer of hope that I see in these documents is that my grandfather was detained for only 8 days (as indicated by the number of meals). His ship arrived 10 days prior to his release leaving us with a 2 day difference. I am hoping that he got to spend the time with his father in the hospital during those 2 days. It would have been the last times they would see each other. Matteo died in his hometown in Italy just under a year later on Mar 14, 1921.

I will end on a positive note. I also found a Lucia Siletto Brunero on a passenger manifest in 1938 last night. She listed that she would be visiting her son, Salvatore Siletto. I have previously documented that “Sal” is my grandfather’s uncle. So it seems that my grandfather got to visit with his grandmother when she came to visit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It would have been the first time he saw his grandmother in at least 18 years.

July 4, 2011February 10, 2013

An American Dream

Today is the 4th of July. The day to celebrate the independence of this great country. The most common ways to celebrate are barbecues, fireworks, and parades with lots of American flags. I would also like to celebrate by telling you a little about my paternal grandfather. Celio “Jay” Gordon Capelli lived the American Dream.

Jay Capelli, March 1942

Jay was born in Cassano Canavesse, Turino, Italy on December 31, 1914. His parents were Matteo Ciardonei and Adele Siletto. On March 22, 1920, Celio (5 years old) and his father, Matteo Ciardonei, arrived in the United States on the SS Dante Aligheri. According to the ship’s manifest, Matteo was deported March 31st because he had been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Matteo was a strong man because he left his young son in the United States with his sister-in-law, Mary (Siletto) Capelli.

Jay grew up in the Capelli household in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his 3 cousins, Mabel, Bruno, and Elsie and his aunt and uncle, Mary and Alfredo (Fred) Capelli. Jay became a citizen of the United States on February 25, 1937 when he was 22 years old. He also changed his name at this time to Capelli. My grandfather attended Duquesne University, majoring in accounting. He also served as a Quartermaster in the Army during World War II.

My grandfather met my grandmother, Mary Dempsey in Pittsburgh and they married February 15th, 1947. Later that year, they migrated out west to California with my grandmother’s brother. They settled in Los Angeles and had three children. The oldest boy being my dad. The kids grew up in Anaheim and my grandparents moved to Mission Viejo during the 1970’s.

Jay & Mary Capelli, 40th Wedding Anniversary, February 1987

Jay was ninety four when he passed away just over 2 years ago. He was a hard working man who loved his family deeply. I remember being in high school when he finally retired from being a CPA at 80. He loved to go bowling and did so until his late 80’s. There are many family photos of Jay camping with his family.

He was hard of hearing in his later years. I will never forget the first time I visited him after he got his hearing aids. There was a look of astonishment on his face when I spoke to him. I realized that my voice had been out of his hearing range for years and he was excited to hear what I sounded like.

One of my most favorite memories of my grandfather is from Christmas about 7 or 8 years ago. I had found the passenger manifest for his arrival in the U.S. on EllisIsland.org and ordered a copy of the manifest and a photo of the ship to give to him for Christmas. He was so amazed by the gift! It made me so happy to be able to bring a piece of his past to him.

It is amazing to think that my grandfather did it all in this country. He immigrated here as a young boy, learned a new language, grew up in a loving family, attended university, became a U.S. citizen, served his country in war, found the love of his life, followed his dreams out west, and raised a family. He really did live the American Dream.