L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014 L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JUNE 19, 2014 www.italoamericano.com 10 Finding Our Immigrant Ancestry Beginning the Search – Census Information Dear Readers, California, we didn't discov- er it we just enriched it, this is what I wrote during the Columbian Quintcentennial when descendants of "Indigenous Peoples" and kin- dred spirits began hurling slings and arrows at our Italian Heritage and with the aid of self-serving politicos attempting to rewrite history. Since we are celebrating Father's Day this month, I thought I would share with you a brief refresher on how some of our Italo- American forefathers enriched life in California. "Grazie" to Bill Cerruti and Sacramento's Italian Cultural Society (www.italiancenter.net, tele- phone 916-ITALY-00, Box 189427, Sacramento, CA 95818). *** Italians in Northern California is a story of individ- ual and collective accomplish- ment. They came lured by the discovery of gold. Attracted by the climate and resemblance to their native homeland, they stayed. The descendants of these people still live in the foothill towns of the 'Mother Lode'. A visit to the village of Sutter Creek in Amador County where their names are embla- zoned on historic buildings, or a walk through the Catholic ceme- tery at Jackson in Calaveras County attests to the sojourn of these Italian pioneers. They arrived in great numbers during the mass migration at the turn of the century. The early immi- grants came primarily from the Northern regions of Italy. It's estimated that sixty percent of California's Italian population is of northern Italian extrac- tion. The largest settlement arose by San Francisco Bay where the early Italians settled in San Francisco's North Beach District. As the stream of Italian migration continued, the district became an Italian colony. Here they built a successful cultural and economic community and spread throughout the Bay Area. Many Italian families in California can trace their American roots to the North Beach Colony. By 1859 the first Italian language newspaper in California, 'L'Eco Della Patria', was published semi-weekly in San Francisco. By 1931, Italian newspapers operated in Sacramento, Stockton, Martinez, and Weed. Today, the only statewide weekly Italian news- paper, 'L'Italo-Americano' is still published in California. The arrival of the Italians in California coincided with its early settlement by Americans. As a result, the Italians played a vital role in shaping the destiny of California and its economy. It wasn't too long before Italian fishermen had established them- selves in fishing villages from Eureka to Benicia, Martinez, Pittsburg, San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Cruz. By the 1880's, California waters were dominated by Italian fisher- men and their graceful sailing feluccas. By 1900, the fishing industry of California had become the second leading fishery in the nation and by 1910, eighty percent of the state's fishing business was man- aged by Italians. During World War II, Italian fishermen were prevented from using their fish- ing boats by wartime restrictions on Italian immigrants living along the coast. Across the state the Italians also settled the states' farmland and played a prominent role in developing today's fruit, vegetable and dairy industries in places like Marin and Sonoma counties, and the Sacramento and San Joaquin val- leys. By the 1880's, Italians dominated the fruit and veg- etable industry. Italian immi- grant, Marco Fontana, arrived in the U.S. in 1859 and along with another Ligurian, Antonio Cerruti, founded the California Packing Company in 1889. Under the popular 'Del Monte' label, their canneries soon became the largest food process- ing corporation in the world. Most of their workers were Italian. One of the enterprising Italians who left his mark on California was Domenico Ghirardelli, who traveled through the gold mines selling chocolate and hard candies. He settled in San Francisco after the gold rush and founded the Ghirardelli Chocolate empire, with Italian immigrant labor, at the site of the present Ghirardelli Square. The California Wine indus- try also owes much to the Italian founders of the industry. In 1881, the Italian Swiss Colony was founded at Asti in Sonoma county by Andrea Sbarbaro as a cooperative of Italian immi- grants from the wine growing regions of Italy. The Colony soon became one of the largest producers of wine and dominat- ed the U.S. wine market during its heyday. The founding of the Italian Swiss Colony promoted the widespread participation of Italians in the grape and wine industry and their success in the vineyards of the Napa, Sonoma and Central Valleys. Perhaps the most inspiring of California's Italians was Amadeo Pietro Giannini, the 'Giant of the West'. Born in San Jose in 1870 of immigrant Italian parents, Giannini organized the Bank of Italy in North Beach, San Francisco in 1904 to aid his fel- low Italians. Breaking new ground he established the first statewide system of branch banks in the nation by opening branches in the Italian neighbor- hoods across the state. Italians provided most of his work force. In 1930 he changed the name to Bank of America. Mr. Giannini's bank soon became the largest bank in the world. Italians played a prominent role in enriching life in California. Their contributions are often overlooked but the enterprise and success of these Italian pio- neers is a unique legacy, shared by all of us. "Grazie" to many of our forefathers. *** A film documentary entitled "Finding the Mother Lode: Italian Immigrants in California" by Film-makers Gianfranco Norelli and Suma Kurien was recently screened at the Italian Center in Carmichael, California and the Museo Italo Americano in San Francisco. This is the first film documentary about the fuller history of the Italians in California. Italians first came to California with the Gold Rush and found a Mother lode in min- ing, farming, fishing, wine mak- ing, banking and commerce. The Italian experience in California is generally marked by economic success and social mobility. I would like to suggest that other Italo-American clubs and orga- nizations make arrangements to share this film, that tells of the unique experience of Italians on the West Coast, with their mem- bers soon. So far, I have spent much time describing what I have called the first 'key' in finding our immigrant ancestry: how to determine an ancestor's name as it may have been given in a variety of records. Having identified the name of an immi- grant ancestor, you're prepared to search for records that may contain other keys: his date of immigration and/or his place of birth and date of birth. These may be contained in fam- ily records such as passports, marriage records, naturalization papers or membership docu- ments of the mutual aid soci- eties, the Società di Mutuo Soccorso that were so common in America for Italian and Sicilian immigrants. If these records aren't avail- able in your family, but if you know the approximate date of the ancestor's death, check your public library for archives of local newspapers to be searched for obituaries, death notices or articles of the period, which may give information about your ancestor. If you know that the family first settled in the Tri-State area, visit the appropriate County Clerk's office, and see if naturalization records exist there for your family member. If not, the clerk may direct you a Federal District Court where such records may be available. Naturalization papers, especial- ly the Petition for Naturalization, can have a wealth of information, includ- ing the immigrant's name, birth date and place, date and ship of immigration, the address of the applicant and names and dates of birth of each family member. Still no luck? Then it's time to turn to US and/or state Census records. The first US Federal Census was in 1790, under Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. There have been 22 since then, taken at ten- year intervals. The last was in 2010. Censuses from 1790 through 1940 are available in hard copy at many sources, including local libraries and genealogical societies, except for the 1890 census, most of which was destroyed by fire. For privacy reasons, federal censuses are not released to the public until 72 years after they are made, making 1940 the most recent census available. You need to know the commu- nity your family lived in during a given period, then search for the census or censuses, for that community, that fall into those dates. The census questions varied over the years, from simple identification and place of resi- dence in 1790, to much more detailed information in later versions. Below is a list of questions from a typical US census, that of 1930, just after the peak of Italian immigration to America: Street, avenue, road, etc.; House number Name Relationship of this person to the head of the family Home owned or rented?; Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented Does this family own a Radio set? A farm? Sex Color or race Age at last birthday Marital condition Age at first marriage Attended school or college any time since Sept. 1, 1929 Whether able to read or write Place of birth__person, Place of birth__father, Place of birth__mother Native language of foreign born; Language spoken in home before coming to the United States Year of immigration into the United States Naturalization status: Na (Naturalized) or al (alien). Whether able to speak English Trade, profession, or particu- lar kind of work done; Industry or business; Class of worker If you find your ancestor list- ed in such a census, you'll find his immigration date and nationality, and be able to esti- mate his birth year by subtract- ing his age from the year of the census. Consider all dates approximate. They were not backed by documentation, but simply by the statement of the interviewee. Most libraries with hard copies of censuses cover only the city or county where the library is located. If your ancestor settled else- where, before the advent of the internet, you would have had to go to that place to search the census, or pay a local researcher to do it for you. Luckily, all US Federal Censuses through 1940 are now searchable and view- able on-line, and I'll discuss how to do that next time. Visit Angelo's website, http://bit.ly/AFCGen, and write to him at genealogytips@ aol.com. He is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel (La Ruotaia), based on his genealogical research of Sicilian foundlings. See http://bit.ly/ruotaia for more information, or order the paperback at http://bit.ly/racal- muto, or the e-book at http://bit.ly/ LadyOf TheWheel Kindle ANGelo CoNIGlIo

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