L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 9 ANGelo F. coNIGlIo When I last saw Garibaldi, he was a broken old man. White streaked his beard. Cataracts clouded and rheum encrusted his eyes. Arthritis crippled his limbs. Propped on crutches in the lobby of the Hotel Costanzi, he was a rust-eaten compass tracing a cir- cle of pain. The bellhops dis- obeyed his commands and car- ried the General to a plush suite. He was almost too humiliated to address the crowd assembled in the courtyard. As he hobbled to the balcony, Garibaldi puffed and swayed. He was so top-heavy that an aide-de- campe had to steady him. The gold braid on his toque frayed. His red shirt had faded to the color of dried blood. Moths had chewed holes in his poncho. Nevertheless, the Hero of Two Worlds, the Cincinnatus of Caprera, had kept his promise to return to the city that he had been forced to abandon. Twenty-six years before, Garibaldi had come from South America to defend Giuseppe Mazzini's infant Republic. "During my exile," he had declared, "I never gave up hope of kissing the august relics of ancient Rome." Guerilla warfare in the jungles and pampas of Brazil and Uruguay, however, had not trained the General for While perusing individual census listings, note the town- ship, county and state where the census was taken. You can con- tact churches, courthouses or public offices in those localities for other records: naturalization, birth, death or marriage records, etc. Questions varied over the years. I've previously listed all the questions from the 1920 cen- sus. Here are some hints to con- sider when reading census records. Address: Distinguish between house number (address) and the number indicating the order in which the census was taken. Street names and house numbers identify the actual property where your ancestor lived, and can help to find churches, cemeteries, schools, etc., where other pertinent records may exist. Name: Remember that to search on-line urban combat. He trounced the Neapolitan army, but was no match against the French troops sent to rescue the Pope. His two favorite tactics—"Never retreat!" and "When in doubt, charge with the bayonet!—failed at the Battle of Villa Corsini. Garibaldi marched into the hills to continue fighting, but his men slowly deserted him. His beloved wife and comrade-in- arms, Anita Ribeiro, died of malaria near Ravenna. She was pregnant with their fifth child. Garibaldi fled. Anita's hastily buried body, he learned abroad, was dug up by a dog. This per- sonal tragedy strengthened his resolve to one day recapture the Eternal City. After conquering Palermo and Naples in 1860, Garibaldi vowed to make Rome the capital of United Italy. "Roma o morte!" he cried. Rome or death! Prime Minister Urbano Rattazzi, who considered Garibaldi a lunatic, gladly obliged. He dispatched the Royal Army to intercept Garibaldi at Aspromonte, near Reggio Calabria. On August 28, 1862, Bersaglieri sharpshooters opened fire on the General's rag- tag troops. During the melee, two bullets struck Garibaldi in the hip and ankle. He was lamed for life. Leaning over the balcony of the Hotel Costanzi, the invalid general took his last stand. "Romani!" he said. "Siate seri!" Be serious! Rome was the head of the most progressive, most idealistic democracy in Europe! It would export Latin virtue to the world! Romans, therefore, should comport themselves accordingly. They should be moderate, humble, industrious, and prudent. Above all, they should emulate the British and the Americans, who embodied the steadiness and soberness of classical Rome. Italians, Garibaldi said, would surpass them in greatness but only through discipline and hard work. The crowd looked puzzled, but Garibaldi continued. Workmen, he said, should be content to remain workmen, to bring up their children to be workmen, and to regard work as "the safest and happiest lot of man." A blacksmith, a carpenter, a bricklayer is always and every- where sure of employment, posi- tion, and friends. Wherever he goes, he carries with him the best recommendations and passports. If he should find himself unwel- come in his old country, he is sure to be welcomed in a new one. He will maintain his dignity, whatever his circumstances. Unemployed construction workers grumbled, but the General cited personal experi- ence. After the debacle of 1849, he had immigrated to the United States and had toiled as a com- mon laborer. He had made can- dles and ground sausages in Staten Island. He had cleaned docks and scraped barnacles in San Francisco. He had transport- ed guano from the Chincha Islands to Baltimore. He had— "Take your guano to Turin!" somebody snarled. "Do you know how hard it is to find work in this city? The paper-pushers control everything! Don't talk to us about dignity!" A brass band drowned out the hecklers, but the damage was done. The ambush had been worse than Aspromonte. Wounded and confused, Garibaldi retreated from the bal- cony. Twenty years later, to add insult to injury, Rome erected an equestrian statue to him on the Janiculum, the site of his defeat. Although Garibaldi's horse faces the city, his head cocks slightly to his left. While the Pope opposed the House of Savoy, officials claimed that Garibaldi kept an eye on the Vatican. After the Lateran Treaty, he supposedly turned his gazed towards the Capitol. By necessity, Roman monuments are equivocal. Pasquino's secretary is Anthony Di Renzo, associate professor of writing at Ithaca College. You may reach him at direnzo@ithaca.edu. Busts of patriots at the Risorgimento park on the Janiculum ANtHoNy DI ReNZo Roma o Morte Pasquino wonders about Garibaldi or digitized census records by name, you may have to use innovative or imaginative spellings of the name. Usually the head of household's given name and surname are listed, with only given names for the rest of the family. Relationship to head of family: Study the family members' names and relation- ship to the head. A woman with a different surname than the head may be listed as "mother- in-law", thus giving you the "maiden" surname of the wife of the head of household. When a surname listed for a "daughter" is different from that of the head, it's probably the married surname of the daughter. Sex: Errors here are not uncom- mon. Young children with "for- eign-sounding" names may have been attributed the wrong gen- der. So your grandfather Andrea may have been incorrectly listed as a girl, or your aunt Carmen as a boy! Use census information as a guide, not as gospel. Age: The person's age at last birth- day. Infants' ages may be given as years and fractions: 2 7 / 12 means the child was two years and seven months old at the time. The date when the census was taken is at the top of the page, and by subtraction, a year of birth can be calculated. Don't be surprised if ages on the cen- sus are different than what was recorded elsewhere. Marital status, including that of children, helps confirm previously found information. Year of immigration and coun- try of birth help in locating pas- senger manifests, which may list town of birth. Notes reading al, pa, and Na stand for 'alien', 'papers applied for', and 'Naturalized'. Occupation is noted on the 1920 census, and also on many passenger mani- fests. Matching a person's name, year of birth, occupation and year of immigration, as given on a census, with the information on a ship's manifest can corroborate that the records are for the same person. Make note of the other names on the census, neighbors of your ances- tor. They may be his relatives or friends, and research on their backgrounds may unveil other- wise unknown information about your ancestor, or ways to find it. The censuses prior to 1920 and those subsequent provided essentially the same information, with some variation. The 1900 census, rather than giving a per- son's age, lists the month and year of birth, while the 1910 and 1930 censuses list "Number of Years Married" or "Age at First Marriage", from which you may determine whether the couple was married in the US, or before they came here, aiding in the search for a marriage record. US Censuses carry meaning- ful data about our immigrant ancestors, especially censuses of the late 1800's and early 1900's. They are a valuable source of information for researchers. For ancestors who lived in the Tri-State area, you may also find information in the New York State Census, taken every ten years "on the fives", from 1825 through 1935, or the New Jersey State Census, every ten years from 1855 through 1915. Unfortunately, Pennsyl- vania does not have state cen- suses. Coniglio is the author of the book The Lady of the Wheel, inspired by his Sicilian research. Order the paperback or the Kindle version at http://amzn.to/racalmuto Coniglio's web page at http://bit.ly/AFCGen has helpul hints on genealogic research. For genealogy questions, or would like him to lecture to your club or group, e-mail him: genealogytips@aol.com Finding Our Immigrant Ancestry –Details, Details!

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