Researching Patti Sicily — Update October 2022

This incredible story from yesterdays adventure is long but worth the read if you enjoy genealogy.

It can be summed up with this question above which is still difficult to answer. . .

The Setting:

Patti, province of Messina early 1900s.. .two sisters Febronia and Concetta are happily married to their husbands, between them about 5 or 6 children, after a few years Febronia dies and Concetta’s husband dies, two people who are in-laws find themselves alone.

A man who needs a woman to look after the children of his first wife, a woman who needs the protection of a man to protect the family.

The simplest solution is a marriage between the two of them, Concetta and Paolo get married but where?

This was the first mystery, Linda and Corinne my clients despite a long search had not been able to find the wedding in USA or confirm date it occurred.

Someone was looking out from above because by pure luck and deep digging after not finding it the office was able locate what is called a Residence document. This was hitting the jackpot!

Thanks to this discovery it confirmed and discover that the wedding was celebrated in America in Hoboken NJ in 1912 where the young Sicilian couple had emigrated.

From their union were born other children. They were living happily as a family until life was not easy for this family as a hard fate was waiting.

In 1918 Paolo her husband died, Concetta for the second time in her life found herself alone with many children including a very young baby, from her first and second marriage all born in America and of Paulo’s first wife.

what was Concetta going to do now?

Concetta makes the decision and decides to return to Sicily in Patti where her mother was still living.

In 1919 she sees the Sicilian sun again and she goes to live in the same house where she was born in via dei mercanti with her 7 children.

She is trying to look after the family with great sacrifices!

But life was again unfair in 1922 Concetta dies of tuberculosis, the children remain alone while some uncles decide what to do.

4 are sent to America to stay with relatives , the girls adopted by families, and two boys sent to an orphanage.

One of the two boys is called Calogero and he was the father of my clients.

We are in 1922 Calogero is only 4 years old, after losing his father and his mother he finds himself facing life alone!

Calogero, who was born in America, remains in an orphanage until he is 16.

Thanks to the nuns he learns the craft of typography ( printing) and will always be grateful to them because it will be his job in the united states when at the age of 18 he decides to emigrate.

Another trip from Patti to America, but this time it’s forever.

Calogero an American citizen opens a printing shop thanks to the profession that the Sicilian nuns had taught him.

America gives him the opportunity to redeem himself, to have a family and he had children including his two daughters ( my clients) who are born named Linda and Corinne.

Two different sisters, one very organized the other more adventure.

Linda who is passionate about genealogy begins to ask for information from her father who, however, little talks about his hard past, so Linda and Corinne do everything alone including hours months years spent rebuilding the puzzle of his life and of their origins.

One mystery was there always something missing when the first wife Febronia died?

They have never been able to find the death certificate that gave value to their grandfather’s second marriage. . .but there was also a problem, when and where was the second marriage celebrated?

It was time to organize a trip to Sicily only here the mystery could be solved here where it all started and could possibly find answers!

Linda and Corinne contact me, Francesco we need your help, they tell me their story.

I was able to hear an podcast interview Linda did with my friend Bob Sorrentino who runs a genealogy blog.

I was able to listen and perceive their desire for truth and I immediately got to work.

In a month of time I contact everything and everyone, offices, church, archives, mayor, I put as many cards on the table as possible to achieve the result.

We were able to find a residency document called family status which is a map for someone who loves genealogy, it really contains all the information.

From there we found the American marriage, the dates of return to Italy, all the baptismal and marriage acts in the church, the street where they lived. . . And a Twist!

We FOUND the transcript of Calogero’s American birth certificate!

Yes Calogero was an Italian citizen, and NOBODY knew it, perhaps not even Calogero himself, his mother, poor Concetta, in 1920 had made a gesture that would have changed the history of my clients’ citizenship quest!!

She had brought the birth certificate of her son from the United States with the translation and got the transcript.

LINDA AND CORINNE are daughters of an Italian father!

That gesture by Concetta was a gift for future generations!

They will be able to claim citizenship starting from their father instead of find a way to prove paternity and a wedding was valid!

Their love of family history, genealogy, dual citizenship and intense search for other documents eventually led them to discover the most important document the transcription of the birth certificate of the Father!