Finding my Grandfather

RandyC · New Member Joined: Feb 26, 2010 Posts: 9 Location: USA

My grandfather Rantucci (Randy) Ciaccia was born March 1896 in Celano. He came to the USA April, 1913. I am looking for more information about his father and mother or anything else about him. Thank you

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Hi Randy and welcome to Gente! Can you tell us what information you already have like ships manifest, census records, birth record, death record, marriage record (Italy or USA), naturalization records, where he lived (town(s) and state(s), childrens names/years of birth/if children born in italy or USA, did he have brothers or sisters if so names and approximate years of birth and if they came to the USA too etc. The more information you can supply the easier it will be for everyone to help out. It might be helpful to post or upload images or info you have so everyone can take a look and not duplicate the effort.

Again welcome to Gente Smile

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

Randy,

Welcome to Gente. In doing a little poking around I found an April 1913 ship manifest for an Orante Ciaccia, born Celano about 1896, heading to Rochester whom I believe is your "Randy." Also located 1920 and 1930 census records as well as a WWI Draft Reg card. If you would like me to post links to the images, let me know.

Biff

RandyC · New Member Joined: Feb 26, 2010 Posts: 9 Location: USA

Thank you for a quick response.
Biff83 I would very much like to see the images as you suggested.

RandyC · New Member Joined: Feb 26, 2010 Posts: 9 Location: USA

I have his marriage records and the names of all the children. I do not have birth, naturalization records or a copy of the ship manifest..
It's very confusing about his name. Don't know were Orante came from. I am getting a copy of his passport.

Thanks for all your help

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Hi Randy

if you have his marriage certificate it should list his mother and fathers names

Carole · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:17 am Post subject: Re: Finding my Grandfather

A big welcome to "Gente" Randy...

I see you have already met some of our other members...they're the clever ones, the ones who are really good at researching and helping others do the same. There are a lot of our members who do that and they really enjoy the challenge of finding a needle in a haystack.

Unfortunately I'm not one of them - I'm not a genealogist (I'm still learning), but I am a translator - we've got quite a few of them too. But I'm sure that will be able to help you begin the quest for your grandfather. Tell me - is the Celano where he was born the one near L'Aquilla in Abruzzo?

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

Randy,

Here are links to the documents.

1913 ship manifest, line 29
Page 1
Page 2
Name: Orante Ciaccia
Arrival Date: 16 Apr 1913
Estimated birth year: abt 1897
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Ethnicity/Race/Nationality: Italian (South) (Italian)
Ship Name: America
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
NATIVITY: Italy
Line: 29
Birth Location: Celano
Leaves father Angelo in Italy
Destination: Rochester NY joining uncle ? (can anyone make out the name?)

1930 census
Name: Randy Ciaccia
Home in 1930: Rochester, Monroe, New York
View Map
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1896
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's name: Anna
Household Members: Name Age
Randy Ciaccia 34
Anna Ciaccia 27
Angelo Ciaccia 9 (first son named after Randy's father)
Joseph Ciaccia 8
Anthony Ciaccia 5
Dominick Ciaccia 3
Mary Jane Ciaccia 1 6/12

1920 census and WWI Draft card to follow.

Biff

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

These records I believe are for him.

WWI Draft Reg Card
Name: Rantucci Ciaccia
Address: Grape Street
City: Rochester
County: Monroe
State: New York
Birthplace: Italy
Birth Date: 5 Mar 1896

1920 census
Name: Rendale Chacha (I believe Ciaccia is pronounced ChaCha)
Home in 1920: Grape Street, Rochester Ward 15, Monroe, New York
Age: 24 years
Estimated birth year: abt 1896
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Boarder
Father's Birth Place: Italy
Mother's Birth Place: Italy
Marital Status: Single

Biff

RandyC · New Member Joined: Feb 26, 2010 Posts: 9 Location: USA

Thank you all again. I am blessed by the information.
The marriage records I found does not have his parents names. Just showed when and where they were married.

I believe he was from Celano near L'Aquilla in Abruzzo?

Biff83 · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 1263 Location: Florida

RandyC wrote:

I believe he was from Celano near L'Aquilla in Abruzzo?

I agree. Assuming that his correct first name is Orante, you can write to the comune of Celano to request an integral copy of his birth record, not an extract since the integral copy from the town register will contain a lot of additional information. Birth date on both his WWI Draft card and Social Security death record is 5 Mar 1896. Here's the address to request his records. You should also include a self-addressed, unstamped envelope.

Address for the comune:

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Celano
Piazza IV Novembre
67043 Celano (AQ)
ITALY

Sample Letter for you to use from Il Circolo Calabrese site.

I'd appreciate if one of our Italian speaking members would doublecheck my Italian to ensure the letter is okay.

Your Name
Street Address
Your City, State/Province Post Code
Your Country
Your E-Mail Address (optional)

01 marzo 2010

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Celano
67043 CELANO AQ
ITALY

Egregi Signori,

Mi chiamo Your Name, ed abito negli Stati Uniti all'indirizzo sopradetto. Cerco informazioni sul mio nonno, Orante Ciaccia. Nato nel comune di Celano. Cerco questi dati per conoscere meglio la mia famiglia, e per trovare i miei parenti rimasti in Italia.

Vi sarei molto grato se poteste spedirmi una integrale copia dell'atto di nascita di Orante Ciaccia, in carta libera. Nato nel 05 marzo 1896.

Vi ringrazio in anticipo per la vostra gentilezza e premura, e vi prego di addebitarmi tutte le spese postali e dei certificati.

Distinti saluti,

Your Name

Biff

uantiti · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:17 pm Post subject: Re: Finding my Grandfather

Biff83 wrote:

Randy,

Here are links to the documents.

1913 ship manifest, line 29
Page 1
Page 2
Name: Orante Ciaccia
Arrival Date: 16 Apr 1913
Estimated birth year: abt 1897
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Port of Departure: Naples, Italy
Ethnicity/Race/Nationality: Italian (South) (Italian)
Ship Name: America
Port of Arrival: New York, New York
NATIVITY: Italy
Line: 29
Birth Location: Celano
Leaves father Angelo in Italy
Destination: Rochester NY joining uncle ? (can anyone make out the name?)

1930 census
Name: Randy Ciaccia
Home in 1930: Rochester, Monroe, New York
View Map
Age: 34
Estimated birth year: abt 1896
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's name: Anna
Household Members: Name Age
Randy Ciaccia 34
Anna Ciaccia 27
Angelo Ciaccia 9 (first son named after Randy's father)
Joseph Ciaccia 8
Anthony Ciaccia 5
Dominick Ciaccia 3
Mary Jane Ciaccia 1 6/12

1920 census and WWI Draft card to follow.

Biff

Not easy to understand as quite faded but I believe his uncle name was Semplicio Davide

Ada

uantiti · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:48 pm Post subject: Re: Finding my Grandfather

Biff83 wrote:

RandyC wrote:

I believe he was from Celano near L'Aquilla in Abruzzo?

I agree. Assuming that his correct first name is Orante, you can write to the comune of Celano to request an integral copy of his birth record, not an extract since the integral copy from the town register will contain a lot of additional information. Birth date on both his WWI Draft card and Social Security death record is 5 Mar 1896. Here's the address to request his records. You should also include a self-addressed, unstamped envelope.

Address for the comune:

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Celano
Piazza IV Novembre
67043 Celano (AQ)
ITALY

Sample Letter for you to use from Il Circolo Calabrese site.

I'd appreciate if one of our Italian speaking members would doublecheck my Italian to ensure the letter is okay.

Your Name
Street Address
Your City, State/Province Post Code
Your Country
Your E-Mail Address (optional)

01 marzo 2010

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Celano
67043 CELANO AQ
ITALY

Egregi Signori,

Mi chiamo Your Name, ed abito negli Stati Uniti all'indirizzo sopraddetto. Cerco informazioni su mio nonno, Orante Ciaccia, nato nel comune di Celano. Cerco questi dati per conoscere meglio la mia famiglia e per trovare i miei parenti rimasti in Italia.

Vi sarei molto grato se poteste spedirmi una copia integrale dell'atto di nascita di Orante Ciaccia, in carta libera. Nato il 05 marzo 1896.

Vi ringrazio in anticipo per la Vostra gentilezza e premura e Vi prego di addebitarmi tutte le spese postali e dei certificati.

Distinti saluti,

Your Name

Biff

Biff, just very few little things. I don't know if who writes is a man or a woman. If she's a woman then "grato" should be changed into "grata".

Ada

BillieDeKid · V.I.P. Joined: Oct 26, 2007 Posts: 1221 Location: Illinois

Ada I found 3 different manifests for D'Ovidio that could be matches. I was going to leave out the 2nd and 3rd (same person different years) because he would have only been about 3 years older then Randy however......my own father actually had one aunt and one uncle that were 10 and 12 years YOUNGER than he was......so I'll link them and see what you think.

1905 manifest

1911 manifest page 1

1911 manifest page 2

1927 manifest. I believe this person and the person in the 1911 manifest are the same man

uantiti · Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 11:32 am Post subject: Re: Finding my Grandfather

Wow, I think I made a big mistake when I wrote the uncle's name. Well, it was not easy to read (and I was half asleep). Now, Semplicio is both a first name and a surname. My mistake was that I assumed Semplicio was the surname and didn't pay enough attention to the other name that looked Davide. Actually, there was something odd in it.

So Orante was reaching his uncle Semplicio D'Ovidio.

The person in the 1905 manifest is D'Ovidio (last name) and Semplicio (first name), he's 45 and comes from Celano. He's travelling with another D'Ovidio (a brother or a cousing) and another 3 people from Celano, all of them going to Rochester, NY. Semplicio he's going to his nephew Vittoriano Ranalletta. The man on 1911's manifest is D'Ovidio Simplicio (the "i" instead of "e" is not important), reaching his uncle Vittoriano Torrelli (this surname exists in Celano). He's 18 but was 20/21 years old when Orante went to US in 1913 and could easily be his uncle. Who knows? Any of them could be Orante's uncle and I'm nearly sure they are all relatives. Also this second one went to Rochester, NY. I cannot read the addresses but they don't seem to match.

Yes, the man in 1927 manifest is the one in 1911's,

Billie, my maternal uncle is 6 years older than me. My mother was the older child and got married when she was 19 years old, my uncle was 5.

Ada