Gr-Grandfather's Disappearing Act

mary · Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:58 pm Post subject: Gr-Grandfather's Disappearing Act

For the past few years I have concentrated mainly on researching my father’s story as a POW in WWII and putting together a book of my memories, customs, family stories, and old family photos from the area I was born in, Ardore, Reggio Calabria. I am just beginning to search out more about my great-grandparents. One, in particular, is my great-grandfather Francesco Mule’. There is a mystery connected to this man. He left Italy in 1901 and was never heard from again. The story goes that his wife got pregnant with my grandfather the night before he left. My grandfather was born about 8 1/2 months later. They also had a two-year-old boy at the time. When I discovered the Ellis Island site I put in his name and there was Francesco, arriving on Oct.19, 1901 and going to a cousin in Du Bois, PA. In 1905 he was living in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and sponsored two cousins and a brother-in-law. Obviously, the part about not being heard from again was a cover-up for something since he was sponsoring relatives in 1905. His two sons had 11 children between them and not one was named after either of the grandparents. I can see them being resentful towards the father who abandoned them, but none of the girls was named after the grandmother, either.

Would anyone know how to go about trying to find out more about him after he arrived in the US? The Ellis Island record says he was from Ardore. So far, I have transcribed and seen hundreds of birth certificates from Ardore and have not come across one single other Mule’ except for a certificate for a daughter they had in 1895, who did not survive.

By the way, I see that Vincenza in this forum is researching the name D’Anna in PA. The cousin my gr-grandfather was going to in Du Bois was a Giuseppe Danna.

Mary

nuccia

Hi Mary!

Could Francesco have gone by another name..? I found a Vincenzo, born about the same time in the 1930 Census in Susquehanna, Cambria, Pennsylvania, married about 1900 to a woman 20 years younger than he was.

Cathy · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 2681

Did Francesco have a middle name? Many of my family used the english version of their middle name here.

mary

Cathy, if he had a middle I don't know it, but the three people he sponsored in 1905 said they were going to Francesco Mule', resident of Mingo Junction, Ohio. As far as immigration was concerned, that was his name.

Nuccia, it couldn't have been him, since he arrived in 1901. On the same manifest in 1905, there were a few men also going to Mingo Junction, but to a Vincenzo Mule'. I have no idea if they were related. Also, Ellis Island has a lot of Mule' arrivals from Sicily, but very few from Ardore.

I would be curious to know if he ever married. I guess that would have been bigamy, since my gr-grandmother lived into the 1940's.

Would you know how to find out if he ever applied to become a citizen.

Thanks for trying.

Mary

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

For reference - 1901 Adore manifest of Francesco Mule

www.ellisisland.org/EI...&line=0014

What were the names of the two children that Francesco had with your great grandmother and what was your great grandmothers full name?
What's the approximate year of birth for your great grandfather?
Can you post the information showing the people he sponsored (cousins, brother-in-law etc.).
Can you post the death act of the daughter that died in 1895? There should be information on there indicating if he was a life long resident of Ardore or if he actually came from another comune.

Any other details you can give might help us so we can help you. (name(s) of relatives in Du Bois etc.)

Cathy · V.I.P. Joined: Jul 10, 2007 Posts: 2681

I have been looking on Footnote and there are a lot of records for Francesco Mule's. I cannot tell if any of these are yours but most originated from Sicily.

Eleven

It was not uncommon for men to come to this country, abandon their wife and children and then remarry someone else here. I would look for a marriage to someone in this country.

nuccia

Mary,

Eleven is right about the men coming to this country and "remarrying." One of my great uncles did the same thing. The only reason I asked about Vincenzo is because he was born about the same year as Francesco. And the census worked out to about 1900..it could have been 1901. Something about the census marriage dates didn't make sense either. Said his first marriage was about 1900 (30 years earlier) but her date for a first marriage was 26 years earlier..

1930 United States Federal Census
about Vincenza Mule
Name: Vincenza Mule
Home in 1930: Susquehanna, Cambria, Pennsylvania
Age: 64
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1866
Birthplace: Italy
Relation to Head of House: Head
Spouse's Name: Capmala
Race: White
Occupation: Labourer Coal Miner

Education:

Military service: No

Rent/home value: Own $500.00

Age at first marriage: 34
Wife's age at first marriage: 21 in 1930 she is 47
Immigration Date: Unclear 190?

Parents' birthplace: Italy

Naturalization: Alien
Household Members:
Name Age
Vincenza Mule 64
Capmala Mule 47

It was just interesting .. thats all.

mary

Francesco children were Salvatore Domenico and Salvatore Nicola(my grandfather).

Francesco's wife was Teresa Chine'.

Both his arrival at Ellis Island and on the birth certificate for his child born in 1895 put him as being born in 1865.

In 1905 he sponsored two cousins, Carmine and Bruno Monteleone and his brother-in-law Nicola Salinitri (Talinifra on the Ellis Island site).

The 1895 birth act for his daughter says he was from Bombile (contrada), Ardore (comune).

I think as far as his immigration was concerned, he was from Ardore.

Thanks for looking up all that information, Nuccia. Unless we have some sort of document that states he was from Ardore and the right age, we won't know for sure.

Mary

nuccia

So Maria Rosa Mule' is his daughter?

I have I think the 1903 births for Ardore but I don't have all the images up yet. I checked my films for 1902 and Ardore isn't on it..I ordered the wrong one. I would have been interested in reading his birth act for reference.

Yes, I think we do need documentation. There WAS a Vincenzo I found coming from Ardore (spelling wrong) to the USA but he was born in 1872 I think. Let's see if we can find anything.

JamesBianco

mary wrote:

So far, I have transcribed and seen hundreds of birth certificates from Ardore

Hey there Mary, would these transcriptions be available online anywhere? Would you be interested in putting them online?

People around here will tell you I get pretty exited when I hear of a new Comune Vital Record Database. I have a list of some of the available towns here:

Database of Italian Vital Records online

Love to hear more about your extractions.

Jim Very Happy

mary

James, I transcribe records that Nuccia sends me, which she puts into the Calabria Exchange/Ardore site.

Nuccia, don't waste time on 1903. Francesco left in 1901. All I really am interested in is what happened to him in the US -- marriage? citizenship? death record?

Mary

JamesBianco

mary wrote:

James, I transcribe records that Nuccia sends me, which she puts into the Calabria Exchange/Ardore site.

Oh ok, then they are not going to waste! That was my only concern.

Great job.

Very Happy

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

Hi Mary,

I was hoping to track your grandfather through Carmine and Bruno's location. I found a couple of manifests for Carmine (who went back and forth to Italy) coming back to his brother Bruno who was in Mercer Pennsylvania in 1910. I found the 1910 census with Bruno and looked through 36 pages hoping to find Francesco (Frank) Mule but no luck. I found other Monteleone's living near Bruno but not your grandfather. I'm still searching.

mary

Thank you so much, Billie, for the time you're putting into this.

I have no doubt that he probably spent the rest of his life near people who were related to him in some way. Some manifests are taken up entirely by people from Ardore. I know the name Monteleone is also part of my extended family. Don't look for Nicola Salinitri, he returned to Italy and is my other gr-grandfather (marriage between cousins).

Mary