Spent an hour talking with my grandmother on my mom’s side (it was her birthday). I hadn’t planned on more than five minutes, actually, but I’d been reading Dean Hughes’ book Rumors of War (which takes place at the beginning of WWII) and realized that my grandma was alive during the war. So I asked her what it was like for her, and ended up with six pages of notes about not only the war but also how she met my grandfather, and how her sister and brother died. And how her great-grandparents had owned a produce business and one of their delivery boys was Frank Sinatra (who had grown up five miles away). Family history is cool. :)

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I’d be much more motivated to do genealogy if I had a Moleskine notebook devoted solely to that pursuit, so I got one but didn’t start using it till today. Copied in those six pages of notes and it’s great. I’ve got to talk to my grandparents more often so I can capture all these memories before they disappear. (It’s also kind of nice going back to paper and pen, incidentally. I can carry the notebook with me in my pocket wherever I go, and it’s durable and wonderful for this sort of thing. It’s the kind of notebook that Indiana Jones’s dad uses in The Last Crusade, too. ;))

Technorati Tags: World War II, family history, Moleskine, Indiana Jones

Yesterday I spent some time on EllisIsland.org trying to figure out which of the Domenico Iorios listed is my great-great grandfather. My mom’s maternal grandfather was Joseph Iorio, born in 1902 in New Jersey. In the birth certificate, his parents are listed as Domenico Iorio and Teresa Cirelli, ages 22 and 20, respectively. So Domenico was born around 1880, and Teresa around 1882. And they had to arrived in the States before 1902.

Out of the ten Domenico Iorios listed on Ellis Island, there’s only one born in 1880 (the rest are either before 1865 or after 1888). He’s from Morrone Sais and first arrived in 1899 at the age of 18, single. He then came back again (still from Morrone) in 1904, married. And again in 1907. He was also headed for Jersey City, which fits in perfectly. All the evidence looks like it’s him, but there’s still no conclusive evidence. And I don’t even know for sure that he came through Ellis Island. (But where else would he have come through?)

As for Teresa Cirelli, there are two close in age. One, from Moissana, arrived in 1903, so I doubt it’s her. The other came from Terininis in 1902 at age 19, which is close enough. But again, there’s nothing solid to say she’s actually Joseph’s mother. (Oh, she went by Maria or Marie later in life, apparently.)

There’s no Domenico Iorio in the 1900, 1910, or 1920 censuses, unfortunately. I wonder if he went back to Italy… (He certainly has a history of doing that.) According to the 1899 ship manifest, Domenico was going to stay with his brother Gabriele at 395 3rd St. in Jersey City. And, interestingly, there’s a WWI draft registration card for a Domenico Iorio, living at 377 Monmouth Rd., Jersey City, New Jersey (and Joseph Iorio was born in Jersey City, mind you), age 43, born 24 Apr 1875. Interesting. His nearest relative was listed as Gabriel Iorio. (And he worked on Broadway. Cool. :))

There’s also a draft card for a Nicola Domenico Iorio, born 30 Dec 1877, also residing in Jersey City.

Maybe I should try working from the bottom up. Joseph Iorio shows up in the 1930 census with his wife Anna and his son Anthony as lodgers in the household of James V. Keane. (They were married 22 Nov 1925.) But Joseph doesn’t show up in the 1920 or 1910 census. Hmm…

Technorati Tags: Iorio