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In search of my grandfather's past … and maybe a book deal

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April 2010

Francesco Venezia, citizen

FrancescoCitizenshipCaptureOK. This is super-cool.

Turns out Francesco actually undertook the Naturalization process and became a citizen.That ship manifest marking page told me that the stamp I’d seen all those years ago over his name “US Citizen Discharge on Pier” was meant for US citizens returning from abroad.

Now, I know that two years before he got married, Francesco gave up on old Victor Emanuel of Italy in favor of Teddy Roosevelt. Well, who wouldn’t right?

Ancestry has an awesome set of Naturalization records and it was there that I found Francesco. In addition, I now know that he came to the US through Ellis Island in April 1891.

CitizenshipCapture3The document shows that a buddy of his vouched for his character and honor. Even more interesting, it shows both of them lived in Fleming Park. Ring a bell? Yup. Pittock.

In marrying Francesco, Saverina would have gotten a “citizen discharge” on the pier, too.

There’s a lot of affirmation and a little bit of new material here. Mostly, though, it just shows me that Francesco was probably a pretty stand-up guy.

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While I wait

PasqualeInquiryI’ve filled out my request for the Coroner’s Inquest. It’s times like this I’m so happy I work in news. I feel like what I do for a living prepared me for tackling this big mystery.

I think, though, that I need to get back to Pittsburgh and see if there are any other newspaper accounts of the fire. And anything else that might be relevant.

To bide my time, I’ve been following some of the threads from my 2006 search.

I start fishing Ancestry for information on the Brescia brothers. I find a manifest from one of the trips that brought Pasquale back over from Italy. This one was in 1905. It’s an addendum to the regular manifest called “Aliens Held for Special Inquiry.”

It looks like Pasquale was detained at Ellis Island. The reason says “LPC.” What’s LPC stand for? It looks like a lot of people on this roster fell into that category. And thanks to this handy little website, which I found in Google, now I know. It means “likely public charge.”

Oh Pasquale. Buddy. You’re not doing yourself any favors.

I also find a record card for a Cesare Brescia, from the “old man” draft during World War II. I can’t be sure this is him, though, because when I check the associated World War I card, it comes up with a name of a town in Italy I don’t recognize and the fact that he’s married and living in Sewickley. None of it rings a bell. Ancestry’s got this handy “shoebox” feature that lets you save stuff without sticking it to people’s profiles, so I file it there.

I don’t know if I can stand the wait for the coroner records.

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