Finally, we received signed, certified, and apostilled background checks from Indiana. It only took 3-4 tries, several letters, and a few phone conversations.
New York State should arrive later this week. FBI said that it was in process and should be finalized soon.
Today I called the NY Secretary of State's office. They confirmed that if I can get signatures on the criminal background check by the director of assistant director of DCJS (Joseph Morrissey or Donna Call) they can apostille the document. Today I spoke to DCJS and they will be issuing new background checks with one of those signatures.
Several weeks ago, I wrote Montemaggiore Belsito, Sicily, to see if they could send me some information about my great-grandfather's siblings who stayed back in Sicily.
Cruciano Giuseppe Millonzi was born in Montemaggiore Belsito 19 June 1873 and married Anna Maria Sabini on 12 Mar 1901. He was "eliminated by emigration in the municipality of Ravanusa on 07/12/1933 reinstated on 19/05/1936 by Bisacquino emigrated to Ravanusa 05/05/1937 reinstated on 02/07/1947 by Ravanusa (AG), died in Montemaggiore Belsito on 3/4/1949."
Cruciano Millonzi was born in Montemaggiore Belsito 11 Aug 1876 and married Nunzia Dolce on 10 Feb 1923 in Montemaggiore Belsito. He married Angela Ingrassia on 12 Feb 1927. He died 21 Oct 1945 in Montemaggiore Belsito. Cruciano and Nunzia had a daughter Rosario Millonzi born 13 May 1925 in Montemaggiore Belsito who married Giuseppe Dominuco on 10 Apr 1948 in Montemaggiore Belsito; they moved to Montedoro (Caltanissetta) on 14 May 1948; she died 7 Jan 2009. Cruciano and Angella had a daughter Ignazia Millonzi born 25 Dec 1927 in Montemaggiore Belsito who married Pietro Montana 10 Apr 1948 in Montemaggiore Belsito; she moved to Montedoro (Caltanissetta) 14 Apr 1948.
Carmela Millonzi was born in Montemaggiore Belsito 18 Dec 1881 and married Gaspare Silvestre 22 Nov 1902 in Montemaggiore Belsito. She died 31 Jan 1946.
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One state down, two states and the FBI to go. Tenneessee background checks arrived today, apostilled.
New York sent back the background checks without signatures, seals, or apostilles. I did call and get some information about someone I might call in order to get the background checks signed, sealed, and apostilled.
Third time's a charm?
We'll see.
Indiana sent everything back. New form. Another set of prints. SASE. Blah blah blah.
Today I received a more complete pension record from Isaac Zellers, my wife's great-great-great-grandfather.
This confirm that he was in the Battle of Gettysburg, company D of the 150th Pennsylvania Volunteers.
"In the 150th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, company D, commanded by H.W. Crozer. Honorably discharged on 26 Aug 1865. That while in the service aforesaid, and in the line of duty he on the first day of July 1863 while engaged in action at Gettysburg, PA received a gunshot wound in the leg, about two inches above ankle thereby disabling him from duty, that by reason of the effects of said wound he is unable to attend to his occupation which is that of shoeing horses … and that he was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg as aforesaid was treated at the hospital there, transferred to Hospital of York Pennsylvania on the 20th of July 1863 remained there until ordered …"
It also notes that Isaac Zellers' wife is indeed named Catherine Cole (according to Isaac) or Emma Catherine Cole (according to son Martin Reynolds). They were married 8 May 1862 in Union County by Rev. Weise or Heise. She died 23 Jan 1897.
It also notes the initials and birth dates of their children:
C.H. Zellers (prob Charles Henry) born 28 Feb 1963
Eliz C. Zellers (prob Elizabeth Catherine) born 1 Sep 1866
S.L. Zellers (prob Samuel Lee) born 15 Nov 1867
W.J. Zellers (prob William J.) born 9 Mar 1869
A.G. Zellers (prob August G., my wife's GGGF) born 30 Jan 1871
R.M. Zellers (prob Reynolds Martin) born 21 Mar 1876
Reba A. Zellers (prob Rebecca A.) born 16 Jun 1877
M.R. Zellers (prob Martin Reynolds) born 9 Mar 1884
I've written Union County (courthouse and historical society) to see if they have copies of the marriage record and if they have copies of her death record.
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Today, the consulate in Detroit called to set up our appointments to receive our Italian passports. Never thought this day would come.
Today we received background checks from NY State. The background check itself was still blank. But it was accompanied by a letter than was signed and notarized that said that the background check would be blank. Odd. They can notarize a letter but can't notarize the background check. So I stapled them together and sent them off for apostille by the NY Secretary of State.
Unfortunately, even though I asked for the background check to be listed in my wife's married name and maiden name, they only came in her married name. Since she never used that name while living in NY, that could be a problem for the consulate or for Rome. So I sent a letter thanking them for sending the notarized background check but asking for another one in her maiden name.
Today we received two letters concerning Amy's background checks from Indiana.
One was from the Indiana State Police, returning our request for the background check to be notarized. They said they tried to contact us, but Amy didn't say she got a call from them.
The other was from Safran, who digitized her finger prints. We asked for them to forward the request to the Indiana State Police. They sent it back to us.
Ugh. This is frustrating! I'll be responding to both. Again!
We sent the TN criminal background checks to the TN Secretary of State. They were returned. First, because I forgot to include the check. Duh. But also because the notary needs to be verified by the Davidson County Clerk's office first. Ugh. Round 27.
My brother wishes to apply for Italian dual citizenship. He lives out west, so he would apply through the San Francisco consulate. Their web site says this:
As of 10 October 2012, in accordance with memoranda issued by the Ministero degli Affari Esteri (MAE), this Consulate will no longer refer to the files of other Consulates or Comuni (municipalities) in Italy. Therefore, if you are applying after a family member has already received recognition of citizenship by descent from the same ancestor, you will be required to present all family documents from scratch, either in original from the relevant U.S. agencies, or as copie conforme (authenticated photocopies) issued by the Consulate or Comune which recognized your family member’s citizenship. The latter method is generally recommended and faster, but incurs a fee.
Today I emailed the Detroit consulate to ask what the procedure would be for me to obtain a cope confirme of my application materials for him to use in San Francisco. The birth certificates for my grandfather and mother were the only ones our family had. To get new copies would require a court order because NY State will not release a birth certificate to anyone but the person named or their parents.
17 Oct 2012
Response from the consulate: Your brother must contact our Consulate in San Francisco, we have new regulations.
Corrected Tennessee background checks arrive today and will be sent out for apostilles. 1 state down, 2 states and the FBI to go.
Yesterday, Indiana said that they were getting signatures and apostilles applied to those background checks.
Well, the NY State background checks arrived today. Despite noting that they needed to be suitable for apostille, both in the cover letter and on the application, they arrived unsigned. We're sending them off the the NY Secretary of State with a letter asking if they can apostille them and if not to please either call the NY State Police or send us a letter with clear instructions as to what they need in order to apostille a documents. It appears that writing in every possible margin of a form is not enough for people to issue signed background checks. Only TN sent them right (well, except for a spelling mistake).
Background checks from TBI arrived today. Everything was perfect – signatures, seals, notarized statement – except that they spelled my wife's name wrong on the address lines (Palmer instead of Palmeri). So we sent them a letter asking them to correct and resend.
The background check arrived today from Indiana. All it says is "A thorough search of our files by NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, SEX, RACE, and FINGERPRINTS DOES not reveal a criminal history record …"
I forwarded it on to the Indiana Secretary of State for an apostille, which fortunately is free (unlike most states).
Unfortunately, the background check did not have a signature or a seal on it, so I don't know if it will be accepted for an apostille. So in parallel, I wrote the Indiana State Police again for another copy of the background check, hopefully with a signature and a seal this time.