The death certificate for my great-grandmother, Maria (Giambrone) Palmeri, arrives today. This lists her mother's last name as Amico/a (some other things listed it as D'amico).
death certificate, Maria (Giambrone) Palmeri
Mar 302012
Jan 062012
The apostille for my great-grandparents marriage in Pennsylvania arrived today. I think I'm going to try to use this without getting name mistake corrected. If I go to the consulate and they demand a correction, I'll deal with that then.
apostille for my great-grandparents marriage
Jan 012012
My great-grandparents birth certificates finally arrive from Serradifalco, Sicily. It took three letters along with a $50 order to myitalianfamily that still hasn't come. But at least they're here.
the letter I wrote to get a birth certificate
birth certificate for my great-grandmother, Maria Giambrone
birth certificate for my great-grandfather, Angelo Palmeri
Dec 242011
Someone from Holy Cross Church in Buffalo graciously searched the Buffalo News archives and found the death notices for my great-grandparents:
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Dec 242011
The church in Yatesboro, Pennsylvania, sent a marriage certificate for my great-grandparents, Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone.
marriage certificate for Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone
Dec 162011
My great-grandparents' marriage certificate arrived today. My great-grandfather, Angelo Palmeri, was 25 years old. My great-grandmother, Maria Giambrone, was 19 years old. They were both living in Yatesboro. My great-grandfather's brother, Calogero Palmeri, was the guardian for my great-grandmother (apparently, 19 was not of legal age in Pennsylvania to marry without permission). He was married to Barbara Giambrone, Maria's older sister. It lists my great-grandfather as a miner and my great-grandmother as a housekeeper.
They were married on 5 Nov 1910 in Yatesboro in St. Mary's Church. Salvatore Baglio (probably the brother-in-law of Angelo and Calogero's brother Peter) and Sam Iannello (probably the brother-in-law of Angelo and Calogero's brother Salvatore) were witnesses.
Unfortunately, my great-grandfather's name is misspelled Angelo Palmieri and my great-grandmother's name is misspelled Maria Giambroni. I guess I will be needing to do a court appearance in Pennsylvania sometime too. Ugh.
But it's so clear that they were illiterate. Note that they all signed the documents with an X. It says "his mark" and "her mark".
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marriage certificate for Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone
Dec 142011
Last week, I emailed several churches in Buffalo in order to find a record of marriage for my great-grandparents, Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone. NY State said they had no record, but they also said that marriage licenses were not required until a few years after my great-grandparents were married.
Today I received this wonderful email from someone at Holly Cross Church:
We received your request for a copy of your great grandparents, Angelo and Maria Palmeri’s, marriage certificate. You wrote that your great-grandparents were married around 1910. Our records begin in 1914, when our parish was founded, so your great-grandparents marriage record is not here.
I did some research. Our records show that your great-grandfather was buried from here. Having the date of death, I was able to find his death notice in the Buffalo Evening News. Then having the names of his siblings, which were listed in the death notice, I was able to find his listing on the 1910 U. S. Census. With this information, I located your great-grandparent’s marriage record. It was in Saint Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Yatesboro, Pennsylvania. I called the Saint Mary Mother of God parish office and told them to send a copy of the marriage certificate here. When we receive it, we will mail it to you.
Your great-grandparents were married on November 11, 1910.
I will also be contacting (again) the Armstrong County clerk to see if they have an official copy. Then I will need to get them apostilled.
Nov 202011
The mystery of where and when my great-grandparents were married continues.
Today I received a "NO RECORD CERTIFICATION" from the NY State Department of Health. No record of marriage was found for the period 1 Jan 1910 (before my great-grandmother immigrated) and 31 Dec 1911 (after my grandfather was born).
Next to do is see if I can search Buffalo records.
Next after that is to get a search and certification from Serradifalco (even though she lists herself as single on the immigration manifest).
Update 4 Dec 2011
I learned that before around 1915, an official marriage certificate was not required. So it's quite possible that my great-grandparents were married in the church without ever having obtained a marriage certificate. I have mailed Holy Angels and Holy Cross Roman Catholic Churches on the West Side of Buffalo to see if they could possibly search their church records for me.
Update 10 Dec 2011
One of the churches also suggested that I contact St. Joseph's and St. Anthony's in Buffalo. Both were founded in the 1800s. Particularly, St. Anthony's was the church for many Italian immigrants.
Update 14 Dec 2011
It turns out that my great-grandparents were married in Yatesboro, Pennsylvania.
NO RECORD CERTIFICATION
for Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone marriage
Oct 272011
This evening, I searched microfilm of birth records (Atti di Nascita) from Serradifalco and found my great-grandparents, Angelo Palmeri and Maria Giambrone.
Not only is this an interesting tidbit, but I needed to make sure that these records could be found in order to apply for dual citizenship. This at least proves that these records existed when the LDS church microfilmed the Serradifalco records.
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Angelo Palmeri, born 27 Jan 1886 in Serradifalco, Sicily
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Maria Giambrone, born 12 Apr 1890 in Serradifalco, Sicily