Molly and Me--Ready for an Adventure

And we're off! 

Molly is my car. She's a Malibu and she is all set and ready to go. She's all packed up, ready for our morning adventure. 

Our first stop is the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Some people find it odd that some county library in the midwest would have incredible holdings of genealogy. There was a generous benefactor who was a genealogist and cared deeply about it. His legacy is this amazing free resource. I have an appointment with a genealogy librarian at 10am on Monday, who I have prepared with a research question and as much information I have on this person and what I hope to find. I will spend 2 days (10am-8pm) in the library and I'm excited!!

The Practice Run

My practice run to the Westchester County Archives last Wednesday went well and I learned some things.

And also *think* that I found the Naturalization Records to my great-grandfather, Emanuel Anthony Mazziotti. The reason that I say *think* is that there is some conflicting information that raises more questions!! (I'm learning that this may be a theme).

If this is him, he was naturalized on August 3, 1901. It didn't provide a street address for where he was living, just "North Tarrytown", which is likely to be Pocantico Hills, where Kykuit (Rockefeller's Estate) is where I believe he was working at the time. It was amazing to be holding the actual original paperwork that my great-grandfather held in his hands and signed his name! It's hard to tell from the photos but the naturalization paperwork is folded in half and then folded into fourths. I almost missed that it had been folded in half and that there was an inside to it!! The length of the paper when folded in half was approximately 8.5" x 14".

The Outside of the Naturalization Petition

 I learned also that this is a "Minor Alien" petition. These were issued for anyone under the age of 21 when they first arrived to the country. (Naturalization Act of 1906 changed rules and also the forms. They became more specific and included the ship name and other family members.) 

One of the reasons that I am doubting if this is my Emanuel Mazziotti (beside the name of Mazziotta) is that he had to have been in the country continuously five years from the time of first arrival before this petition.

The "Back" side of the Naturalization Paperwork

We have "evidence" that suggests that he was in the Italian Calvary from 1894-1897. And I know that he arrived in 1900 on the Tartar Prince.

So there are 3 possibilities:

The "Inside" Top

1. This is not my Emanuel Mazziotti
2. Our evidence is wrong and the time frame must have been different about when he was in the Italian Calvary
3. He mis-identified when he arrived.

While it is possible that this is not my Emanuel, his witness was an Antonio/Antonino Farfalla. In 1910, there was an Antonio Farfalla living with my great-grandfather and he was his brother-in-law.

In talking with the archivist and sharing my conundrum, she said that it was not unheard of at the time that if they had a "sponsor" that that person would help along the naturalization process. In those cases, sometimes people would lie about the date they arrived to move along the process.

Both my daughter and I searched and search the ship's manifests for the date he said he arrived and we didn't find a Mazziotti (or any permutation of the name) who arrived that day or in the following week. 

At this point, my hypothesis is that this is my great-grandfather and lied (gasp) about the date he arrived. But, I have more to investigate and will withhold complete judgment until I do.

Meanwhile, I'm happy with what I learned about archival research at the archives (mechanical pencils are NOT okay!) and also with a second page to his marriage record. (Note the spelling of his name and I *know* this is my great-grandparents' marriage record.)

The "Inside" Bottom

What's Next?

My first brick wall! I'm going to do a thorough search at the ACPL on Henry Edward Leach. Looking forward to seeing what I learn and what paths it may take me on!