1930 US Census

In my quest to find a census record for Viola and Jennie Mannino, I have been unsuccessful searching by name.  I did find two city directory listings for Viola and Jennie in Rockford, Illinois. In 1929 the city directory indicates that they lived at 722 Houghton St and works for the E-B Co., and in 1930 the city directory indicates that they lived at 1332 S. Main Street in Rockford, Illinois and occupation was bench lab at E-B corp.

On Ancestry.com there is a feature to browse census records by location.  So, I decided to browse the 1930 Census records in Rockford, Illinois.  The records are divided up by sections called "Enumeration Districts". I wasnt sure how to easily find out which enumeration district these two addresses were in, but on ancestry.com they list all of the enumeration districts for ROckford, Illinois and have a description including the street boundaries to the north, south, east and west so I typed the addresses into google maps and found several possible enumeration districts for each address and then looked through every page of census records for those districts.  I searched through districts 37, 38 and 39. I found a record for 1332 S. Main Street and there were different people living there as of the time of the census, which would have been April 1930.  I found records for Houghton Street, however 722 Houghton Street is missing from the records. At the moment it seems they were simply missed by the census taker.

Below are the City directories - I had to make them large - you may have to scroll right and left to view the names. In the first record from 1929, look on the left page, left column and in the 2nd record from 1930 look on the right page, right column.

I am curious to find out what the E-B corporation was? I did a quick search and found information about a company called Emerson Brantingham Implement Company which manufactured farm machinery. The only issue I see is that it was sold in 1929 - but perhaps the 1930 directory was still referring to "E-B Co" out of familiarity??

Look on left page, left column for Mannina, Viola

Look on right page, right column for Manina, Violle

Angelo Mannino Birth Record

I recently renewed my ancestry.com membership (thank you, Dad!) and I had been a bit stuck in finding records. The main issue is the many ways that our last name has been transcribed onto records, I have found Mannina, Mammima, Mannino, and now the latest - Menini.
Most likely the reason was a language barrier. My great-grandparents were speaking English as a second language and likely had no formal training in English and were likely unable to read or write and so there are many interpretations of the name.

Well, thanks to ancestry.com's search engines which search for names that "sound like" Mannino, I finally had a hit on my grandfather's birth record from the Winnebago County Vital Records collection.  The name "Angelo Menini" but the birthdate fit and I know he was born in Rockford, Illinois, so I went ahead and purchased the certificate.

Bingo! I finally have it.  The parents were listed as Viola Menini and Jennie Fontano. I will attach the image below. From this find, I learn a new bit of history - at the time of Angelo's birth, they lived at 424 S. Horsman, Rockford, Il- When I look on google maps there is no South Horsman Street - there is a North Horsman Street and a "Short Horsman Street" - I cannot find a house at "424" on either but Short Horsman Street appears as though there used to be lots there - so maybe buildings were torn down?

Birth Record Found

Today I decided to do a search on the Winnebago County Genealogy Online website with the last name "Mannina" for the years 1923 - 1926 and see what came up.  A birth record for "Vincenza Mannina" resulted so I decided to buy it because I had a hunch it had to be somehow related to our family.  The record number is 3540156.  Here is the record:    The transcription of the record:  Transcription of text in document State of Illinois Department of Public Health Division of Vital Statistics County Clerk's Record Certificate of Birth Registered No. 1003 1. Place of Birth County of Winnebago, City of Rockford, Street and Number, No 910 Cedar St. Registration Dist. No 943 Primary Dist. No 3744 2. FULL NAME OF CHILD Vincenza Mannina 3. Sex of Child Male 6. Legitimate? Yes 7. Date of Birth Jul 1, 1923 8. Father FULL NAME Viola Mannina 9. Residence 910 Cedar St. 10. Color White 11. Age at last birthday 29 years 12. Birthplace Sicilia, Italy 13. Occupation Laborer 14. Mother's FULL MAIDEN NAME Vincenza Fontana 15. Residence 810 Cedar St. 16. COLOR White 17. Age at last Birthday 21 years 18. BIRTHPLACE Sicilia, Italy 19. OCCUPATION housewife 20, Number of Children of this mother a) born alive and now living 2 WHAT TREATMENT WAS GIVEN CHILD's EYES AT BIRTH? Silver Nitrate 21. Certificate of Attending Physician or Midwife I hereby cerify that I attended the birth of this child, who was born alive at 5pm on the date above stated 22. Signature Annette Buffo (Physician or Midwife) Address 314 Kent St Telephone 2886 24. Filed 10-1-23 NO Gunderson MD Registrat Rockford, Illinois I believe that the record is the birth record of their son James Vincent Mannino, and there was a language barrier so the child's name was incorrectly written as Vincenza.  The rest of the information is definitely the right people and the birthdate matches up.  They were living at 910 Cedar Street in Rockford, Il.

Viola turns up!

A breakthrough at last, I believe. I found a "Declaration of Intent" for Violla Maninna from, of all places..... ALABAMA?!?  Sounds weird and unlikely - however - year of birth jives with other records,  his name was Viola in the 1940 census(see last entry) AND I found a birth record  for his son, Michael Mannino, and the last name on his signature looks  like the signature on his World War II Draft Registration card.

On the Alabama record, the birthdate is listed as Dec 19, 1893.  On the World War II draft registration is Dec 19, 1894.   One year off - but in those days people weren't always sure of their birth year - OR perhaps it was all part of the name change.  I'm not sure what year he dropped Viola, and took on Gregorio but it happened while he was living in Brooklyn.

So much is learned from this document.  TOWN of birth Salaparutta, Italy.  This is so helpful. My next step is to attempt to find a birth record from Salaparutta.  We have the birth date of December 19, 1893.  December 19th is consistent with the World War II draft card as mentioned above.  We have a ship name and date! Vessel was "Prince" which sailed from Palermo, Italy and arrived at the Port of New York on November 30, 1913.  This is another next step - to find a passenger list from this ship.

I also found a World War I draft registration card

This document has the same birthdate as the Declaration of Intent and spells his name "violla maninna" - the signature, to me looks similar to the other documents.  This registration was dated 1917 and he was living in Elmhurst, Illinois.  The town in Italy is listed as Palaparutta - which does not exist - so it is a misspelling of Salaparutta, which was the town listed in the Declaration of Intent. 

The finding of these documents shows me that my initial finding of the ship record below was not my great grandfather.  The information on the new documents is more consistent with the stories that I have heard about him. We know for a fact that he lived in Illinois, so the draft registration from Illinois makes sense.  I didnt know anything about him living in Alabama, however I am now curious to see if I can learn anything more about that. Perhaps he was looking for the man who killed his father?  The Alabama document is from 1919. 

So the revised timeline is 1913 - he arrived at NY Harbor
1917 he was living in Elmhurst, Illinois
1919 he was living in Ensley, Alabama
1922 his firstborn son, Anthony was born in Iowa
1927 His son Michael was born in Rockford, Illinois (birth record found with address of 722 Houghton, Rockford, Illinois )

Transcription of Birth Record:

State of Illinois, Department of Health, Division of Vital Statistics, County Clerks Record
Place of Birth
County of Winnebago, Registration District No. 943
Rockford, Primary District 3744

Certificate of Birth
Registered No. 661
St. Anthony Hospital

2. Full Name of Child: Michael Mannino
3. Sex of Child: Male
6. Legitimate? Yes
7. Date of Birth: April 20, 1927
8. Father Full Name: Veola Mannino
9. Residence: 722 Houghton
10. Color: White 11. Age at last birthday: 35
12: Birthplace: Italy
13. Occupation: Laborer
14. Mother Full Maiden Name: Virginia Pontana
15. Residence: Same
16. Color: White 17. Age at last Birthday: 25
18. Birthplace: Italy
19: Occupation: Housewife
20: Number of Children of this mother (taken as of time of birth of herein certified child and including this child) a)born alive and now living: 4 b)born alive but now dead: 0 c) stillborn 0

What treatment was given child's eyes at birth: Credes
21. Certificate of Attending Physician or Midwife
I hereby certify that I attended the birth of this child, who was born alive at 12:35PM on the date above stated.
22. Signature: R.M. Bissekumer

Questions that have arisen:

Where did he meet his wife? Where and when were they married? In 1919 he is listed as single on the Declaration of Intent.  How did they end up in Iowa? I hope to find a birth record for Anthony, James, and Angelo.  And I hope to find a passenger list for the ship that arrived on Nov 30, 1913 in NY Harbor. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new documents.