Friday, March 4, 2016

Vincenza's Ship Record

We had a nice family party last weekend and the topic of of our family story came up.   I was sharing my tree documents and got some new insight that has helped me to feel confident that I have the correct ship record for my great grandmother, Vincenza Fontana. In the below image,Vincenza is listed on line 19.  The date of the ships' arrival is January 20, 1921.  The name of the Ship is the Dante Alighieri. She is listed as 19 years old, female, single. Her occupation is listed as Housewife, then that is crossed out and something is written in cursive above it. I cannot figure out what it says - here is an image - perhaps one of my reader's will know what this says:

This record states that she is from Camporeale and that her nearest relative in Italy is her mother, Rosalia, who is in Camporeale. While viewing this document, I learned that my father's cousin Rosalie was named after Vincenza's mother.  Vincenza approached her mother and father and asked them to name her after her mother. This helped me confirm that the record belongs to my great grandmother. We also learn from the document that she is heading to Rockford, Ill.   3 of her children were born in Rockford, Illinois, so this is an obvious connection.

This is the back of the document: It states that she is had $40 in her possession, and that she was heading to Rockford, Illinois to meet her father, Fontana, at 665 Court St, Rockford, IL. Her place of birth is Camporeale, Italy and she is in good health with no physical or mental defects.


The Dante Alighieri
An image of the Passenger Ship, Dante Alighieri

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