maiden name of Treasa Monasterolo (LCVG-MBN)
Hello! I am looking for the maiden name of a woman named Treasa (probably Teresa) married to Franck Monasterolo. I saw her on Census of 1910 and 1920 (Westmoreland County, Sewickley Township, Hemimie district) and in a Delayed birth record of 1943 (when she was already dead), on this last document her name is written as "Tereasa" and her son is declaring she was born in Marseille France approx. in 1883-1884, supposedly in a emigrated italian family. I cannot find any document in Familysearch files with her maiden name. Knowing it, I would try to continue the search of her ancestors in Italy where I live. I'm just wondering if someone, living in Westmoreland County PA, could have the chance to help me ....
Thank you in advance to anybody who will be so kind to answer me!
Roberto Elia
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@RobertoElia , the marriage license index for Westmoreland county is found here:
You can also find this database yourself by searching in the FamilySearch Catalog by the place name Pennsylvania, Westmoreland. Do not click on the link for the search box as you will not find it there. Click on the camera icon for the film titled Marriage license index Kifer, Geroge M. (continued)-N 1885- 1920
The index is a little complicated to figure out, but you can find Frank and Teresa on image #309. The index will give you the book and page number, which you can then look up to see the actual image of their marriage license.
If you have any problems or if we can answer other questions, please let us know!
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You gave me a very good advise. I was able to find very quickly the marriage license I needed! Thank you so much!
Experiencing your great competence in american genealogical documents, If possible, I have another question: when an immigrant came to live in America I often find his (her) details quite generic, for instance: "born in Italy". Is there some american registry where their exact place of birth (like shown on passport) is recorded? You know, italian births are collected based on the place of birth, the indication of the nation alone may not be enough to find a century old birth certificate. Something similar happens with american citizens too, On the Census lists oftern I found only: "born in Pennsylvania"
I will be grateful to you for any valuable advice!
Roberto Elia
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@RobertoElia On a personal note, my husband's family is Italian and we have done much research in the Caserta area of Campania. We visited there in 2005. It's good to hear from you and I hope you are able to find Teresa's ancestral town. Please come back and let us know what you find!
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I just barely received your last post. Yes, American records don't have as much information as Italian civil registrations. We often have to sleuth around to find additional details. Do you know when Teresa arrived in America? The 1920 census says 1893 but I was unable to find her on a passenger list, which would likely give her last place of residence. I will keep looking, but anything else you know about her would be helpful. Everything is a clue.
I'll be in touch.
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it's not so easy .... I still have some doubt about her real surname (the handwritten words on the marriage docket and on the index are not the same, I can guess she was a Giachetti but I'm not so sure). Another question: the number of the docket can bring to some other document?, on the other hand in a Delayed Birth Certificate of 1943 her son told she was born in Marseille, France (watch on sources at LCVG-MBN), but on Familysearch file I didn't find any subject that seems to be her ... We will see!
Thanks again for your important support😉
Roberto Elia
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@RobertoElia, I will try to make a trail for you to follow:
1) Death certificates for Pennsylvania are online at Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5164/
If you don't have a subscription you could access them at a Family History Center. Your closest one would be in Torino. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/it/Centro_di_Storia_Familiare_di_Torino1
As you might have guessed, Teresa's death certificate just has Italy as place of birth, but it provides birthdate of 16 June 1883. It also verifies that Elizabeth Gallo is her mother. You recall she is the person recorded on the marriage license as giving consent. However, the informant mistakenly gave the name of Teresa's husband's father, so Teresa's father's name is not found on the record.
Do a search for Elizabeth Gallo's death certificate. It shows she was married to Frank Vassia.
2) Censuses for Frank Vassia and Elizabeth are easily found on FamilySearch, as they also lived in Sewickley Township, Pennsylvania. In the 1910 census, the "2" by the M in the marriage column tells you it is Elizabeth's 2nd marriage. I assume her first marriage was to Teresa's father.
3) Search Ellis Island passenger lists for Elizabeth Vassia. https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1368704
Teresa traveled with her mother and siblings in 1893 from France. Alas, On that ship manifest, no birthplaces are given. However, you have great luck because Elizabeth and her family took a trip back to Italy in 1908. That record is a 2 page document so be sure to click on the 2nd page and read every column!
4) I'm sure you already know, but civil registration records for Italy are online at FamilySearch.
Happy hunting and I wish you well!
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Nola,
your advices are always very, very good. Thank you so much!
1) I don't have a subscription for Ancestry, so I will go to the FHC in Turin as soon as possible, anyhow I found her graveyard on Billiongraves, she died in 1930. Your suggestion to look for Ellis Island files it was great! In the 1893 list the surname of a young Teresa (10yrs) is very well written (Ciochetto), so we can be sure that the first husband of Elizabeth (and the father of Teresa) was a Ciochetto! The 2nd page of 1908 arrival was also very interesting because the last column tells us that Frank Vassia was born in Strambino (Torino), probably Elizabeth (and Teresa) came from there too. I already know that I can browse civil registration of Strambino and others towns around in the Canavese area at FamilySearch, so I will go right now to continue my investigation! browsing for Teresa's birth and for a Ciochetto-Gallo marriage!
In the end just a little curiosity: I was thinking that Teresa was born in 1884 (you found a more correct date: June 16th 1883, thanks...) but reading her marriage licence docket she declared to be born in 1881, may it be that, being only 16 yrs old on April 1st 1899, she tricked the clerk saying she was already an adult of 18 yrs old?
I will let you know how my search is going ....
Again thank you and God bless you!
Roberto
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Yes, I was thinking the same thing about the birth year in the marriage docket. She and her mother must have agreed to not be completely truthful! Please do report back on what you find in Strambino.
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Hi Nola,
I must apologize being so late but at least I did it!
I was finally able to find the birth record of Teresa Ciochetto (or Ciochetti, as written on the document). I found it in the records of the Diocesi di Torino (Catalog> Italy, Torino> Church records>Registri ecclesiastici della Diocesi di Torino). Reading these documents I can rebuild Teresa's unlucky life: she was born June 16th 1883 in Strambino, Torino, from Giacomo Ciochetti and Elisabetta Gallo but when she was born her fater was already dead for three months in La Ciotat, Marseille, France, where he probably had gone to look for a job. As a child Teresa grew up probably in France with her mother and when she was 5, her mother married again in France with Frank Vassia, a man from her homeland in Italy, Strambino. In 1893 Elisabetta Vassia probably joined her new husband in America with Teresa (aged 10) and two new childrens: Domenico (3yrs) and Maddalena (1yrs). Being a teenager we can assume that conflicts soon arose between Teresa and Frank Vassia, as a result, as soon as possible she married Frank Monstrola (another Piedmontese immigrant) at the tender age of 16 (declaring 18) to create her own family.
I assume that Teresa grew up in France because in the delaied birth certificate of Anthony Monstrola of 1943 her son wrongly declared she was born in Marseille,France. Probably the somewhat confused memory of a stay in France continued to remain in the family for the next generation.
It is truly extraordinary how the reading of a few, arid documents, can still transmit to us, after so many years, feelings of joy and sorrow, hopes and disappointments, which accompanied the life of our distant ancestors whose existence we did not even know before.!
with friendship,
Roberto
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