The Genealogy of Torre le Nocelle, Italy: Petition For Naturalization: Alberto Ardolino

I never cease to be amazed at the amount of genealogical information available on the internet these days. While trolling Footnote for familiar Torre names I came across Albert Ardolino's Petition for Naturalization and Declaration of Intention. Images below - click to enlarge. Here are the details:

Petition For Naturalization #42934 U.S. District Court of MA at Boston Filed 26 July 1919
Name: Albert Ardolino
Address: 65 North Margin St. Boston MA
Occupation: Shoe Operative
Date of Birth: 2 August 1894 in Avellino, Italy
Emigration: 26 Nov 1896 - 15 January 1897 on board the California - Napoli to New York
Declaration of Intention: #63867 Filed 1 June 1917 in Boston MA
Wife: Regina V., born 20 July 1895 in Boston MA
Son: Ernesto, born 17 April 1913 in Boston MA
Daughter: Regina, born 8 February 1919 in Boston MA
Has resided continuously in MA from 15 January 1897 and in Boston from 22 January 1897.
Witness: James M. Devlin, ship fitter, residing in Charleston, MA
Witness: Generoso Caggiano, salesman, residing in East Boston, MA
Both have known Albert since 1910.
Signed: William H. Parker, Jr. Deputy Clerk

1919 Petition For Naturalization - Albert Ardolino

1917 Declaration of Intention

Alberto Ardolino was born in Torre on 1 August 1894 to Achille Ardolino (a shoemaker, whose father and grandfather were also both shoemakers) and Maria Carmina Cassano. I know, I know ... his Petition says he was born on 2 August ... but it's wrong. Below is his birth certificate from Torre:

#39 Filed 2 Agosto 1894
Name: Alberto Ardolino
Birth: 1 Agosto 1894 ad ore 11:10 PM, nella casa posta in Contrada Chiesa
Father: Achille Ardolino, 38, calzolaio
Mother: Maria Carmela Cassano, sua moglie
Witness: Paolo de Dominicis, 44, legale
Witness: Paolo Rotondi, 33, possidente
Sindaco Assessore: Achille Bevilacqua

1894 Torre Birth Act of Alberto Ardolino

Alberto's parents must have been fond of his name, as they used different variations of it for several of his older siblings. Children born to this couple were Emilia (1876), Ernesto (1879), Carmine (1882), Alfredo Alberto (1884), Alberico (1887), Silvia Alfonsina (1890), Silvia (1892), and Angiolina (1898).

From Albert's Petition we learn that he came to the U.S. on the vessel California in 1897. As it turns out, the actual year of arrival was 1898. Below is the original manifest that I found on Ancestry.com. As usual, you'll notice that there's a pack of other Torresi on the same ship.

Line 6: Nardo(ne), Giuseppe, age 41, married, laborer from Torre le Nocelle, going to cousin at 32 Prince St. Boston, MA, previously in the States from 1893-1897
Line 7: Maria, wife, age 41
Line 8: Erminia, age 4, daughter
Line 9: Principio Emilio, age 2, son (born as Pacifico Emilio)
Line 10: Frongillo, Maria Luisa, age 23, female, single, going to brother-in-law Emilio Bevilacqua in Boston
Line 11: Frongillo, Florinda, age 26, married, sister of Maria Luisa, going to husband Emilio Bevilacqua in Boston
Line 12: Frongillo (Bevilacqua), Carmine, age 1 1/4, son
Line 13: Colella, Carmina, age 18, single, servant from Torre le Nocelle, going to brother Orazio Colella in New York
Line 14: Cassano, Maria Carmela, age 41, married, housewife from Torre le Nocelle, going to son Ernesto and husband Achille Ardolino at 185 Friend St. Boston MA
Line 15: Silvia, age 4, daughter
Line 16: Alberto, age 2, son

1898 California Manifest

Also from his Petition (these things are a treasure trove of information), we learn that his wife Regina V. was born 20 July 1895 in Boston. So off we go to the FamilySearch.org site to see if we can find more information on Regina, which turns up a page from the 1912 Boston Marriage Index. Albert and Regina are on the fourth line up from the bottom.

Boston Marriage Index 1912 #3859

Groom: Albert Ardolino
Age: 21, born in Italy
Marriage: 1st
Address: 18 Thacher St. Boston MA
Occupation: Shoe maker
Father: Achille Ardolino
Mother: Carmela Cassano

Bride: Regina V. Sriebalus
Age: 18, born in Boston
Marriage: 1st
Address: 185 Broadway, Boston MA
Occupation: Shoe worker
Father: Joseph Sriebalus
Mother: Teoflia Kilmoseska

Date of Marriage: 10 July 1912
Ceremony Performed By: James Fraser, J.P., 508 Shawmut Ave

1912 Boston Marriage Index

Now back to Ancestry.com where from both the SSDI and the Florida Death Index we find that Albert died on 4 January 1981 in Sanford, Seminole County, Florida.