One of the typical problems that arises when you start doing genealogy is determining whether the person you have found is really the person you are looking for. For example, what if you are looking for “Emma Smith”, born in 1878, in New York City — if you don’t know her parents and you find someone matching this date and place, are you sure you have the right person? In this case, I was helping someone whose problem was even trickier — what if you find someone whose birth date and parents match, but their first and last names are different? How do you “prove” that someone changed their name?

The Problem

Let’s start with the problem as it was posed to me:

The first thing to do is to check which of this information is documented by a primary source and which is just hearsay. In my family, I was told my great-grandfather came from “Lingua Grossa” when I was little (although I may have just misheard it, this was from a 4th grade book report), and it turned out he was from “Linguaglossa”. In this case, we have:

• Joseph’s death certificate: His birth is listed as June 16, 1878, Palermo, with his parents as above. This is not nearly as accurate as a birth certificate; it is likely his birth date is correct, but his relatives may have listed “Palermo” even if his real birth place was actually a smaller town near Palermo.
• Maria’s death certificate: Her birth is listed as February 6, 1884, and lists her father as Vincent Di Maria.
• Maria’s Social Security application: Her birth is given as February 6, 1886, in Carini, and lists her mother as Rose Griola.

Preliminary Research

These days, the easiest way to search for leads on a family is through the web. I usually check the census first to learn a bit more about the family and substantiate their oral history. I have access to Ancestry and was able to substantiate some of the above information in the 1920 and 1930 census.

In the 1920 census:

Joseph is listed as 40 years old (birth is ~1880), he was born in Italy, his immigration date is 1903, and he’s a fruit and vegetable peddler. Maria is shown as 38 years old (birth is ~1882), she was born in Italy, and her immigration was in 1905. She has a daughter Mary who is 16 (~1904), born in Italy, and also emigrated in 1905. The other children — Nizzo (Ignazio), Vincent, Tony, Pino (Giuseppe), and Guido — match some of the known children.

In the 1930 census:

Joseph is listed as 54 years old (birth is ~1876), he was married at age 25 (~1901), he emigrated in 1909, and he is a fruit peddler. Maria is now 47 (birth is ~1883), and her immigration was in 1904. There are again many children listed — Vincent, Anthony, Joseph, Guido, Rose, Rosaline, and Francis. Their daughter Mary is listed with the last name of Sudano (?), is widowed at the age of 26 (birth is ~1904), married at age 18 (~1922), and emigrated in 1904.

For most Italian families, the next step is to look up their immigration records. Most Italians came through Ellis Island so it is the best place to start. I prefer using the one-step tool at JewishGen.

Here is where we get the most intriguing item — a manifest that lists Maria Di Maria and a daughter Maria La Perna arriving at Ellis Island in 1909:

This manifest shows Maria as 24 years old (birth ~1885) and her daughter Maria as 5 (birth ~1904) Her mother is Rosa Reilo (?) from Carini, and both Maria and her child are currently living in Rocamena. They are also shown as going to San Francisco. The second page of the manifest:

says the two are going to meet her husband Dionisio La Perna in San Francisco and that both passengers were born in Capaci, a larger town also near Palermo.

What’s interesting about this manifest is that the information for Maria and her daughter matches what we know about them in a few ways. The emigration date of 1904 for the both of them is the right year, their ages are correct, and Carini is the same town as listed in Maria’s Social Security application. What’s odd is that it lists her husband as Dinoisio La Perna, rather than Joseph Belli. Normally, I would say this rules this document out as identifying the right Maria Di Maria, especially with such a common name. However, a thorough search of the Ellis Island archives does not yield any other likely manifests for the family.

Locations

We have three possible locations for Joseph and Maria — Carini, Roccamena, and Capaci. Carini and Capaci are very close to Palermo:

Roccamena is farther inland and south of Palermo, near Camporeale:

Microfilm Records

Having identified these locations, the next step is to look through the microfilmed records for these towns. The Family History Library has records for nearly every town in Italy. I used their library catalog to locate some films in Carini as the first place to look, since this is the birth place listed on the Ellis Island manifest (I’ve found these to be surprisingly accurate).

Carini: Joseph and Maria’s marriage

I searched the Carini church records for a marriage between Joseph (Giuseppe) Belli and Maria Di Maria in FHL 2142061.

The only similar surname in this town is Bellia, and there were four Bellia marriages from 1897 - 1903, but none matched. There were also no La Perna marriages or Di Maria marriages that matched.

Carini: Maria’s birth

I searched the Carini civil records for Maria Di Maria’s birth in FHL 1915520.

I was able to find a birth record:

showing:

• Year: 1884
• Record Number: 63
• Date: 11 Feb 1884 (date it was recorded)
• Birth Date: 7 Feb 1884
• Child: Maria Di Maria
• Father: Vincenzo Di Maria, 45 years old, occupation villico (farmer)
• Mother: Rosa Grigoli

Maria’s parents’ first names match what is known about them, and her mother’s surname of Grigoli is similar to the Griola that was listed on Maria’s social security application. The birth date is very close to the February 6, 1884 listed on her death certificate.

The curious thing about this record is a notation in the margin indicating that Maria married Dionisio La Perna, of Camporeale, on 11 Oct 1901. The notation seems to indicate that this marriage occurred in Carini, but it is not listed there. Camporeale is near Carini in the province of Palermo.

I was not sure if this was the right person, so I checked for other Maria Di Maria births in Carini, but did not find a match from 1885 - 1887, and also in 1883.

Camporeale: Dionisio and Maria’s marriage

I searched Camporeale civil records for the marriage of Dionisio La Perna and Maria Di Maria in FHL 1963266.

I found the pubblicazioni (public notification) of the marriage:

showing:

• Year: 1901
• Record Number: 24
• Date: 22 September 1901 (date it was record for notification)
• Groom: Dionisio La Perna, 25 years old, occupation villico (farmer)
• Bride: Maria Di Maria, 17 years old
• Groom’s Parents - Ignazio (52) and Maria Loria
• Bride’s Parents - Vincent (deceased) and Rosa Grigoli

Based on the information from Joseph Belli’s death certificate, the parents of Dionisio La Perna are the same as the parents for Joseph Belli! This to me strongly indicates that they are the same person — at some time Joseph changed his name. I see no evidence of a Joseph or Giuseppe Belli/Bellia in Carini at this time.

Other dates shown on the record (one is probably the marriage date) include 6th of October and 10th of October. The record is sufficiently damaged that you can’t read what these dates are for.

Typically, the pubblicazioni indicates that the marriage is publicized in the town for three Sundays before the marriage date. The 22nd of September, 30th of September, and 6th of October were Sundays in 1901. I think the last date, the 10th of October, is the last day the notice was posted, so they probably got married shortly after this.

Camporeale: Their daughter Maria’s birth

I searched the same film for the birth record for Maria La Perna to verify that she was born to this couple. I found this birth record:

showing:

• Year: 1903
• Record Number: 192
• Date: 1 November 1903
• Child: Maria La Perna
• Father: Dionisio La Perna, 27, occupation villico (farmer)
• Mother: Maria Di Maria

Camporeale: Dionisio’s baptism

Finally, I searched the Camporeale Church records for Dionisio La Perna’s baptism record in FHL 2165352. I found this record:

showing:

• Year: 1876
• Record Number: 99, page 66
• Date: 22 June 1876
• Child: Dionisius la Perla
• Father: Ignatio La Perla
• Mother: Maria Lauria

Since the church records are in Latin, they use different spellings for first names and some last names. I also found that La Perla and La Perna have the same derivation, meaning “Pearl”.

Conclusions

I think we can conclude that Dionisio La Perna changed his name to Joseph Belli once he immigrated to America, because his parents match what is reported on his death certificate. The baptism date for Dionisio (22 June 1876) is similar to his claimed birthday (17 June) and off only two years from the year (1878) that was indicated on his death record. Furthermore, the birth date for Maria Di Maria (7 Feb 1884) is only one day off from her death certificate (6 Feb 1884), and it occurred in the same town (Carini) as listed on her death certificate. The clincher is the notation on her birth record saying that she married Dionisio La Perna.

There is a small chance that there really was a different Joseph or Giuseppe Belli from Palermo who married a different Maria Di Maria and that we haven’t found the right people. However, in this case I think there is strong evidence that Dionisio La Perna changed his name to Joseph Belli when he emigrated to America.