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Yesterday I attended the funeral for my great aunt-she was nearly 97 and the last living member of her generation of the family. In talking with relatives afterwards we realized that some of us have bits and pieces of the family history, but not much more than that. One nagging question I have regards the fact that there was a name change in the mid 1940s and no one knows why. My mother's maiden name was "Leone." From what I can tell it's a relatively common Italian surname. However, it was legally changed to Leone by my great grandfather in 1946. I have found multiple spellings of the original name in various records (U.S. Census Data, Draft Registration, WWII enlistment records, etc...):
"Ciangagleone"
"Ciangagleoni"
"Ciancagleoni"
Searching "Ciangaglione" yields a WWI Draft Registration Card for my great grandfather, "Giovanni Ciangaglione:"
Quote:
Giovanni Ciangaglione, age 29, living at 292 N. Clinton St., Trenton, NJ, born March 24, 1888
Born Teramo, Italy, Declared intention to become citizen, has wife, 3 children, father, mother to support.
Family lore says that Giovanni (later known as John) immigrated to the U.S. in 1905, but I can find no record of a Giovanni Ciangaglione, Ciancaglione, or Ciangagleone ever coming through Ellis Island or through Philadelphia or other New York Ports. In fact, searching the spelling "Ciangaglione" (the spelling as it appears on the WWI draft registration card and all subsequent census documents until the change in 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940) yields no one ever immigrating to the United States with that name. In addition, in various records my great grandfather's birth year seems to vary from 1888 to 1889 and his year of immigration varies from 1905 to 1906.
What makes me really suspicious was something my cousin told me yesterday. She had been doing a genealogy project for school and interviewed my great aunt. In the course of the interview she asked why the name was changed. My great aunt simply said, "I don't talk about that..." When you really think about it, it makes little sense. In 1946 my grandfather would have been nearly 60 years old and in this country for nearly 40 years. His children were all in their 20s and 30s, and I even found the enlistment record for his son (my grandfather) under the old last name in 1943. I've heard many stories of immigrants anglicizing their names (my wife's great grandparents went from "Palma" to "Palmer" shortly after arriving in the U.S.), or names being misspelled or deliberately shortened by immigration personnel at ports of entry, but this doesn't fit any of those criteria. Another interesting bit of the story is that I have been told that my grandfather served in Italy during WWII and was able to connect with some relatives while on R&R. The name change occurred shortly after he returned to the U.S... Perhaps there was a falling out between the families? Maybe the relatives in the old country were Axis sympathizers?
Did my great grandfather come here illegally? Was he posing as someone else? Was he running from something in Italy? Or is this just a common snafu of inaccurate/inconsistent records compounded by an oddly timed name change? Anyone else run up against something like this? I have found that "Ciancaglione" is a common surname in the province of Teramo, Italy, but all of the records there that I find for "Giovanni Ciancaglione" were births between 1815 and 1830-my great grandfather was supposedly born in 1888. He died in 1959, which would have made him 71-I suppose it's possible that he could have been born earlier than 1888, but not much earlier, and besides, why am I not finding any immigration records for him? I'd be grateful for any guidance or suggestions anyone can give.
I don't know what the story is behind your ancestor, but in most cases, my rule is "don't assume malice for what stupidity or laziness can explain."
I have a few German and Swedish ancestors who came to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but there are no immigrations records online anywhere for them. But I know they got here, I know they lived out their lives here. So you need to assume that the records just didn't make it onto online records, or they are misfiled somewhere. No need to assume something shady happened or anything was deliberately concealed.
And with most of my ancestors, the recorded ages/birthdates vary by a year up or down, depending on the record you read. Same with immigrations dates.
I have a few German and Swedish ancestors who came to the US in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but there are no immigrations records online anywhere for them. But I know they got here, I know they lived out their lives here. So you need to assume that the records just didn't make it onto online records, or they are misfiled somewhere. No need to assume something shady happened or anything was deliberately concealed.
If not for the odd timing of the name change and the fact that my great aunt would not talk about it, I would simply chalk it up to records lost to time. Also, records for my great grandmothers' family are very easy to find. With a simple search I was able to find the ship's manifest with their names, place of origin, destination (right down to the street address), etc...and they came over in 1899. There are similar irregularities (dates are off, names mispelled slightly, etc...) but they show up in multiple places. "Giovanni Ciangaglione" doesn't seem to exist before 1917 or so when he registered for the WWI draft.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MaseMan
It could be that they changed it to Leone simply because it was much easier to pronounce and spell for native English speakers.
Again, a common explanation, but why did he wait until he had been here for 40 years?
I just checked Genealogybank, since I knew they had Trenton newspapers for that time period. No scandals so far, except a lady who couldn't pay her taxes during the Depression, and nearly lost her home.
Hits on "Ciangaglione", all in Trenton Evening Times:
21 Jul 1917 Giavonni Ciangaglione of 292 North Clinton Ave, selected for draft in a group of 765 Trenton men.
14 Aug 1930 Elina Ciangaglione, 435 Commonwealth Ave, house to be put up for sale for delinquent taxes (along with a large number of other Trenton properties)
9 Jan 1937 Auto accident, one driver was R. Robert Ciangaglione, judge dismissed actions filed by both parties.
4 Mar 1937 Elena Ciangaglione, 435 Commonwealth Ave, house sold for delinquent taxes, but looks like she bought it back herself. Must have paid the tax bill?
28 Mar 1943 Joseph R Ciangaglione, 705 Monmouth St, selected for the draft
23 Jan 1944 John Ciangaglione bought 901 Carteret Ave
Zero hits on the other 3 spellings.
Last edited by Tracysherm; 11-05-2013 at 01:01 PM..
I just found July 16, 1946, the newspaper notice of the legal name change of the whole family, listing every person who went from Ciangaglione to Leone. this didn't show up in the search for Ciangaglione I did earlier, but did show up for "Leone." The other name didn't make it through their indexing system.
If you don't have Genealogybank, I can take screenshots and e-mail them to you if you DM me your e-mail address.
I just checked Genealogybank, since I knew they had Trenton newspapers for that time period. No scandals so far, except a lady who couldn't pay her taxes during the Depression, and nearly lost her home.
Thanks! Is that a pay service? Are these taglines to articles or just short blurbs from a paper? Also, this seems to introduce another wrinkle-"Ciagaglione" is yet another new spelling. Maybe after 40 years they just got tired of it getting mangled?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
21 Jul 1917 Giavonni Ciagaglione of 292 North Clinton Ave, selected for draft in a group of 765 Trenton men.
This would seem to indicate that my great grandfather served in WWI. Never heard that. My grandfather and great uncles all served in WWII-they didn't talk about it, but it was common knowledge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
14 Aug 1930 Elina Ciagaglione, 435 Commonwealth Ave, house to be put up for sale for delinquent taxes (along with a large number of other Trenton properties)
This was my great grandmother. Her parents, Luigi and Maria, ran a boarding house beginning around the turn of the 20th century-I suppose maybe they had accumulated a lot of properties and passed them down to my great grandmother who couldn't keep up with the taxes/mortgages when the Depression hit? Supposedly Giovanni was a boarder and that's how he and Elena met.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
9 Jan 1937 Auto accident, one driver was R. Robert Ciagaglione, judge dismissed actions filed by both parties.
This would have been my uncle Bob-he was born in 1915 and would have been 22 at the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
4 Mar 1937 Elena Ciagaglione, 435 Commonwealth Ave, house sold for delinquent taxes, but looks like she bought it back herself. Must have paid the tax bill?
Maybe as the Depression wore on there was a lot more demand for boarding houses?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
28 Mar 1943 Joseph R Ciangaglione, 705 Monmouth St, selected for the draft
This also fits. My Uncle Joe fought in the Battle of Bulge. If he was drafted in March of '43 he would have been in Europe by June of '43 I believe. Also, the address seems to confirm another bit of family lore. My grandmother (Menell Donohue) and grandfather met because his family moved down the street from the house she grew up in, which was located at 709 Monmouth Street. She was born in that house and her and my grandfather both lived there for the rest of their lives.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
23 Jan 1944 John Ciagaglione bought 901 Carteret Ave
This is interesting. So there are two John Ciangagliones. One is Giovanni "John" Ciangaglione, my great grandfather, and one is John A. Ciangaglione, my grandfather, so it theoretically could have been either of them. This is 901 Carteret Avenue in Trenton today:
Even today that's known as a more desirable area of the city to live in and in 1944 it was where the real aristocracy of Trenton lived. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc... Everything I know of my great aunt's childhood was that they lived in constant poverty. It wasn't until after WWII that things began to get better for all of them. As far as I know my grandfather (John A.) was still in Europe in 1944. I can't imagine Giovanni Ciangaglione being able to afford a house like that in a neighborhood like that given that he had seven children all who remembered a childhood of poverty. The Trenton Library might have more information-now I'm really intrigued.
Sorry, I left out the "n" in my post above, but fixed it. No, nothing was under "Ciagaglione." It was all Ciangaglione.
Got it-thank you so much! I DM'ed you my address.
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When you really think about it, it makes little sense. In 1946 my grandfather would have been nearly 60 years old and in this country for nearly 40 years. His children were all in their 20s and 30s, and I even found the enlistment record for his son (my grandfather) under the old last name in 1943. I've heard many stories of immigrants anglicizing their names (my wife's great grandparents went from "Palma" to "Palmer" shortly after arriving in the U.S.), or names being misspelled or deliberately shortened by immigration personnel at ports of entry, but this doesn't fit any of those criteria. Another interesting bit of the story is that I have been told that my grandfather served in Italy during WWII and was able to connect with some relatives while on R&R. The name change occurred shortly after he returned to the U.S... Perhaps there was a falling out between the families? Maybe the relatives in the old country were Axis sympathizers? 
