Or, citizenship by blood (descent). I have been asked many times if it is possible through the Pantoliano family.
The short answer is probably not, but this bears some explaining.
Giuseppe Pantoliano, his wife Maria Rosa Totaro and all their children (as well as his brothers and sisters) all emigrated to the US in the late 1870s early 1800s, and settled in Little Italy in NYC. Ultimately most of them moved to Hoboken. At some point they naturalized, becoming US citizens.
Before we get into it all, every variation of Jure Sanguinis depends upon whether the US born child was born BEFORE the parent naturalized. That’s how you claim Italian citizenship, because your ancestor was technically an Italian citizen when born. There are other rules when dealing with female ancestors but we’ll get to that.
So for anyone trying to get citizenship from Pasquale, Pietro, Anna Branda, or Maria Torra we have to prove that THEIR children were born before they naturalized. I have also learned that many people try to gain citizenship claiming the ancestor never naturalized because they cannot find the petition (most likely due to horrible misspellings of the name ~ which for Pantoliano is especially bad). That’s when the federal census comes into play.
Lets start with the Patriarch, Giuseppe Pantoliano. All my research suggests he naturalized in 1886, but I cannot prove it. The following petition was witnessed by Antonio Monaco (who MIGHT have been his son in law by his daughter Carminella).
Taken alone it could be nothing, but if you look at it along side this document, then you can make the connection that it probably IS Giuseppe due to the address, and the approximately correct birthday for Pasquale, his son.
Compelling but not definitive. If this is correct and Giuseppe naturalized in 1886, then all his minor children would inherit his citizenship. That would automatically disqualify Peter, Maria Torra and Anna Branda and their descendants.
Pasquale is exempt because he was 22 in 1886, but if the second document is correct, and he naturalized in 1884– that disqualifies all his descendants.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that these are not the correct Giuseppe & Pasquale and further that we are unable to produce any other documentation regarding citizenship. The embassy is not just going to take your word for it, they’ll do research of their own and the first thing the look at is the census.
Giuseppe is marked as naturalized in the 1900 census (na means naturalized, al is alien). Anna Branda is no longer a minor but there is no indication.
Both Pasquale and Peter are living in the same building in 1900, and both are marked as naturalized.
Giuseppe, Pasquale, and Peter are all marked as naturalized in every subsequent census, essentially disqualifying ALL their descendants. Making it even worse for Pasquale & Peter, their naturalization years appear on the 1920 census. So we can’t argue that children born before 1900 might qualify.
But the interesting thing to note is that their wives are not specifically marked as naturalized; just the adult men: like for Maria Torra.
If we look through the subsequent censuses only in 1920 are both Maria Monaco and Rosa Mastrangela indicated to be naturalized. Maria Monaco is listed as 1884, so that disqualifies Pasquale’s descendants on both sides.
That’s a slight glimmer for Rosa Mastrangela, but if she’d not been naturalized, it should have said ‘al’ for Alien.
I present this here just as advice, not as anything concrete because I cannot prove that Giuseppe naturalized in 1886 nor that Pasquale naturalized in 1884. I think the evidence is convincing, but that’s just me. If your closest relative was born after 1900, you are probably out of luck.
For what it’s worth, I find the evidence so convincing that I can’t go through the Pantolianos that I am pursuing citizenship through my great grandfather Battista d’Attilio who naturalized in 1924 with my grandmother being born in 1915.
And finally.
You have to be prepared to spend a LOT of $$ on records, corrections, translations, and apostille. This apart from the fee to meet with the consulate. If you’re going to try, BE SURE and also engage with a specialist/lawyer who can review the case in advance.
(But book your appointment with the consulate NOW, because, at least in MA, they’re booking 2 years in advance.)
Good luck, cugini. I’ll see you over there!
