National Archives Visit - The Saga Continues Since the first journey to the National Archives (NA), I have been back a few times. Friday, 6 June, I again got up early (03:30) and took the VRE train to Washington, DC. This is the first time that it hasn't rained. I arrived at the NA at 08:30, and there were already ten folks waiting. By the time 08:45 arrives (the time it opens), the waiting area filled up to about 25. Again, remember not to bring any originals, or if you do, you must declare them at the security desk. Also, they record the serial number of any personal electronic devices (computers, cell phones, etc). When you leave, they do check the serial numbers. 08:45 comes. The guard says you can go up. The crowd literally assaults the elevators, while the more seasoned ones go up the stairs (faster). Comically, I lag behind. Knowledge is power and I know that the last on gets off first. There is an elderly (notice I refrain from using old) women coming off the elevator who nearly gets pushed aside. She yells at another elderly woman "What's the matter, you can't wait for someone who has a real job?" Whoa! Folks have no respect for their elders anymore. What's worse, I was probably in the top 2 of the younger folks (I'm 42). I approach the reception desk at room 400. I ask for a workstation with an electrical outlet. Of course I have my notebook computer with me. I get station 55 and proceed to set up my daily camp. This morning, my goal is to locate any Cimorelli's on the soundex for the Port of New York. Also, I asked Giulio Salemme if he wanted any lookups done, since he is in Italy and does not have the access to the NA. For those that don't know Giulio, he has done a tremendous amount of research for PIE members. He also provided the addresses of the Churches, Archivi di Stato, and the Municipal Center addresses in the PIE databases. Today, I intend to repay his kindness. I also want to recheck the 1910 Census. I decide to first check the 1910 census. State and county organize this. I locate the cabinets that have the 1910 Census, locate the drawers that have New York, and Orange County. The rolls only have the county and the Enumeration Districts on them. I know that my ancestors settled in New Windsor/Newburgh, New York. I find 3 rolls for Orange County. I see me reeling through 3 rolls to find the correct town. Not so! Some wonderful person has written in ink, the names of the towns contained within. Newburgh and New Windsor are on the same roll. Great. These are 35mm rolls, and most are actually legible. I spin through New Windsor, but find no Cimorelli's. OK, let's try Newburgh. I get halfway through, and my eyes are turning to putty. I mark the spot, and will return. Time for a change. I check the 1920 Census, and find my GGF and GGM, with their son Anthony (my grandfather). He was the last born (1902) and is still living at home. He was 18 at the time of the Census. I also find my GGF's sons living in New Windsor and Newburgh. Lots of kids. OK, done with the Census research for today. Time for the nitty-gritty. 16mm time which means really strained eyes and the viewers at stations 65-67. These have a 30-minute limit on them. I first consult my computer, and run the soundex program, which generates the roll numbers, I need. I enter Cimorelli, and it generates: List of Rolls matching lastname: ( Cimorelli ) and the Soundex Code: ( C-564 ) Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1891--1957 Record Group 85 Roll Soundex1 First Name Soundex2 First name Filename 7 C-412 Adam D-165 Zsuzsa RG85BLT1 113 C-563 Carl C-600 Mary V. RG85NYK2 9 C-514 Mrs. Olive C-623 Jens RG85PHL1 93 C-563 C.G. C-600 Fililpo RG85SAL1 Records of the U.S. Customs Service, 1820--ca. 1891 Record group 36 Roll Lastname First Name Lastname First name Filename 28 Chr Clar RG36ATL1 41 Christie Clark D. RG36BOS1 5 Cahil Honora Claude Jean Baptiste RG36NOR1 16 Che Cla RG36NYK1 22 Cheth Clark M. RG36PHL1 Since I want the Port of New York, I go to the vault and locate Roll # 113 under 1902 - 1943, in the drawer with New York Ports. (For those techie geeks, I run a Toshiba Tecra notebook running W95 with the Front Page 97 Personal Web Server and a complete copy of the PIE website, so I have all the research tools at my finger tips). I thread the film and start the monotonous process of reeling through. I locate C564, and find a lot of variations of the name Cimorelli (Cimarelli, Cameralli, Cimmarella, ...) OK, since it is index by firstname and ascending age, I start transcribing the soundex card information into the computer. I knocked out a quick Microsoft Access database to look like the soundex card. 1904 - 1910 were some really active years. This was the Cimorelli exodus. OK, done with the Cimorelli's. Now for Giulio's request. He wanted Salemme's and Coschi. From the trusty Tecra comes forth S450 and C200. I locate the index for Salemme and find quite a few spellings of that name. He wanted Giacomo, Giovanni, and Erasma. I find quite a few and record these. I then locate the lastname index and find a couple in the early years. There are none in the 1820-1846 index. Coschi is a different story. There is only one in the 1897-1902. The C200 has 3 rolls. UGH! 83 C-162 Gerardo C-200 Arthur RG85NYK2 84 C-200 Arthur C-200 Maria RG85NYK2 85 C-200 Maria C-220 Antonio RG85NYK2 Sorry Giulio, I need some first names. What's nice about the NA, is they have the Filby Passenger List Indexes, the Italians to America series (1st 5 volumes), the Morton Allan Steamship Directory, and another neat book, The Atlantic Liners, by Frederick Emmons. This last book has a short history about many liners, and some pictures. If I can read a partial of the shipname off the soundex card, I can go to these 2 books and find the correct name. ** NOTE - Paper copies are still free. The folks at the desk say anyone can print all they want, as long as there are not folks waiting. If so, limit of three and back in line. Well, another day goes by at the NA. It's time for some of those great street hot dogs with chili, cheese, and onions. As I finish my hot dogs, I notice the Navy gathering at the US Navy Memorial, just across the street from the NA. Today is the anniversary of D-Day. I stand as the colors are presented and the hair on my neck rises to the strains of the Star-Spangled Banner. What a great way to end the day. Only thing better would be if they were Marines. Back to Union Station and the VRE. But wait! My monthly VRE ticket allows me to take the Amtrak trains also. I catch Amtrak Train 95 to Fredericksburg, VA. This is much better than the VRE cattle cars. This train has airline type seats, which have trays in the back. Down it comes, out comes the notebook, and I proceed to type this saga. An hour later I am back in Fredericksburg. Semper Fi, Tony //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //// //// //// Tony Cimorelli cimorelt@cimorelli.com //// //// //// //// Researching Cimorelli/Zerlenga - Isernia(MO) //// //// Scotto D'Abbusca - Monte di Procida (NA) //// //// Scarselli, Iannone, Mazzarelli //// //// http://www.cimorelli.com //// //// http://208.249.158.172/pie/piesani.htm //// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////