Guiseppe "Joseph" and Angeline (nee Guardino) Bongiovi Family Group (1850s-1970s)

Overview

Francis Bongiovi, Angeline (nee Guardino) Bongiovi, and Lillian (nee Bongiovi) Easton  (Source)

Joseph and Angeline Bongiovi are my Great-Great Grandparents. Specifically, they are my paternal Grandfather's Grandparents. Their son Albert married Loretta Siggins. Albert and Loretta's son, Albert Robert "Bob" Bongiovi is my Grandfather.

Joseph and Angeline were born in Italy, probably in 1851 and 1862, respectively. The immigrated to the United States with their son Guiseppe or Joseph in 1890 and settled in Brooklyn, New York by 1900. They may have had up to six children. Joseph died on 19 February 1912 while Angeline died on 24 September 1950.

This couple has always had a special interest for me as an American. They immigrated in 1890. Their son was drafted in World War I, although the war ended before he finished training. Their Grandson served as a medic in the Army in World War II, participating in the invasion of Italy and earning a purple heart. Angeline would have seen him go off to war and return. Their Great-Grandson, who Angeline would have met since he was born 3 years before she died, retired as a Major General in the U.S. Air Force, helping develop some of the key systems that led to the end of the cold war. In addition, their children married Germans, Italians, and Irish. Their family exemplifies an American Melting Pot family.

Angeline Guardino (later Bongiovi) (Source)

Angeline Bongiovi (Source)

Angeline Bongiovi (Source)

Family Group

Guiseppe (also known as Joseph) Bongiovi
b. Oct 1851 in Italy
d., 19 Feb 1912, probably in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York
Married Angeline Bongiovi, probably between 1884 and 1886 in Italy
b. 2 Mar 1862 in Italy
d. 24 Sep 1950, at home at 86 New Jersey Avenue, Kings County, New York

1. Giuseppe Bongiovi

b. 1888 or 1889 in Italy

d. Probably before 1900, possibly from kick to the head by a horse

2. Lillian Bongiovi

b. May 1891 in New York

m. between 1910 and 1915 to Charles Easton

d. 14 July 1966

Albert Bongiovi in about 1960

3. Albert Bongiovi

b. 20 September 1894 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

m. 12 July 1922 to Loretta Siggins at Our Lady of Lourdes, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

d. 9 October 1964 at Lutheran Hospital, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

4. Francis Bongiovi

b. August 1895 in New York

5. Josephine Bongiovi

b. April 1898 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

m. 12 November 1918 to Nicholas Fabrizio at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

d. 3 August 1975

6. Martin Bongiovi

b. 1907 or 1908 in New York

History

Giuseppe or Joseph Bongiovi was born in Italy in 1851. He immigrated to the United States with his wife Angeline Guardino and their son Guiseppe arriving 30 July 1890 on the S.S. Iniziativa. They appear to have quickly settled in Brooklyn, New York where they sent the rest of their lives. Guiseppe was a cobbler or shoemaker. Not much is known about him. He died in 1912 at about 60 years old.

Angeline survived her husband by 38 years, living to be about 88 year old before her death in 1950. Like her husband, I don't know much about Angeline. My Grandfather once told me she never learned English. He said she would sit at the window of her apartment on New Jersey Avenue and what them play.

Angeline and her husband are buried at Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York. They are buried with what appears to be Angeline's Mother, Francis Guardino, and her sister, Mary Santangelo.

It does not appear that Guiseppe or Angeline ever became U.S. Citizens.

Interesting Finds

• A person who is related somehow through the Guardino line had photos of Angeline, but none of Giuseppe. If you have an Ancestry subscription, you can view the photos here.
• Giuseppe and Angeline appears to have lived in the same place for at least 22 years. They lived at 2037 Pitkin Ave from before the 1900 U.S. Census until after their son, Albert, was married in 1922.
• Martin Bongiovi appears as a son in the 1910 U.S. Census. There is no other record of him. Census have been known to have errors, so this may be inaccurate data.

Things Left To Do

• I've been unable to locate Giuseppe's death records
• I need to locate both Giuseppe and Angeline's birth records
• I need to figure out what happened to Giuseppe, Jr, Martin and Francis Bongiovi.

Angelina Bongiovi's Death Certificate

Today's mail brought a death certificate I ordered at the end of January, the death certificate for my Great-Great Grandmother Angelina (Gaurdino) Bongiovi, who died in 1950. It does extend my known family history one generation by giving the names of her parents: Albert Gaudino and Frances Crafanzano. I also now knowwhere she is buried: Calvary Cemetery in Queens. Angelina is one of my "at the shore" ancestors -- she immigrated to the United States with her husband Guiseppe Bongiovi in 1890.

Found the Bongiovi's in 1900

I took on finding my great grandfather and his parents in the 1900 census last night. Once again, a simple Ancestry.com search for "Albert Bongiovi" or his parents Giuseppe (Joseph) or Angelina (Angela) did not return anything. So, much like my 1910 search, I decided to see if they were listed at the same address.

Once again, I turned to the excellent Brooklyn Genealogy web site I found. Particularly useful was this map of Ward 26 and this list of the 1900 census enumeration districts.

After a few turns of Ancestry's online images for enumeration district 457, I had them: Joseph Bongiove, his wife Angela, and four of their children (Josephine, Lilly, Francis, and Albert). Here's the detail from the image.



This is the part I like about family history research -- locating your ancestors in the distant past!

Got 'em!

As I was preparing for my trip to New York, I was reminded that my trail back to my Great-Grandfather, Albert Bongiovi, and his parents, Giuseppe (Joseph) Bongiovi and Angelina Guardino skips about 30 years from the 1920 U.S. Census and Albert's WW I draft and enlistment records back to 1890, when his parents arrived in America (as I discuss in this link).

I remember, back in the day, doing a Soundex search in the 1910 census, but no luck. With my new fangled Ancestry.com account, I tried to search the 1910 U.S. census, but again, no Giuseppe, Angelina, or Albert. They all should have been alive and should have been together.

So, I decided to take the dive into a manual scan of the census images on Ancestry. But, as they lived in Brooklyn, NY, I thought it might be a big project. Luckily, I had a flash of brilliance (or just common sense) and decided to start at the address listed in Albert's World War I documents and in the 1920 Census (where Albert is living alone with his mother Angelina). A quick google search turned up this site, that returns the Enumeration District given a set of cross streets. Unfortunately, my 1899 map of Brooklyn was not very easy to read and some of the road names have changed, so my first attempt was a few blocks to the east of the address I was looking for. But, I found what looks to be a great Brooklyn Genealogy site that had some better maps. With a better set of cross streets, I went right to ED 756 and very quickly found them at the same address!

What happened that they weren't indexed? Well, they were listed as Bonheor instead of Bongiovi (see the clipping below). But, the similarities are too great: Joseph (Giuseppe), Lena (Angelina), and Albert all living at the same address as in 1917 and 1920, with the correct birth years and immigration year. As an added bonus, found 4 new siblings (or my Great-Great-Great Aunts and Uncles) that I can discuss with my Grandfather. Now, I wouldn't call this a slam dunk source, but it sure helps me find some!

Also, I found something else out: using the same techniques I used in the small towns of Wisconsin when researching my wife's family works in the "big city" of Brooklyn. What a great lesson!

Found another trail to the shore...

My goal is to trace back to the immigration point for all of my family's branches. I found one more this week! By using Ancestry.com's New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, I found my great-great grandfather and grandmother's entry in the passenger list for the S/S Iniziative, travelling from Italy (Naples and Palermo) to New York, arriving 30 Jul 1890. They were travelling with a son as well (a new great-great-great uncle!). Very lucky - the entry was on a very clear part of the page!