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.

Albert and Loretta Bongiovi's Gravestone Photograph

One of the more interesting web sites I have run across in my most recent dive into our family history is Find A Grave. I've known for a while that there are people, usually genealogists or historians, who's hobby is to visit cemeteries and index who is buried there. Find A Grave assists those folks by giving a place to compile that data, but also goes one step further by encouraging volunteers to take photographs of the gravestones and by encouraging users to set up "virtual cemeteries" of the burials they are interested in and to leave "virtual memorials" for those who have died.

In any case, back in February, I came across this site and found that Albert Bongiovi and his wife, Loretta Bongiovi, were listed in this database. Albert and Loretta are my Great-Grandparents and, in fact, Loretta was alive when I was growing up -- I have clear memories of her visits and visiting her apartment in Queens.

There was no new information in the Find A Grave entry -- I already knew both of their Birth and Death dates and that they were buried at Long Island National Cemetery. But, more out of curiosity than anything, I used a Find A Grave feature to request a photo. With this feature, you request a photo, it gets put on a list of requested photos that volunteers can then pull (based on whatever search criteria they want to use). The volunteers then go out to the cemetery, snap the photo, and upload it to the site.

Bottom line: someone (Find A Grave user Paul1957) fulfilled my request. Here are the photos of Albert and Loretta Bongiovi's gravestone he uploaded two days ago. (Note that you are seeing the front and back of the same gravestone in these two photos.)

Click here to visit the "virtual cemetery" I set up on Find-A-Grave to track our ancestors. (WARNING: there seems to be a lot of pop up adds on that site. I recommend you do not click anything inside those pop up ads to avoid getting spyware on your computer.)

Albert Bongiovi and Loretta Siggins Marriage Records

Today's mail brought Albert Bongiovi and Loretta Siggins' marriage records. Albert and Loretta are my great-grandparents (or Gabby and Sam's great-great-grandparents). I had a certificate transcribed by the church they were married in, but the transcription was done in 1964, 42 years after the marriage, which cannot be considered a reliable source for documenting the marriage. Today, New York City sent me three items:

1. An affidavit, filled out and signed by Albert and Loretta, which was required for them to obtain a marriage license. They signed this on 2 June 1922. It contains great info such as their birthplaces, occupations, residences, and parents name (including their mother's maiden names). Again, although almost none of this is new information, almost all of it can be considered well documented in my research files.








2. Their Marriage License, issued on 27 June 1922. This mostly repeats what they filled out on the affidavit.






3. Their Marriage Certificate, filed by the Priest and dated 12 July 1922, their marriage date. Not only does this document their marriage, but it gives the marriage witnesses (probably the best man and maid of honor) and the priest's name.

(Don't forget to click on the images to see the full size record).