What the public records say about our family's Italian citizenship, with the records themselves. Gathered from free archives in October 2026 for Sandra, Stephen and Tom, and for everyone who comes after them.
Stefano Bonina (born Milazzo, Sicily, 1865) came to Brooklyn in 1900 and, as far as four of five records show, stayed an Italian citizen until he died in 1948 Q1. That makes Papa Petey (born Brooklyn 1909) and Papa (born Brooklyn 1935) Italian citizens by birth, under the old rules and the new.
On Nana's side, Giuseppe Lisuzzo of Lascari was an Italian subject in 1906 and was living back in Lascari in 1924. His son, born in Manhattan in 1901, was admitted home as a US citizen in 1924 and married Santa Cesare in Lascari in 1926. Italy's own papers treat the son as Italian: his birth was entered in the Lascari register in 1912, he served in the Carabinieri from 1920 to 1923, and he came back to America on an Italian passport. His father died in Lascari in 1941, still a Lascari farmer, so on the day Nana was born in New York in 1932 she had a grandfather who was only Italian: she meets the 2025 law's test in her own right Q6.
Under Italy's 2025 law, none of this passes by descent to Sandra, Stephen or Tom, or to any of the grandchildren: their parents and grandparents were born in America, so they were never "exclusively Italian".
It does open the two-years-of-residence route: a foreigner whose parent or grandparent was an Italian citizen by birth can naturalize after two years of legal residence in Italy. That fits the three siblings through their parents, and the grandchildren through Papa and Nana.
The 2025 law is before the EU Court of Justice. If it is reversed (decision expected late 2027 or 2028), both lines qualify by descent all the way down. The records on this page are the start of that file.
Until March 2025 Italy recognized citizenship by descent with no limit on generations: you only had to show an unbroken line from an Italian-born ancestor, with nobody in the line having naturalized elsewhere before the next child was born. Decree-law 36/2025, converted into Law 74/2025, added article 3-bis: a person born outside Italy who holds another citizenship is treated as never having been Italian, unless an exception applies. The exception that matters for families like ours: a parent or grandparent held exclusively Italian citizenship on the day the person was born (or on the day that ancestor died, if earlier).
Italy's Constitutional Court upheld the law in March 2026. In July 2026 it asked the EU Court of Justice whether taking citizenship away retroactively is compatible with EU law (case C-816/26). Until that court rules, the law applies in full. Separately, the law cut the residence requirement for naturalization from three years to two for anyone with a parent or grandparent who "is or was a citizen by birth", and since late 2025 descendants of Italians from the United States can get a work visa outside the annual quotas.
The two things a consulate or court asks for are the same under both sets of rules: civil records for every link in the chain (birth, marriage, death), and proof of whether the Italian-born ancestor ever naturalized abroad. That is what the records below are for.
From Milazzo, on the north coast of Sicily near Messina, to Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. Each step below is backed by a record on this page unless marked otherwise.
Giovanni is "proprietario", a landowner, on Stefano's birth act.
Married in Milazzo on 5 June 1894. Arrived in New York in September 1900 with Ida and Frances; Jennie, John and Peter were born in Brooklyn. A machine cutter in a clothing factory in 1910; retired by 1920, widowed, at 187 4th Avenue; later with Peter's family at 1219 72nd Street, where he died.
Married in Brooklyn on 25 June 1933 (family record; the certificate has not been found yet Q3). Peter sold cosmetics wholesale. Witness, with Angelina, at his brother John's wedding in 1931.
Four years old on the 1940 census, in the same apartment as his grandfather Stefano.
Gianni, Papa's second cousin in Milan (his grandmother Elvira was Stefano's sister), compiled this descendant chart; Papa worked on it with him in 2002. It runs from Antonino Bonina, born in Milazzo in 1635, down to our generation. The 2002 edition is shown cropped at the generation of Papa Petey and his brothers and sisters; the full chart names living relatives and is kept in the family. The dates on it are family research, not records, and so far the records agree with it.
Gianni's files reached us on 9 October 2026, through Mom Q10: the chart in its 2002 edition, which carries two photographs, and its 2016 edition in nine sheets, of which the five ancestor sheets are below (the others name living relatives). Also on the disk: Gianni's photograph of the 1837 burial entry of Stefano's grandfather Nicolò, and the Lisuzzo papers now in the records section.
Sheet 1: Antonino Bonina, born 1635, to Pietro and Rosaria Aricò, married 1793
Sheet 2: Nicolò (1794–1837); Stefano, Natala and their daughters
Sheet 4: Pietro and Anna Oliva's children, 1765–1778
Sheet 5: Giovanni (1825–1907); Jenny and John
Sheet 8: Giovanni's daughters and their lines; Papa Petey and Grandma JeanEverything on the Bonina side rests on one fact: that Stefano never became an American citizen. Five records speak to it.
| Year | Record | What it says | Who gave the answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910 | Federal census | "Al", alien | Someone in the household |
| 1920 | Federal census | "Al", alien | Someone in the household |
| 1925 | New York state census | "Nationality: Italy" | Someone in the household (index only; the image is on Ancestry Q5) |
| 1940 | Federal census | "NA", naturalized | Grandma Jean (marked with the circled X). She also gave his age as 60; he was 74. |
| 1948 | Death certificate | "Citizen of Italy at time of death" | Papa Petey, his son, who lived with him |
Four records against one, and the one is a daughter-in-law's answer about a man whose own son said the opposite eight years later. But a census answer is not proof either way. Two things would settle it:
What hangs on it: whether Papa counts as "Italian by birth" under the 2025 law, which is what the grandchildren's residence route rests on. It does not affect Sandra, Stephen and Tom: their grandfather Papa Petey was born while Stefano was certainly still an alien.
From Lascari, a village on the coast between Palermo and Cefalù, to James Street in lower Manhattan, back to Lascari, and then to Albany. This side only came into focus in October 2026, and it turns out to be as strong as the Bonina side.
Married in Lascari on 5 November 1892: he a farmer of 25, she 18. In New York from 1899 to 1905, living at 56 James Street in 1901. Took the family back to Lascari, and came over again alone in June 1906, recorded as an Italian subject. In Lascari in September 1912, having his son's New York birth entered in the town's own register, and home in Lascari by March 1905, when he registered his daughter Rosalia's birth, and still there in 1924, when his son named him as next of kin. A farmer, with olives and wheat, by Nana's account; the son of Antonio Lisuzzo and Rosalia Polizzotto. He died at home on via Regina Margherita on 9 January 1941, a widower. Nothing suggests he ever became an American citizen Q6.
Raised in Lascari from about age three; his father had his New York birth entered in the Lascari register in 1912. Drafted with the class of 1901, he served three years in the Carabinieri, 1920 to 1923. In February 1924 the town hall gave him a certified copy of his birth entry "for emigration", and the American consulate in Palermo put a US visa in his Italian passport on the strength of it. He landed on 16 April 1924 and was admitted as a US citizen, after weeks held at Ellis Island until the midwife who had delivered him swore to his birth: the "court case with the midwife" of the family story Q8. Married Santa in Lascari on 5 September 1926, the town recording him as "born in New York", and brought her to New York three weeks later. In April 1930 they were at 65 James Street with their baby and his brother Antonio. Santa became a US citizen on 29 June 1931. After a grocery in Brooklyn lost in the Depression and years back in Manhattan, they moved to Rensselaer in October 1939 and ran the grocery at 1130 Broadway, across the river from Albany, until 1961 Q9. Both death certificates are in the family.
Born while the family lived in Manhattan, delivered by the same midwife as her father; moved to Rensselaer at seven. Eight years old on the 1940 census there; at fifteen, in Lascari with her mother on Santa's 1947 US passport.
Under the old rules the line Giuseppe → Giuseppe Jr. → Stella is unbroken: the father was Italian when the son was born, and the son never needed to naturalize because he was born American. Italy itself treated the son as its citizen: it registered his birth, drafted him, and gave him a passport, none of which happens to the son of a naturalized American. Under the 2025 law, Nana meets the test if her grandfather was still only Italian on the day she was born in 1932. He was: he had gone home to Lascari, died there as a farmer in January 1941, and no record anywhere shows him taking another citizenship Q6.
So for the grandchildren there are two separate ways to show "a grandparent who was a citizen by birth": Papa, which depends on the 1940 question Q1, and Nana, which does not. For Sandra, Stephen and Tom, both of their grandfathers, Papa Petey and Giuseppe Jr., were Italian by birth, so their own route holds either way.
Still to find on this side: Giuseppe Sr.'s own birth act (about 1865 to 1867; Lascari's registers for 1864 and 1866 to 1870 have no Giuseppe Lisuzzo, and 1865 is the one year that is online nowhere, so this is a request to the Comune di Lascari) Q7, Maria Stella Cirrito's death (she died before 1941, but not in Lascari's own death registers for 1926 to 1941) Q7, and Nana's New York City birth certificate.
| Sandra, Stephen, Tom | The grandchildren | |
|---|---|---|
| Citizenship by descent, today | No. Papa and Nana were born in America, so neither was "exclusively Italian" on the day their children were born. | No. Same reason, one generation further on. |
| Naturalization after two years of legal residence in Italy | Yes, in principle. Their grandfathers Papa Petey and Giuseppe Jr. were Italian citizens by birth. Needs a job or other basis to live in Italy; it is at the government's discretion, not automatic. | Yes, in principle, through Papa or Nana as "a grandparent who was a citizen by birth". Papa's status depends on the 1940 question Q1; Nana's does not Q6. A lawyer has to confirm how a grandparent who died without ever being recognized is proven Q11. |
| If the EU Court of Justice reverses the 2025 law Q12 | By descent, through either line. | By descent, through either line. Every link would need certified records: see the table of what we have and what is missing. |
All of this is a careful reading of the records against the law as published, not a legal opinion. Before anyone files, pays for certified copies, or relies on it, it goes to an Italian citizenship lawyer or the consulate.
Everything on this page that is not settled, in one list. The Q marks in the text point here. Each one says what hangs on it, what would settle it, and who can help: the family (something remembered or kept), a records search (free archives, or a paid search), or a lawyer.
Four records say no (alien in 1910 and 1920, "nationality Italy" in 1925, "citizen of Italy" at death in 1948); the 1940 census says yes, in Grandma Jean's hand. Papa's standing as "Italian by birth" under the 2025 law, and so the grandchildren's residence route through him, turns on this.
What would settle it: A USCIS Genealogy index search ($30, about nine months), or his alien registration card, passport or naturalization papers, if anyone kept them.
The family and the 2002 chart give two different October dates. Any application will use the date on the certificate.
What would settle it: His long-form birth certificate, which only a child can order from the NYC Department of Health.
The certificate is the link between the two of them and Papa; it is in no free index.
What would settle it: Family memory of the church; the City Clerk's 1933 license index on microfilm at the Municipal Archives; the parish register. Grandma Jean's family was in Coney Island; John and Nancy married at Our Lady of Loreto in 1931.
Answered: she died on 31 March 1913 at the Methodist Episcopal Hospital in Brooklyn, aged 42, of heart failure in pregnancy, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery on 2 April; the family was then at 721 Union Street. The 2002 chart's "1912" was a year early. Papa Petey was three.
How it was settled: the Municipal Archives' own name search for Bonina deaths in Brooklyn, which lists her as "Natalie".
The 1930 census is the one federal census of Stefano's still unread. Not at Garfield Place yet (that district was read page by page).
What would settle it: The 1925 state census page (image on Ancestry) or a 1930 Brooklyn directory gives the address; from an address the page can be found without the name index.
Answered: he died in Lascari on 9 January 1941, aged 74, a farmer, widower of Maria Stella Cirrito, in the house on via Regina Margherita. So on 7 April 1932 Nana had a grandparent who was only Italian, and she meets the 2025 law's test in her own right, which gives the grandchildren a route that does not depend on Q1. He was in Lascari in 1905, 1912, 1924 and 1926; nothing shows him back in America after 1906, and Lascari's citizenship registers for those years hold nothing for the family.
How it was settled: Lascari's registers from 1911 to 1947 turned out to be online at the Antenati portal of the Italian State Archives; the yearly death indexes from 1927 to 1947 were read one by one until his entry appeared in 1941.
Two of three answered: the 1892 marriage (which says he was born in Lascari, son of Antonio Lisuzzo and Rosalia Polizzotto) and the 1926 marriage are on this page. His own birth act is in no register online: Lascari's births for 1864 and 1866 to 1870 have no Giuseppe Lisuzzo (the 1864 and 1866 indexes, the 1867 and 1868 margins and FamilySearch's handwriting transcripts of every page from 1867 to 1870 were checked), and 1865, the nearest year to the ages he gave, is the one Lascari birth register that neither FamilySearch nor the Antenati portal has. His brother's 1870 birth act and his sister's 1862 act (both on this page) name their parents, Antonio Lisuzzo and Rosalia Polizzotto, and the parents' own 1857 marriage act says both were born in Lascari, so the family was registering everything there. Also still missing: Maria Stella Cirrito's death act (before 1941, but not in Lascari's death indexes 1926–1941).
What would settle it: A request to the Comune di Lascari for Giuseppe Lisuzzo's birth extract (son of Antonio and Rosalia Polizzotto, born about 1865 to 1867), in the same letter as the Italian birth extract for Giuseppe Jr. from the 1912 act. For Maria Stella, the death registers of the neighbouring towns and of Palermo.
Answered by Nana's own account of her father's life, written in 2007 and found on Gianni's CD: at Ellis Island in April 1924 the inspectors thought he was trying to enter on his dead brother's birth certificate (an older brother, also named Giuseppe, had died in infancy). He was held for weeks; a signed and notarized affidavit from the midwife who had delivered him, together with his baptismal certificate, got him admitted, as the "U.S. CIT." stamp on his manifest shows. So it was a Board of Special Inquiry hearing on the island, not a court case; he was born in Manhattan, not Albany; and the paper he carried is on this page.
What would add to it: Nothing is needed. The hearing file, if it survives in the National Archives' Board of Special Inquiry records, would give the witnesses' names, the midwife's among them.
Answered: the 1930 census has them at 65 James Street, Manhattan, in April 1930 (indexed under "Lisuggo", which is why the first searches missed them), with Giuseppe Jr.'s brother Antonio in the household; Santa is marked alien, correctly, a year before her naturalization. Nana's own account gives the move: October 1939, when her father bought into a grocery in Rensselaer.
Done.
Answered: Mom shared the whole folder on 9 October 2026. On it: Gianni's chart in its 2002 edition (with photographs of Giovanni Bonina and of Elvira) and its 2016 edition (nine sheets, back to 1635), his photographs of Milazzo and of his family, the 1837 burial entry of Stefano's grandfather, Nana's own papers (her parents' naturalization certificate, passport, Italian military and civil documents, death certificates) and her 2007 life story of her father, Uncle Joe's Ellis Island research, and the family's handwritten trees. Gianni's daughters, Nicoletta and Antonella, are named on the chart. Nothing on it bears on Stefano's 1940 question Q1.
Done. Thank you, Mom. The one Bonina record it holds, the 1837 entry, is in the records section.
The two-year residence route needs "a parent or grandparent who is or was a citizen by birth". Papa, Nana, Papa Petey and Giuseppe Jr. all fit on the records, but none was ever recognized, so the proof is a question for a lawyer or the prefecture.
What would settle it: A consultation with an Italian citizenship lawyer; the consulate's document list.
Case C-816/26, referred July 2026. If the retroactive part falls, both lines qualify by descent all the way down.
What would settle it: Nothing to do but watch; a decision is expected late 2027 or 2028. Keep the document file ready.
Every image here is a research copy pulled from a public archive, or, where marked "kept by the family", a scan of a paper the family has kept; click one for the full-size file. For an application, certified copies are ordered from the archive named under each record (and, for the Italian acts, from the town halls of Milazzo and Lascari).
Act no. 384 of the Milazzo civil birth register: Stefano, born 25 October 1865 at 8 a.m. in his parents' house, son of Giovanni Bonina, landowner, 40, and Adelaide Marini, 32. Declared by the midwife Giovanna Andriolo; baptized the same day (right-hand column).
Archivio di Stato di Messina, Stato civile italiano, Milazzo, Nati 1865, act 384 (page 385 of 469).
Act no. 51, 5 June 1894, Casa comunale di Milazzo: Stefano Bonina, 28, of independent means, son of Giovanni and Adelaide Marini, marries Natala Trimboli, 22, daughter of Tommaso Trimboli and Rosa Cangeri. Both signed.
Tribunale di Messina copy, Milazzo marriages 1894, act 51; FamilySearch image 527 of 1,513.
SS Archimede from Naples, lines 22–25: Bonina Stefano, 35, married, merchant, reads and writes, Italian, of Milazzo, bound for Brooklyn, passage paid by himself, never in the US before, going to a cousin on Fourth Avenue; Natala, 28; Adelaide, 4; and "Francesco", 3 months (Frances, born in May). The pencil note across the wife's and children's lines is a 1939 immigration check made when Ida applied for naturalization; Stefano's own line has no such mark.
NARA T715, roll 149, page 209; FamilySearch, New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892–1925.
Lines 15–21: "Bonina, Stephen", 44, immigrated 1900, citizenship "Al" (alien), machine cutter in a clothing factory; Natala, 38; Ida 14, Francis 10, Jennie 6, John 2, Peter 5 months. Papa Petey is the five-month-old.
1910 US Census, Brooklyn Ward 9, ED 189, sheet 7A, lines 15–21 (NARA T624).
Standard certificate of death, registered no. 6984: "Natalie Bonina", died 31 March 1913 at 7:30 p.m. at the Methodist Episcopal Hospital, Sixth Street and Seventh Avenue; Italian, married, 42, housewife; born Italy; twelve years in the United States and in New York City; father "Thomas Chinballi" (Tommaso Trimboli), mother "Rosi Gauchia" (Rosa Cangeri), both born Italy; former residence 721 Union Street; cause, acute dilatation of the heart complicated by pregnancy; buried Holy Cross Cemetery, 2 April 1913, undertaker A. Anacreonte Jr. of Fourth Avenue. Page two names Stefano Bonina, husband, as the person who engaged the undertaker. The family chart had her death as 1912, a year early; Papa Petey was three.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County death certificate no. 6984 (1913), D-K-1913-0006984.
Lines 32–36, written "Bonbonea": Stephen, head, 50, widowed, immigrated 1900, citizenship "Al" (alien), no occupation; Francis 19, Jennie 15, John 12, Peter 10. The family was not findable in the name index under any spelling; this page was located by address.
1920 US Census, Brooklyn Assembly District 8, ED 442, sheet 18A, lines 32–36 (NARA T625).
Lines 2–6: Peter 31, Angelica 28, Steven 4 (Papa), a daughter 2, and "Steven, father, 60, widowed, born Italy", citizenship column "NA" (naturalized). The circled X marks Angelica as the person who answered; she also gave Stefano's age as 60 when he was 74. Peter's brother John's family is on lines 7–10.
1940 US Census, Brooklyn, ED 24-1062, lines 2–10 (NARA T627, image m-t0627-02573-00897).
Died 23 February 1948 at 1219 72nd Street, widowed. "Of what country was decedent a citizen at time of death? ITALY." Informant: Peter Bonina, son. Parents given as John Bonina and Adelaide "Cambrini" (Marini). Birth date given as 25 Oct 1879: day and month agree with Milazzo, the year is wrong.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County death certificate no. 4398 (1948), D-K-1948-0004398.
"Pietro Tommaso Nicola Bonino", born 20 November 1909 at 195 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, to Stefano, 44, and Natala Trimboli, 38, both born in Italy. The surname is spelled "Bonino" on this one record.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County birth certificate no. 37139 (1909), B-K-1909-0037139.
Papa Petey's brother John, 23, mechanic, of 106 Garfield Place, son of "Stephen" (Stefano) Bonina and Natalie Trimboli, married Nancy Lombardi on 22 November 1931 at Our Lady of Loreto church. The witnesses who signed the back: Peter Bonina and Angelina Muro, two years before their own wedding.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County marriage certificate no. 16718 (1931), M-K-1931-0016718.
Stefano's eldest daughter, 20, of 711 Union Street, born Messina, Italy, father Stefano, mother Natalia Trimboli; married 14 August 1916 at Borough Hall. Useful mainly for the family's address that year.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County marriage certificate no. 9974 (1916), M-K-1916-0009974.
Stefano's daughter Frances, 20, of 187 4th Avenue, born Italy, father Stefano, mother Natalia Trimboli; married 5 September 1920 at Our Lady of Peace, 522 Carroll Street. The address is what led to the family's 1920 census page.
NYC Municipal Archives, Kings County marriage certificate no. 12821 (1920), M-K-1920-0012821.
Stefano's grandfather. A page of a Latin parish burial register, photographed by Gianni: in the margin "D. Nicolaus Bonina"; the entry, dated 21 December 1837, gives him as 43 years old, son of the late Pietro and of Rosaria Aricò. Gianni's chart has Nicolò born 7 December 1794 and married to Giuseppa Cambria in 1823; their son Giovanni was Stefano's father. Family history, not part of any citizenship chain.
Milazzo, parish burial register (parish not identified), December 1837. Photograph by Gianni Zacevini, sent to the family in 2013; on Gianni's CD.
Act of solemn promise no. 7, before the mayor Francesco Cimino: Antonio Lisuzzo, 20, farm labourer, born in Lascari, son of the late Domenico and of Lucia Sanfilippo, and Rosalia Polizzotto, 16, born in Lascari, daughter of the late Vincenzo and of Giuseppa Isabella, promise to marry; their mothers consent; in the right-hand column the parish priest certifies the church wedding the same day. Eight documents were read, among them the death acts of both fathers and both paternal grandfathers. Nana's great-great-grandparents, and the earliest record of the family found so far. Three spreads: the act begins on the right-hand page of the first.
Archivio di Stato di Palermo, Stato civile della restaurazione, Lascari, Matrimoni 1857, act 7; Antenati portal.
full image 1 · full image 2 · full image 3 · Antenati (Italian State Archives)
Act no. 2, 26 January 1862 (the Bourbon-era printed form, one act per spread): the midwife Rosa Brocato presents a girl born that day at one in the afternoon to Rosalia Polizzotto, 24, and Antonio Lisuzzo, 30, farm labourer, in their house in Lascari; baptized the same day. Giuseppe Sr.'s elder sister, and proof that his parents were already married and living in Lascari in 1862.
Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy, Lascari, Nati 1862, act 2; FamilySearch collection "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862–1941".
Act no. 26 (right-hand page), 11 August 1870, before the mayor Francesco Cimino: Antonio Lisuzzo, 32, farmer, son of the late Domenico and the late Lucia Sanfilippo, living at strada Castello, presents a boy born that morning to his wife Rosalia Polizzotto, 28, daughter of the late Onofrio (the name is hard to read) and of Giuseppa Isabella, and names him Salvatore. The first record that gives Nana's great-grandparents with their ages and street. Salvatore married Antonina Barbera in 1893 and died in Lascari in 1939. Giuseppe Sr.'s own birth act is in no register online: Lascari's births for 1864 and 1866 to 1870 have no Giuseppe Lisuzzo, and 1865 is the one year nobody has filmed.
Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy, Lascari, Nati 1870, act 26; FamilySearch collection "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862–1941".
Act no. 11 (left-hand page), 5 November 1892, 7:30 p.m., before the mayor Ignazio Abbate: Giuseppe Lisuzzo, 25, bachelor, farmer, born and living in Lascari, son of the late Antonio Lisuzzo and of Rosalia Polizzotto, marries Maria Stella Cirrito, 18, farm worker, born in Lascari, daughter of Giuseppe Cirrito and the late Nunzia Gugliuzza. The groom's mother and the bride's father were present and consented. Nana's grandparents; the four parents' names match the tree in Papa and Nana's 1960 wedding book exactly.
Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy, Lascari, Matrimoni 1892, act 11; FamilySearch collection "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862–1941".
"Giuseppe Lisuzza", born 10 November 1901 at 56 James Street, Manhattan, to Giuseppe, 34, and Maria Stella Cirrito, 24, both born in Italy. Reported by Maria Di Martino of Oliver Street, almost certainly the midwife.
NYC Municipal Archives, Manhattan birth certificate no. 45084 (1901), B-M-1901-0045084.
SS Luisiana from Naples, list 40, line 14: Lisuzzo Giuseppe, 39, married, farm laborer, nationality Italy, stamped "non-immigrant alien" (a returning resident); "in the US before: 1899–1905, New York"; going to 3 Mulberry Street. He had taken the family back to Lascari and was coming over alone.
NARA T715; FamilySearch, New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892–1925.
SS Dante Alighieri from Palermo, list 102, line 30: Lisuzzo Giuseppe, 23, single, labourer, Italian, from Lascari, nearest relative "father Lisuzzo Giuseppe, Lascari", bound for a cousin in Gary, Indiana. Stamped "U.S. CIT." and "ADMITTED". Page two: "ever in US before: yes, born"; place of birth "N.Y., New York".
NARA T715, roll 3475; FamilySearch, New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892–1925.
SS Dante Alighieri from Palermo, list 13, line 6: Cesare Santa, 22, married, born Lascari, quota visa issued at Palermo 29 September 1926, father Giuseppe Cesare of Lascari, never in the US before; page two: "travelling with my husband Lisuzzo Giuseppe U.S.C." (US citizen), to 65 James Street. Three weeks after their wedding.
NARA T715, roll 3945; FamilySearch, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925–1958.
Petition no. 130134, US District Court, Southern District of New York (right-hand page): born 12 September 1904, "Laskose" (Lascari); arrived 12 October 1926; husband Giuseppe, "born 10 Nov 1901 at New York"; "Married Sept 5 1926 at Italy. Husb native American." Her husband signed as a citizen witness. The second image is the back of the petition: oath of allegiance, order admitting her, certificate no. 3421424, 29 June 1931.
National Archives at New York, RG 21; NARA M1972 roll 563; FamilySearch, New York, U.S. District and Circuit Court Naturalization Records, 1824–1991.
Act no. 36 (lower left): on 13 September 1904 the midwife Flavia Cesare, 46, declared that at 7 a.m. on the 12th, at via Regina Margherita 56, Giuseppa Polizzotto, housewife, wife of Giuseppe Cesare, gave birth to a girl named Santa. The father was away from the town. Lascari's registers are not name-indexed; this page was found through the register's own annual index.
Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy, Lascari, Nati 1904, act 36; FamilySearch collection "Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1825–1941", image 1197 of 1397.
Act no. 10 (left-hand page): on 19 March 1905 Giuseppe Lisuzzo, 37, farmer, living in Lascari, declared the birth on the 15th, at via Vittorio 123, of a daughter of his wife Maria Stella Cirrito, named Rosalia. He signed. Giuseppe Jr.'s younger sister; the act shows the family back in Lascari a year before Giuseppe Sr. sailed again for New York.
Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy, Lascari, Nati 1905, act 10; FamilySearch collection 1947613 (found through FamilySearch's full-text search of the registers).
Lines 11–14, written "Lisuggo": Joseph, head, renting, 29, born New York, parents born Italy, laborer; Santa, wife, 25, born Italy, came 1926, alien, no English yet; Joseph Jr., 2, born New York; Antonio, brother, 35, born Italy, came 1923, alien, laborer for a telephone company. Taken in April 1930, two years before Nana was born in the city.
1930 US Census, Manhattan, ED 31-27, sheet 8A, lines 11–14 (NARA T626).
Lines 67–70: "Lissuzzo, Joseph", 39, born New York, grocery-store proprietor; "Sandra" (Santa), 36, born Italy; Joseph, 13; Stella, 8; same house in 1935. The enumerator marked Santa "AL" (alien) by mistake: she had been a citizen since 1931.
1940 US Census, Rensselaer city, Ward 4, ED 42-36, sheet 6B, lines 67–70 (NARA T627).
On 7 September 1912 his father, "Lisuzzo Giuseppe fu Antonino", had the New York baptismal certificate (Parrocchia del Preziosissimo Sangue, 115 Baxter Street: born 10 November 1901, baptized December 1901) transcribed into the Lascari civil birth register, after the Italian consulate in New York and the Foreign Ministry in Rome had legalized it. The town hall issued this certified copy on 25 February 1924 "for emigration, for work"; the Pretura di Cefalù legalized it the same day; and the American Consulate in Palermo stamped it: "Italian passport No. 109 was to-day visaed on the strength of this document." So Italy carried him in its own register as a citizen born in New York, and he came back to America on an Italian passport. This is the paper he had with him at Ellis Island. The register entry itself (Lascari, Nati 1912, Parte II) is online at the Antenati portal, in the same volume the town hall copied this from.
Comune di Lascari, transcription into the 1912 birth register, act of 7 September 1912; certified copy of 25 February 1924. Kept by the family; scanned in 2022.
full PDF 1 · full PDF 2 · full PDF 3 · the 1912 register on Antenati
Foglio di congedo illimitato: drafted with the class of 1901, in service from 13 November 1920 (the recruits' depot in Palermo, then the Legione dei Carabinieri Reali di Palermo from 20 April 1921), discharged at the end of his term with good conduct, having "served with loyalty and honour"; countersigned by the Comune di Lascari on 2 December 1923. The back gives his parents, Giuseppe and Stella Cirrito, his trade (farmer), that he could read and write, and his birth as 10 November 1901 "at Lascari": the clerk took the register of transcription for his birthplace. Italy drafted the sons of Italian citizens, which is what makes this paper matter.
Legione Territoriale dei Carabinieri Reali di Palermo, matricola 7736; form Mod. 60 (R. 1921). Kept by the family; scanned in 2022.
Certificate no. 3421424, the original handed to her by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York: petition 130134; age 26, 5 feet 1, brown eyes and hair; "then residing at 65 James Street, New York City"; former nationality Italy; her photograph and signature. The court's own copy of her petition is above.
US District Court, Southern District of New York, certificate of naturalization no. 3421424. Kept by the family; scanned in 2022.
Passport no. 37955, issued in Washington on 31 March 1947 to Santa Lisuzzo, "accompanied by … minor children: Stella". Her foreign address is "Santa Lisuzzo, Lascari, Prov. Palermo"; Joseph Lisuzzo at 1145 Broadway, Rensselaer, is the person to notify. The photograph shows Santa with Nana at fifteen; the stamp on page 5 is their return: "Admitted Oct 4 1947".
US Department of State, passport no. 37955, 31 March 1947. Kept by the family; scanned in 2022.
Act no. 9, 9:40 a.m., before Dr Domenico Abbate, Podestà: Giuseppe Lisuzzo, bachelor, 24, laborer, "born in New York", "has fulfilled his military obligations", living in Lascari, son of Giuseppe and of Maria Stella Cirrito, both living in Lascari, marries Santa Cesare, 21, housewife, born in Lascari, daughter of Giuseppe Cesare and Giuseppa Polizzotto. Witnesses a mechanic and a carpenter; banns of 22 and 29 August. Both spouses signed. Nana's parents' marriage, three weeks before they sailed.
Archivio di Stato di Palermo, Stato civile italiano (registri dei Comuni), Lascari, Registro 16 (Matrimoni 1926), page 11; Antenati portal.
Act no. 2 (the lower half of the page): on 10 January 1941 a carpenter declared that the evening before, at 11 p.m., in the house at via Regina Margherita 90, Giuseppe Lisuzzo had died, aged 74, farmer, living in Lascari, born in Lascari to the late Antonio and the late Rosalia Polizzotto, widower of Maria Stella Cirrito. He was alive, at home in Lascari, on the day Nana was born in 1932: the fact her case under the 2025 law turned on.
Archivio di Stato di Palermo, Stato civile italiano (registri dei Comuni), Lascari, Registro 31 (Morti 1941, Parte I), page 2; Antenati portal.
The full chain, link by link, as a consulate or court would want it. "Have" means a research copy is on this page or on file; a certified copy would still have to be ordered. Nothing here needs to be bought until a route is chosen.
| Person | Record | Held by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stefano Bonina | birth 25 Oct 1865, Milazzo atto di nascita no. 384 (1865) | Archivio di Stato di Messina; for filing, the Comune di Milazzo | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Stefano Bonina + Natala Trimboli | marriage 5 June 1894, Milazzo atto di matrimonio no. 51 (1894) | Tribunale di Messina copy; for filing, the Comune di Milazzo | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Stefano Bonina | proof that he never became a US citizen USCIS Genealogy index search (would return any naturalization file or his 1940–41 alien registration); later, a certificate of non-existence of a naturalization record | FamilySearch; NARA; USCIS | Partly |
| Stefano Bonina | 1910 census household page | FamilySearch / NARA | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Stefano Bonina | death 23 Feb 1948, Brooklyn death certificate no. 4398 | NYC Municipal Archives | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Peter (Papa Petey) Bonina | birth 20 Nov 1909, Brooklyn birth certificate no. 37139 (as "Bonino") | NYC Municipal Archives | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Papa Petey and Grandma Jean | marriage 25 June 1933, Brooklyn marriage certificate / license | NYC City Clerk license index 1930–49 or a certified copy from the City Clerk, Kings | Missing |
| Papa (Stephen) | birth, 1935, Brooklyn long-form birth certificate | NYC Dept. of Health | Missing |
| Papa and Nana | marriage, 1960 marriage certificate (license no. 6908, Brooklyn) | NYC City Clerk | Located |
| Papa (Stephen) | death, 2014, Queens death certificate | NYC Dept. of Health | Missing |
| Papa Petey, Grandma Jean, Papa | 1950 census household page (not shown here: it lists living relatives) | NARA | Have (research copy) |
| Sandra; Sandra and her husband; Sal | births and marriage birth certificates and marriage certificate (held by the family or ordered by them) | NYC / NYS vital records; family | Missing |
| Stefano, Papa Petey, Grandma Jean, Papa | 1940 census, 1219 72nd St household page | NARA Catalog | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Ida Bonina + Carlo Smirti; Frances Bonina + Todo Maiorana | marriages, Kings 14 Aug 1916 (cert 9974) and 5 Sept 1920 (cert 12821) marriage certificates (Stefano named as father; addresses 711 Union St, 187 4th Ave) | NYC Municipal Archives | Have (research copy) see the record |
| John Bonina + Nancy Lombardi | marriage 22 Nov 1931, Loreto Church, Brooklyn marriage certificate no. 16718 (Kings 1931) | NYC Municipal Archives | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Stefano, John, Peter | 1930 census household page | FamilySearch (browse by district) | Missing |
| Stefano + children | 1920 census, 187 4th Ave household page (Brooklyn AD 8, ED 442, sheet 18A, lines 32–36; "Bonbonea") | FamilySearch / NARA | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Stefano + Natala + Ida + Frances | arrival at Ellis Island, 17 Sept 1900 (ship not yet noted; Gianni's "Archimede, Oct 1904" comment most likely means this crossing: the 1910 census says everyone immigrated in 1900 and Jennie was born in New York) passenger manifest | FamilySearch / NARA T715 | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Nicolò Bonina (Stefano's grandfather) | death 21 Dec 1837, Milazzo parish burial register entry (Latin), photographed by Gianni | register in Milazzo (parish or diocesan archive); copy on the CD | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Gianni's Bonina chart, 1635–2016 | compiled tree, 2002 edition (with photographs of Giovanni 1825–1907 and Elvira 1875–1966) and 2016 edition (9 sheets) WMF file; 9 PDF sheets + "how to read" | Gianni (Milan); copies on the CD | Have (family copy) |
| Natala Trimboli (Stefano's wife) | death 31 March 1913, Methodist Episcopal Hospital, Brooklyn; buried Holy Cross Cemetery 2 Apr 1913 death certificate no. 6984 (Kings 1913): 42, born Italy, 12 years in New York, of 721 Union St; parents Tommaso Trimboli and Rosa Cangeri (garbled); husband Stefano on page 2 | NYC Municipal Archives (D-K-1913-0006984) | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Person | Record | Held by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | birth 10 Nov 1901, Manhattan birth certificate no. 45084 (as "Lisuzza") | NYC Municipal Archives | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Sr. | naturalized before 10 Nov 1901? 1900 census; NYC pre-1906 naturalization index; Lascari records after his return | FamilySearch; Antenati | Partly |
| Santa (Cesare) Lisuzzo | US naturalization: petition filed 9 Feb 1928, admitted 29 June 1931 petition no. 130134 (front and back), certificate no. 3421424 | NARA at New York (RG 21, M1972 roll 563); FamilySearch | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | return to US 16 April 1924 (admitted as US citizen); return with Santa 12 Oct 1926 1924 manifest (both pages); Santa's 1926 manifest (both pages) | NARA T715; FamilySearch | Have (research copy) |
| Santa Cesare | birth 12 Sept 1904, Lascari atto di nascita no. 36 (1904) | Tribunale di Termini Imerese copy on FamilySearch; Comune di Lascari for an *estratto* | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Jr. and Santa | marriage 5 Sept 1926, Lascari atto di matrimonio | Comune di Lascari | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Nana | birth, 1932, Albany birth certificate | NYC Dept. of Health if NYC; Albany registrar / NYS DOH if not | Missing |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Sr. | arrival 5 June 1906, SS Luisiana (in the US 1899–1905) passenger manifest, list 40 line 14 | FamilySearch / NARA T715 | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | held at Ellis Island for weeks in April 1924 as a suspected impostor (his dead brother's name), released on the midwife's notarized affidavit and his baptismal certificate: the "midwife court case", now explained by Nana's account Board of Special Inquiry file (NARA, Ellis Island BSI records; not online). The document he carried is D38 | NARA (New York); the family | Explained |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Sr. (son of Antonio Lisuzzo and Rosalia Polizzotto of strada Castello, Lascari: D52) | birth ~1865–67, marriage to Maria Stella Cirrito (daughter of Giuseppe Cirrito and Nunziata Gugliuzza) 1892, and death 1941, all Lascari atti di nascita / di matrimonio / di morte | marriage: Tribunale copy on FamilySearch; death: Antenati; birth: the Comune di Lascari only | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Jr., Santa, Nana | 1940 census, Rensselaer household page | FamilySearch / NARA | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | Italian military service: Carabinieri Reali, 13 Nov 1920 – 28 Nov 1923 *foglio di congedo illimitato*, Palermo 28 Nov 1923 (4 pages) | the family; scan on the CD; the Carabinieri roll in the Archivio di Stato di Palermo | Have (family copy) see the record |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | birth transcribed into the Lascari civil register, 7 Sept 1912 (from the New York baptismal certificate) certified copy of the transcription, Lascari 25 Feb 1924, with the Pretura di Cefalù legalization and the US consulate's visa stamp (Italian passport no. 109) | the family; the act itself at the Comune di Lascari, Nati 1912 | Have (family copy) see the record |
| Santa (Cesare) Lisuzzo (+ Stella) | US passport no. 37955, 31 Mar 1947; trip to Lascari, readmitted 4 Oct 1947 passport (3 scans) | the family (original); scan on the CD | Have (family copy) see the record |
| Santa (Cesare) Lisuzzo | death 12 Apr 1989, Albany NYS death certificate (register no. 752) | the family; City of Albany registrar / NYS DOH for certified copies | Have (family copy) |
| Giuseppe Lisuzzo Jr. | death 5 Mar 1987, Albany NYS death certificate (register no. 505), certified by the Albany registrar | the family (certified copy); scan on the CD | Have (family copy) |
| Joseph Charles Lisuzzo (Uncle Joe) | born 22 July 1927, NYC; baptized 12 Nov 1927 baptismal certificate, S. Giuseppe church | the family; scan on the CD | Have (family copy) |
| Antonio Lisuzzo (Giuseppe Jr.'s brother, b. ~1895) | arrival 2 March 1923, SS Taormina, from Lascari (wife Paola Di Maria) passenger manifest, list 35 line 20 | NARA T715 roll 3260; FamilySearch | Have (research copy) |
| Giuseppe Jr., Santa, Joseph, Antonio | 1930 census, Manhattan (indexed "Lisuggo"), sheet 8A lines 11–14 household page | FamilySearch / NARA T626 | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Rosalia Lisuzzo (Giuseppe Jr.'s sister) | birth 15 March 1905, Lascari atto di nascita no. 10 (1905): declared and signed by Giuseppe Sr., 37, "domiciliato in Lascari" | Tribunale copy on FamilySearch (collection 1947613) | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Salvatore Lisuzzo (Giuseppe Sr.'s brother) and, through him, their parents | birth 11 Aug 1870, Lascari atto di nascita no. 26 (1870): Antonio Lisuzzo, 32, son of the late Domenico and Lucia Sanfilippo, and Rosalia Polizzotto, 28, daughter of the late Vincenzo and Giuseppa Isabella, strada Castello | Tribunale copy on FamilySearch | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Antonio Lisuzzo + Rosalia Polizzotto (Giuseppe Sr.'s parents) | marriage 19 Sept 1857, Lascari (act 7: he 20, bracciale, born Lascari, son of the late Domenico and Lucia Sanfilippo; she 16, born Lascari, daughter of the late Vincenzo and Giuseppa Isabella; both mothers consenting; church wedding the same day); Antonio's death (Aug 1891? – Nov 1892) atto di solenne promessa (1857); atto di morte | marriage: Antenati, Lascari Matrimoni 1857; death: Lascari Morti 1891–1892 on FamilySearch | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Vincenza Lisuzzo (Giuseppe Sr.'s sister) and, through her, their parents in 1862 | birth 26 Jan 1862, Lascari atto di nascita no. 2 (1862): Antonio Lisuzzo, 30, bracciale, and Rosalia Polizzotto, 24 | Tribunale copy on FamilySearch | Have (research copy) see the record |
| Maria Stella Cirrito (Giuseppe Sr.'s wife, Nana's grandmother) | death between 5 Sept 1926 (alive, D49) and 9 Jan 1941 (he is a widower, D48); place unknown atto di morte | not in Lascari's death indexes 1926–1941 nor in Cefalù's 1926–1941; Gratteri, Collesano, Campofelice and Palermo not tried | Missing |
The open questions a relative might answer are marked Family can help in the list above.
Mom shared the whole folder on 9 October 2026 Q10. It held Gianni's charts and photographs and, better still, Nana's own papers, which are now in the records section. If anyone has the originals of those papers, or more of Nana's, they are worth keeping safe.
Anything of Stefano's, Papa Petey's or Grandma Jean's: above all Stefano's alien registration card from 1940–41, which alone would settle the 1940 question. Also an Italian passport, naturalization papers, funeral or mass cards, a family Bible.
Which church Papa Petey and Grandma Jean married in, in 1933. Where the family lived around 1930. Anything anyone remembers about Stefano, or about the Lisuzzos in Albany.
Papa's long-form birth certificate, Papa and Nana's marriage certificate, and Nana's birth certificate (New York City, it turns out, not Albany) can only be ordered by a child. Consulates want recently issued copies, so this waits until a route is chosen.
Besides what the family may have in a drawer, these are the searches still open; each one answers a numbered question in the list above. Most are free; the paid ones are marked.
USCIS Genealogy index search for Stefano ($30, about nine months): returns any naturalization file and any 1940–41 alien registration. If nothing comes back, a certificate of non-existence of a naturalization record is the document a consulate accepts. Also worth a look: the Lascari and Milazzo "cittadinanze" registers (acts about gaining or losing Italian citizenship), and Stefano's military service record in the Messina state archive, which would show him as an Italian subject.
Nana's account settles what happened: weeks on Ellis Island, then the midwife's affidavit and the baptismal certificate. The only thing left to find, for the curious, is the Board of Special Inquiry file itself in the National Archives, which would name the witnesses. A cheaper and more useful request: ask the Comune di Lascari for an Italian birth extract of Giuseppe Jr. from the 1912 act, and for his father's death act, in one letter.
The Boninas have not been found in the 1930 census: they were not yet at Garfield Place. (The Lisuzzos' 1930 page turned up under "Lisuggo".) The 1925 New York state census page for "Steve Bonnina" (image on Ancestry, which needs a subscription) would give the 1925 address, and from an address a census page can be found even when the name index fails, as the 1920 page was.
Not in any free index. The City Clerk's 1933 license index is on microfilm at the NYC Municipal Archives (a visit, or a paid search), and the parish register of whichever church married them is the other copy. Grandma Jean's family was in Coney Island; John and Nancy married at Our Lady of Loreto in 1931.
In Lascari: Giuseppe Lisuzzo's birth (about 1865 to 1867; the registers for 1864 and 1866 to 1870 do not have it, and 1865 is online nowhere, so it is a request to the comune) and Maria Stella Cirrito's death. The registers to 1910 are on FamilySearch without a name index, but the handwriting transcripts on FamilySearch make them searchable page by page; the registers from 1911 to 1947 are on the Antenati portal, which is where the 1926 marriage and the 1941 death came from. In Milazzo: Natala Trimboli's birth (about 1872) and the deaths of Giovanni and Adelaide.
A consultation with an Italian citizenship lawyer on the two-year residence route, and on how a grandparent who died without ever being recognized is proven. The consulate's current document list for the "exclusively Italian grandparent" exception. Certified copies, apostilles and translations only after a route is chosen.
Everything on this page came from free, public sources: FamilySearch (name indexes and record images, including census pages browsed district by district when the index failed), the NYC Municipal Archives' historical vital records, the Italian State Archives' Antenati portal (which also holds Lascari's own registers from 1911 to 1947) and FamilySearch's copies of the Termini Imerese and Messina court registers, the US National Archives (1940 census catalog), and the volunteer indexes of the Italian and German genealogy groups. The law was read from the consolidated text published by an Italian consulate, the Interior Ministry's operating circular, and the Italian Embassy in Washington.
Each record was read in full and transcribed into a private working file, with its archive, record number, stable web address and a checksum of the file, so every item here can be found again. Names and dates drift between records (Bonina / Bonino / Bonbonea; Cesare / Cesar; a birth year that moves by fourteen years); the discrepancies are listed in the working file because they are what a consulate asks about.
A few records are not from archives at all: Nana's own papers, kept in the family and scanned in 2022, reached this page through Gianni's CD and Mom in October 2026, along with Gianni's charts and photographs. They are marked "kept by the family" under each image.
Dad's side of the family, the Furino and Dascole lines, is on its own page.