The Expatriation of Ancilla

During a 15-year period in the early 20th century, American women who married foreign-born men lost their U.S. citizenship and legally acquired the nationality of their immigrant spouse.

On May 30, 1909, my great-grandmother Ancilla, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, married Italian immigrant Carmine.

As they exchanged their vows at the altar of Denver's Mount Carmel Church, Ancilla's U.S. citizenship was stripped from her by the Expatriation Act of 1907 and she became a de facto Italian citizen, despite never having set foot in Italy.

Carmine and Ancilla wedding photo

The Expatriation Act of 1907

In a recent article published in the NGS Magazine, professional genealogist Rich Venezia noted that the Expatriation Act "...was fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment and a desire to prevent dual citizenship." Between 1907 and 1922, the legislation resulted in American women forfeiting "...their American citizenship simply by marrying unnaturalized immigrants."

The law was challenged in 1915 and was heard by the Supreme Court, which upheld its legality. It wasn't until 1922 that provisions were first made to change the law's perspective on these women's citizenship status. Subsequent legal amendments in the ensuing years - particularly in 1936 - outlined a path for these women to reacquire their American citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance.

An American Repatriated

On August 5, 1941, Ancilla completed government form N-415, an Application to Take Oath of Allegiance to the United States Under Act of June 25, 1936, and applied "...to take the oath of renunciation and allegiance as prescribed in Section 335 (b) of the Nationality Act of 1940 (54 Stat. 1157) to become repatriated and obtain the rights of a citizen of the United States."

In section eight, she stated, "I lost, or believe that I lost, United States citizenship solely by reason of my marriage on May 30, 1909 to Carmine then an alien, a citizen or subject of Italy..."

She reassured the court that, "I have resided continuously in the United States since the date of my marriage..." However, she didn't list her marriage date in the space provided on the form. Instead, she provided her birth date - May 27, 1893. Ancilla was, I believe, indicating that she had never traveled overseas and had been a U.S. resident her entire life. It underscored the ridiculousness of the absurd legislation that stripped her of her citizenship and forcibly made her the subject of a country she had never visited.

On October 20, 1941, Ancilla took the official Oath of Renunciation and Allegiance, declaring, on oath, that she "absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen..."

On her oath, she regained what had been forcibly taken from her.

Thirty-two years after her marriage, at the age of 48, this peculiar chapter in Ancilla's life came to an end. She was once again recognized by her home country as a citizen with all of the associated legal rights. With Mussolini's fascist Italy on the rise, it was, perhaps, a timely move on her part and quite fortuitous with the United States hurtling towards World War II.   

Looking For Bisnonna

In October, I will travel to Italy for a three-week jaunt down the peninsula.

I plan to visit the comune of Potenza where my great-grandmother Ancilla (Ruota or Route) Colacci's parents were born and where their parents died (or at least three of them did).

I would like to visit the Potenza cemetery where Ancilla's grandparents are buried. While I'm familiar with the European practice of eventually disinterring the dead to accommodate the newly deceased, there's typically a communal grave where the remains are deposited. I want to visit that site and see where they rest eternally.

Questions
As I book hotels and map out my itinerary, I still have important research questions to tackle before I leave.

For example, how do I locate the particular cemetery where they're buried? Do burial indexes exist? Unfortunately, burial information isn't included on the Italian civil death records.

Also, I have death records for three of Ancilla's grandparents confirming they each died in Potenza. However, I'm still looking for the death record for one of them: Ancilla's paternal grandmother Vincenzia (Raimondi) Ruoti.

Did she die in Potenza? Is she buried there, too? I need to find that record to determine what happened to her.

Ancilla's Parents
Ancilla's parents were Giuseppe Route (an Anglicized iteration of the Italian Ruoti) and Maria Filomena La Rocca. They settled in Colorado where they are buried beside each other.

Giuseppe and Maria Filomena (La Rocca) Ruota

A year ago I wrote about using their marriage records to locate where in Italy they were born, when they immigrated to the United States, and to identify their parents.

With the help of fantastic researchers on the ItalianGenealogy.com forums, we found death records for Giuseppe's father and Maria Filomena's parents. Those records indicated that they passed away in Potenza.

The remaining question about Giuseppe and Maria is when did they arrive in the U.S.? I've still not found an immigration or naturalization record for them. The 1900 and 1910 census suggest Giuseppe arrived in 1880 and 1883 respectively. Maria arrived in 1890 or 1889 according to the 1900 and 1910 censuses. Alas, this is another search (and blog post) entirely.

Maria's Parents
Maria's father was Pancrazio La Rocca. He was born in about 1829 in the comune of Tricarico to parents Rocco Vincenzo La Rocca and Maria Vincenza Mobilio. Pancrazio died in Potenza on March 7, 1887.

Pancrazio La Rocca Death in Potenza - March 7, 1887

Maria's mother was Maria Giuseppa De Melio. She was born in about 1837 in the comune of Pignola to parents Saverio De Melio and Angela Spatuzzi. Maria Giuseppa died in Potenza on March 3, 1885.

Maria Giuseppa De Melio Death in Potenza - March 3, 1885

Giuseppe's Parents

Giuseppe's father was Vincenzo Ruoti. He was born in about 1827 in the comune of Potenza to parents Rocco Felice Ruoti and Margherita D'Bello. Vincenzo died in Potenza on August 9, 1883.

Vincenzo Ruoti Death in Potenza - August 9, 1883

According to Vincenzo's death record, it appears that his wife Vincenzia Raimondi survives him. When and where did she die?

As I continue to trawl through Potenza's civil records searching for her, I'm considering the following possibilities:

• My Italian is poor and the script can, at times, be difficult to decipher. Perhaps I've overlooked her name in the indexes. 
• Perhaps she moved away from Potenza and died elsewhere, and I'm not searching records in the correct comune.
• Her death record was overlooked and not included in the index of names.
• She had multiple first names and was not indexed under Vincenzia. Although, I've been reviewing the records for any female with a surname of Raimondi.
• She did in fact pre-decease her husband Vincenzo.

The clock is ticking down and the search continues for bisnonna Vincenzia Raimondi. 

Do you have research tips for locating my bisnonna, or confirming Italian burials? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Grazie!