Michele Donato

The tree puts his birth at Scilla in 1851. Act 162 of 1892 makes him THIRTY-SIX in July 1892, so born about 1856 -- and gives him a trade the tree does not record, pescatore. But the Scilla birth indexes for 1851, 1856 and 1859 each hold a complete D section and NONE of them has a Donato in it, while 1892 has two Donato households. On this evidence the surname arrives at Scilla between 1859 and 1892 and he was probably born in another comune. CONFIRMED INDEPENDENTLY: the New Orleans manifest of 1908 records him aged 52, off the Liguria -- a birth about 1856, agreeing with act 162 and not with the tree's 1851. And the 'Donato arrived at Scilla late' hypothesis is dead: fifteen Donato gave Scilla as their last residence at Ellis Island between 1893 and 1921. THE MANIFEST IMAGE adds a third witness and more: aged 52, a SAILOR, and his nearest relative in Italy given as 'Wife Maria Sofi, Via Grotte, Scilla' -- the same street as act 162. He was bound for Quincy, Florida.

Where the two disagree, the chart above still draws the tree as it stands. This archive does not silently rewrite what it was given — the acts are here.