Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Grandpa Dick Naturalized in 1931

 My cousin MaryLynne found some very interesting documents in her parent’s file cabinet. 

This naturalization certificate may be the only picture that we have of our grandfather as a young man.  The certificate says he was 22 years old but he was actually 25 in 1931.


1931 Certificate of Citizenship for Richard Cimino



The age discrepancy is explained by the arrival record below. Grandpa Dick was actually five years old when he arrived in the U.S. in 1911 but the passenger list says he was 2 years old. This record was requested when Grandpa decided to begin drawing his Social Security pension in 1971.


Letter from INS re: arrival of Sebastiano Cimino, age 2

There is another discrepancy in the letter above because Grandpa was actually born in 1906 as you will see in the documents below.

This 1971 cover letter from the City of Lentini is addressed to the Social Security Office
in Sacramento and references the Extract of the Register which contained the birth of
Sebastiano Cimino (also known as Richard Cimino)


Extract of the Register of Births of Lentini 1906

This extract of the birth register of 1906 record 583, states that Sebastiano Cimino was born 30 October 1906 in Lentini at a house on Via Flavio Gioia, number 31. His father was Antonino Cimino and his mother was Maria Ossino. The  birth was recorded on the 1st of November 1906. The extract is dated 2 August 1971. 

I was so excited when I saw these documents.  What a genealogy treasure trove! I am so grateful that my Aunt Betty Ann and my cousin MaryLynne preserved these documents and MaryLynne shared them with me.