Alaria Family - 1900 U.S. Census

The 1900 United States Federal Census records reveal a lot of information about fourteen year old Josephine Alaria and her parents, Petre and Aurelia Alaria. One thing we learn from this document is that Josie was born in France in December of 1885 and she immigrated to America as a baby in her mother's arms the following year. Her father, however, immigrated to America in 1885, the year before his wife and first born child, Josie, came over. It's a good guess to imagine that Aurelia was pregnant in 1885 and unable to travel so he went on ahead to get settled so his wife could join him after the baby was born. It should be noted here that despite the fact that Josie was born in France we know from documents and oral history that her parents were from the same northern mountainous Piedmont Region in Italy as the Riva family. (Five years after this census was taken, Josephine marries Giacomo Riva.)

At the time of this census the Alaria family was living in Grundy County, Illinois, in Felix Township. Within Felix Township were the villages of Carbon Hill, Coal City and Diamond. In addition to Josie, the census shows five other children in the family: Romellio, John, Joseph, Rosa, and Peter who ranged in ages from "11 or 12" to four years old.

Below is the exact information found on the 1900 census including all the misspellings. Don't let the misspelling of Alaria or Aurelia throw you. On a 1920 census the spelling for Romellio and Rosa are different as well. The Alaria name has changed over the years as often happened with immigrant families either through clerical errors or Americanization of the names. Several of the earlier documents found show our Alaria ancestors it with two L's. I will note here that I remember my great-uncles and aunt---John, Joe, Rose and Peter---from my childhood days so at some point they had moved up to Kent County, Michigan. © J. Riva 2008

1900 United States Federal Census
about Petre Olerio
Name: Petre Olerio
Home in 1900: Felix, Grundy, Illinois
Age: 39
Occupation: Coal miner
Birth Date: Nov 1860
Birthplace: Italy
Race: White
Ethnicity: American
Immigration Year: 1885
Relationship to head-of-house: Head
Father's Birthplace: Italy
Mother's Birthplace: Italy

Spouse's Name: Orelia
Marriage Year: 1884
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 16
Residence : Carbon Hill, Coal City, Diamond Parts of Villages, Grundy, Illinois
Occupation: View Image
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Petre Olerio 39 head, born in Italy, year of imm. 1885
Orelia Olerio 38 wife, born in Italy, year of imm. 1886
Josie Olerio 14 daughter, born in France on Dec. 1885, year of imm. 1886
John Olerio 10 son, born in ILL
Joseph Olerio 8 son, born in ILL
Rosa Olerio 6 daughter, born in ILL
Peter Olerio 4 son, born in ILL
Romellio Olerio 11.12 son, born in ILL

You can click on this census image and it will enlarge the handwriting for easy reading.



.

A Riva and Alaria Get Married, 1905

Groom: Giacomo Riva
(also known as James Riva)
From: South Wilmington
Grundy County, Illinois

Bride: Josephine Alaria
(also known as Josie)
From: Coal City, Grundy County

Date: August 5, 1905






At the turn of the century Coal City, Illinois, where Josie lived before getting married was an important coal mining region with a growing population. In 1890 the population was 1,672; in 1900 it had grown to 2,607; 1903 it was about 3,000. For a good overview of the area's history see the History and Genealogy of Grundy County.


Below is a copy of the Marriage Certificate for Giacomo Riva and Josie Allaria. Giacomo and Josephine were married by a judge at the county seat court house in Morris, Grundy County, Illinois. At the time of their marriage he was thirty-one years old and she would turn twenty on her next birthday coming up in December.

Click to enlarge


NOTE: Spellings for 'Josephine', 'Alaria', 'Aurelia,' and 'Pietre' varies from document to document which I've read was common for immigrants who either didn't know themselves how to write their names or were afraid to correct officials when they spelled something wrong or Americanized their names. Living relatives, however, spell Alaria with one 'L'. The 1900 census records spells the Alaria household name as "Olerio" but all the other information on the form lines up correctly. So that spelling must have been a "sounds like" guest on the part of the census taker.

As a place marker in case you're trying to figure out how or if Giacomo and Josephine fit into your family tree, the couple went on to have five children: John, Maggie, Peter and two infant daughters who died (one at fifteen months and the other at six months of age). John, Maggie and Peter lived most of their adult lives in Kent County, Michigan. John was married to Margaret Kane and they had five children: Marge Ann, James, John R. (known as Jack), Joesph and Nancy. Maggie never married. Peter married Doris Iona Latimer and they had two children: Gerald (Jerry) and Jean.

© J. Riva 2008

.