Remember I mentioned the phonetic spelling of my grandfather’s last name on his birth record for Rhode Island? Well, I had an opportunity to speak with one of the very experienced state archivists there and he recommended that I take the time to double check with the county of Newport to see if their records match the state records. A voicemail to the city clerk’s office and a return call with a quick check of the database and guess what? This whole thing just got so much better for me. Turns out, the county records have the correct last name. Spelled correctly and everything. The phonetically misspelled last name on the state record is listed as his middle name on the county record. While a complete error and a bit of a mess, the best news is that his last name is correct on his county birth record. That along with his baptismal record will suffice for the Consulate. I’ll write a letter to include in my packet to augment the certified document and explain what we believe happened. It’s all good news — no Rhode Island courthouse for me.
The other great news is that my US document acquisition is complete. I have all the paperwork I need with the exception of the three Italian documents. I’ll be on hold now for a bit while I wait to get the Italian ones. After that, I’ll need to get everything professionally translated and then apostilled by the Secretary of State of each issuing state. I’ll be done after that and have to just patiently wait for my appointment in 2027.