Domenico Lucente was born 27 Sep 1886 in Italy, probably in the Calabria region, as two of his children were born in San Giovanni in Fiore, Cosenza province. He married Rosa Oliverio about 1910 in Italy. Somewhere along the way, the name became Lucenta.

Domenico went back and forth between Italy and the USA several times before finally settling here. That was actually somewhat common for people to do, but there aren’t too many in our database who did so; most moved here and stayed put. I have not found any ship manifest of when he left the USA, but so far I have found him arriving on 28 Jul 1902, 25 May 1906, and 12 Aug 1921.

In 1902, Domenico arrived with his brother Antonio, and their destination was Philadelphia, PA, to join their brother Giovanni Battista. In 1906, Domenico arrived with his brother Giovanni Battista, and their destination was again Philadelphia, PA. The manifest says Giovanni is joining a friend, and Domenico is joining his brother, but it looks like the address is the same for both the friend and the brother. In 1921, Domenico arrived by himself, and his final destination is Joliet, IL, to join his brother Giovanni Battista. The manifest also states he intends to not return to Italy, and he was previously in the US in 1914-1920 in IL. I have not found that ship manifest; however, I did find his draft registration for WWI in 1917, so he was definitely here at that time.

Domenico’s wife Rosa Oliverio arrived at Ellis Island on 08 Feb 1925, with her two sons Giovanni and Pasquale. They sailed on the SS Duilio, and the manifest is actually typed, so much easier to decipher! The family name for Rosa is Oliverio Lucente, so they listed both her maiden name and her married name. I have read that in some countries women usually went by their maiden name for official documents, even after they married, although in everyday use they used their married names. Rosa’s passport (at right) shows her name as Rosa Oliverio, not Rosa Lucenta. There is one passport for Rosa and her two children, all together on the same passport, and together in the same passport photo.

The manifest for Rosa and her two sons also states that they are the wife and children of a US Citizen, which is correct as Domenico became a citizen on 12 Feb 1923 in the Circuit Court of Will County in Joliet. Rosa became a citizen on 22 Sep 1941 in the same court. Domenico and Rosa had three more children in the USA, athough sadly, one son died at birth.

Even though Domenico was an Alien at the time, he registered for the WWI draft in 1917 in Joliet. His draft registration states he has a wife and child in Italy, and that he had one month of military service in Italy. Interestingly, the name at the top of the registration says Dominic Lucenta, but he signed it Domenico Lucente. In 1942, he also registered for the WWII draft in Joliet, and this time his name and signature are both Domenico Lucenta. For both drafts, his employer is the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railroad.

Domenico and Rosa lived the rest of their lives in Joliet, until Domenico died in 1953 and Rosa died 10 years later.