Tracking Emigration Using Stato di Famiglia (State of the Family) Certificates

State of the Family Certificates can be used to track the emigration of your ancestor (or their siblings and cousins).  Sometimes you will find that different family members emigrated to very different parts of the world.

Take for example the family of Guido Colotti.  If you follow the link by clicking on the title of this post, you will see the State of the Family record for Guido Colotti, son of Bartolo.  This family had no idea where this sibling went and would never have guessed that he emigrated to Russia.  Different members of this family dispersed to Russia, Switzerland, and South Africa, three very different places.  

These records have not always survived.  Multiple civil record offices have informed me that these records were destroyed with the onset of regular censuses. However, I would suggest you ask in case they are still available, and because the censuses are often much harder to access.

Leave no stone unturned.

A Look at Southern Italian Life in the 19th Century - Part III

"...Clothing differed as much from section to section among the poor in Italy from which our immigrants came as did language, housing, and culinary methods.  Its variations depended upon local traditions, the materials available, and the needs of the people as defined by occupation and climate.  Much of the peasant clothing, regardless of design, was made from sheep's wool, woven, and sewn in the home...Shepherds thus wore long hooded capes that fell below the knees and sheepskin leggings and trousers as such that adorn American cowboys.  Fisherman, on the other hand, used heavy breeches, woolen stockings, sweaters, and caps when out on the open water in cold weather; and trousers and shirts open at the neck, with feed bare, in the summer.  Peasants who worked in the fields donned trousers and coats or sweaters in summer, both coats and sweaters in the cold season.  Most of these work garments were dark colored, but the somberness was relieved at times by a bright scarf, and the cap, blouse, or shirt might be pink, green or light blue..."  

Rome Archivio di Stato's Blog

Looks like the provincial archives in Italy have forayed into the blogging world.  What a great way to help reseachers keep abreast of new acquisitions and to learn about new resources they didn't know existed. 

Have fun exploring Rome's blog (in Italian)!  Click on the title of this post to link directly to it.

A Look at Southern Italian Life in the 19th Century - Part II

"...Inability to provide children with shoes in South Italy became a contributing factor to irregular attendance at school. Old people say, when speaking of their life in Italy, that they never saw a child at school without shoes. Clothes of a certain standard as well as shoes were thought necessary for school attendance, and these were only too often beyond the purchasing power of a child's family.

Men had themselves shaved only once or twice a week by the village barbers. Since such manufactured articles as razors were very expensive, their possessors had almost a monopoly of the shaving business. In some Sicilian towns, the men had the peculiar custom of permitting one lock of hair to grow on the nape of the neck. Called the trizzi di donna (women's tress), it was never combed or cut, "and the owners think themselves fortunate in the possession of it, because they consider it a special gift -- a sign of being favored by Fortune.""

A Look at Southern Italian Life in the 19th Century

In 1938, Phyliss H. Williams, a research assistant in Sociology at the Institute of Human Relations at Yale University, published South Italian Folkways in Europe and America: A Handbook for Social Workers, Visiting Nurses, School Teachers, and Physicians.

This handbook is a fascinating glimpse into the world of Southern Italians, in Italy as well as in America after immigration. I will be posting exerpts from this handbook from time to time on this blog as they teach us much about our ancestors. Here's the first exerpt.

"Many South Italians who came to America around 1890 and 1900 settled in cities, whereas North Italians took up truck gardening or more extensive farming. This choice depended on the economic resources of the two groups. The North Italian more frequently brought money with which to buy land on his arrival. This the southernor lacked, and by the time he had saved enough to go back to farming his American-born children insisted upon remaining city-dwellers. These second generation southerners constitute the bulk of Italian urban population.....Families of the same local origin in Italy (paesani) tend to live in the same parts of town and generally speaking North Italians lived in sections distinctly separated from those of the southerner. Great prosperity and success, however, often cause members of both group to penetrate the more generalized America quarters of the towns."

Stillborn Births in Italy

There was no one way of recording the death of a stillborn child in Italy. Most times you will see only a death record created (and not a birth record) and it will note that the child was born "senza vita" or "without life."

Occasionally, stillborn births will be recorded separately, often amongst the death records of town residents who died elsewhere. Below is a death record created for a stillborn birth whose form was pre-printed for this purpose. I have not come across pre-printed stillborn birth/death records very often. The title reads "Atti di Morti Nati" or "Act of Dead Birth".

Death Record for Stillborn Female Child of Nicolo di Sergio and Rosa Latuno

What I find fascinating is the fact that normal procedure was to present a child at the civil record's office to have it's birth recorded. When someone died the civil record's official often came to the person's home to visually verify that the person was dead. One has to wonder whether they carried the body of their baby to the town hall or if the civil official came to their home as would have been done for any other death.

The Death Record of Saverio Arturi

Sometimes you come across the most interesting records when doing Italian research. Below is a link to the image of a death record of a Calabrian soldier "gunned down in the public piazza" in Isnello, Sicily in 1863.

1860-1870 was a time of much unrest in Italy and in Sicily, in particular. Italian soldiers were sent to quell the uprising of the Sicilian people against yet another ruler who made promises they did not keep. Some towns in Sicily have records that are missing during the 1860-1864 time frame.

Death Record of Saverio Arturi

FamilySearch Posts a Guide to the Records of Order Sons of Italy

This new book posted by FamilySearch is said to describe the manuscript collections of the main office and Grand Lodges held in the Immigration Center in Minnesota.

The call number of the book is 973 A3and and can be found in the US/Canada section of the Family History Library.

New Building for the Provincial Archives of L'Aquila

As many of you know, a 2009 earthquake devastated the provincial archives in L'Aquila.  See this link for a look at their new facility!

Archivio di Stato dell'Aquila a Bazzano

Stato di Famiglia Storico - Historical State of the Family Certificate

Don't overlook this valuable resource as you research your Italian ancestors. The State of the Family Certificate shows a whole family unit with much of their vital information included. Such vital information often includes the father's given name, birth date and place, death date and place, where they immigrated to, notations regarding citizenship, and sometimes when, where, and whom they married.

You can write to a town's civil record's office for these certificates. There is usually a fee of 2 1/2 - 5 Euro per individual on the certificate. Don't forget to send a self-addressed envelope for their convenience.

Also, if you're lucky, the town may send photocopies of a few of the vital events noted in the certificate! I have had this happen a few times.

Indice Annuale - Annual Indexes

Anyone familiar with Italian microfilmed civil records will have used these indexes. These are most often found annually at the beginning or end of a register. However, there were also 10-year indexes created which are particularly helpful when searching for multiple offspring of an ancestral couple.

Do you check these indexes when pulling the records of your ancestors? I've used the indexes to clarify a name abbreviated in the text of a document, to verify titles given to family members, and to verify the spelling of surnames. I have even seen children designated as "d'ignoti" or "of unknown parents" in the actual record yet the index gives the name of the child's mother or father.

So, don't overlook this resource. They could be helpful!

Research Plan and Analysis of a Italian Document

The link below shows you an 18th-Century Italian document on which I performed an analysis and prepared a research plan. I hope it helps you grow your research skills!

Analysis of 18th-Century Document and Research Plan

Melanie D. Holtz earns Certified Genealogist credential!

As of 7 January 2010, I am a Certified Genealogist. :) CG and Certified Genealogist are Service Marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, used under license by board certificants after periodic competency evaluations by the Board.

It was a long and difficult process but well worth the effort!

Tip on "Cittadinanza" or Citizenship Records

Many of our Italian ancestors were not stationary. Some traveled from town to town on a daily basis plying their chosen trade. Yet others moved with the seasons, often spending summers in the countryside within the jurisdiction of another town.

When consulting the 19th century citizenship records, one must keep in mind that seasonal migrations were often not recorded in town records since they weren’t considered permanent moves. See David I. Kertzer and Dennis P. Hogan, “On the Move: Migration in an Italian Community, 1865-1921,” Social Science History, (Issue 9, 1985), pp. 5-6.

New Foundation for Italian Heritage in NJ

If you live in or near southern NJ, there is a new foundation to promote Italian heritage called the Italian Cultural Foundation of South Jersey, Inc. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in Italian heritage.

Plans are to hold educational lectures, offer dance and language lessons, host musicians, and offer slideshows.

For more information email Vincent Marolda at vincentmarolda@sprynet.com.