Geneablogy: An occasional Journal about our experiences exploring our heritage

Thursday, April 12, 2001

More marriage records that I've (mostly) cleaned up. Some of these things can be pretty messed up and difficult to read; I've left one record in its original state so you can see what I mean.

Maria Domenica Rapa's parents, Domenico Rapa and Maria Pietrosimone, were married in San Potito on February 7, 1841, in the parish of Santa Catarina. Domenico, a 21 year old farmer born and living in San Potito, is shown as the son of Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo, both farmers as well. Maria Pietrosimone, also 21 and a farmer, was the daughter of the late Angelo Pietrosimone and Antonia di Luisi; it's a little confusing whether Antonia was still alive, or whether the "defunto" in her listing refers to her parents. It looks on the top of page two like both Angelo and Antonia were deceased, as it refers to the "Atto di Morte" of both parents of the bride having been referred to, as well as the death certificate of her paternal grandfather (avo paterno), Giovanni Pietrosimone. So that takes us back two generations here on this one document. Among the other documents consulted were the birth records of both bried and groom and the banns, which were posted for three Sundays in January of 1841 and which nobody objected to. Witnesses to the promise to marry before the mayor were Agostino Cimaglia, age 27 and a waiter, Raffaele Antonuccio, a 48 year old farmer, Lorenzo Leggiero, a 23 year old waiter, and Giosue Leggiero, a 48 year old farmer. Witnesses to the wedding were Don Giovanni Onoratelli and Giosue Leggiero.

Vincenzo Brandi's parents, Filippo Antonio Potito Brandi and Maria Navarro, were married in San Potito on July 15, 1843, in the parish of Santa Catarina. Filippo, a 25 year old farmer born and living in San Potito, is the son of the late Daniele Brandi and Giovanna Cancello, both farmers from San Potito. Maria, 18 years old and also a farmer, was the daughter of Giuseppe Navarro, apparently still alive in 1843 and a butcher, and Pasqualina Melillo; there's a word before the usual "in questo commune" saying where she lives, but I can't tell what it says. Maybe she was from another village originally? Documents consulted included the birth records of the bride and groom, as well as the "Atto di Morte" of the father of the groom and of the paternal grandfather of the groom, Giacomo Brandi. Back two generations on this one, too. The banns were posted on June 11, 1843, and nobody objected. Witnesses to the promise to marry before the mayor were Pietro d'Amato, age 72 and a farmer, Giuseppe Collucio, a 27 year old tailor, Gennaro Riccio, a 44 year old farmer, and Pietro di Chello, a 30 year old farmer. Witnesses to the wedding were Don Giovanni Onoratelli and Filippo Torelli.

Filippo's sister Maria Giuseppa Brandi, 28 years old and a farmer, married Domenico Masuccio, a 37 year old farmer, on June 1st, 1844. Most of the rest of her information is the same as Vincenzo's, including the consultation of the death records of her father Daniele Brandi and grandfather Giacomo Brandi. Since she's not a direct ancestor, I won't bother going into all the details, but it's nice to have confirmation on another record of Giacomo's existence. This is the record that I didn't bother to clean up. You can get an idea of what some of these things, particularly from this era, look like before I go at them with Photoshop.

I've got some other records from the previous generation that I've cleaned up, but this post is long enough and it's late enough that I'll cover them in my next post. After I get that post up, I'll post a diagram of all of this for those of you who aren't keeping score so it's a little easier to understand.

Marriage records, 1840s

Posted at 10:07:19 PM

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