Saturday, April 14, 2001
Here’s the last of the marriage records that I’ve found.
Filippo Brandi’s parents, Daniele Brandi and Giovanna Cancello, were married in San Potito about March 2, 1810. Daniele, a 26 year old farmer born and living in San Potito, is shown as the son of the late Giacomo Brandi, a farmer, and Maria Vittoria Meola, who were married in Piedimonte. Giovanna Cancello, 27 years old, was the daughter of the late Dionisio Cancello, a farmer, and Mariantonia d’Orsi; it’s not clear whether Mariantonia was still alive. The word before her name is faded, but might be fu, which would indicate that she was dead. The banns were posted on the 18th and 25th of February and nobody objected. Witnesses to the promise to marry before the mayor were Vincenzo Piazza, a 20 year old shopkeeper, Francesco Antonio Francomacaro, 22 and with no profession listed, Ermenagildo d’Amato, a 26 year old shopkeeper, and Antonio di Chello, 50 years old. No mention of which documents they consulted or of grandparents at this period, but three of the four parents were unknown before looking at this document.
The next two records are confusing. Domenico Rapa’s birth and marriage records list his parents as Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo. But I couldn’t find any record of a Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo marrying. I did find records of a Michele Rapa and Maria Cecilia Matteo marrying in 1817. That record mentioned that Michele was the widower of Rosa di Palma, and I found a record of their marriage in 1810. So I looked through the birth records of the time, hoping to perhaps find children born to two different Michele Rapas to show that the Michele Rapa in these records wasn’t my Michele Rapa. But the information there didn’t clear things up. Michele and Maria Cecilia married May 4, 1817. There was a child born to Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo on March 11, 1818, about eleven months after the marriage. Interestingly, this child’s name was Maria Palma Rapa, which maybe possibly indicates that she was named after her father’s late first wife. Could be. I’m not sure. But it makes me think that Nicoletta and Maria Cecilia may very well have been the same person. Domenico came along on August 7, 1819, more than a year later. There are no children listed as having been born to Michele Rapa and Maria Cecilia Matteo in this period. The first child in the birth records to have her mother listed as Maria Cecilia Matteo is Concetta Rapa, born March 27, 1821, a good year and a half after Domenico. Marcellino Rapa followed to Michele and Maria Cecilia on November 10, 1822, and that’s the last that’s heard of Maria Cecilia Matteo as a mother in the birth records. There are no children listed as having been born to Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo during this period from 1820 to 1825. In 1826, Nicoletta returns as the mother of Rosa Rapa, born January 8, 1826. Further children follow, with Pietro Rapa being born on July 26, 1829 to Michele and Nicoletta, and Raffaele Rapa coming on October 18, 1831. So there’s absolutely no overlap between the two women. There’s a gap between 1820 and 1825 for Michele and Nicoletta that’s nicely filled by the births attributed to Michele and Maria Cecilia. And there were no children born to Michele Rapa and Nicoletta Matteo before the 1817 marriage. My next step here is to search the death records for San Potito to see if perhaps Maria Cecilia and Nicoletta both appear, or if there are more than one Michele of the appropriate age. Those are on order at the Family History Center, but haven’t arrived yet. If both of them show up in the death records, it will prove that they were two different people (and I’ll look for two Michele Rapas, too). If only one shows up, that won’t prove that Maria Cecilia and Nicoletta were the same person, but it would be another piece in the puzzle. I don’t know that I’ll ever prove it conclusively, though.
So, given that I don’t know for sure whether these are for my family or not yet, here are the marriage records for Michele Rapa and his two wives, Rosa di Palma and Maria Cecilia Matteo.
Michele Rapa and Rosa di Palma, were married in San Potito about May 17, 1810. Michele, a 29 year old carpenter born and living in San Potito, was the son of Antonio Rapa and Angiola d’Amato, married and living in San Potito. Rosa, 25 years old, was the daughter of Cesare di Palma, a farmer, and Maria Giuseppa Viceo(?) [name unclear]. The banns were posted on May 6 and 13, 1810, and nobody objected. Witnesses to the promise to marry before the mayor were Nicola Sanillo, age 47 and a shopkeeper; Pasquale Pietrosimone, a 22 year old shopkeeper; Giovanni Onoratela, a 27 year old shopkeeper; and Ermenegildo d’Amato, a 26 year old shopkeeper.
Michele Rapa and Maria Cecilia Matteo, were married in San Potito on May 4, 1817 after coming before the mayor to declare their intention on May 1st. Michele, by now the widower of Rosa di Palma, was 37 years old and now a farmer instead of carpenter. His father Antonio Rapa is shown as deceased, presumably having died between 1810 and 1817. Maria Cecilia, a 26 year old peasant farmer, was the daughter of Giuseppe Matteo, a farmer, and the late Francesca Riccio, whose death is documented in the records of the village. The banns were posted on April 20 and 27, 1817, and nobody objected. Witnesses to the promise to marry before the mayor were Daniele Riccio, age 23 and a shopkeeper; Saverio Cirillo, a 31 year old cook; Sisto d’Onofrio, a 22 year old farmer; and Giovanni Leggiero, a 34 year old shopkeeper.
Marriage records, 1810s
- Daniele Brandi and Giovanna Cancello, abt. 2 Mar 1810
- Michele Rapa and Rosa di Palma, abt. 17 May 1810
- Michele Rapa and Maria Cecilia Matteo, 4 May 1817
There, now I’m caught up on all the records I’ve found so far for Italian ancestors. I have some records for ancestors of my grandma Brandi who I haven’t posted, but I actually haven’t really looked at them, so I’ll post them when I’ve perused them.
Posted at 2:55:26 PM
