Thursday, November 22, 2001

I got a very interesting package in the mail today. Larry Sennello sent me a copy of the 1802 census for San Potito Sannitico. I suspect that it’s what was called a "Stato della Anime", or "State of the Souls", the church census that was supposely done every year in Italian villages. In any case, whatever it is, it’s worth its weight in gold. It’s got a ton of information: family relationships, birth dates going back well into the 1700s that aren’t available in the Mormon records, names of fathers and whether the father was still alive in 1802, birthplaces for people from places other than San Potito, street names, occupations.... It’s just an incredible source, and I see my relatives all over it.

This, for example, is the entry for my 5G-grandparents, Angiolo Navarro and Maria Rachele Manzo. Angiolo came from Sepicciano, a nearby comune (village) which was a frazione of Piedimonte d’Alife (that is, they were administered as part of the larger town, although with their own identity), so they don’t give his exact birth date, but he was 38 years old in 1802. He worked as a peasant farmer, and his father, Davide, was already dead in 1802. Maria Rachele was born on 20 Feb 1781, and was Angiolo’s second wife. Her father, still living, was Domenico Manzo. And their son, Giuseppenicola, was born on 17 May 1801. Giuseppenicola was my 4G-grandfather.

About eight houses down L’Arbore street, Maria Rachele’s parents lived. Domenico Manzo, my 6G-grandfather, the son of the late Carlo Manzo, worked as a peasant farmer, and was born on 11 Dec 1751. His wife, Marianna Altieri, the daughter of the late Carlo Altieri, was born in Piedimonte d’Alife, and was 42 years old in 1802. Incidentally, I found Marianna’s death record in the San Potito records. She died on 20 Mar 1841 at the age of 80. Between these two records, it appears she was born around 1760-61. Her death record lists her parents as Carlo Altieri, as shown on the census, and Rosina Santomassimo. That makes Carlo and Rosina my 7G-grandparents.

Meanwhile, over on L’Cantole street, Antonio Rapa and Angiola d’Amato, my 5G-grandparents, were raising a family, including my 4G-grandfather, Michele Rapa, who was born on Christmas Day, 25 Dec 1780. Antonio, the son of Domenico Rapa, worked as a carpenter (falegname), and was born on 25 Jan 1759. His wife Angiola d’Amato was born on 17 Oct 1755. Daughter Annantonia was born on 4 Oct 1775; son Giuseppe on 22 Aug 1791 (maybe; that last number is pretty indistinct); daughter Annamaria on 26 Oct 1795; and daughter Vincenza was another Christmas baby, born on 25 Dec 1798.

Angiola’s parents, Andrea d’Amato and Pietronilla Izzo, my 6G-grandparents, were living on La Torello. Andrea, a peasant farmer, son of the late Giovanni d’Amato, was born on 1 Dec 1732. Pietronilla, daughter of the late Ambrogio Izzo, was 62 years old in 1802, placing her birth date at about 1740. Giovanni and Ambrogio are therefore my 7G-grandfathers.

There are more family members in this census, but it’s getting very late. I’ll post some more about what I’ve found in the census later. This sample should give an idea of how much information was in this package. I’m really grateful to Larry and his brother Bill, who have also transcribed the whole census to make it easy to find people.

Posted at 2:05:04 AM

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