Friday, November 30, 2001

Giuseppe Navarro, my 4G-grandfather, was someone I knew very little about when I did my charts back in April. I’ve since pushed this line back three more generations.

In April, I knew that Giuseppe was born around 1802 and that he and his wife, Pasqualina Melillo, were married some time before 14 Sep 1824, when their first daughter, Maria Navarro (my 3G-grandmother) was born. I still don’t know when they were married, but I’ve found Giuseppe’s death record, and he died on 11 Mar 1853. The death record shows his parents as the late Angiolo Navarro (5G-grandfather) and the late Rachele Manzo (5G-grandmother). It lists his profession as "macelliere", which I think means butcher.

When I looked at the 1802 Census, I found Giuseppe living with his parents. His name is given here as Giuseppe Nicola. He was born on 17 May 1801. (It is of course possible that this Giuseppe died shortly after the Census and my Giuseppe is another person. The Sennellos have an 1806 Census that should answer this question eventually.) His mother’s name was given as Maria Rachele Manzo. I think this was where I finally realized that "Maria", when given as the first part of a two part name like this, is quite often ignored and is there really only for holy protection. :-) Angiolo was born in Sepicciano, which is a frazione of nearby Piedimonte d’Alife, and was 38 years old in 1802, which would place his birth date at around 1764. His father was the late Davide Navarro (6G-grandfather).

Maria Rachele is listed as Angiolo’s second wife, and was born on 20 Feb 1781, so she was only 21 years old at the time. I don’t know who Angiolo’s first wife was yet. Maria Rachele was the daughter of Domenico Manzo (6G-grandfather), who was still living in 1802. Unfortunately, they don’t give the mother’s name on the Census, so I needed to prove that the Domenico Manzo in the Census was the right Domenico Manzo. So I looked for Maria Rachele’s death record. I found it on 15 Aug 1813. She was 32. The record gives her parents’ names as Domenico Manzo and Marianna Altieri (6G-grandmother), both still living in 1813. Maria Rachele worked as a peasant farmer.

So I went back to the Census and found Domenico Manzo and Marianna Altieri.

It said that Domenico Manzo was the son of the late Carlo Manzo (7G-grandfather), worked as a peasant farmer, and was born on 11 Dec 1751. Marianna Altieri, whose father was also named Carlo and also deceased by 1802, was born in Piedimonte d’Alife, and was 42 in 1802, putting her birthdate at about 1760. They had three daughters still living with them. Vincenza was born 2 Mar 1785. Angelarosa was born 30 Mar 1796. And Maria Luiggia was born 10 Apr 1799.

I went back to the death records, and I found Marianna Altieri, who had lived to the ripe old age of 80. She died 20 Mar 1841. That roughly matches up with a birthdate of about 1760. She was the widow of Domenico Manzo, so I knew I had the right person. Her father was the late Carlo Manzo (7G-grandfather) of Piedimonte d’Alife, and her mother the late Rosina Santomassimo (7G-grandmother), also of Piedimonte.

I haven’t found a death record for Domenico Manzo yet.

Searching the death records of Piedimonte d’Alife, I found Marianna’s sister Rosa Manzo, who was born about 1768 and died 17 Jun 1814. That makes her my 7G-aunt.

As for Angiolo Navarro, my 5G-grandfather, I’ve found a death record for someone with that name, but I’m not sure it’s the right one. This Angiolo died 27 Aug 1830, and was the husband of Prudenzia Seccia. Given that Rachele died in 1813, when he was about 49 years old, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to find that he remarried. I need to look for a marriage record between 1813 and 1830 to show that the Angiolo Navarro who married Prudenzia Seccia was the widower of Maria Rachele Manzo before I know if the Angiolo on this death record is my Angiolo. The record gives his father’s name as the late Davide Navarro, so that matches, but doesn’t prove that it’s the right one. His mother was the late Maria di Muccio of Piedimonte, so she may be my 6G-grandmother. Unfortunately, I don’t have the film of the earliest marriage records at the Family History Center; I missed a deadline and they went back to Salt Lake City. So I’ll have to wait to reorder that film before I know if this is the right Angiolo Navarro.

Death Records

• Marianna Altieri, 20 Mar 1841
• Maria Rachele Manzo, 15 Aug 1813
• Angiolo Navarro, 27 Aug 1830
• Giuseppe Navarro, 11 Mar 1853

Here’s a chart showing this section of the family, picking up where the old one left off with Giuseppe Navarro and Pasqualina Melillo. Incidentally, I’ve made no progress at all with Pasqualina. Near as I can tell, she died after 1870. So I’ll need to reorder the late films to find her death record, which will tell me who her parents were. I suspect she may be from another town, because I haven’t been able to find a marriage record for them, so it occurs to me that maybe they married in her hometown. The death record, once I find it, should tell me whether my hunch is on the right track there.

Posted at 12:51:31 AM

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