Wednesday, May 1, 2002
I found death records for a couple of Laura's 4G grandfathers. Giuseppe Cicoira died on 2 Oct 1844 in Calitri. He was the widower of Camilla Maria Grasso and his profession was listed as possidente, or landowner. So Laura had an ancestor who was presumably fairly wealthy. He was born in Calitri to Francesco Cicoira, a sarto (tailor), and Antonia Zabatta, both of whom were dead by the time Giuseppe died. We didn't have those names before; both are Laura's 5G grandparents. Based on Giuseppe's daughter Maria Francesca's birth record, he was born around 1770-75.
The other 4G grandfather I found was Vito Rabasca. I feel lucky to have found him in 1843; there were four people with that name who died in 1844. He died on 12 Nov 1843 at the age of 64, husband of Francesca di Napoli. He was born in Calitri to Michele Rabasca and Rosa Toglia, both of whom died before him. Those names are both new, both Laura's 5G grandparents. Vito and his father Michele both worked as farm laborers.
I may or may not have found a death record for Vito's wife Francesca. There was a Francesca di Napoli who died in 1860, but who appears not to have married and was a few years too young. Then there was another Francesca di Napoli who died on 17 Aug 1861 who is listed as the widow of Rocco Zabatta. Other than those two, I didn't find any other Francesca di Napolis in the records I looked at after 1843. With Vito having died in 1843, it wouldn't surprise me to find that Francesca remarried. So it might be her, but it might not, especially given that there seem to be so many people in Calitri who shared names, like the four Vito Rabascas who died in 1844. I didn't find a marriage record for this Francesca and Rocco from 1843 or 1844, which was all I had access to in the films I currently have at the Family History Center. I'll have to look in some later marriage records to see if I can find her and see if she's the same Francesca di Napoli as Vito's, and if not in the marriage records then in the processati, the supporting documents for marriages.
Death records
Posted at 4:16:32 PM
