Geneablogy - A Weblog about Digging Up the Family Tree (Genealogy)

Friday, November 22, 2002

My 6G grandparents Domenico Rapa and Cecilia di Missere were in the Catasto, as was their son, my 5G grandfather Antonio Rapa. I didn’t learn a whole lot from this one. The information in this entry seems to have been compiled in 1753. Antonio, who was born in January, 1749, is listed as four years old, and Isabella, born in April, 1751, is shown as two. Also, Maria Costa, who was born on 27 Dec 1753 and lived until 22 Apr 1822, is not shown in the Catasto, so I think that’s a pretty good indication of when this entry was recorded. Domenico is shown as being 38 years old, which places his birthdate around 1715, and Cecilia is shown as being 39, making her birthdate about 1714. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really do anything to clear up the question about who Cecilia’s parents are, because either of the ones who show up in the baptismal records could plausibly be her, having been born in 1715 and 1716.

Other children from this family shown are Salvadore, age 7; and Tomaso, age 6. Oddly, those dates would place this record as having been compiled in 1751. That’s why I can’t take the dates like "about 1714" too seriously; there’s too much leeway for them to vary by a few years.

Carlo Manzo and family also show up. This record is interesting because I had only seen his wife’s name in Latin before, and wasn’t sure what the name would be in the vernacular. The name is rendered here as Pressea Piazza. They are my 7G grandparents. My 6G grandfather, Domenico Manzo, appears here as a one year old. He was born on 10 Dec 1751, so that’s a vote for 1753 as the compilation date. Other son Francesco is shown as eight years old, and he was born on 5 Feb 1745, so that’s another indication that 1753 is the date here. Carlo is listed as 40 years old, so he was born in about 1713. And he wasn’t born in San Potito, but rather in nearby Sippicciano, a frazione of Piedimonte d’Alife. He worked as a plowman. Pressea was 37 at the time of the Catasto, which places her birthdate at about 1716. There is a baptismal record for a Praxidis Dorothea Piazza, daughter of Domenico Piazza and Antonia di Biaso, on 10 Oct 1712, but I don’t know if this is her or not. The date is a few years off. The name is right, though; Domenico Manzo’s baptismal record, written in Latin, gives his mother’s name as Praxide Piazza. Likely but not proven.

My 6G grandmother, Pietronilla Izzo, appears with her parents, Ambrosio Izzo and Cristina Riccio, my 7G grandparents. This is interesting because I can pinpoint reasonably well that Pietronilla got married to Andrea d’Amato in about 1754. The record appears to be from either 1752 or 1753; son Francesco, born in March, 1741, is listed as 12 years old, while daughter Nunzia, born in March, 1745, is listed as 7 years old. Pietronilla, born on 20 Dec 1735, is shown aged 16, which suggests 1752. Her future husband Andrea d’Amato appears aged 19 years old on his family’s entry, and since he was born 1 Dec 1732, that suggests his family’s entry was created in roughly 1753. And according to the baptismal records, Pietronilla and Andrea had their first child, my 5G grandmother Angiola d’Amato, on 19 Oct 1755. So roughly 1754 looks like a very good fit for their marriage.

Ambrosio Izzo is 40 years old in this record, making his birth date about 1713. And Cristina Riccio’s age is 37, I think, making her birth date about 1716. I know from Petronilla’s baptismal record that Ambrosio’s father was Filippo Izzo, but I don’t see Ambrosio in the baptismal records, or in fact any Izzos born to a Filippo Izzo. There is a Cristina Riccio born on 23 Jul 1713 to Domenico Riccio and Anastasia Sauro, but as usual, without other documentation it’s hard to prove that this is the right one.

There is a Filippo Izzo in the Catasto, along with his wife, Anna di Muccio. He’s the only Filippo in the Catasto, but since I can’t find Ambrosio in the baptismal records, I can’t state for sure that this is his father. I think it is, but I need more proof, like a marriage record or death record that states who his mother is as well. Filippo and Ambrosio are both carpenters, so that’s something that makes me think there’s a connection. Filippo is listed as 72 years old. None of the people on this record appear in the baptismal records, but taking 1752 as a reasonable guess, that would place Filippo’s birth date as about 1680, plus-or-minus, give-or-take. That would have made him about 33 years old when Ambrosio was born. Anna di Muccio was 64 years old, which would place her birthdate at about 1688, and she would have been about 25 when Ambrosio was born, prime child-rearing years. So I think it’s likely that Filippo Izzo and Anna di Muccio are my 8G grandparents, but not proven.

Thus endeth my sojourn through the basics of the Catasto Onciario. There’s a lot of information there about how wealthy all the families were and such, but it’s going to take a lot more work on my part to parse out what’s said there. I haven’t found too many sources on how to read a Catasto Onciario, and my Italian isn’t good enough to just read it cold.

Catasto Onciario Records

Baptismal Records

Posted at 7:42:12 AM

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