Atto Di Morte (Death Record), 1882
Deaths are recorded in book form at the Ufficio di Stato Civile at the local comune. This record of the death of General Garibaldi is held at the local archive in La Maddalena, Sardinia, and available online as an image at familysearch.org
1 FORMAT
There are two death records on every page.
2 THE DECEASED
The name of Giuseppe Garibaldi is given surname first. Note the inclusion of his title Generale.
3 DATES
There are usually two dates on these records: the date that the event was recorded at the town office, given at the beginning of the entry, and in this section the date that the event actually occurred. Garibaldi died on 2 June 1882.
4 OCCUPATION
The occupation of the deceased (here generale) is provided where known.
5 AGE
Garibaldi’s age is given as anni settantacinque – 75 years old. In fact, he was 74, since he was born on 4 July 1807.
6 PARENTS
His parents Domenico Garibaldi and Rosa Raimondi are listed. The use of fu indicates that they are both deceased.
7 SPOUSE
Garibaldi was the marito (husband) of “Armosino, Francesca”. By the wording used we know that she was alive at the time of his death.
8 WITNESSES
The witnesses and their signatures are below the text
“A questo atto sotto stati presenti quali testimoni...”. Any familial relationship to the
deposited annually at the state archive in each provincial capital. You will find birth, marriage and death records beginning in 1809, with a few exceptions dating to 1806, and they are organised by province and town at the time of the event.
This means that you’ll need to know the town where your ancestors lived to pinpoint which archive will have the records. Some town names and provinces have changed over time, so you may need to research this separately. For example, wikipedia. org tells us that Valsinni in my region of Basilicata was called Favale San Cataldo until 1873.
Enter FamilySearch
In 1975, FamilySearch began working with the Istituto Centrale per gli Archivi (the Italian national archive) to preserve the civil records from each provincial archive. Microfilms of the birth, marriage and death records for each town were painstakingly created.
These records have now been converted to digital images, which can be viewed on familysearch.org, and are gradually being indexed. FamilySearch and Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism are making the searchable indexed images available to everybody on the website Antenati: antenati. san.beniculturali.it/?lang=en. Already 64 provinces are online; some of the records are as recent as 1929.
As the images are published on Antenati, they are ‘locked’ on the FamilySearch website, becoming restricted to users at a Family History Center or an Affiliate Library, or who belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The details gleaned from these records will help to create a picture of your ancestor’s life – where they lived, and what work they did. They also provide details of other family members to further expand your research. There are three main types of civil record you can access: birth, marriage and death. In each case the name of the individual is listed, and usually their parents’ full names. Sometimes the grandparents’ names will also be listed as an identifier for the family. The date and time of the event is included. The street name and sometimes house number where the family lived is noted, along with the occupations of each individual. The record will also note the town of origin if the subjects are from a different town. Civil documents before unification also usually include details of the local parish, though this was omitted after 1865.
The Value Of An Index
The registries are kept in book form, and each record is numbered. An index is often present, either in the front or rear of the registry. The index may be alphabetical by given name or surname, or may be only recorded in chronological order. Each records clerk had their own method. If present, the index is a great help because some registries contain hundreds of entries.
A child’s birth was usually
reported to the records clerk by the father, or sometimes by a levatrice (midwife) or a family member. If the child was born out of wedlock, the father was sometimes listed as ignoto – unknown. Some birth records may include a later margin notation of a marriage, giving the date, location and name of the spouse – a helpful bonus.
When a couple marries in Italy, they first complete a promesso. This marriage promise is published prior to the wedding, the Italian equivalent of “speak now or forever hold your peace”. If someone objects to the marriage, this gives them an opportunity to step forward.
If the bride and groom live in different towns the promesso is published in both.
Wedding Registry
The actual wedding is recorded in a separate civil registry noting the date of the ceremony. Most of the information is similar to that provided in the marriage promise, but sometimes only one or the other is available online. Death records are usually the shortest of these three types. They commonly list two witnesses to the death, the date and the address where the person died. They also usually include the occupation of the deceased and their spouse’s name, although generally not the cause of death.
‘When a couple marry, they complete a marriage promise or promesso’
If you are lucky, a town may have kept a 10-year index of births, marriages and deaths. These indice decennale were most commonly compiled in the second half of the 1800s. They are a great (though rare) way to quickly look for members of your family, because each of the events is recorded by both year and surname.
VALERIE SCHNEIDER
is a freelance writer and professional genealogist residing in her ancestral region of Basilicata. Learn more information about her work at mybellabasilicata.com