Today in Family History…

On today’s date in 1640 , my 8th great grandparents Vittoria Cioffi and Martio Giovanni Ventura were married in Sant ‘Agnese Church in San Felice a Cancello, Caserta, Campania, Italy. This marriage is of note because it is the second such marriage of my ancestors that I have located from this time period in which the bride was 12 years old. They were the ancestors of my immigrant great grandfather Carmine Ferraro.

Via Family Search digitized records from Arienzo and San Felice a Cancello

Vittoria was the daughter of Nicola Cioffi and Ottavia Pellone. She was born on July 21, 1627 and was a twin to Margerita. Her husband was born on June 2, 1617 to Matteo Ventura and Beatrice Bonello.

Imagine what you were doing at age 12.

Today in Family History…

On today’s date in 1810, during the night, my ancestor Domenico Damiani was murdered with other male members of his family because of a vendetta. Domenico left behind young children, including my ancestress Giovanna Damiani, and a pregnant wife. The two other men murdered that night were his uncles Donato Damiani and Nicola Damiani.

Below is his death record. The information regarding the murder and vendetta is sourced from La Storia di Farindola by Antonio Procacci in the chapter on Brigandage.

Farindola Morti, 1810 #3

For more on Giovanna’s family, please visit this two year old blog post:

https://cinziarosasdescendantsblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/19/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-34-tragedy-the-tragic-losses-in-the-early-life-of-giovanna-damiani/

The book on the history of Farindola was found at this glorious website: https://gelsumino.it/

– I’ll be continuing the transcription of the records of the midwives when I am more familiar with the upgrade on the Antenati website.

Happy New Year!