Women’s History Month: Rispetto per i molti italiano levatrici nella mia genealogia

Women’s History Month:  Rispetto per I molti italiano levatrici nella mia genealogia.  There are many midwives in the Italian parts of my tree.  They were farmers’ wives, tailors’ wives, shepherds’ wives, innkeepers’ mothers, blacksmiths’ daughters, and landowners’ daughters.  One was even an unwed mother who was the Ricevitrice di Proietti (receiver at the foundling wheel).  She was a landowner’s daughter.

The first one I found was Maria Giuseppa Marcella.  She was there when my great grandfather was born.  She was named in civil birth records because the fathers weren’t able to report the birth.  She would have to go to the municipal hall to do this.  I was also lucky to find many baptismal records where a mammana or ostetrice is mentioned.

My great grandfather’s father was sick, so his sister, Maria Giuseppa went to town hall.  She delivered several of Filippo‘s children and the children of many others in Case Bruciate.

A levatrice not only assisted in birthings but provided medical help to women for all female ailments.  She also provided different kinds of help when there was unwanted pregnancies, as it was her responsibility to leave the baby at the foundling wheel.  If the baby’s health was in danger at birth, she would perform a baptism.  She also was known to assist women in their desire to maintain their youth, etc.

When I found one of these levatrice in Pescara, I could usually trace who in their close relationships was also a levatrice.  In Caserta and Napoli, I have not been able to do that yet.  I am positive I will find more in Campania and Abruzzo.

A couple years ago I was informed by a cousin that my great grandmother was likely familiar with midwifery because she was familiar with traditional folk remedies.

In honor of Women’s History Month this week, the following are the italiano levatrici nella mia genealogia:

Farindola:

Serafina Merlenghi, my great grandmother

Maria Giuseppa Marcella and

her mother Maria Carolina Colangeli (direct ancestress) and

her mother Maria Carmina Crocetta (direct ancestress) and

her mother-in-law Maria Carmina Marcucci Collalto (direct ancestress)

Maria di Costanzo (direct ancestress)

Maria Chiarella (direct ancestress) and

her mother Laura Marzola (direct ancestress)

Tomassina Carusi, Receiver of the Foundlings 

Sirico:

Cecilia di Falco (direct ancestress)

Nola:

Teresa Trocciola (direct ancestress)

San Felice a Cancello:

Teresa Ferraro 

 

How many did you find?

Happy Easter!

–cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Today’s Anniversary ~ Anna Antonia Ricci and Giuseppe Antonio Rossi ~

Arsita (Baccucco), Teramo – On today’s date in 1865, my 3rd great grandparents Anna Antonia Ricci and Giuseppe Antonio Rossi were married in Arsita, Teramo, Abruzzo in the parish of Santa Vittoria.

Their marriage record stated that Anna Antonia Ricci was born in Castiglione Messer Raimondo, 29, had been living in Baccucco since infancy, was a contadina, and that her parents were Girolamo Ricci and Giustina Andreoli.  Her parents were both born in Penne.

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For the groom, the marriage record stated that Giuseppe Antonio Rossi was 32, a contadino, was born in Penne, was a resident of Baccucco, and was the son of Domenico Rossi and Anna Domenica Della Bricciosa, both contadini.

Present at Santa Vittoria were Giovantonio di Candeloro and Pasquale Pacelli. One of those men was likely the priest.

The four men that gave testimony at the Town Hall as witnesses to the marriage were:

Angelo Palini, 50, a tailor, resident of Baccucco;

Giandomenico di Pomponio, 33, a tailor, resident of Baccucco;

Giuseppe Absente, 60, a contadino, resident of Baccucco; and

Angelo di Giacinto, 59, a carpenter, resident of Baccucco.

NOTE:  Domenico Rossi, my 4th great grandfather, signed his son’s marriage record.  It is legible on the above second page of the marriage document.

The bride and groom were the parents of Elisabetta Rossi – the mother of Cesidio Marcella.

Sources:

Antenati San Beniculturali

Family Search Microfilms for Castiglione Messer Raimondo and Arsita now online at LDS Research Centers

 

 

Today’s Anniversary ~ Serafina Iannascoli and Antonio Cirone

Farindola – On today’s date in 1845, my third great grandparents Serafina Iannascoli and Antonio Cirone, contadini, were married in San Nicola di Bari Church in the presence of Domenico Falconetti and Giuseppe Marzola.  Two days prior, they were married in the Farindola town hall in the presence of the mayor Nicola Valentini and the following:

Nicodemo Giancola, 31, landowner;

Vincenzo Giancola, 39, landowner;

Domenico Frattarola, 56, landowner; and

Vincenzo Carusi, 67, fornaio.

This is the link to their marriage record- #1 Matrimoni Farindola 1845.

Serafina Iannascoli was born in 1822 to Natale Iannascoli and Maria Giuseppa Salvitti.  They too were contadini.  Maria Giuseppa’s father Domenico Lorenzo Salvitti was born in Fara San Martino, Chieti.  Domenico Lorenzo Salvitti had a brother named Giuseppe who married Maria Rosa Cirone.*  Their son was named Donato Salvitti and he became the mayor of Farindola in the mid 1800s.

Antonio Cirone was born in 1820 to Domenico Cirone and Maria Fragassi.  Maria Fragassi’s father was Domenico Fragassi and his occupation was sometimes recorded as artista and other times as tarcaro in the Farindola records I located on Antenati.  I found a 1784 baptismal record in the Farindola marriage processetti on Antenati where the priest had transcribed the Fragassi surname as Fracasso.  Perhaps Fracasso was the spelling at one point.  This is a link to that record.  The furthest I could go in the ancestry of Antonio Cirone on Antenati found all of his ancestry in Farindola.

Antonio Cirone died in 1879 at Contrada Piazzetta in Farindola, while Serafina Iannascoli died in 1901 in Macchie, the birthplace of my great grandmother Serafina Merlenghi.

They were grandparents of Serafina Merlenghi.  In all likelihood, her grandmother is her namesake.

*Maria Rosa Cirone is the sister of my 5th great grandfather Pasquale Nicola Cirone, another ancestor of Serafina Merlenghi.  Cirone is an extremely common surname in the town.  

Source: http://antenati.san.beniculturali.it/home

 

Today’s Wedding Anniversary: Biagio Di Francesco and Marianna Di Pendima

Farindola~~June 17, 1888.  On this day in 1888 my great great grandparents Biagio Di Francesco and Marianna Di Pendima were married in Farindola, Pescara.  They were both contadini and the parents of my great grandfather Paolo Di Francesco.

Biagio was born on January 15, 1866 in Trosciano, Farindola to Luigi Di Francesco and Anna Emidia Lucerini.  His birth record starts at the bottom of this page. Both of his parents were born in Farindola.   Marianna was born on March 17, 1868 in Cupoli, Farindola to Carlo Di Pentima from Via Piana, Pianella and Nicola Antonia (di) Giansante from Rione del San Giovanni, Penne.  Marianna’s birth.

The witnesses to their marriage were Clemente de Bernardinis, 43, Secretary (Municipal), and Domenico Ammazalorzco, 48, Country Guard (Municipal).

Follow this link to their marriage document.

Follow this link to their marriage allegati.

Biagio and Marianna welcomed their first child, Filomena, a little less than 9 months later.  She died in infancy.  Using other Farindola records on Antenati, I found that they went on to have at least 5 more children, and a stillborn.  One son, named Zopito, emigrated to Canada.  A daughter named Vincenza was born in 1890 and died in Farindola in 1954.

A son named Alfonso was born in 1892 and was a soldier in the 156 Regiment during World War 1 and died on August 12, 1915 from wounds received at Monte Cappuccio at the Second Battle of the Isonzo.  His death record was on Antenati here because his parents requested information on their son from the Italian Army.  In 1917, his military death record was sent from Rome to his parents and filed in the town records which I was able to access on Antenati.

 

from Cadutigrandeguerra.it

 

My great grandfather Paolo Di Francesco was born in 1897.  On July 15, 1915, he was called to military service in World War I and served in the 30th Artillery Regiment of the Infrantry.  He was released from service in 1919.  He and his future wife Luigia Maria Massei named a son Alfonso.

Biagio and Marianna had a son named Luigi who was born in 1899.  He died in 1923 shortly after marrying Maria Vinci.  Biagio died in 1923 as well at 29 Via Rossetti, Farindola.  His death record is here.  Marianna Di Pendima lived at least until 1928 because I have not located her death record in Farindola.

A Bit About the Parents of Marianna Di Pendima

Marianna’s mother Nicola Antonia (di) Giansante’s grandparents were Saverio Di Giansante and Domenica Andreoli.  Saverio could write, and I have his signature from his son’s wedding record in Penne.  They were contadini as well.

Saverio died in Penne but was born in Carpineto della Nora, Pescara, which is a few miles south of Farindola.  Saverio’s death. Saverio and Domenica have a lot of descendants researching them and I run into more and more people wondering if that is why our DNA matches, etc.  They are only in my tree once but in my Canadian cousins’ tree twice!  As I am typing this I am asking myself why I have not yet researched Carpineto della Nora on Antenati!

Marianna’s father Carlo Di Pentima was born in Pianella and was a contadino.  Carlo’s birth is on the left. Pianella is a few miles southeast of Farindola.  In Pianella, the surname is spelled with a ‘t’ and not the ‘d’ they gave it in Farindola.  I had to keep that in mind when I was looking at indexes.   I have been researching Pianella the past week and the town seems larger than Farindola. In the late 1700s Pianella had a colony of Albanians according to the Farindola history I found on this Farindolesi’s website.  I love that website.

 

Paolo Di Francesco, Biagio and Marianna’s son

 

The research continues…Wouldn’t it be something if I found an Albanian surname in my tree?

Sources: Antenati, Cadutigrandeguerra.it, Archivio di Stato di Teramo, Zia C.

cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net

 

 

 

 

In Which My AncestryDNA is Starting to Make Sense

My siblings love to hear what my DNA results are but they don’t want to get to get tested even though Ancestry keeps having sales.  I choose not to broadcast my results anymore because if they don’t want to know why my test doesn’t show that I am not 100% European and shows 12% something else, then, never mind.  Nor will I tell them how much Scandinavian or Iberian came up.  I do know that I don’t have South Asian DNA but someone we are related to does and that is likely a sign of Roma ancestry in that person.

I was contacted recently by a user with a shared match that had an adoptee in their ancestry.  So I have been looking more closely at my DNA on Ancestry.  I am still learning how to use AncestryDNA, and after a year and a half, by looking at my matches and grouping them together with my shared matches by surnames and birthplaces, I know for sure that I am related to my mother, because I match her first cousin and second cousins on both sides of her family, and I am also related to my father because of the Cirone  and Cacciatore matches.

Ancestry started something new this past spring called “Genetic Communities” in an effort, no doubt, to sell more DNA tests.  Genetic Communities are “groups of AncestryDNA customers who are connected… most likely because they descend from a population of common ancestors…For example some trace their roots back to groups of people who were isolated geographically…”  Source:  ANCESTRY.COM.

So, are you ready for my two genetic communities?   Here is my first:

Italians in Umbria, Abruzzo & Molise

Here is the closeup:

My second genetic community is…

dun

dunnn

dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn…..

Southern Italians in which I have 35 DNA matches.

Surprised by either one?  No?  Then AncestryDNA got something right because the most recent immigrants in my tree were:  a parent from Abruzzo and a great grandparent from Campania.  Or maybe the Abruzzese and Campanian genetic makeup are similar?  I don’t know.  12.5% DNA from my Campanian great grandparent is a small amount to put me in the Southern Italian community that easily.  In case you are interested, the other people in the family that had DNA tests at Ancestry (and my family reading this knows who those people are) are not showing up in either of these Italian Genetic Communities.

-pace

cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net