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Italian Research
By Marcia Melnyk
Many
Italian-Americans have, from time to time, thought about digging a little
deeper into their Italian heritage. Most, myself included, tend to feel
overwhelmed when they contemplate researching in a foreign country,
especially if they do not speak the language. Having put this research “on
the back burner” for many years I missed many opportunities to talk with
older individuals who probably could have provided insight into my
ancestors.
I was
actually doing volunteer work in a local Family History Center when a couple
researching Italian records came in. After speaking with them at great
length I learned that they did not speak the language, had done little
research of any type and were truly “beginners” in the genealogical field
and yet they had made incredible progress on their Italian lines.
With this couple as my inspiration I began my
search in 1990 and have never looked back! While I cannot say that it has
been easy research the payoffs are ten-fold. After many years of researching
these records I am still amazed at the completeness of them in comparison to
contemporary American records. When I began there were very few, if any,
books dealing with this research. The Family History Library had a small
resource guide with cursory information and then came John Philip Colletta’s
Finding Italian Roots (see
bibliography) published in 1993 but little else existed. Undaunted (perhaps
that is the persistent Italian in me?) I forged ahead blissfully ignorant of
what lay ahead!
I hope my experiences can save many researchers
from making the mistakes that I did. They say that hindsight is always
20-20, and what I have learned over the last 12 years has made me a better
researcher in all areas. Thankfully there now are several wonderful books
and the Internet available to make the process a little easier. Remember
that not all records will exist for all localities. As in the United States
records have been lost or destroyed over the years. I have found
surprisingly complete records for all the
comune (towns) I have researched with only a few years missing or
unreadable because of water damage or fading ink.
Today there are books and many web sites
dedicated to Italian genealogy, language, geography and history. Using a
search engine such as <www.google.com> and typing in “Italian Genealogy” or
the comune, region or province name
will yield many sites to choose from. The Family History Library in Salt
Lake City <www.FamilySearch.org> has an Italian resource guide available. It
contains an overview of the records and helpful word lists. Current
Italian-English dictionaries do not contain many of the words you will
encounter in the records. You can also go to Cyndi’s List
<www.cyndislist.com> and search for “Italy” and you will be rewarded with an
abundance of choices.
The Italian Genealogical Society of America has recently launched a
new web site at <www.ItalianRoots.org>. This organization, founded in 1994,
strives to educate family historians in Italian research, preserve our
Italian culture and document our immigrant ancestors.
The best book I have found, especially for
southern and Sicilian research, is Lynn Nelson’s,
The Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your
Italian Ancestors (Betterway Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1997). Nelson
provides images of actual documents, as well as typed versions (in both
Italian and English) making it much easier to know what you are looking at.
Her word lists and phrases are extremely helpful. I actually took this book
to Italy with me and used it often! I highly recommend getting a copy of
Nelson’s book before you attempt to look at the microfilms. In addition, if
your ancestry is from northern Italy, Trafford Cole’s book (see book list)
has great information regarding church, military, census and other records.
These two books cover an immense amount of information and helpful examples.
Knowing what to expect (a foreign language and bad handwriting) will give
you a head start. Don’t be discouraged.
As with
any type of record my motto is:
Research
the record before you use the record to research!
The researcher must learn everything possible
about the immigrant ancestors on
this side of the Atlantic BEFORE “jumping the pond” and getting into
Italian records.
Several
very important points to remember are -
-
Immigrant names were often changed over time.
No evidence exists to show that any names were actually changed at Ellis
Island. Names were most often misspelled by American clerks phonetically
spelling immigrant names using the English equivalent letters and rules of
pronunciation. Understanding how a name would be spelled using Italian
pronunciation rules will yield totally different spellings. Many of the
immigrant generation were illiterate and could not read or write in their
native tongue let alone in English. They would have no way of knowing how
the name was spelled on either side of the ocean or when a clerk spelled
it incorrectly!
-
There are only twenty-one (21) letters in the
Italian alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y do not exist except when
used in foreign words that are incorporated into the current Italian
language. If your family name, as you know it, contains any of these
letters it should be your first clue that it is not the original spelling.
-
Pronunciation of letter combinations will also
affect the spelling. The following list shows the Italian and English
pronunciations of letter combinations:
Italian
combination English equivalent
ch k sound
sci sh sound
ci or ce ch sound
ca, co, cu k sound
gi, ge g sound as in George
ga, go, gu, gh g sound as in go, give,
gun
gn (Bologna) y sound as in canyon
gli lli sound as in million
-
Examples of common mistakes are the changing
of the IA letter combination to YA as in my maiden name of Yannizze. In
Italian it is spelled Iannizzi. Another prevalent error is in the adding
of an H after the C in names such as Ciammetaro becoming Chimmetaro.
(Remember, ci makes the ch sound in Italian).
-
When
looking for the immigration records (passenger lists) you must look for
the women under both their married and maiden names. Italian women, when
leaving from an Italian port, will usually do so under their maiden name
with an indication of her spouse’s name. If she traveled with her children
you should look under both surnames. If she left from a port other than in
Italy she is probably (but not always) listed under her married name.
-
Names of towns and localities of origin
suffer the same fate when recorded by non-Italians. Most of the immigrants
felt more allegiance to the province or region of Italy than the country
itself. Understanding that Italy was not a unified nation until 1865
explains this regional loyalty. If you always heard that your
grandparents came from Avellino they may not have meant the city of
Avellino but rather the province.
Some geographic information must also be known
before starting to research your Italian ancestors in the Italian records,
such as:
-
The actual town (comune), province, and region
of origin
-
Approximate year of emigration
-
Names of any siblings or other relatives who
also came to the United States
-
Names of Italians who married into the family,
were sponsors of children, etc.
Italian
records are created at either the frazione
(a small hamlet with separate parishes but not a separate incorporated town)
or comune (town) level and may be
housed in the municipio (town hall)
or the provincial (similar to our county) or regional (equivalent of our
state) archives. There are no countrywide records or indexes.
Italian civil
breakdowns: frazione comune province region
American
equivalent: village
town/city county state
There are currently 20 regions within Italy, and
103 provinces. Both provinces and regions have changed over the last 150
years so it is helpful to consult both new and old atlases. It is important
to determine all three jurisdictions (comune,
province and region) as there are many comunes with the same name in
different provinces or regions. As in the United States you will find
records at each governmental level as well as in churches.
Records are broken down into two distinct
periods—pre- 1865 and post-1865. Southern Italy (from about Rome south) was
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies until about 1865. These records, commonly
called the Napoleonic records, begin about 1809 in most southern areas and
continue until about 1865. The northern part of Italy was a group of small
but separate kingdoms, Duchies, and papal states. Their records during the
Napoleonic period (1809-1865) are basically church records and not civil in
nature. In the north, civil record keeping, for the most part, did not begin
until about 1865 and unification of Italy.
When
unification of Italy occurred around 1865-70 civil records were instituted
in the northern regions of Italy and continued in the southern region.
These records closely resemble the format of the Napoleonic records in many
ways. The records were kept in the
municipio (municipal) office and the
anagrafe office. We have no equivalent of the
anagrafe office in this country.
They gather the records from many different government departments and
divisions and compile these records into a sort of chronological history of
any given family. These records might contain city, provincial or parish
census-type records, vital records of family members, home ownership,
emigration records, etc.
One very important document that the Anagrafe
office compiles is called a Stato di
Familia (“Status of the Family” document) and can be very helpful.
These were, for the most part, not compiled until the late 1800s and early
1900s so may not exist for all time periods. These records have not to my
knowledge been microfilmed. Many of the civil records from the 1809-1865
period have been microfilmed by the Mormon church and are available in Salt
Lake City as well as in the thousands of Family History Centers around the
world. Keep in mind that the southern areas of Italy were the only ones
keeping these records during this time period in the civil offices. While
you may find some northern records from the 1809-1865 time period
microfilmed, they are mostly church census records. These records list
members of a given parish within the comune or frazione and I have found as
many as 40 parishes in one comune.
Once you have learned as much as possible about
your immigrant ancestors’ lives on this side of the ocean and have
determined a place of origin you are ready to tackle the next step - Italian
records!
You should first check the Family History
Library’s web site <www.Familysearch.org> for available microfilms. By
looking under the Family History Library Catalog and entering the frazione,
comune, region and province names you can determine what films might be
available. Remember to search using all the localities as films may be
cataloged under any of them. As in U.S. research, you must begin with the
most recent records and work your way back. This is especially important in
Italian research since many individuals will bear the exact same name. If
you are not careful when researching and documenting in the beginning you
will make the mistake of following the incorrect ancestral line.
Italian naming customs can become a roadblock
since they produce many individuals with the same name in the same
generation making it difficult to distinguish one individual from another.
The custom is to name the first son or daughter after the paternal
grandparents, the second son or daughter after the maternal grandparents.
If a couple had five sons each of those sons would give his firstborn son
the same name as the child’s grandfather leading to as many as five males
with the same name born around the same time. When these sons become adults
differentiating them can be difficult.
I hope you are not discouraged at this point
because the Italian records are wonderful and will provide you with a
treasure trove of data. Nearly every birth record will give you three
generations worth of names. The record lists the names of the parents, the
child, and in many cases the grandparents with women listed under their
maiden name! Italian culture is unique in that women maintain their maiden
names their entire life. A woman’s death record will be listed under her
maiden name. The record will then list the name of her husband. Since the
maiden name appears on nearly every record it makes identifying her family
much easier—unlike American records.
Most records (births, marriage banns and
licenses, deaths) will list the names of the individuals involved, their
occupations, ages, places of birth, and their parents’ names. The format and
wording of Italian records indicates whether an individual’s parents are
living or deceased.
EXAMPLE
-
Marriage license
The record will state: Nicodemo IANNIZZI age 24
yrs., figlio di Vincenzo (son of
Vincenzo, living) or Nicodemo IANNIZZI, age 24 yrs.,
figlio del fu
Vincenzo (son of the late Vincenzo).
This makes finding the death record for
Nicodemo’s father a bit easier, since you will know that he was deceased at
the time of Nicodemo’s marriage. Additionally, since the couple’s mothers
are also listed in the same manner (and including maiden names) you will
know you have the correct Vincenzo IANNIZZI’s death record if the wife
matches the name on the previous marriage record. I have actually seen
death records that state the names of all former spouses on an individual’s
death record. Pretty great stuff!
Learning the format and the language of the
records you will see is of the utmost importance. Again Nelson’s book is
great. The nuances of the records, the language, and the naming patterns are
all obstacles that can sidetrack your research. If you have an
understanding of these problems
before you begin you will be more successful (a little persistence
will help as well). Remember to learn about the records, do your homework
in the U.S. records, and be ready for the adventure of a lifetime!
I have spent many years learning about my
Italian ancestors, the country they came from, their customs and the
language they spoke. It has been an enriching experience that I am grateful
for. Understanding the culture, history and motivations for their
emigration to the U.S. has made me aware of how courageous and determined
they were to have survived the ordeals and trials they faced that we might
have a better life. By researching, documenting and telling their story we
provide future generations with a lasting tribute to our ancestors.
Buona fortuna!!
______________
Suggested Reading
* Indicates my favorite books!
*Carmack, Sharon DeBartolo.
Italian-American Family History: A Guide to Researching and Writing About
Your Heritage. (1997) [ISBN# 0-8063-1527-X]
Coan, Peter Morton.
Ellis Island Interviews. (1997)
[ISBN# 0-8160-3414-1 hardcover - #0-8160-3548-2 paperback]
Cole, Trafford R. Italian
Genealogical Records: How to Use Italian Civil, Ecclesiastical, & Other
Records in Family History Research. (1995) [ISBN#0-916489-58-2]
Colletta,
John Philip, PhD.
They
Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival
Records.
(1989, 1993) [ISBN# 0-916489-42-6]
Colletta, John Philip, PhD.
Finding Italian Roots: A Complete Guide for Americans. (1993)
[ISBN# 0-8063-1393-5] NOTE:
An updated version is due out in August 2003.
Cornelisen, Ann.
Women of the Shadows. (1976) [ISBN# 0-316-15745-7 hardcover &
0-14-014785-3 paperback]
DiStasi, Lawrence. Una
Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and
Internment during World War II (2001) [ISBN#1-890771-40-6]
Fuscilla, Joseph G.
Our Italian Surnames. (1949) [ISBN#
0-8063-1187-8]
*Mangione, Jerre and Ben Morreale,
La Storia: Five Centuries of the Italian American Experience. (1992)
[ISBN#0-06-092441-1]
Malpezzi, Frances M. and William M. Clements.
Italian-American Folklore. (1992)
[ISBN#0-87483-278-0]
*Nelson, Lynn.
A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Italian Ancestors. (1997)
[ISBN# 1-55870-426-4]
*Paolicelli, Paul. Dances
With Luigi (2000) [ISBN#0-312-28380-6]
Phelps, Daphne. A
House in Sicily (1999) [ISBN@0-965-045507]
Tepper, Michael. American
Passenger Arrival Records. (1993) [ISBN# 0-8063-1380-3]¨ |
