Italian Society in the 19th-Century

Society was divided by class:
* Aristocrats - the smallest class which consisted of land barons and titled families.  They primarily lived in large cities.
* Middle Class - consisted of the educated (lawyers, notaries etc.) and merchants.  They were usually referred to by a title of respect:  don (sir), signore (mister) or maestro (master).
* Contadini (the peasants) which consisted of laborers and farmers.

Education was available to everyone, if you could afford to send your children to school and for some the children were needed to work to help support the family, many times as early as 5 or 6 years old.

Some contadini were poor landowners and their plot of land was only large enough to support one family and only the first son would be able to inherit the land.  And only a small dowry was afforded to the first daughter.  Due to this, generally it was only the first male and first female to marry.  The rest of the children often remained unmarried, resulting in many unwanted pregancies and abandoned foundlings.

Marriages were often arranged, even among the poor and sometimes as the children were still babies.  Parents had to approve of the marriages and love was not as important as convenience.  During emigrations from Italy to North and South America, daughters were usually shipped off to marry another who had established himself in the new land.

Generally their home was one room made of stone, brick or mud with no running water or drainage.  This tiny abode housed large extended families and sometimes chickens, goats or other animals.  Due to crowding and lack of privacy, the streets and piazzas was where everything took place. 

The contadini were not necessarily religious but they went to church out of fear, supersitition and obligation.  Each town had a patron saint, whose feast day was celebrated annually with the hope that the saint would protect the town throughout the coming year.

Nelson, Lynn (1997). A genealogist's guide to discovering your Italian ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books.

Italian Naming Traditions

There has been a strong custom in Italy:

• The first male is named after his paternal grandfather.
• The second male is named after his maternal grandfather.
• The first female is named after her paternal grandmother.
• The second female is named after her maternal grandmother.

The subsequent children could be named after the parents, a favorite aunt or uncle, a saint or a deceased relative.  Note that there are exceptions to this naming custom.  For example:  one had a falling out with their family, one was an orphan, say the oldest child died - it was not uncommon for the next child to take the same name as there is now no child named after the grandfather.  Another example would be families who named their children after those in their favorite operas.

On the flip side, you could have too many people with the same name, born in the same place and perhaps even in the same year when they stuck to the traditional naming conventions.  For example:  Charles has four sons, three of those sons marry and have children the same year or perhaps next -- now you have three Charles born within a year of each other.  So you need to be able to answer Who, What, Where and When -- never assume.  This is why studying the family cluster is important.

Nelson, Lynn (1997). A genealogist's guide to discovering your Italian ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books.

Geographical Organization of Italy

Italy's land is divided into 20 regioni (regions), 103 province (provinces) as of today with a region containing from 1 - 9 provinces, and each province is made up of comuni (cities) and frazioni (villages or hamlets).  Each province has a capital city that shares its name.

Because vital records were maintained at the town level, the ancestor that was born in Italy and migrated to North America is the key to unlocking your family heritage.

Nelson, Lynn (1997). A genealogist's guide to discovering your Italian ancestors: how to find and record your unique heritage. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books.

It is said that John Louisiana's (b. 1846 St Louis MI, d. 1900 Montrose MN) father Charles was born in Italy in 1819.  I do find that there is a region named Liguria in the northern ocean front part of Italy.  With the four modern provinces of:  Genova, Imperia, La Spezia and Savona and four Pre-Unification (1870) names of:  Genova, Savona, Genova and Savona.

1815 - 1860 Italy

After Napolean's fall, Italy reverted to its preunification autonomous city-states and the European monarchs redrew their old boundaries.  The northern states were ruled by the Austrian Empire, the central consisted of the papal states and the south by Spain.  Secret underground societies such as the Carbonari, developed to encourage a "free Italy."  In the mid-1800's, a movement called il Risorgimento (the resurrection) inspired a new Italy.  During this period, many regions continued to maintain vital records as they had during the Napoleonic era - particularly in the south.

Civil vital records for most regions begin in 1809.  Some areas may have gaps between the Napoleonic era and the 1865 reunification.  All regions have records from 1865 to date.  Note that the names of some provinces and towns changed during this last unification.

Nelson, Lynn (1997). A genealogist's guide to discovering your italian ancestors.. Cincinnati, OH: Betterway Books.

Computer died

Well what do you know....I was more or less laid off from my day job and then my computer totally died in January.  What a way to start the year.  I guess things can only get better (once I get a new computer that is).