Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"Chocolate Challenge"

We'll it appears that I am having issues at uploading my speedy done layout (I had to quickly redo it as I realized I did not use any products in which to link to the store too) but to show that I did finish on time, I am posting here on my badly neglected blog...
Chaos & Mayhem waiting for chocolate chip cookies.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

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.

Monday, February 21, 2011

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.