I spent all day Friday researching Sicilian records.
Specifically, I researched records from Augusta, Siracusa, Sicily, a collection that is well represented in the Family History Library with Civil Registration records of births, marriages, and deaths from 1820-1829 (with some gaps).
The collection also includes census records from 1548-1815. I have not yet examined the census records, but I expect that they do not list every name in every household.
The marriage records are supplemented with the Allegati – a collection of documents to support the marriage including birth and baptismal records of the bride and groom (the civil registrations of births do not include information about baptisms) and death records for deceased parents.
The Allegati provided me with information that extends back further than the civil registrations go – some of the birth records and death records included in the Allegati were church records prior to 1820.
For an added bonus, the death records of the parents of the bride and groom also named the grandparents of the bride and groom – three generations named in a single record.
Because I’ve researched this Sicilian line before, my research today centered on the siblings of the individuals in the main ancestral line. I was able to find ten records (not including Allegati) that relate to the family and, while I’ve harvested more records than this is a day’s work at the Family History Library, I’m pleased with my accomplishment today.
Saturday morning I plan to search census records for the French Canadian ancestors of my Godmother.
Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko
