Child of Parents Unknown

[gallohjc]

Searching for info on my husband's paternal Great Grandfather, Liborio Chiavone, born abt 1864 in Messina, Mistretta, Sicily. He moved to Gangi, Palermo in 1888 and married Maria Santa Salerno in 1890.

His relocation papers and marriage papers indicate his parents were unknown. How would I go about finding if he was possibly a Foundling Wheel baby?

I found documents on FamilySearch.org for his move to Gangi, birth, baptism and marriage. Infortunatlely, I cannot translate them. I went into Italy, Palermo, Gangi Termini Immerse (Tribunale) 1862-1910, Cittadinanza 1867 - 1910 for his move to Gangi (page 72 of 170).

Italy, Palermo Termini Immerse (Tribunale) Gangi - Matrimoni e Pubblicazioni, pages 5 and 8 of 2396.

Finally Italy, Palermo, Termini Immerse (Tribunale), 1862-1910 - Gangi - Allegati (vari) 1886-1887 pages 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 of 3151.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Helen Gallo

[erudita74]

Looking at the extract of his birth record, and the title of the person who made the presentation of the infant at the town hall, I would say that he was abandoned at the wheel. Often a birth record of an abandoned infant will specifically indicate that the infant was a child of the wheel. In the case of this record, the person who made the presentation was a "Recevitiore dei Projetti" (or proietti). She was the person who received an abandoned infant at the institution where he/she was abandoned. Since those institutions had wheels to allow the identity of the natural parent(s) to remain anonymous, I think it is safe to say to infer that the place had a wheel on which this infant was placed when he was abandoned and that, yes, he was a "child of the wheel." He wasn't abandoned on a town person's doorstep, the way my paternal grandfather was.

Erudita

[gallohjc]

Thank you so much for your response. Does this record give birth date, name of the presenter and any indication of how he was given his name? Especially his surname.

Such a sad beginning for a child - abandoned as a child of the wheel or as your paternal grandfather - on a town person's doorstep. Hopefully your grandfather had a fulfilling life and was the beginning of many generations.

Helen

[erudita74]

Thank you so much for your response. Does this record give birth date, name of the presenter and any indication of how he was given his name? Especially his surname.

Such a sad beginning for a child - abandoned as a child of the wheel or as your paternal grandfather - on a town person's doorstep. Hopefully your grandfather had a fulfilling life and was the beginning of many generations.

Helen

Hi Helen
Liborio's birth record is dated March 13, 1864 at 4 P.M. in Mistretta. Appearing was Cherubina di Pietro, age 60, who was the receiver of the abandoned infants. She was living in Mistretta and presented a male infant who was of unknown father and unknown mother. He had been exposed on the 12th of March in the house of the wheel (I didn't see the reference to the ruota earlier when I looked quickly at the document), but this does confirm that he was a child of the wheel. He was given the name Liborio Chiavone* and baptized in the parish of the town (no name given for the parish) on the 13th.

* in the case of an abandoned child, the town official normally assigned both a first and last name to the child. Liborio may therefore be the only child in his town with the surname given to him by the town official, but to confirm this, one would have to go through indices of the records for the town of Mistretta. This was initially the situation with my grandfather, but his so-called natural parents reclaimed him when he was 2 years and 10 months old by going to a town notary with witnesses who attested to their identities. At the time they did, they had to describe the items they had left with my grandfather when he was abandoned, as in the absence of DNA evidence which did not exist at the time, this was the one way of proving that an abandoned child was yours. My grandfather's parents had actually married some 6 weeks after he was born and abandoned and, when he was reclaimed, the town notary changed his surname to that of the father. So then he and his father were the only two people in the town with the surname, as I discovered that both of his parents had also been abandoned as infants.

In your Liborio's record, however, there is no description of items left with him or any indication about whether there were any identifying marks such as a mole or beauty mark on his body when he was left.

Anyway, to help you with the other records. there is a birth record for Maria Santa Salerno. She was born on Jan 5, 1870 at 3 P.M. to Vincenzo Salerno, the son of deceased Antonino Salerno, who was a 28 year old farmer and resident in Gangi at the time of the birth of his daughter. Her mother was Gaetana Picone, the daughter of deceased Cataldo Picone.

You also have a document which is a statement of Liborio's free state to marry. Such a statement indicated that the groom was not already married or bound by military obligations or was not a member of a religious order. So he was "free to marry."

You also have two marriage publications which are not the actual marriage record. Liborio was a 26 year old farmer and Maria Santa was age 20 at the time of their marriage in 1890.

Hope this helps.
Erudita

[gallohjc]

Erudite,

Thank you so much. I'm sad to know that he was a child of the wheel but apparently was well cared for. I've been looking for him for a long time and you have completed my Liborio journey. Also a big thank you for the additional family info.

Thank you for the generous time and effort you provide this wonderful site.


Helen

[erudita74]

Erudite,

Thank you so much. I'm sad to know that he was a child of the wheel but apparently was well cared for. I've been looking for him for a long time and you have completed my Liborio journey. Also a big thank you for the additional family info.

Thank you for the generous time and effort you provide this wonderful site.


Helen

You're very welcome, Helen. Happy I could be of help.
Erudita