Grandmothers Birth Certificate

[wldspirit]

No problem......and good luck with your search.
wldspirit

[redangie24]

I just got my grandmother birth certificate and got the shock of my life. My great-grandparents were not married at the time of her birth. My great-grandfather was "recognized" as the father one month after her birth, but they were not married until she was 7 years old. I am somewhat embarrassed to call the consulate and ask, but does anyone know if this would mean I could not persue my dual citizenship? Please let me know thanks for your help.
Angie

[nuccia]

Why are you embarrassed? I found out half my relatives weren't married when they gave birth!

You may want to have a look here..

http://www.italiandualcitizenship.com/

Nuccia

[wldspirit]

Funny, but you always hear comparisons of what was and was not done back in the day........yet the further back I go, the more skeletons I find........illegitimate births, men marrying women twenty and thirty years younger......and talk about repeated trips down the aisle......
so no need to be embarrassed..........we have all come across situations such as this........
wldspirit

[mler]

Angie, she was still a citizen even if her parents weren't married at the time of her birth. And that's all that matters.

Isn't it great to know that our ancestors led lives that were not substantially different from ours? It takes them off the page of our family trees and makes them real, breathing people.

[suanj]

I just got my grandmother birth certificate and got the shock of my life. My great-grandparents were not married at the time of her birth. My great-grandfather was "recognized" as the father one month after her birth, but they were not married until she was 7 years old. I am somewhat embarrassed to call the consulate and ask, but does anyone know if this would mean I could not persue my dual citizenship? Please let me know thanks for your help.
Angie

no problem... I believe...
suanj

[Marisa6]

Hi Angie

There is a common misconception that illegitimacy was uncommon in the nineteenth century. In fact - nothing could be further from the truth. Although figures varied from place to place across Scotland in the 1860s very roughly one in ten children was illegitimate. It was so common that under Scots law, when parents married, any children they had automatically became legitimate otherwise the courts would have been totally clogged with parents seeking to legitimate their children.

On the continent the figures were often higher. I have a government publication from the early 1860s that states that in 1856 in Paris illegitimacy rates were 31.2%, and in Vienna 50.2%. These sound a little high to be totally accurate - but it illustrates the point. As Nuccia said - having an illegitimate ancestor is very normal. I have hundreds!!!

Sorry to butt in

Marisa

[nuccia]

I heard from several people that one of the reasons many didn't marry right away was because they could not afford to...I have a letter written by my grandfather to his father in law where he comments that to marry in the small town where he was from would cost at least $500. and that they could not afford it. He asked my greatgrandfather to find my mom a husband and son a wife from America so that theey could travel there and make a better life for themselves.

My grandparents married in a double wedding with another couple (a brother and sister married a brother and sister ). Trish found that info for me...and my grandmother was already pregnant with my uncle at the time. Mom laughed when I told her that and all the old truths came out.

So, there you have it..They were human too!

Nuccia

[redangie24]

Guys Thanks so much for making me not feel quite so weird about it. I guess it was hard for me since my parents were not married and my family always made me feel bad about it. Until I got that birth certificate I never thought anyone else in my family was born out of wedlock. I kind of thought that other countries would really look down on it. But I guess it was just my own insecurities. Anyway thanks for the links and for making this a little easier for me.

[nuccia]

No problem,

What I loved the most was how guilty my family made us feel everytime we left the house...reminding us would would happen if we "brought shame" into the house! Yeah right....

When I go see my great aunt (she's 91 now) I have a field day. She was always the most liberal of all my family and made it perfectly clear from when I was ateenager that you should never give a man "everything"..just give him enough to keep him interested. I always did love that woman!

Let us know how your application for citizenship goes!
Nuccia

[jcsm400]

I've also heard that it was very common to make sure that the woman could have children before the marriage took place.....back then they never considered that it ould be the man that had the problem!

Best of luck getting your dual citizenship.

jcsm

[redangie24]

I had never heard that before!!! Checking to see if she could have children!!! Who would have thought.... I just always grew up with "never do anything to shame yourself or our family name," I am starting to realize that it was all talk. I will keep you all posted about my dual citizenship, but I know it is going to take a while since I have to get documents from 3 countries (America, Italy and France). To make it worse I don't speak french and since allot of the documents there have handwritten margines- thats hard to read- it takes me a while!!. Mostly since I have to read each document to find out where to look for the next one. They could not make it easy by living working and getting married in one town!!
Agin Thanks everyone.

[Juliets]

Hi there,
I saw your original post reagrding getting a copy of your grandmothers birth certificate. Do you have any advice starters that have helped you the most? I have a very similar circumstance and would love to learn from any of your experience. I know my greatgrandfather was born in Italy, I think Sicily and I can find out when he came and I know his marriage history, but that's pretty much it. Thanks so very much in advance for any tips you can share!!!

Best,
Juliet

[jcsm400]

Hi Juliet,

If you will provide your information, maybe we can help to find Italian town of origin.

Provide as much info as you can: surnames, 1st names, year of birth, family information, where & when they came to US. What US records you have gotten, so we don't duplicate your research.

Please provide this information on a new post in "Italian Genealogy" forum.

Hope to hear from you.

jcsm

[wldspirit]

By all means, if it is help you seek, then post the info requested by Joyce in a new thread.....however, if you prefer to do your own research and are only asking for tips.....then we can help there as well.......
wldspirit