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This is my first post, and I'd very much appreciate whatever guidance I can get.
My great-great grandfather, Joseph Comella, was born in 1860. Am almost certain that he was born in Candelo or environs. What do I need to do to obtain information about his parents/his wife/seven of his children who died very young? He died in New Jersey, where he came to live out his last couple of years with his 2 living children, Guido and Natalina.
Also, my great-grandmother from Candelo, Pierina Falla Comella (birthdate 6/27/1894; her mother's name was Rosina) had eloped with Guido Comella (birthdate 2/27/1887) before leaving Candelo for Ellis Island. Pierina had 2 siblings, Olimpia and Fernando (or Ferdnando?) who remained in Candelo. I want to investigate more about Pierina's parents, and I'd also like to learn more about her siblings' children. I'm seriously considering making a trip to Candelo in September, but would like to know as much detail as I can before I go.
I'm fortunate to still have a 91-year-old grandmother who was able to tell me all of the above. I'm guessing I try to get microfiche films for the area of Candelo? What specific information would that give me? Thank you in advance for whatever advice you can give me.
Hi,
Candelo is a small town in the province of Biella. Biella is both a town (where I was born) and a province. The two towns are close.
When your ancestors went to Usa, Candelo and Biella were probably under Novara province and later on were under Vercelli. You will have to look under Vercelli Province to find the films for Candelo. Hopefully there you will find your ancestors births, marriages, deaths. Do you already have ship manifests for your greatgrandparents arrival in USA?
There are many Fallas in Candelo while Comellas are found in nearby towns.
Thank you for this information about Novara and Vercelli, Ada. It will be very helpful during my search. Yes, I do have the ship manifests for both Guido and Pierina, as well as the 1930 U.S. Census information. I think I have done all that I can for the USA part of the investigation, no?
I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I'm wondering - when I do the search with the microfiche film, are births & marriages listed in such a way that it will be easy to learn who is related to whom? Or will it be a time-intensive effort to discover this information? Thanks again.
Oh, and I did look up "Falla" on the Italian white pages. Yes, there are many of them, you are right. I hope to be able to discover which ones I'm related to through this project.
Hi Kate,
I can tell you what I found on the rolls for my ancestors town which is not very far from yours and were probably following same rules.
On a marriage act you will find: Date the marriage took place and where, name of the groom, age, occupation, residence, father's name and mother's maiden name.
Same thing for the bride.
On banns, you can also see if one of them (more often the groom) is widow/widower. Sometimes also the father's age is written. There are no indications for siblings. Every year has an aphabetical index and every ten years there is a decennial index.
Once you have a marriage date you can find children, on Birth acts, calculating 9/12 months for the first (sometimes less..) and from then approximately every 1 year and a half/2 years you will find other children. Several times women were dyeing in childbirth and so was the child. Hard life!
This concise historical presentation is intended not as an exhaustive sociological treatise, but as a general introduction for the layman. It is presumed that the reader has already reviewed Italian Heraldry, Nobility & Genealogy. Because of the highly individual nature of genealogical and heral...