Magnino - Sparone, Piedmont

[bobsmodels1]

This is my first time on this site.

I want to find where my grandfather lived in Italy. I want to find the actual location not just the town. My aunt would write to the family and kept communications for many years until her death in the early 1980’s. Unfortunately her address book information was lost. On the positive side, my aunt, mother and father went on a tour of Europe in 1976. At that time my aunt contacted the family and when the bus was close to the town a family member picked them up and took them to the their home, which was a compound of several homes of the family. It was outside of town in the mountains. There were pictures taken, not many, but some of them distinctive.

Not sure what information to provide, but here are the basics of what I know:

Town: Sparone in the Piedmont region
My Grandfather - Giovanni Magnino, born March 4, 1890, immigrated to the USA in August 1907
His Brother – Giuseppe Magnino, Born Unknown, married to Catherine, he remained in Italy.

I have several photos from the 1976 trip, the most distinctive is of a chapel on the grounds included. There are more photos with people and the grounds from that trip. I also have photos that were exchanged over the years of letter writing.

If I am on the wrong forum or there is a better way to go about this, please advise

Regards

Bob

[cedrone]

I saw only now your post and that no one answered you until now. I try to tell you something.
Sparone is a small village near Torino.
The registers are available on Family Search, so I looked for the birth act of your grandfather, but perhaps you already have it. It is written badly, I'll try later to write the content.
I hope the link works:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1475996

[mmogno]

Cappella dei Santi Angeli Custodi e Santa Apollonia
Località Apparè
https://www.comune.sparone.to.it/it-it/ ... 353551c727

[cedrone]

Act n. 18 of 7 March 1890
Magnino Giovanni Battista,
born 4 March 1890 in Sparone, locality Apparè
son of Magnino Giacomo , 38 yo, mason and Magnin Prino [?] Caterina, farmer.

I can't read well the mother's name, but perhaps you already have it.
I'll look if I can find also the baptism act of the church.

[bobsmodels1]

Hi
I just saw your response, thank you. I just found the birth record about an hour ago. I was having difficulty translating it. I think his mothers name was Catherine. You translated 38Yr old Mason, ..... Farmer. How do I interpret Mason vs Farmer.

In the birth record does locality Appare (which I found on a google map) mean a neighborhood? Is the implication that is where they lived? When my father was on the trip taking photos he would not have walked very far as it was a short visit maybe two or three hours. So that chapel had to be a very short distance.

Can you tell me a few more things about the birth record? After e nato un bambino …. There is some date and name information, but then a long sentence? Followed be some names that I cannot make out, can you read any of it?

Thank you for all the help

Bob

[AngelaGrace56]

Act n. 18 of 7 March 1890
Magnino Giovanni Battista,
born 4 March 1890 in Sparone, locality Apparè
son of Magnino Giacomo , 38 yo, mason and Magnin Prino [?] Caterina, farmer.

I can't read well the mother's name, but perhaps you already have it.
I'll look if I can find also the baptism act of the church.

cedrone, the following helps to confirm the mother's surname. It looks to be hyphenated?:

1886 Marriage Record of Giacomo Magnino and Maria Caterina Magnin-Prino:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1475996

Angela

[joetucciarone]

Hi Bob - this map shows the current distribution of the surname Magnino in Italy:

http://www.gens.info/italia/it/turismo- ... Q5I1i1h1qs

Aside from the instances around Sparone, the surname is also present in Turin and the area around Mondovi. There are also a few occurrences along the coast east of Genoa and a handful in Perugia.

[cedrone]

Salve Angela.
Thank you for this act. Yes it confirms the mother's surname, a double surname, common in Piemonte, as someone (perhaps you?) explained on this forum to distinguish families with the same (first) surname. Note that in the signature she wrote Magnino.
Or I'd consider it a single great and old family with so many members that they added a second surname.
Regards.

[cedrone]

Hi Bob
Sparone is the name of the whole 'comune' that includes various hamlets or small villages
(from wikipedia:)
Apparè, Bisdonio, Calsazio, Feilongo, Frachiamo, Lantigliera, Nosè, Piani, Pra' Prete, Russa, Torre, Vasario, Peretti
-----
So Your ancestor was born in Apparè, where there is that church and your nearest relatives probably are living still there.
To find them you could ask to the comune who is living there with surname Magnino. In the phone book there is one name in Apparè.

[cedrone]

(follows)
The birth act states that the father Giacomo was a 'muratore' (mason, bricklayer) and the mother was a 'contadina' (farmer, peasant).
In the last part of the act there are the names of two witnesses (not important, usually they are not relatives) and the signatures:
Giacomo Magnino, the two witnesses and the official ('Sindaco').

[bobsmodels1]

cedrone, mmogno, angela, joe

I appreciate all the valuable information you have provided. Your translations have assisted me greatly with a better understanding of the family. I have fumbled around on familysearch and with your assistance now have a better understanding how to get information. I need to learn a bit of Italian at least enough to read documents. I have also gained insight into terminology ie Sparone vs hamlets.

joe -
that map is great, I need to see if I can blow it up to see actual locals a little better.

angela, cedrone -
I see the surname differences on the marriage file, could it be that the first entry was her maiden name Magnin and when she signed it at the bottom she was married so she wrote Magnino?

mmogno -
I spent lots of time using google maps in the satellite mode, then dropping sown on the road for 360 degree view. I “drove” all over the place. I was under the impression they lived on a farm outside of town. I never drove on that east west road as it did not look like a rural road. Sure enough when I went a block or so east of the chapel and looked at the buildings the background matched those of the pictures taken in 1976, so that is the place of their home. The homes have clearly been upgraded since 1976. Further investigation is needed.


Again thank you

Bob

[AngelaGrace56]

angela, cedrone -
I see the surname differences on the marriage file, could it be that the first entry was her maiden name Magnin and when she signed it at the bottom she was married so she wrote Magnino?

Again thank you

Bob

Hi Bob, welcome to the forum.

Italian women keep their maiden names after they are married, so I doubt that is the case. In Torino both the combined surnames “Magnin Prino” and “Magnino Prino” sometimes hyphenated, sometimes not, exist. I’ve found the Marriage Pubblication (their request for the banns to be posted) to see what it says and there are discrepancies between this and the Marriage Act with spellings, but each time she has signed her surname “Magnino Prino”. Take a look. I’ll see what else I can locate.

Marriage Pubblication:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=1475996


Angela

[cedrone]

Hi Bob.
As to the marriage act, the signature at the bottom is the maiden name:
Magnino Prino ; the official wrote Magnin - Prino, but it is the same.
In this area there were various families with same surname Magnino and at a certain moment it was decided to add to one of them the second surname Prino to distinguish. Or (as I prefer to think) it was an old single family and they added a second surname to some branches.

[AngelaGrace56]

Sorry cedrone, I've only just seen your reply now. We must have been posting at the same time, except I took longer. I lost my link to the marriage pubblication and had to relook for it in my history. Anyways, I think we are both in agreement about the signature being her maiden name.

Angela

[cedrone]

Yes Angela, we wrote together.
I confirm, all marriage acts I've seen are signed with the maiden name.
The fact that she signed Magnino (even if for the comune perhaps it was officially Magnin) confirms for me the reason of adding the second surname:
two families with exactly the same surname or two (or more) branches of the same family.
In my region (Lombardia) in some comune I saw something similar, a 'nickname' (that seemed in the local dialect) written on the side of the birth act, after the name of the child, evidently for the same reason, identify better the family. (but without becoming part of the surname as in Piemonte).
Regards.