16 December 1857 Basilicata Earthquake (AKA the Great Neapolitan Earthquake) Fatalities – Saponara di Grumento, Potenza

[AngelaGrace56]

Might there possibly be a list of those who lost their lives, as a result of the 16 December 1857 Basilicata Earthquake? The town that I am particularly interested in is Saponara di Grumento (now called Grumento Nova). Many there lost their lives and many buildings were destroyed. Civil Death Records ceased in the town on 15 December 1857, 4 pm and resumed 17 January 1858, 4 pm. However, Church Records continued. (By searching marriage allegati I have been able to locate some family members which has been helpful.)

I came across the following article today, which got my attention, and gave me hope, until I took a closer look -

“The ‘Official Journal of the Two Sicilies,’ of the 18th Feb, publishes a complete list of all the victims of the memorable earthquake of Dec. 16, 1857. The total number of dead amounts to 0350 ,,,,”

This seems to contain limited info and errors. (Thousands and thousands lots their lives.)
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/arti ... ke%20italy

My question again “Might there possibily be a list of those who lost their lives, as a result of the 16 December 1857 Basilicata Earthquake?”

If anyone can help, with the names of those from Saponara di Grumento who lost their lives in the 1857 earthquake, I would be really appeciate it. Thank you.

Angela

[joetucciarone]

Hi Angela - I looked for a digitized copy of the February 18, 1858 issue of Giornale del Regno Delle Due Sicillie, but I’m afraid I didn’t find one.

The following webpage, “Catalogue of Strong Italian Earthquakes in Italy 461 B.C. - 1997,” might interest you. It includes a summary of the December 16, 1857 earthquake:

http://storing.ingv.it/cfti/cfti4/quakes/08443.html#

About two-thirds of the way down the page is a list of the 1858 editions of “Giornale del Regno Delle Due Sicillie” that are included in this catalogue’s huge bibliography. Unfortunately, The February 18 issue isn’t among them. A careful study of the editions in the list shows that the February 18 issue will have a volume number between 33 and 39.

Abe Books offers a collection titled “Set of 24 editions of Giornale del Regno Delle Due Sicilie, 1857-1858”:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Search ... -ats-_-all

Unfortunately, it only contains volumes 3, 16, 23, 29, and 65 from 1858. So, it doesn’t have the edition you want, whose volume number is between 33 and 39. Besides, the book costs $450!

Finally, I tried the Internet Culturale website; the phrase “Giornale del Regno Delle Due Sicillie” resulted in 358 editions:

http://www.internetculturale.it/it/16/s ... =magindice

Unfortunately, only two editions were published in 1858 and both were October editions. Here are the details for the October 28 edition, which includes the copy’s provenance:

http://www.internetculturale.it/it/16/s ... ue+Sicilie

Maybe you could try one of the big libraries (like the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli) to see if they have the edition you want.

Good luck with your search!

[joetucciarone]

Hi again Angela - I still haven't found a list of the dead, but I did find several contemporary books with interesting material about the earthquake.

The first is "Ragguaglio dei Principali Fenomeni Naturali, Avvenuti nel Regno Durante il 1857." Page 4 contains a chronological list of earthquakes occurring in Italy in 1857. A detailed description of the December 16 event begins on page 15:

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... eca+-+ICCU

The second book, "Tremuoti di Basilicata, nel Dicembre 1857, memoria, di Giacomo Racioppi," was published in Naples in 1858:

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... fulltext=1

Here's the third book, "Great Neapolitan Earthquake of 1857," by Robert Mallet. He visited Grumento during the research for his book:

https://books.google.td/books?id=Qu3OAAAAMAAJ

[mmogno]

@AngelaGrace56
Credo che ci sia un equivoco: il Giornale del Regno delle Due Sicilie ha pubblicato la Lista dei morti nel senso del numero nei diversi Comuni, non una lista nominativa.

[joetucciarone]

Thanks for posting this list, Mmogno. It shows that Montemurro was the hardest hit town in Potenza, losing 5,000 of its 7,002 residents. I briefly scanned Montemurro’s death records for 1857 and found three records in a row in which an additional note was written in the margin:

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

The annotations are very hard to read, but each contains a variation of the phrase "nelle notte del 16 a 17 Dicembre 1857 . . ." or "on the night of the seventeenth December eighteen fifty-seven." This was the night the earthquake struck. I can’t help but think these annotations have something to do with the tragedy, but I can’t read them. Two of the annotations seem to have been added in 1864. All three of the death records occurred near the end of December 1857.

[AngelaGrace56]

@joetucciarone


Thank you so much for all the links here, Joe. I really appreciate your interest in this. In the past I have researched this 1857 earthquake and have found some really good articles and research on it. I just have never been able to locate any lists of the fatalities. With there being so many who died, I think I'm being somewhat ambitious. I was hoping there might be some sort of plaque or memorial in Grumento Nova with the names listed, but even that probably is being somewhat ambitious, with over 2000 residents who died there.

You are so good at researching, especially newspapers etc. I've enjoyed looking at the different articles you have posted on another forum. Thanks for those. I was wondering whether there might be newspaper articles in the US relating to this 1857 earthquake which mentions Italian's immigrants to the US from Saponara di Grumento/Grumento Nova who had lost family in that earthquake. If you had time I'd appreciate you researching this - no compulsion though. I know everyone's busy. Thank you.

Angela

[AngelaGrace56]

@AngelaGrace56
Credo che ci sia un equivoco: il Giornale del Regno delle Due Sicilie ha pubblicato la Lista dei morti nel senso del numero nei diversi Comuni, non una lista nominativa.

@mmogno


Yes, I agree. (It sounded too good to be true.)

Thanks so much for the list of the numbers of those that died and those that were wounded. I didn't know the exact number, I thought it would about 2000 - so basically half the population of Grumento Nova died in the earthquake. Interesting that there were no fatalities in Sarconi, which is very close to Grumento Nova.

Thanks again, G.

Angela

[mmogno]

https://ingvterremoti.com/2014/12/16/i- ... -italiana/

http://storing.ingv.it/cfti4med/quakes/08443.html

https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/ASMI/event/18571216_2115_001

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30041471

[joetucciarone]

Hi Angela - I’m happy to share what I’ve found. I’m sure there’s a lot more in the archives, but here’s a sampling of what was published in contemporary Italian journals.

L’Annotatore was a newspaper published in Parma. The following link will take you to the first page of its January 9, 1858 edition. When the page opens, click the forward arrow two times and this will take you to page 7:

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... fulltext=1

Some mention of “terremoto” (earthquake) is made at the bottom of the second column and near the end of the third column.

The February 13, 1858 of L’Annotatore briefly mentions Verdi in connection with the earthquake. When the following page opens, click forward three times; this will take you to page 28 and the end of an article about the composer (Ovazione a Verdi) which is continued from the previous page:

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... fulltext=1

Near the top of the first column on page 28, the reporter said that Verdi was anxious to create a composition to benefit the victims of the December 16 earthquake.

The February 7, 1858 issue of Il Crepuscolo, published in Milan, makes a brief mention of the December 16 earthquake. When the following page opens, click forward 13 times to get to page 94. An article on that page, Rivista Letteraria, makes several mentions of “terremoto”:

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... fulltext=1

The March 11, 1858 issue of Il Crepuscolo also mentions the earthquake. When the following page opens, click to the last page (page 240 of the edition):

https://www.internetculturale.it/jmms/i ... fulltext=1

Near the top of the second column, the provinces of Basilicata and Salerno are mentioned, as is the town of Montemurro.

When I have some time, I’ll see what was published in American newspapers.

[joetucciarone]

Here are some newspaper articles that mention the December 16, 1857 earthquake. They’re easily and freely accessible on the Chronicling America website.

An article in the February 4, 1858 edition of the Holmes County Republican (a newspaper published in Millersburg, Ohio) gave a brief but heart-rending account of the earthquake. You can see the article at the bottom of the fifth column on this page:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=1

The reporter quoted a sorrowful account which said “there were none to aid them, none to excavate the dying, none to bury the dead. . .” According to the report, after being buried so long under the debris, "sufferers had devoured portions of their own arms."

Here are more American newspaper articles that describe the event; the red-highlighting helps locate the stories:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=2

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=2

This is a fairly detailed account, transcribed from the London News:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=2

This article was transcribed from the London Times; the transcription appeared in several other U.S. newspapers:

https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn ... nge&page=2

[AngelaGrace56]

Hi Angela - I’m happy to share what I’ve found. I’m sure there’s a lot more in the archives, but here’s a sampling of what was published in contemporary Italian journals.

When I have some time, I’ll see what was published in American newspapers.

Hi Joe

Thank you so much. You have certainly outdone yourself here. I appreciate it. I shall enjoy looking at the links and I'm sure others will also find them interesting. It's an important part of history.

Yes, American newspapers would be great. I'm not in America and would be really interested in any articles to do with Italian residents there who may have lost family in Potenza province, especially Saponara di Grumento and Sarconi. (

Thank you, again.

Angela

[AngelaGrace56]

https://ingvterremoti.com/2014/12/16/i- ... -italiana/

http://storing.ingv.it/cfti4med/quakes/08443.html

https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/ASMI/event/18571216_2115_001

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30041471

Ciao G

Thank you for these links, which I enjoyed reading shortly after you posted them earlier. I don't recall seeing them before.

You may be able to help me - I located a really good pdf which I downloaded to my computer a few months ago. I can no longer find it online. I wanted to post the link here in case others are interested. It's such an important part of history. The title of the pdf is "Il Terremoto Tra Storia, Prevenzione e Previsione" Breve storia del tremuoto in Val d'Agri del 16 dicembre del 1857 - Biagio Russo.

(I think it may have been part of a booklet entitled "Il Risorgimento Lucano"?) If you have time to locate it, can you please link it here. Grazie.

Also, looking at the following links, I have taken three samples of Church Death Records, which appear in the 1858 Processetti from Saponara di Grumento. I had never noticed this before, but, what I am now understanding, is, that there was a separate church death register set up for those who lost their lives in the 16 December 1857 earthquake. I had definitely noticed the word terremoto before but not the word register. Is this what you are also understanding from the wording in these death records. These are just three records but I do have more from 1858 processetti with the same wording.

Image 480: No 964: http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

Image 321: No 869: http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0

Image 481: No 327: http://dl.antenati.san.beniculturali.it ... ewsIndex=0


Angela

[joetucciarone]

Hi Angela - I think I found the text you want. Yesterday, I posted about Marsico Nuovo in the "Off Topic - We don't only do Italian Genealogy" forum. In my post, I included a link to a work by Biagio Russo. Here's my post with the link to his pdf:

https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/ ... 21#p320021

[AngelaGrace56]

Hi Angela - I think I found the text you want. Yesterday, I posted about Marsico Nuovo in the "Off Topic - We don't only do Italian Genealogy" forum. In my post, I included a link to a work by Biagio Russo. Here's my post with the link to his pdf:

https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/ ... 21#p320021

Hi Joe

There is something wrong with the link that you posted to that PDF. When you first posted it, I clicked on it to see what it was, and tried different things but it wouldn't open. I do have a copy of the PDF I am talking of, which I found a few months ago, but I wanted to post it here as it is really interesting and has really good pics. I thought others may be interested. I couldn't post it here though, and I've lost the online link to it.

Edit to Add: It's this one here: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=x- ... gAegQIARAR

but I can't work out how to link it here.


Angela

[joetucciarone]

Hi Angela - I'm sorry you're having trouble opening the link. If you send me your email in a private message, I'd be happy to send you a copy of the pdf.

Joe