Can’t find a marriage record. Gioiosa Marea, probably 1866.

[warriorrabbit]

Vincenzo Ferlazzo of Gioiosa Marea.

Salvadore Ferlazzo and Concetta Baudo had at least 8 kids.
Son Giuseppe is my GGGrandfather. Vincenzo is one of his 3 brothers.

Vincenzo was born on March 5, 1845.
https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12 ... 62/5vGpQJO
After that,I don’t have any records for him.

Long Island Vincenzo, who I suspect is him, married Antonia Sicari in Gioiosa Marea, presumably in 1866 (didn’t find a record in 1865, 1867, or 1868). Can’t find the marriage record that would confirm.

His first kid, Salvatore, was born in 1868 (self-reported on draft records, etc). His first daughter Concetta was born in 1869. http://www.describe.org/genstuff/ferlaz ... a_1869.jpg

Names of first kids match his parents. Long Island Vincenzo gives his birth date as March 7, 1844. Off, but close, which is not unusual. Also, I did not see any other Vincenzo Ferlazzos born between 1843-48 other than the one born to Baudo in 1845. Unfortunately, Long Island Vincenzo’s death certificate doesn’t list his mom.

I’m reasonably sure they are the same Vincenzo. I just haven’t been able to confirm with records and I prefer, you know, paper trail validation. But sometimes it isn’t possible.

Did I overlook the marriage certificate? Do you think I’m right that they are the same dude? I think a magic 8 ball would say “all signs point to yes,” but…

Where else should I look for confirmation?

[warriorrabbit]

Did I miss a 10-year index? Is there some other way, short of writing to the parish?

[Cousinvinny]

Here is Salvadore's birth in 1868: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 7-8BT4-JTN

Vincenzo and Antonia appeared together and said Salvadore was born "dalla loro unione" - from their (sexual) union - which is very different language from other birth records in the volume, most of which say the mother is the wife of the father. This suggests to me that the couple wasn't legally married.

But this wasn't uncommon in post-unification Italy. The new kingdom was based on liberal and democratic ideals that had spread throughout Europe in the 1848 revolutions. One of these ideas was civil marriage, and this was the law in Italy after 1865 (technically, after 1861) - church marriage was no longer the law of the land as it had been in the Kingdom of Two Sicilies; in fact, church marriages were not recognized for legal purposes from 1866 until 1929 when the Lateran Accords were signed.

The Catholic Church, obviously, wasn't a fan of this development (and was also not happy about losing all their territory in the Papal States) so they actively encouraged the faithful not to participate in civil marriage and other institutions of the new government - Catholics were actually told not to vote in elections. So many Catholic couples continued having church marriages as before, and ignored the civil marriage requirement of the law. The result was that for legal purposes, their children were illegitimate. Most couples who didn't have a civil marriage would eventually get one, often years later, and retroactively legitimize their children to avoid them having to carry the shame of being considered illegitimate. But couples who emigrated to the US might never have entered into a civil marriage.

Interestingly, Concetta's 1869 birth record has Vincenzo appearing by himself and declaring that Antonia was his wife. Whether this was true or an expedient white lie, I can't say, but I didn't find a civil marriage record for them in 1869. So it seems likely that if they were married, they were only married in the church, and those records for Gioiosa Marea aren't available online.

[warriorrabbit]

Thanks for finding Salvatore’s birth act. I do have a sort of similar birth act on another branch, where they specifically noted the child was illegitimate, then added a note in the margin that it was reversed later when the parents wed. Here they weren’t so pointed about the legitimacy, so maybe your theory is right and they were just sort of acknowledging church vs civil.

Looks like I’ll have to write to the church…