Italian Adoption in 1866/1867

[carmine1917]

My great-grandfather was adopted and I have ordered so many films from FHC, have found nothing on his birth! It is so frustrating!

My great-grandfather ended up marrying a 3rd cousin, so we got lucky and know the family that adopted him We have everything, as sister lived in Italy for years and went to Province of Avellino and got records of great-grandmothers family. I have found everything else on our great-grandmother and great-grandfathers adopted family through FHC records, but can not find birth record of great-grandfather.

I am waiting on Publication records for town he lived in, would there be an announcement. I am very frustrated. How were adoptions recorded? The story we were told, is that his biological mother had an affair with the mayor of the town and he was put up for adoption. Whatever the story is, we have now also discovered that he never became a US citizen! Any suggestions would be welcome!

[PeterTimber]

You might wish to go to www.regalis.com/adopt.htm on Tracing Italian Lineages of Adoptee and Ancestors Born outside Marriage. It appears to be Adoption 101 introduction but should prove helpful. =Peter=

[carmine1917]

Thank you for the link. But our family has our great-grandparents marriage record, given to my sister at the Province records office in Avellino. The records my sister got, are so much different than the records I got at the local records office through researching our fathers side through FHC and visiting Sicily. The marriage record of our great grandfather states that he is illegitimate. I am just wondering if anyone else has an ancestor or looked for someone who was adopted and found the record and where it was to be found!

[MaurizioPerrone]

How were adoptions recorded? The story we were told, is that his biological mother had an affair with the mayor of the town and he was put up for adoption. Whatever the story is, we have now also discovered that he never became a US citizen! Any suggestions would be welcome!

This situation you describe for your great-grandfather was very common. He was a trovatello, a child born from unwed parents. In the days of your great-grandfather, there were some very specific laws for the recording of children born from the unwed mother. The purpose of the law was to ensure the health of the child (so mother would not harm child to hide the fact of her illicit affair), but also to protect the legal anonymity of the parents. So, on the birth act, many time the parent names are omitted and the child is given the fantasy surname, which is given by the town official. If the mother she wants to recognize the baby as her natural child, then yes her name is inscribed on the birth act.

There was no adoption as we have today, if the mother does not keep her baby, it is given to wet nurse and then given to a local family to raise, or maybe put in the orphanage if this is a big town. Many possibility. Even in situation when the child know the name of the natural mother or father, it cannot be recorded legally on the marriage act, because the parent must legally recognize the child. Social recognition was different than legal recognition, you understand?

I think is possible you cannot find your great-grandfather in the birth act because he was given the fantasy surname when his birth was recorded by the town official. So you must know the name of the town he was born, and the year he was born, then maybe you can study the birth acts from that year and maybe find a match of date with a baby boy born from unknown parents. Is much work, but you can do it. Maybe on the birth act you can discover the name of the mother, or some clue of the great-grandfather origin.

[carmine1917]

I must have left out what we know of the story. His mother was married, had an affair with the town mayor. So that is why he was given up for adoption.

[MaurizioPerrone]

I must have left out what we know of the story. His mother was married, had an affair with the town mayor. So that is why he was given up for adoption.

The social origin of your great-grandfather (the story of his conception and birth) is different from the legal origin (his birth act). If his parents do not recognize him when his birth is record at the town hall, they are free to remain anonymous (legally).

You will have to study birth acts from the year of his birth to discover him, because perhaps he was given the fantasy surname when he was born. Does not matter if his father was mayor of the town, or if his mother was married woman.

[JohnArmellino]

From the facts that you have supplied it seems that your GGF was a proietto, or foundling. As Maurizio pointed out, trovatello is another name for a proietto, although I have most often seen the term proietto (or projetto) in the mid-eighteenth century records of southern Italy. The birth records for these children are usually kept in one of two places. Sometimes they are interspersed with the birth (nati) records of the comune. Other times they are kept with the diversi records. I see that you are familiar with the FHL films. Check the film details on the family search website and see if the diversi records are available. There is also the outside chance that your GGF was actually adopted. This would be unusual since there were very few legal adoptions in southern Italy and then only for inheritance purposes. The adoption records are usually kept with the diversi records.

[carmine1917]

I found the record!!!

[JohnArmellino]

Can you post an image?

[carmine1917]

my scanner won't work. I bought a new one and this one won't work either, it is so frustrating. The way i found it is this: he married a cousin of the family he was adopted to. when my sister lived in italy, she went to the province and got our great-grandma's marriage record and it listed his birth town and him as illegitimate. I ordered the record at the FHC and it was in Part II of the year of birth. I got his year of birth from the Old Man's WWI registry off ancestry

if you are good with computers and can help me with this scanner problem can you email me. i bought a kodak esp 3250 and have windows xp.

[JohnArmellino]

Nice work! I wish I could help you with the scanner, but I'm strictly intuitive when it comes to computers and no good at instructions.

[carmine1917]

If my sister never went to the province and got the marriage record, who knows if I would have found this. I was told his last name was originally Somma, that he was from Melfi. But his last name was Sommario and he was from Monteforte Irpino! I got lucky, again! Now I can not find any record of him becoming an American citizen. I have looked everywhere.

[aliza24]

John-

Is it the scanner itself you are having problems with or loading the software?

Because I just bought the exact same printer / scanner and found that there are often software problems. I had to go to the internet and download it from there- the DVD didn't work.

[carmine1917]

So i have this birth record and the print is so small, it is all in script! I can only make out a few names. UGH!

[johnnyonthespot]

Can you scan it to an image file? If so, try uploading it to an image hosting site and then post a link in the Language board at the bottom of the main page here.

This thread ( http://italiangenealogy.tardio.com/Foru ... c/t=17142/ ) discusses the "how to" of image posting.