Newbie difficulties

[alia-sPaolo]

Ok. Here goes:
I'm new at this and I would really appreciate some help. The Alia, Sicily connection forms the basis for my maternal ancestors. My only unimpeachable known fact is the arrival of my GM & GF right after marriage in 1913 (Ellis Island). Currently using LDS microfilms (very aptly named) as direct source. The prime problems are:

1. LDS microfilms are 16 mm and very small; looking through the Nati 1883-1909 [1964000] right now in a small town in Oregon. At the local Family History Center the maximum magnification is too low to make out much of anything except that I can make crude guesses at the name; even a magnifying glass doesn't help much. My optometrist is going to be significantly richer before I finish with this!

2. Italian birth certificate. Most information is handwritten; even the certificate number is written as text rather than 123. I have tried to use Google translate to figure out what is going on but it is not a simple straightforward: this is mom, this is pop, this is sonny. There are multiple names on the certificate, but I can't figure out who's who or what's what.

So the question's are (drum roll):

1. Because I'm kinda shy I haven't asked whether there are other ways of viewing the microfilms at LDS. Can they be taken to another LDS site with better equipment? Do they have better equipment? (The assistants at LDS are somewhat lacking in technical expertise, though they're very nice; I can't even print out anything because the printer cartridge has been out of ink for at least several weeks and no one seems to know how to change it). Can they be taken offsite? Is there a way around this?

2. Is there someplace that has a translation of the information on the birth certificate, or is there some kind, generous member of ItalianGenealogy.com that has a translation of the contents of the birth certificate from Alia (I suspect these are not standardized "Italian" certificates)?

3. My GF and his mother apparently went back & forth from US to Alia several times but I've only got the one NY landing in 1913 for sure. Are there Italian immigration (or emigration) records from around the beginning of the 20th century, and if so, where might I find them?

I'm more than willing to slog through all the old data to get to my endpoint but any assistance that you can give would be truly appreciated. Grazie!

[oilman19]

Hello Alia

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you are visiting a small LDS center with very little equipment. Normally, a center that rents films will have various reading machines for the different magnifications that the films may require.
Generally, the larger centers are more likely to have more experienced volunteers. Using the LDS site, try finding a larger center that is nearby.

A common complaint is the inability to move your rented films to another center for convenience or access to better equipment (the equipment can vary tremendously between centers).

Regarding your #2 question, can you upload the document through "imageshack.com" or "photobucket.com" so that we may be able to see what you are trying to work with.

If you are searching the Ellis Island site for these landings, you may also wish to try Stephenmorse.com for more flexibility such as incorrect spellings of names.

Good luck

[alia-sPaolo]

Jim,
Thanks for the response. I suppose I'll have to do some traveling. I don't have any copies of the certificate since they are on the microfilm & I can't even print them out. But I can upload what I copied down in Italian, with a rotten Google translation; would that be appropriate? Problem is the "blanks" that are to be filled in are sometimes several lines long and contain handwritten information that I can't discern, either mentally or visually. I'm just looking for the names of the mother and father and can't seem to pick them out, even though I have "hints" or perhaps erroneous oral information about what the names "should" be from a long time ago. Thanks again.

Paul

[oilman19]

Paul,

Here is 1 suggestion.
If you can get the image on the microfilm reader, take a picture (no flash) and then try sending the image to the forum for translation. If it is a good digital image, it can be blown up on our computers for a better look and all of your questions can be answered by our wonderful genealogy experts.
This would get you started on the right track.

[johnnyonthespot]

The FHC I have been using lately has 5 (or is it 6?) standard microfilm viewers. All of them can accept both 16 and 35mm films, but only one has a lens which magnifies sufficiently to view the 16mm films. If you haven't done so already, try all of the viewers in your FHC.

As Jim points out, many users have very good results taking digital photographs of the image which is projected onto the viewer's whiteboard.

Also, it would be worthwhile to break through that shyness (believe me, I know about shy...) and inquire if your FHC has a film scanner which can scan individual microfilm images to a USB flash ("thumb") drive.

[Biff83]

This might help with translating birth acts. Thanks to Cathynap.

http://www.cosenzaexchange.com/birthacts.html

Biff

[jamiecapaldi]

Hello, I had the same problem with trying to copy at the fhc. I ended up asking if i could take the film to the Record Office and use their film viewer and copier. I could see more on their bigger viewer and i made a a3 copy too. I then found it better quality to take a still photo of the a3 copy with a flash and send it to my hardrive to crop and enhance brightness, etc.

I used and printed this pdf guide, which helped me to translate:

http://familyhistory.byu.edu/Downloads/ ... pter_2.pdf

The people on this site are also very good at transcribing and any help/advice.
The more posts, the nearer you are to an answer!

As Jim an Carmine said, if you wanted a quick answer for now, just take a photo, best you can of the image at the fhc (without flash) and post it on here for people to help?

Jamie

[alia-sPaolo]

Jeez, you guys(& gals?) are dedicated and fast! I just went to the cosenzaexchange site and looked at the translation. It seems pretty close to what I got from Google. So that helps a lot; kudos to Cathynap & Biff.

Can I assume that the person who comes before the magistrate with the bambino information is the father, and the mother's name and age follow in the correct location?

I'll try to bring my limited photographic skills to bear at the local FHC, and if successful deliver images to the ether to be examined by eagle-eyed denizens of this community, if they would be so kind. I'll see whether I can get up the gumption to talk to the FHC people and try to find a better way.

Thanks for your remarkable help. Ciao

Paul

[Biff83]

Can I assume that the person who comes before the magistrate with the bambino information is the father, and the mother's name and age follow in the correct location?
Paul

Except in those cases where the father is deceased or the child is a foundling or illegitimate. A sister of my GGF had an illegitimate
son and she was listed as the person who came before the magistrate; he was listed with an unknown (ignoto) father and took her surname. I was proud she kept him and found it pretty neat that she named him Fortunato!

Biff

[alia-sPaolo]

Thanks Biff.

Ahhh, what's in a name, eh? Sometimes everything! Good story.
Paul

[oilman19]

Paul,

You will probably find that the person who comes before the magistrate is the father, or sometimes it is the midwife. The father may not be available to do that duty for a variety of reasons.
If it is a female name, normally it is the midwife's name.

[alia-sPaolo]

Hi, again,

After some decidedly useful information in the responses I got from my first post, I'm back for a followup appointment. To recap I had questions about the LDS FHC and translation of birth certificates from Alia. I was told by LDS central that the microfilms can't be moved offsite, but I could bring in a bigger lens for increasing the magnification the reader (amazingly, may be doable). I used my digital camera to take some pix and it seemed to work alright; I'm not on Flikr or photobucket, but (being a Mac guy) I upped a file to "http://gallery.me.com/paulreno#100167" password is "ciaio"

This is my maternal GM's birth certificate. I know this for sure because of her "marriage" (sposata) to Antonino Centanni in Alia on September (Sett.?)1913, which is written in the left hand margin. Interestingly, this seems to be the only year they did this, and I got lucky! (I can't figure out the exact date, though; could I get a guess on this?). With help from Jamie's printout I've had some luck figuring out what's what on this certificate: the midwife (Maria D'Andrea) was the person bringing the information; Rosa (?) Maria Alessandra (age = 26; or has she lived in Alia for 26 years?) was the mom; Vitale Alessandra was the dad & was a blacksmith; age/lived on Alia = 29 years?). Lucia Vincenza was born on the 14th of "del corrente" (December? but it doesn't look like that but I know that's the month she was born). If you are kind enough to take a gander at the file and confirm some of my poor translations, I'd appreciate it very much.

Other questions:

Does the mother's maiden name appear anywhere on the certificate, or is it always the married name?

I'm confused about the age of the person vs. the length of time living in the village. I would guess that in many instances, both are coincident, but I don't understand why it would be more important to show how long the parents lived in the town versus how old they were. Italian American cultural differences?

Again, thanks for all the help from all the eager competent folks here.

Paul

[jamiecapaldi]

Hello Paul.

26 being more likely her age. I do not know of a record showing the time lived in a house?

I can not view or get passed the log in, as i need your username?

Jamie

p.s. is the password 'ciaio' or 'ciao' ?

[alia-sPaolo]

Sorry Jamie. I shouldn't have bothered with a password. Try this:
http://gallery.me.com/paulreno#100167 ; the image hopefully is "lucia alessandra.jpg" ; it's an 860 Kb file which you should be able to download if you want (no viruses, I promise; I'm a microbiologist!)
The user name is paulreno, but you shouldn't need that.

Thanks for your help. If you can't get to this I'll get a photobucket account or something.


Paul

[jamiecapaldi]

Hello Paul,

I am no expert, but below is details which i transcripted, it still will pay for you to get some others to look at, to confirm.:

Lucia Vincenza Alessandra, born Alia, 3:06am (?), 18th December 1893. Living at 14 Lo Savio (?), Alia.
Fathers name is Vitale Alessandra, age 39 a Blacksmith, and Rosa maria Alessandra, age 36 a Housewife.

I have never came across a record which shows the married name, so i am guessing she is also a Alessandra?


You can look into the rest and probably find alot more information, but even in my search, i have only gone as far as the details i have provided.

Jamie (maschile)