Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
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jalapeno89
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Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by jalapeno89 »

Ok, so it seems that i have hit a brick wall... I need to find my great grandfathers birth certificate. We have always thought that he was from Colliano SA, but after contacting the commune, they have no record of him. However, after getting into contact with Salerno, they have his military records listing birthplace as Colliano, his marriage certificate, Ellis Island records and naturalization documents all also list Colliano as his birth palce... What should i do? His name was Arturo Forlenza, born May 4 1896.... does anyone have any ideas?
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ForzaItaliaPgh
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by ForzaItaliaPgh »

This is just a complete shot in the dark, but there are some town names in Italy that are used in more than one region (think about how many "Washington"s there are scattered about the USA). It is possible that there could be 2 different towns with the name Colliano. Do you know the province?

Also, there is sometimes confusion b/c the major town in a province will give it's name to the ENTIRE PROVINCE. For example, my GGF was born in the city of Lucca which is located in the PROVINCE of Lucca. Sometimes, people in neighboring towns would also be born in the province of Lucca, but the town of Lucca would not have their records, whichever town in the Province of Lucca that they were born in would hold those records.

Again, just some shots in the dark.

Buona Fortuna.
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misbris
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by misbris »

Hi,

Have you checked with Contursi yet to see if his birth is registered there?
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jalapeno89
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by jalapeno89 »

ForzaItalia - I know that the town of Colliano is correct, i have seen pictures of their childhood and they had my great grandmother's birth certificate. Thanks for the tip though.

Misbris - I sent an e-mail to Contursi, they have not responded yet. I also sent an e-mail to the Province of Salerno. They were not able to look for his birth certificate because of the dates, he was born in 1896, but they have found his military records. I am waiting for Cotursi to get back to me before ordering the military records.... i am sitting and waiting....
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Italysearcher
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by Italysearcher »

Try the church. He most definitely would have been baptized even if they didn't register the birth. If the birth wasn't registered in the required time frame (due to bad weather, harvest etc) the birth had to be registered at the Tribunal. The Tribunal would then send the record to the town for insertion in the records but if this happened a year or more later the record will be found in the year that it was registered, NOT in the year of birth.
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Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
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jalapeno89
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by jalapeno89 »

Thanks, do you have any idea how to get into contact with a church? i do not speak italian and none of the churches have anything but a phone number... i might just have to break down and pay someone to find this document....
Elton45
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Re: Birth Certificate Brick Wall - Forlenza

Post by Elton45 »

Are you still on the Forum. There are some Forlenzas in my ancestry also.
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