Catholic Church Records for Racalmuto, Agrigento, Sicily

[rp76226]

I've had no luck trying to get Catholic Chrurch records for Racalmuto, Sicily (not even a response). Are there local genalogists in Sicily who are good at finding this type of information? I'm trying to find the parents and siblings of Salvatore Puma (also known as Salvadore Di Puma) who was probably born in the 1790s or 1780s. He married Maria Rosa Carlino. They had several children whom I can name and date. Or is this just a futile request?

[adelfio]

Just a question have you gone through the film records from Family History Library for Racalmuto (Agrigento), 1821-1910. They have death records for 1820's and up to the records on ancestry.com which start at 1866. You could look for death records for the name Puma or DiPuma family for those years and maybe find Salvatore death record.
The death record usually includes the date and place that the document was recorded and the name and title of the clerk. The names, ages, occupations and residences of the informants are also stated. The date and time of the death, along with the deceased's name, age, occupation and residence are listed. Information about the deceased's spouse, father and mother is also usually included. Very rarely will the cause of death be noted. When it is recorded, it is usually something vague, like fever or plague, since medical science was not very advanced at that time.(copyright IFS)
Heres a translation for Italian birth,marriage and death record to english
make some copies to help..
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki ... Record.jpg

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki ... anslations

https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki ... Record.jpg
click on twice to enlarge records
Marty

[rp76226]

Ancestry.com has records starting with 1840, but they are not the forms, just one line after another without a break, for many pages which are too difficult to read. Since their last child was born in 1837, there's seemiongly a 40 year period of no forms utilized in which they could have died, (which is difficult enough when you don't know the year, even with forms, to find since there is no order by name, only chronological events). The 10 year indexes that Ancestry.com from 1876 to 1895 provided were a great help. Do these 10 year indexes exist before then and does the Mormom Family Centers have access to them? Do the family centers have forms from 1837 to 1876 and later? Do they have one year indexes for those years? Thank you for the Italian translations.

[adelfio]

I will tell you something RP I always take the time and go through every record on a Family History film. I do check the index first if one is available. I go back through the film and go through each record and you will be surprise how many times I have found a record that was not on the index. Italian research takes time and patience. If those records are in free hand post one of them on the translation area and explain you need a full translation most likely they are all the same form record just long hand written.
Take some time a watch this video on italian records watch the whole thing it will help you with translating records Basic Italian Research let it load and watch
click on prompt
https://www.familysearch.org/learningce ... search/246

Ciao
Marty Adelfio

[AFConiglio]

I have Salvatore Puma in my data base. See http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/u ... =162PSRJ2M

According to the birth record of his grandson Luigi Puma, Salvatore died before 1874. His death record may be available in microfilms of Racalmuto civil records.

Maria Rosa Carlino died before 1906 according to the death record of her son Calogero Pagliarello Puma. Calogero was born about 1825-1829, so his parents' marriage record may be available on the civil records after 1821.

You may be interested in a historical novella I have wrir=tten, that is set in Racalmoto in the 1800's. The title is "The Lady of the Wheel". See a description at http://www.conigliofamily.com/ladyofthewheel.htm

[Italysearcher]

I have read this book and highly recommend it for information on the situtation in that part of Italy (and any other).

[rp76226]

AF Coniglio, your first link just brings me to this forum before any posts are shown. Calogero Pagliarello Puma was born July 20, 1826 and died October 20, 1906. Salvatore Puma and Maria Rosa Carlino's first child, Vincenza Pagliarello Puma, was born about 1816 and died June 1, 1898. Her parents therefore were likely born in the 1790s. I have checked all the records I could find from 1866 and later, but could not find their deaths. Their last child Salvadore was born September 14, 1837. Therrefore, they likely died somewhere between 1837 and 1866. They did not use preprinted forms then and I dread going through many thousands of such difficult handwritten forms for so long a period of time on poor, hard to read and print equipment at the Mormom Center without access to the internet and my own stash of records and translations on my own computer. Since Pagliarello is also a popular surname and not really a first or given name, I also wonder why two last names are utilized.

[AFConiglio]

Sorry, I posted the wrong link. Here's the correct one: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin ... o&id=I7510

My Mormon FHC has Racalmuto records. I'll look for Puma death records when I have the chance.

There are (at least) two possibilities for the dual "Pagliarello Puma" surname:

1) Pagliarello may have been the surname of a female relative of the parents of the child(possibly the end of the Pagliarello line, with no brothers to carry on the surname), and they honored her by using her surname; or

2) Because of the naming conventions, Calogero Puma may have had several cousins also named Calogero Puma. Often when this happened, each child was given a family numinaggio, or 'nciuria (literally, "insult"), that is, a nickname, to tell them apart. "Pagliarello" means "little strawpile" or "little haystack". Thus there could be a Calogero Pagliarello Puma (Calogero "Haystack" Puma), and a Calogero Panzarella Puma (Calogero "Belly" Puma), and a Calogero Locurto Puma (Calogero "Shorty" Puma), etc., etc.

http://www.conigliofamily.com/ladyofthewheel.htm

[AFConiglio]

I reviewed some death records for Racalmuto, working backwards from 1865. Some towns have all births together, all deaths together, etc. but Racalmuto has a year of bitths, the same year's deaths, the marriages, etc., so several microfilms are needed to cover a span of years.

I found no Salvatore Puma Pagliarello or Maria Rosa Carlino death in the 1865 index; none in 1864 or 1863. 1862 and 1861 records are missing; no Salvatore Puma Pagliarello or Maria Rosa Carlino in 1861, nor back to 1855. 1854 has no index, I got through about half the records one-by-one and did not find them. I'll check more when I have a chance. Please contact me directly at AFConiglio@aol.com