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Hi and welcome!
Can you narrow a bit the area your ancestors came from? "Como Lake" means an area too large especially as we are speaking of a marriage taking place at the end of the eighteenth century, when the only records were those kept by the parishes and you must know the name of the parish to found them
Fontana is a very common surname in this area , so it is of no help. Pensa nowadays is mostly found in the villages of the eastern bank of the lake, now part of the province of Lecco but definitely Como area and Como Diocese. Have a look at the maps and see if some of the names of the villages sound familiar http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognom ... RDIA/LECCO http://www.cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognom ... ARDIA/COMO
Ciao
Paola
Researching Provinces of Varese, Como and Milan and the valleys around Turin
All I can do is give you the translation of the record from French, as Valentino was buried in Canada. His son Giovanni (Jean) marriedin Canada in Feb 1839; his father died in November of that year. The record of the reburial of the father's remains reads:
The tenth of November 1857, we the undersigned missionary of the Magdalen Islands have buried in the church of this mission in the middle aisle, the remains of Valentin (French for Valentino) Fontana, esquire, captain of the militia, husband of Marie (for Maria) Pensa of the parish of Como in Italy, died the second of November 1839, age 56 years old. Present were Paul Duclos, Bruno Theriau and Policarpe Theriau who have signed with us. s/ Cajetan Miville, Priest
So from this record, I imagine the place to start looking is the actual parish church in the city of Como. I don't know how many churches there are there, but would start with those existing in the early 1800s. Starting around 1815 to find a baptism for Giovanni and working backwards to find his parents' marriage would be my recommendation. Does this help?
Anything you can find would be appreciated. The online records for this area only start in 1866 on familysearch.org, which is why I am posting here.
Hi Dennis
If Valentino was from the town of Como itself, and not from the region or the Diocese it's a lot easier.
Online there is a database of baptisms from the inner city of Como, but it begins with the year 1830 http://www.centrorusca.it/it/content/Ba ... -Battesimi
Nevertheless you can try writing to Centro Rusca, the diocesan archive that holds the copies of the baptisms, marriages and funerals records of the Como Diocese, giving them all the info you have. archivio@centrorusca.it
If Valentino (and Giovanni) were really born in Como they ought to find their baptismal records. As for the marriage records people usually married in the parish of the bride, so it is possible that Valentino and Maria were married elsewhere
Good luck
Paola
Researching Provinces of Varese, Como and Milan and the valleys around Turin
In its most general sense, the term genealogy refers to the study of family history, while encompassing such related fields as ethnology, onomatology and --in rather few cases-- heraldry. It is important to bear in mind that genealogy forms part of the framework of general history. The best genealog...