1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

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JOHN08
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1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

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On the 26th of September 1829, in Gambatesa, District of Campobasso, Province of Molise, appeared Gennaro Venditto ?, 23, born in Gambatesa, farmer, living in Gambatesa, son of Domenico Venditto, property owner, living in Gambatesa and son of Maria Teresa D'Amico ?

Also appeared Angela Maria Possumato, 25, born in Gambatesa, living in Gambatesa, daughter of Giuseppe Possumato, peasant, living in ?; also daughter of Domenica ??, living with husband.

Gennaro Venditto and Angela Maria Possumato requested to proceed with the celebration of marriage. They were married on the 29th ? of October 1829, at the parish church in Gambatesa

Appreciate corrections/additions.

John
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by PippoM »

JOHN08 wrote:On the 26th of September 1829, in Gambatesa, District of Campobasso, Province of Molise, appeared Gennaro Venditto, 23, born in Gambatesa, farmer, living in Gambatesa, son of Domenico Venditto, property owner, living in Gambatesa and son of Maria Teresa D'Amico

Also appeared Angela Maria Possumato, 25, born in Gambatesa, living in Gambatesa, daughter of Giuseppe Possumato, peasant, living in ?; also daughter of Domenica ??, living with husband.

Gennaro Venditto and Angela Maria Possumato requested to proceed with the celebration of marriage. They were married on the 29th ? of October 1829, at the parish church in Gambatesa

Appreciate corrections/additions.

John
Numero 24
http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.i ... 4.jpg.html
It seems correct. Angela Maria's mother's surname should be Genovese
Giuseppe "Pippo" Moccaldi

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erudita74
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by erudita74 »

The occupation of Giuseppe Possumato looks like colono (tenant farmer) living nel medesimo (living in the same)-the word place or location which should follow is understood.

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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by JOHN08 »

Erudita & Pippo,

Thanks for your help!

Erudita, one question, what is the difference between a contadino, peasant farmer and a colon, tenant farmer.

John
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

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John
Here's info about the occupation colono or tenant farmer. I'll post info about the occupation contadino later.

The colono or tenant farmer leased a very tiny plot, or very tiny plots, of land during a growing season. The plots may or may not have been next to each other and may or may not have been fertile enough to serve as good farmland. He would pay rent to the landlord of the land and would have to give a certain percentage of the crops he reaped (usually 50%)to the landlord who would then sell the crops at market for a good price. The tenant would keep the remainder of the crops to sustain himself and his family for the year, but would not benefit from any profit that his landlord had made by vending part of the crop at market. The landlord may or may not have provided the tenant with the seed to start the crops.The literature on this point seems to be contradictory. The tenant farmer did though have to pay tax on the plot(s), as well as provide his own work animals (such as mules) and his own tools to use to farm the land, He was taxed on these as well. (In Sicily, we have records called riveli-which are tax census records which attest to him being taxed on these items). The tenant might have a fixed contract with the landlord for a specified number of years, or he might be evicted at any time. Even if he did lease land from the same landlord for more than a year, he might not be given the same plot or plots to farm.

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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by erudita74 »

Contadino/Contadina (peasant)

The contadini (peasants) usually farmed on land which they did not own. Unlike the tenant farmer though, they did not pay rent to the landlord, but like him, had a contract with the landlord to work for a specified amount of time. They used simple tools such as hoes and scythes. They also shared ploughs and worked in groups. The groups might be comprised of as many as eight or ten individuals and also of both males and females. Few owned their own animals. The contadini engaged in various agricultural related tasks such as reaping, gleaning, and gathering grains. They also may have worked in the vineyards. While working, they normally sang songs which involved themes such as the difficulty of their lives. Before the unification of Italy, they worked on large estates but afterwards, when there was a shortage of land holdings, they may have been reduced to become braccianti or bracciali (day laborers). Day laborers would have to go to the town piazza each morning and basically were subjected to a bidding war. Those who were the lowest bidders would then be rewarded with work for the day.

Hope this info helps, John.
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by JOHN08 »

Erudita,

Thanks for the information: contadino/contadina and colono occupations. Question, how were the contadini paid for the work that they did for the landlord? Were they given some of the crops or given money?

John
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by erudita74 »

John
The contadini (peasants) were primarily contracted wage earners. BUT wages were extremely low, especially considering that they worked sometimes 14 or 16 hour days. Even as recently as the late 1800s, when many peasants immigrated to the U.S., their wages in southern Italy were the equivalent of about 20 cents a day, whereas in the U.S. they could earn as much as $1.00 for a day's work. In earlier years though, if they were employed on extremely large estates which were overseen by the massari (who were not the landowners but who were responsible for handling every aspect of the operation of a large estate), in addition to their contracted wages, they may also have shared in profits and been given some of the crops to help sustain their families-the latter especially at holiday times, such as Christmas.
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

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Erudita,

Thanks! No wonder that so many of the contadini immigrated to America.

John
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

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You're very welcome, John. Yes, many came to the U.S. because they had the misconception that the streets were paved with gold, but still there were many who originally came with the intention of only staying here temporarily. They were sending money they made here back to their native country, as they believed that would allow them and their families to have a better life there. Some of the contadini even managed to buy small tracts back in southern Italy and Sicily but, when they found that they couldn't make sufficient money to support themselves and their families by farming their own land there, they even had to hire themselves out as day laborers to make ends meet.
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by peonygirl »

Eruidita - Thank you for taking the time to explain the difference between contadini and colono. My great grandfathers occupation was listed as contadini so it was great to have a deeper understanding of his work. It also explains why he traveled to the U.S. several times and finally stayed here in the early 1900s.
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Re: 1829 Marriage, Gambatesa

Post by erudita74 »

I'm happy that what I posted gave you a deeper understanding of your grandfather's occupation.
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