Found Sicilian Birth Record

[CiaoThina]

I was able to get an official copy of my great-grandfather’s Sicilian birth certificate. It was issued in Catania. I’m hoping to find the original record on family search. It states “atto N 321 Parte 2 Serie A” (act 321 part 2 series A) and I know he was supposedly born in Riposto, a town in Catania. I would love to find his actual birth record. I have reason to believe he may have been a “foundling” or discovered at the “wheel”. To our knowledge he was certainly raised by a family with a different name than his.

Short of going through every record from 1902 how can I narrow down which possible image it might be?

[Tessa78]

Here is a link to Parte II of the 1902 Riposto book of births. It only has 6 records.
Usually this part does not have act numbers that high, unless it is a LARGE city (like Catania)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2043496

Link to the 1902 index in Riposto.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2043496

Edit to add:

Searching the Births in Catania in 1902, I located this birth #321 in Parte II for a foundling who was given the name Giuseppe Fiorentino. Could this be the record you are referencing?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2043496

Link to the title page of the Parte II births for 1902
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2043496

T.

[CiaoThina]

Yep. That’s probably his. The actual birth certificate I received from Catania doesn’t list parents. Thanks so much for finding this!! I’m going to try and translate it all

I'm impressed with how quickly you found that. I have been looking for a while, and just keep scanning through records....

[CiaoThina]

Do you have any good resources for translation? I can read cursive, even messy cursive, but I can't decipher 117 year old messy cursive in another language.

[Tessa78]

A summary of the record:
The official of the town of Catania received on 10 August 1902 a report from the Director of the Founding Home that on 2 August at 9:45 AM appeared Antonina Gangemi of the townn of Catania to declare and present a male chid that was apparently 5 hours old with the following clothes: 2 caps, a shirt, a waitcoat/jacket, a strip/ribbon, ???, two diaper clothes, and a ??? .
The child had been baptized in Catania in the home on 2 August 1902 and given the name Giuseppe Fiorentino - (Matron/Godmother?) Giovanna Cavalaro

T.

[CiaoThina]

very interesting. the family story was that he had his name pinned to his clothes, while Fiorentino is a common last name, its not from what I can gather a "foundling" last name, which means it came from someone/somewhere. this record is so detailed. Thank you so very much.

[Tessa78]

Yes, it sounds like he was baptized with the name. Perhaps it was attached to him.
To avoid identification later as a foundling, many towns gave "real" Italian surnames to the abandoned, but NOT surnames that were found in that town.
You can see here on the index page for "F"... the part 2 listings for "esposti" have usual names.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... cc=2043496

Abandoned children were often left with pieces of cloth, ribbon, medals, religious cards, so that they could be identified should the parent(s) come to claim him.

I am trying to figure out the meaning of the #2656 in the record (possibly the number of the baptism record)

T.

[CiaoThina]

I wonder how they decided *on* those names? It wasn’t the name of the family who raised him. And it clearly isn’t a “foundling” name. I do find Fiorentino a fair amount here in the US, as opposed to my other Italian family names. Perhaps it’s like us using “Smith, Brown etc” they just cycled through genetics?

[Tessa78]

I wonder how they decided *on* those names? It wasn’t the name of the family who raised him. And it clearly isn’t a “foundling” name. I do find Fiorentino a fair amount here in the US, as opposed to my other Italian family names. Perhaps it’s like us using “Smith, Brown etc” they just cycled through genetics?

Well... it actually might have been a "foundling" name.
There were many towns that used the surnames Proietti, Trovato, Esposito, etc. which clearly indicated that the child was abandoned. Also used were what was called "fantasy" names: La Vita, Luminata, Febbraio, Maggio, etc. These were made up by the official who was responsible for giving the child both a nome and cognome.
Also used were common Italian surnames, but only those not found in the town in which the child was born.

Of course, over time, you will find many Esposito children who were NOT abandoned but were the descendants of someone generations before who was given that surname

Fiorentino was certainly a name found in Italy, but probably NOT found in Catania at that time.
Of course, NOW there are many descendants of the surname who are found in Catania. It has been many generations in the making.

T.

[CiaoThina]

its all so intriguing. I'm trying to unravel his story as much as I can. this started with a long shot attempt at gathering documents for citizenship (turns out I was able to find them). And its turned into me trying to piece together the history he may have never known. I figure I can use the science and technology of today to unlock the mysteries of the past. I've done ancestry DNA testing too with the hopes of finding out more. I should get my grandma to do the test as well.

[mmogno]

I am trying to figure out the meaning of the #2656 in the record (possibly the number of the baptism record)
#2656 è un numero di riconoscimento nei registri dell'Ospizio Provinciale degli Esposti di Catania.
T.

[mmogno]

A summary of the record:
The official of the town of Catania received on 10 August 1902 a report from the Director of the Founding Home that on 2 August at 9:45 AM appeared Antonina Gangemi of the townn of Catania to declare and present a male chid that was apparently 5 hours old with the following clothes: 2 caps, a shirt, a waitcoat/jacket, a strip/ribbon, un faldone, two diaper clothes, and a grembiale.
The child had been baptized in Catania in the home on 2 August 1902 and given the name Giuseppe Fiorentino - (Matrina/Godmother) Giovanna Cavallaro

T.