Mandala surname from Santa Cristina Gela and Piana dei Albanese

[italian059]

I am not sure if anyone can help me. My husband's Mandala family came from Santa Cristina Gela. I have records so I am confident of this. There are other Mandala's who came from Piana which I know he is somehow related to because of some DNA matches. I can go all the way up to his 3x great grandparents who are Mercurio Mandala born around 1768 and died in 1828. He was married to Anna D'Orsa, born around 1776 and died in 1816. A distant cousin of my husband traveled to Sicily and did extensive research. She shows Mercurio's father as Giuseppe Mandala. Many of my husband's DNA matches show Andrea Mandala, who was married to Maria Manes, as Giuseppe's father. He was from Piana. This would explain the Piana/Santa Cristina connection but I have no record and no proof of this. Does anyone know how I can get more information on him to prove he is actually the father of Giuseppe? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
Mary

[darkerhorse]

There may be a way with DNA but I have no clue.

Have you exhausted all church records?

Civil records of marriage allegati might contain transcribed church records of births for bride and groom, and death for deceased parents and spouses. I've found transcribed church records dating back to the mid-to-late 1700s, contained in civil marriage allegati in Sicily from the 1820s and 1830s.

Another possibility is Riveli. I know it sounds like one of the characters played by Chico Marx, but they are property tax declarations in Sicily dating as far back as the late 1500s. Only a few intermittent years are available up to 1816 or so. They can be difficult to navigate and read.

[italian059]

Yea, the Church records don’t seem to go back that far. Will look into Riveli. Never heard of it. Thanks for your help.

[darkerhorse]

This is an example where I was trying to use an earlier Riveli record (from 1747) to help identify persons of a later time. Note on top of the Riveli it mentions the property owner and his parents. Then his household is listed with himself, wife, and two children. Ages were often recorded only for males (for military conscription). His property listings continued for two more pages (not shown). In my example, the evidence was not conclusive.

https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/ ... ia#p316719

I found the Riveli records for my ancestral town online at a local LDS Family Center. They might not be available there any longer, so in that case you would have to contact Salt Lake City. Only the older ones record household members. I think after 1750 or so they just show the householder's name.

[darkerhorse]

For the heck of it, here's the oldest Riveli I could find for a possible ancestor in Sicily.

It's dated 1598 and just lists members of the household and their ages.

You should be able to determine availability on the FamilySearch website.

As I mentioned, they are difficult to read and to navigate, but they are a great source for detective work for years prior to 1820. Even the identity and location of property is interesting.

[italian059]

Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Will see what I can find.

[darkerhorse]

Riveli are referred to as Census on FamilySearch.

[erudita74]

Riveli or census records for Santa Cristina Gela are, unfortunately, only on microfilm and for the years 1811 to 1816. For Piana dei Albanese, microfilm starts in 1607, but a lot of films to rent and very costly to pursue, if you can even read them.

On the Archivio dello Stato di Palermo, I found a list of feudal holdings. There is an Andrea Mendola there. Possibly original spelling of the surname. Just a file number with the name 11042.

https://saassipa.cultura.gov.it/wp-cont ... datari.pdf

[erudita74]

Sorry, Mary. Upon further investigation, I found that the two surnames have no connection to each other. So ignore the link from the Palermo state archives website which I previously posted.

[italian059]

Thanks Erudita for checking. Just wish I could prove that connection between the two towns with Andrea. I’ve asked distant cousins if they had any records or something showing Andrea is the father of Giuseppe but haven’t found any yet. Oh well. Thanks again. Merry Christmas!

[erudita74]

Hopefully, at some point in the future, you’ll find the info for which you’ve been searching. Merry Christmas to you and your family too, Mary.

Erudita