How far would italians emigrate?

[adalea]

I'm researching my italian ancestors who emigrated to U.S. between 1910 & 1920. They were from the Apulia region, San Ferdinando di Puglia, Foggia. Currently I can find no marriage records for my Great-Great grandparents there and am assuming, then, that they married elsewhere. My question is... what kind of a radius should I be looking for these records? Was it common to move LONG distances? - let's say from Lecce to Genzano or San Ferdinando di Puglia? Or was it out of the norm to move that far away from where they were born?

My mother said that our family was a family of farm laborers... and that they often had to move where there was work. Of course, she doesn't know this first hand and is reiterating what my grandmother thinks happened. However, how far away would farm workers travel and relocate?

warm regards,
Anna

[nazca]

Hi Anna ,
what your mother said about emigrants is it true. Farmers and workers travelled, for job and hunger, from south italy to north italy or rest of europe or North and South America or Australia and so on . There's no limit for them: they settled where they had a job and bread for their children.
Hope it help.

Best regards

[Italysearcher]

Couples usually married in the bride's parish. You might want to check www.paginebianche.it and try to determine which other towns have the bride's surname. It might narrow down the possibilities.

[adalea]

Italy Searcher: great advice! I will do that. Thank you for that link.

Nazca: That is what I thought. I had a feeling that they could have traveled quite a distance but I was hoping that there was going to be a different answer.

[JohnArmellino]

Currently I can find no marriage records for my Great-Great grandparents there and am assuming, then, that they married elsewhere.

If either your GGGF or your GGGM was born in San Ferdinando di Puglia, then check out the atti di pubblicazione, if available. Marriage banns were published in the town of birth for each spouse irrespective of where the marriage took place. If one spouse was born elsewhere, the atti di pubblicazione usually includes the place of birth. You can then search that town for a marriage record. If that doesn't work then carefully check the birth recprds for any children born in San Ferdinando di Puglia; sometimes such records include the place of birth for one or both parents.