BIG MYSTERY

[hollygianfrancesco]

got it

[vj]

Hi!
You would want to choose which films you want to order from the list
The cost is abt $5.50 per mo
You can order and view them at your local Family History Center

[hollygianfrancesco]

OH, I see, Thank you, Unfortunately all the family history centers around me have closed for lack of volunteers.
I am so lost on my grandmother's side and have been unable to locate anything for her from faeto,foggia or her father or sisters or brother , etc
The spelling of the names when wrong make it impossible.
I am starting to think they were not from faeto even though the records in America say so.

[hollygianfrancesco]

OK received birth records ad I have them downloaded to my desktop, how do I put them here?All in Italian.
Thank you all so much for everything you do, big pat on the backs of a tutti

[hollygianfrancesco]

I was also told that it was discovered the child was recognized by the mother and a man .What exactly does that mean?

[JohnArmellino]

I was also told that a friend of my cousin went to Pietramontecorvino municipio and was told Fulgenzio and Maria Consoletti recognized Attilio in 1908. What exactly does that mean?

Abandoned children were sometimes left with some sort of token that would enable their parent(s) to identify and reclaim them at a later date. Although this did not happen very often, it was certainly not unheard of. In this case, it sounds like Attilio was abandoned at birth and then reclaimed by his parents at a later date. That might explain the use of the surnames Esposito and Costantino. The record whereby parents recognized a previously abandoned child is called an Atto di Recognizione.

[hollygianfrancesco]

Thank you John. I have a copy of the birth record which has his mother's name on it. I will take it to my Italain professoressa tomorrow.

[tinagrenier]

Abandoned children were sometimes left with some sort of token that would enable their parent(s) to identify and reclaim them at a later date. Although this did not happen very often, it was certainly not unheard of. In this case, it sounds like Attilio was abandoned at birth and then reclaimed by his parents at a later date. That might explain the use of the surnames Esposito and Costantino. The record whereby parents recognized a previously abandoned child is called an Atto di Recognizione.

It should be clarified that many times illegitimate children were not "abandoned" at all, but were raised by their own parents (or at least their unmarried mother). It seems that many researchers often misinterpret the fact that the mother refused to be named on the birth act to mean that she gave birth and then abandoned the child (at the orphanage, etc.).

There was great pressure on these unmarried women to not recognize their child, in order to maintain the reputation and honor of her family. This doesn't always mean that the woman didn't take her unrecognized baby home with her and raise it. My grandmother and her two brothers were born and raised under these circumstances. Their parents married later in life and it wasn't until my grandmother was a grown women with nearly grown children of her own that she was officially recognized by her parents. She kept the made up surname that was put on her birth record, even though she could have used her father's surname after her parents officially recognized her. I guess at that point in her life, she didn't care to change it. Or maybe she just liked her name. In spite of what her original birth record said, my grandmother was never "abandoned" or "reclaimed," she grew up being lovingly raised by both of her natural parents from the time of her birth.

There is a story behind the black and white on every birth act. One should not make generalizations. There were many other illegitimate child who were raised by their natural mothers but were never formally recognized by them. Social pressures were very powerful sixty plus years ago.

[JohnArmellino]

In spite of what her original birth record said, my grandmother was never "abandoned" or "reclaimed," she grew up being lovingly raised by both of her natural parents from the time of her birth.

There is a story behind the black and white on every birth act. One should not make generalizations.

Sorry, Tina - There was no intent to impugn your family history. Yes, what I wrote was a generalization, but generalizations can be valuable while trying to sort out a genealogical puzzle. In other words, a generalization might put one one the right track. Once the records are located (always the goal) then the story behind the black and white can be told (hopefully). If one is lucky, then the story will as happy as that of your family.

[tinagrenier]

Sorry, Tina - There was no intent to impugn your family history.

Hi John, and on my part I did not mean to negate anything that you had written either, your information is very valuable. I only wanted to interject that there are many other situations where the information on the birth record says one thing, but the real life of the child is quite another. Of course, these sorts of important details can be lost to time and then as researchers we only have the bare facts on the birth record to go by. Obviously this poses big problems when the parents are not listed and there is no other information to go by. There were lots of little babies born in our parents and grandparents generation who were recorded as foundlings, but were raised by their own natural mothers. It's a shame the descendants of these babies are often unable to connect to the mothers who kept their babies, but were afraid to recognize them due to the pressures of society.