Hitting a brick wall: searching for Alessandro Testa

[lcj7894]

We can do the translation for you!

Here it is...
This is a photocopy of the original birth registration for Alessandro Testa.

#94
Dated 6 September 1895 at 9:40 Am at the town office.
Before the official... in the town of Roccabascerana, appeared Felice Testa, of age 50, a peasant farmer residing in said comune, to declare that at 8AM on the 5th of this month at the place at Via Squillacci [no number], to Arcangela Rossi, his wife residing wit him, a peasant farmer, was born a male child who was presented and to whom was given the name ALESSANDRO
To the recording of this birth were present as witnesses: Antonio Fxxx?, 50, peasant farmer; and Antonio Pollotta(?), 60, peasant farmer, both residing in this town.
The official signed as the others were illiterate.

T.

Thank you so much, T!

[adelfio]

To get farther back in your researching what I would do now is rent and view the Family History Library record film:
Registri dello stato civile di Roccabascerana (Avellino), 1809-1899. Nati(births) 1881-1899 Pubblicazioni 1866-1898 Matrimoni(marriage) 1866-1899 Morti (deaths)1866-1872 film number#1660073 and get the sibling info and the marriage record of Felice Testa and Arcangela Rossi to find their parents names are

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In searching Italian civil records you have birth(nati) death(morte) marriage (matrimoni) by year most go from 1866-1910 some towns have other years. Indexes are found at the beginning or end of the year you are searching by index number and surname.There are also multi year indexes which combine 5 or 10 years of indexes
Babies are born then presented to the civil official of the town usually within a few days of birth for entry in the birth registry. If there is a problem and they cant register the birth act until much later they are entered in the Parte 2 for that year usually in the rear of the records and that record is usually handwritten. Sometimes there are sidenotes with marriage or death information or if the act has a mistake in it a correction to those mistakes
Marriage records include birth town, ages, occupations, parents names, if they are deceased
Death records have age parents if they were married and to whom and usually town of birth
Civil records are signed by the civil official and 2 witnesses not usually family members
The indexes for the churches in Italy of baptism and marriage and death are arranged by first name first (later years last name first) by year and date of the act and page and record number. Just find your person in the index and go back to the records to find the act you

Marty

[Tessa78]

Happy to help!

T.

[lcj7894]

After looking at the birth certificate more carefully I think it says Via Squillani. I looked up "squillacci" and there were no results. Squillani is a village which looks like to be part of the town of Roccabascerana. I wonder if Squillani is where the family house was?

[Tessa78]

Via = street

It may be that some of the streets that were in existence at that time have been renamed.
The record states that the father [Felice] resides in said comune (Roccabascerana), and that the child was born in the house posted as Via Squillacci (or Squillani, as you say.)
If he was born in a neighboring village (Squillani is a neighboring frazione/village,) that village would have been named as the place of birth.

However, if you rent and view the microfilmed records as Marty has suggested, you may find that the house of birth is written more clearly.

By the way... Ceppaloni is a neighboring Comune of Roccabascerana

T.

[lcj7894]

Oh okay, thank you for clearing that up I intent to rent some microfilm and see what else I can find

[adelfio]

When you are checking the film (same film for the births also) for the marriage of Felice Testa and Arcangela Rossi in Roccabascerana check both the Pubblicazioni 1866-1898 and Matrimoni 1866-1899 for they might hold didn't information

Pubblicazioni:
These notifications were made a few weeks before a couple planned to marry. The couple may have been required to announce their intended marriage to give other community members the opportunity to raise any objections to the marriage. If one member of the bridal party lived elsewhere, banns were posted in that community also. If you know that a marriage took place but cannot find it in the marriage records of the community, search the marriage banns. It may be posted there and lead you to the community where the marriage actually took place.

Matrimoni:
After 1809 Napoleonic law required that the marriage ceremony be performed first by a civil authority and then, if desired, by a church authority. It was then recorded in the civil records. At first, some people resisted this law and had their marriages performed by church authority only. Later when it became legally necessary for their children to be recognized as legitimate, a civil ceremony was performed. In rare cases, you may find a marriage record for a couple in their 50s who were actually married 30 years earlier. In most cases you may find marriages recorded in both civil and church records.

Marriages were usually performed and recorded where the bride lived. In some provinces, these records date from 1809 or from 1820. The early civil marriage records may include more information than the church records. When available, search both the civil and church records of marriage.

If you believe a marriage took place but cannot find a record of the marriage, search records of intent to marry.

Marty

[lcj7894]

Thank you for the very helpful information, Marty. I'll keep all of this bookmarked for when i go and order the film. One more question, where would I be able to look up Military records for Alessandro? I'm not even sure what wars he fought in or where to start looking for those. Again, he won two Purple Heart awards for his service and I do know his service happened prior to 1924.

[ummikb]

My mother is one of the two little girls on the right in that picture.
My name is Michael Bosco.

[lcj7894]

My mother is one of the two little girls on the right in that picture.
My name is Michael Bosco.

Would you happen to have any pictures of the family? I'm still doing ancestry research. Would love to chat with you over email sometime