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I recently found what I believe to be my GGG Grandfather Michele Criscia from Messina. I'm having trouble reading and understanding a few things and am hoping someone can help me. I'm traveling to Sicily soon and would love to be able to visit where he is from.
I can't make out the maiden name of his mother - Guisseppa ?
I can't make out most of the information about his father?
I believe his father was a "barterer/dealer." Does anyone know what this occupation is?
I can't make out what Parish he was baptized in.
In reference to where he lives - what is a Borga
In general, does anyone have any tips on how to verify that you're following the correct line for your family? There are many families with the same names.
On my way out, so can't help with the translation, but here's info about the occupation trafficante which I had researched some time ago for my own ancestry. You can look up the Italian word venditore to see the word I had to change in my explanation due to spam filters on this website-
Trafficante/Dealer or Merchant
Although the word trafficante currently refers to someone who deals in contrabands, or the smuggling of goods, such as drugs or arms, in the days of your ancestors in Italy and Sicily, in the 1800s, the word seems to have had a very different meaning. A trafficante was a dealer or merchant and, as such, may actually have been a middleman. He may have bought items in bulk and then vended them to the various venditori (vendors), in his town or in neighboring towns. These vendors, in turn, would vend the merchandise at local town markets, on the street, or even door-to-door. There appears to have been different kinds of trafficanti, He may have been a trafficante dei vini, dealing in the trafficking of wines, he may have been a trafficante di animali, dealing in the trafficking of animals, or he may have trafficked other items such as vases, pots, cigarettes, water, or even musical instruments, such as tamburi, or tambourines, as these were all items ultimately vended by the venditori. In fact, a picture of a venditore, found on the Internet, shows a vendor with a number of tambourines on his head, vending his wares on the street. Venditori also sold water by the cup or glass on the street. So perhaps these individuals had purchased their merchandise from a dealer or merchant such as your ancestor
I recently found what I believe to be my GGG Grandfather Michele Criscia from Messina. I'm having trouble reading and understanding a few things and am hoping someone can help me. I'm traveling to Sicily soon and would love to be able to visit where he is from.
I can't make out the maiden name of his mother - Guisseppa ? Possibly Murfari
I can't make out most of the information about his father? Antonio Criscia, age 37, merchant, her husband.
I believe his father was a "barterer/dealer." Does anyone know what this occupation is?
I can't make out what Parish he was baptized in. Parish Church of S. Leonardo on the 29th.
In reference to where he lives - what is a Borga Borgo is a village. This appears to read "Borgo Boccetta"
In general, does anyone have any tips on how to verify that you're following the correct line for your family? There are many families with the same names.
