text:
Trentino Genealogy | Family History for Trentini Decendants
View My Tree
Surname Database
Filò
Category Archives: Family History
Family History, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, Trentino History
What Our Ancestors' Deaths Can Teach Us About Their Lives
9th December 2016 Lynn Serafinn	4 Comments
Lynn Serafinn explains the importance and challenges of including death information in your family tree, and discusses 10 causes of death in 19th century.
When I was a child, my Trentino-born father frequently used to say,
'Never forget, Lynn: our ancestors were survivors. You come from a long line of survivors. We ARE survivors.'
He said this so often, and with such conviction that, now in my 60s, I can still hear his voice and see his face as he is saying it. The idea of our family surviving against all odds was a powerful, driving force for him – one that was fundamental to his identity. He saw his heritage as a part of the choreography of the 'natural order' of life, where only those who are strongest will survive and thrive. Certainly, his worldview played a role in shaping my own way of seeing the world – and myself – as I grew up.
While, I admit, there is something seductively romantic about the idea that I have inherited the strength of my 'survivor' ancestors, my work in genealogy has caused me to reformulate my ideas on what exactly 'survival' means. We might imagine it means being able to withstand disease, overcome hardships, raise lots of children, and live to a ripe old age amongst our grandchildren or even great-grandchildren. But the reality of 'survival' of our Trentini ancestors often meant that they made it to adulthood at all. While it's natural to imagine our great-great-great-grandparents as being wise, elderly people, the truth is, I am probably older right now than 95% of my ancestors were when they died. In fact, many of them died when they were younger than my 33-year-old daughter.
How does this information reshape the way we see our ancestors – and ourselves? Moreover, what else can death and dying tell us about who we are, as a people? Those are some of the questions I hope to address in this article, where we'll be taking a short tour of DEATH as part of LIFE in Trentino in the past.
We'll look at:
The importance of including death information in your family tree, and how it brings depth to our understanding.
The challenges of using death records for information, and how to glean information from other sources if death records are unavailable or incomplete.
Some common causes of death in 19th century parish records, and translations of some of the Italian terminology you might encounter.
The Importance of 'Killing Off' Your Ancestors
A couple of years ago, I was reading a book called Tracing Your Ancestors Through Death Records by Celia Heritage (http://amzn.to/2hb1HJm), when a particularly memorable quote leapt out from the page:
'If you are serious about your family history, then 'killing off' your ancestors is mandatory.'
When we research our personal genealogy, it can be all too tempting (if not 'addictive') to go for quantity over quality. We love the feeling of discovering one more person to add to our tree. Perhaps we've finally found the marriage record revealing the name of our great-great-great-grandmother, or we've unexpectedly come face-to-face with our 12x great-grandfather in a 16th century land agreement. It's exciting – even emotionally stirring – when we make such wonderful discoveries.
But Celia Heritage's point is this: while birth and marriage information is certainly fundamental to our genealogical research, until we know something about our ancestors' deaths, we cannot get a truly accurate picture of their lives. If we really want to know where we come from, it is crucial for us to get into the practice of 'killing off' our ancestors, by discovering as much as possible about when, where and (hopefully) how they died.
Learning about our ancestors' deaths can often tell us more about them than anything else. After all, when we are born, we are simply a name and a hope for the future. But when we die, our lives have already happened. All that we have done and experienced precedes us. We have left an imprint upon our families and communities, and they upon us. We have formed relationships, and we have left people behind who are affected by our lives – and by our deaths.
I would also add that it is just as important to research the deaths of ALL the members of your ancestors' families, not merely those of your direct ancestors. Every death – even that of a new-born infant – has a physical, emotional and sometimes financial impact on a family. A single death can be the trigger that causes people to marry, remarry or even move locations. I doubt, for example, my Serafini ancestors would have moved from the parish of Ragoli to Bleggio in 1658, had not the older brother of my 6x great-grandmother Pasqua died, leaving her the only child to inherit.
The Challenges of Researching Death Information
Many of us from America and Britain are accustomed to looking for death information amongst the civil records. But in Trentino, civil registration only began in 1820. Prior to that, the primary record-keepers were Catholic priests in the local parish churches.
As mentioned in a previous article on this site, while the keeping of parish records was first mandated by Catholic Church at the Council of Trento in 1563, it took a while for it to become regular practice throughout the Church. Moreover, the practice of recording deaths tended to show up significantly later than the keeping of records of births and marriages. In my father's home parish, for example, birth and marriage records begin in 1565, but death records begin more than 80 years later, in 1638. Some Trentino parishes did not start keeping death records until the middle of the 18th century.
Even when death records are available for a specific parish, the system for recording information is often erratic, until the middle of the 19th century, when it becomes more codified. While some records will tell you the age of people when they died, and some details about their familial lineage (e.g. 'Giovanni Malacarne, son of Antonio of Sesto' or 'Marianna, born Gusmerotti, widow of Valentino Martini'), others will simply list the name and date of death.
Moreover, before it became standard practice to include the deceased date of birth in the record, the cited age at the time of death is often just an estimate. Priests often rounded the number up or down to the nearest decade. Alternatively, a member of the family of the deceased may simply have guessed their loved one's age when the priest asked them. When such vagaries arise in the absence of any other information, you might be able to go back to the birth or marriage records and confirm you're matching the right record to the right person. But sometimes, you're not so lucky, and the scanty and conflicting information on the death record will simply leave you scratching your head.
Gleaning Death Information from Baptismal and Marriage Records
If death records are missing altogether for the ancestor or period you are researching, there are other ways you can at least narrow down the range of dates before/ after/ between which your ancestors died. The best way to do this is to look for clues in baptismal and marriage records.
When a child is born, his parents (especially the father) are typically cited in the baptismal record by referring to the child as 'Giovanni, son of Paolo', or 'Cattarina, daughter of Giuseppe and Maria' or something along those lines. Thus, in many records prior to the mid-19th century, we will see at least the paternal grandfather's name in addition to the father's (and, hopefully, the mother's). As we progress towards the second half of the 19th century, we will start to see not only both grandfathers, but both grandmothers as well. The same is true for marriage records.
To find clues about a person's death, we reading any parish record, look carefully and take note of any of these notations before any of the parents' names, as they are all indications that a person (or persons) is deceased:
qm or f.q.
gm or f.g.
furono
The first two are Latin abbreviations. The first is shorthand for 'figlio (or figlia) quondam', which means son (or daughter) of the 'once' so-and-so (e.g. 'Antonio, son of the once Giovanni who is no longer with us'). The second is shorthand for 'figlio/figlia gigantum', meaning 'son/daughter of the deceased' so-and-so. Occasionally you will also see words like obit or defuntus, but these are less common in birth records.
The last two are Italian, and appear more commonly from the 19th century onwards. Fu is the third-person, singular, past tense of the verb essere, which means 'to be'. Thus, fu means 'he/she was' (in other words, this person's 'being' is now in the past). Furono is from the same verb, but in plural form; in other words, it indicates the record referring to more than one deceased person. For example:
Giovanni di Antonio e fu Domenica, would mean Giovanni's father Antonio was still alive, but his mother Domenica had passed away.
Giovanni di fu Antonio e Domenica (or 'vivente Domenica'), would mean his father was deceased, but his mother was still alive.
Giovanni di furono Antonio e Domenica, would mean that both of Giovanni's parents were deceased.
TIP: When reading baptismal and marriage records, don't forget to check the godparents and witnesses, as these will also often have references to deceased fathers and husbands. If you look diligently enough, you will probably find some unexpected clues about an ancestor's death date.
The Importance of Keeping Track of Estimated Deaths
I believe it's important to keep a log of ANY clues you might discover for a person's death, even if you don't know precisely when it occurred. For example:
If I am looking at a marriage dated 5 May 1742, and the husband is cited as 'Giovanni di fu Antonio', I will go to the death date for Antonio, and enter the words 'Before 5 May 1742'.
Then, in the description field or notes for his death (I use Family Tree Maker for this), I put something like: 'Cited as deceased in the marriage record of his son Giovanni on 5 May 1742'.
Finally, I cite the SOURCE of the record. For example: 'Santa Croce parish records, marriages. LDS film 1448051, part 9, page 108'. As I get many of my digital images directly from the Archdiocese of Trento, I also enter the number of the file in the Trento system.
Suppose, a few months later, I happen to stumble across a baptismal record dated 10 April 1737, where Antonio is cited as being the godfather of one of his neighbour's children. This new information gives me a lower boundary for Antonio's death (i.e., he had to have died after 10 April 1737). Now, I can go back to my record for him, and alter the estimated death date to 'Between 10 April 1737 and 5 May 1742', narrowing it to a 6-year window.
Keeping a careful log of all the clues you stumble upon in your research helps make finding death records easier later, and helps fill in the gaps if the original death records happen to be missing.
The Case of the Posthumous Father
Sometimes, a man will have died shortly before the birth of one of his children. In this case, his name is often prefixed by the word 'posthumous' rather than fu in his child's baptismal record. Here is the birth record (7 May 1750) for my 4x great-grandfather, Giovanni Antonio Caresani, whose father Antonio Felice is cited as 'posthumous':
(Click the image to see it larger)
1750 baptismal record for Giovanni Antonio Caresani, whose deceased father Antonio is referred to as 'posthumous'. Santa Croce del Bleggio parish records.
Knowing Antonio had to have died no more than 9 months prior to the birth of his son Giovanni Antonio, I could now narrow down his date of death to somewhere between September 1749 and May 1750. This enabled me locate his death record within a few minutes when I was in Trento. The actual date was 21 Feb 1750:
1750 death record of Antonio Caresani of Madice, who died at the age of 33. Santa Croce del Bleggio parish records.
Note the death record says Antonio Caresani died at the age of 30. In this case, I already had Antonio's birth information, but if I hadn't, this information could have helped me locate his baptismal record. As I mentioned earlier, however, the given age on death records is OFTEN imprecise. In this case, the priest is off by three years, as Antonio was actually 33 years old, not 30, when he passed away.
Sadly, as is often the case with pre-19th century records, the record provides us with no cause of death. We can only wonder why a young man in the prime of his life died, leaving behind a young wife and at least two living children, who would later become my direct ancestors.
Infant Mortality and Early Childhood Deaths
In an earlier article on this blog I wrote about using the Nati in Trentino website for genealogical research. That site contains a searchable database of Trentini births/baptismal by the Catholic church between the years of 1815 and 1923.
While it contains a wealth of information, Nati in Trentino has many significant limitations, as this next example will demonstrate. Here's a snapshot of the birth dates as they appear on Nati in Trentino for the children of a man named Vincenzo Domenico Maffei, who goes by the name 'Domenico'. For now, I only want to show you the left side of the screen (you'll see why in a minute):
Births of the 10 children of Vincenzo Domenico Maffei, between 1861 and 1875.
The first two children are via Domenico's first wife, Angela, who died from tuberculosis in 1863, less than 3 months after the birth of her daughter, Ernesta. The other 8 children are via Domenico's second wife, Filomena, whom you'll meet in a minute.
Have a look at the twin girls Neonata1 and Neonata2 born in 1866, and the boy Neonato born in 1875. The terms neonato (for a boy) and neonata (for a girl) are NOT names; they simply mean 'new-born', and are used to indicate an unnamed, stillborn child, or one that died before it could be baptised (which was often on the same day). Another frequently appearing term in the parish records is innominato or innominata ('unnamed male' or 'unnamed female', respectively), which conveys the same meaning.
Based on Nati in Trentino's information alone, we would be led to believe that three of Vincenzo's 10 children died, and the other seven survived. But a direct examination of the baptismal records themselves will tell a different story altogether:
Family of Vincenzo Domenico Maffei, including births and deaths of his children
Have a look at the right-hand column underneath the word 'death'. I obtained the death dates for ALL these children (except Alfonso's) from their baptismal records. Many 19th century priests (at least in Santa Croce) would make notations about a persons' death – and sometimes marriage – into that person's baptismal record, even if it occurred years after the fact. Although death dates rarely appear in baptismal records before the 19th century, priests will often infer that a child died young, by putting a cross (+) next to the infant's name in the record. While inconsistently used, you can find evidence of this practice even in very early records.
Shockingly, the notations in the baptismal records reveal that all but one of Domenico's 10 children died under the age of 4. One little boy, Maradio born in 1867, managed to be baptised, but died later the same day. The only child to survive to adulthood is Alfonso, born 1870 – who ended up becoming the great-grandfather of one of my 9th cousins, who lives in the US.
The REAL story of this family is:
Within a span of 14 years, Domenico saw the death of NINE children and a wife.
Within the span of a decade Filomena gave birth to 8 children, only one of whom outlived her.
Alfonso lost his father Domenico when he is 15 years old, leaving him to care for his widowed mother.
It simply boggles the mind, and changes our perspective of this family completely.
10 Causes of Death in 19th Century Italian Parish Records
Bearing in mind that it was not the standard practice to cite the cause of death until printed columns were introduced into the parish records around 1815, I'd like to round off this article by sharing some of the terminology you might see cited as 'cause of death' in the mid-to-late 19th century.
I have two reasons for including this topic in this article:
A few of my readers ASKED me to do it. 😉
I believe seeing all these maladies lined up one after the other can really make the weight of our ancestors' lives sink in. In fact, it kind of hits you like a brick.
It would be impossible to talk about all the possible causes of death in a single blog article. Really, it would take a book (and a LOT of research). So for now, I'm going to limit my discussion to 10 terms that might be more cryptic or less familiar to English speakers in the 21st century. The reason why they may be less familiar is partially because some of these diseases are not as common today as they were in the past, and partially because the terms themselves have changed over the past two centuries.
I've broken these 10 common causes into two categories: those that mostly affect infants and young children, and those that mostly affect adults, including the elderly.
I'll warn you in advance, you may feel like crying.
Infants and Young Children
Tosse, pertosse, canine pertosse
These are all Italian terms for 'pertussis', more commonly known today as whooping cough. Whooping cough is a highly contagious, airborne, bacterial disease causing violent coughing fits, often leading to fatal complications. New-borns and babies under the age of one year are most at risk. Although doctors today use vaccines and antibiotics to prevent/treat the disease, it still claims the lives of many infants every year, even in 'developed' countries.
In one record, I also saw the term catarro soffocato. As 'catarrh' (catarro) refers to thick phlegm in the respiratory tract, this term means the baby suffocated on his/her own phlegm. My guess is that this might also indicate the child had whooping cough.
This is the old Italian term for influenza or flu. The same term was used in English in the past, and the word grippe still means influenza in modern French. Historically, flu epidemics have claimed the lives of millions of people over the centuries, as the virus continually mutates as humans adapt to it. While adults often succumb to more virulent forms of influenza, babies and infants are often cited to have died from the more common winter strain of it throughout the 19th century.
For further reading, an interesting book on the so-called 'Spanish Influenza' of 1918 is Flu: The Story Of The Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It by Gina Kolata (http://amzn.to/2haAUge). While not about Trentino, it gives terrific insight into the nature of epidemic diseases, and the challenges of protecting ourselves from them.
Disenteria
The literal translation is 'dysentery', which, technically, refers to an aggressive attack of parasites in the digestive track. Dysentery can cause high fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. In the case of infants (especially those still being breast-fed), I feel the term disenteria may more likely indicate they were suffering from chronic diarrhoea rather than actual parasites, eventually dying from dehydration.
Today, few of us think of diarrhoea as a lethal threat, but back then many babies and children died from it, all over the world.
Vermazione
Worms! I had never heard this term before working with the Trentini death records, but apparently, the term 'vermination' was also used in 19th century English medical texts. Vermination is any kind of worm infestation in the intestinal tract. In babies, vermination can also cause painful convulsions.
Believe it or not, I found a book from 1836 on Google Books with the somewhat catchy title of Medical commentaries on puerperal fever, vermination, and water in the head by a medical doctor named John Alexander. Dr. Alexander confesses that (at least at that time) doctors simply didn't KNOW what causes babies to get worms.
Incompleto sviluppo
Literally 'incomplete development', this refers to a premature baby. Back then, if a baby was born prematurely, there was little hope for survival. We I first started working with death records, I was shocked to see how many infant deaths in the 19th century were actually due to premature births. My only guess for these high numbers is that perhaps a great many pregnancies failed to go full-term due to poor nutrition and lack of pre-natal care.
Adults and Elderly
Called the same in English, pellagra is an insidious lethal disease caused by a chronic deficiency of niacin (vitamin B6) in the diet. It is most commonly seen in populations where their diet consists mainly of corn (as in polenta), with few other sources of nutrition. This is because corn that has not been cured with lime can leech niacin from the body, unless there is ample supply of the nutrient from other food sources. During the 19th century, when many contadini in Trentino suffered economic hardship, diversity of diet was difficult. Although often fatal, pellagra is easily curable in all but the most advanced cases through dietary and nutritional changes. But unfortunately for many of our ancestors, niacin and its role in the disease was not discovered until the 1930s.
If you are interested in reading more about pellagra, I highly recommend the book A Plague Of Corn: A Social History Of Pellagra by Daphne Roe (http://amzn.to/2hk0HW9). Extremely well-written and insightful, she also includes one chapter where she talks about how the 'polenta eaters' in places like Trentino were impacted by this horrible disease.
Tisi, tisi polmonare; consunzione polmonare
These are all terms for pulmonary tuberculosis, commonly called 'consumption' in the 19th century. Tuberculosis was so endemic in Europe in the 19th century (and even to the early decades of the 20th century), that it forms the backdrop for many novels, plays and operas of those times. Attacking the lungs, it frequently struck down young adults in the prime of their lives. Some pages in the death records will have many tisi deaths, one after the other, all people in their 20s and 30s.
Tifo (tiffo)
Typhus, a bacterial disease often equated with wartime, it can be transmitted by lice, ticks, mites or fleas when people live in cramped quarters, and have insufficient hygienic facilities. Once it takes hold in a community, it can spread virulently. Thus, if you see one case of tifo, you're bound to see many others within a short time span.
Apoplessia
The literal translation is 'apoplexy', an English which today refers to a stroke. However, in the past, the word apoplexy was used to refer to any kind of sudden death (often preceded by unconsciousness), including stroke, heart attack and aneurysms.
Marasma
Literally 'decay', this term was used to refer to dying of 'old age' rather than any specified disease or condition. You will only see it used with people of advanced age (usually 70 or older), and refers to the decline in bodily functions, muscle mass, bones, etc. Occasionally, you will see the term marasma senile, which is used where there is extreme wasting/weight-loss. Most of the sources I have read do not necessarily tie it to the word 'senility' or dementia, but it is possible these ailments would also fall under this 'catch-all' term.
There is so much more we could discuss when it comes to talking about how our ancestors died. We could talk about 'La Peste' of 1630, which wiped entire villages off the map. We could talk about the world-wide cholera epidemic of 1855, which took its toll on Trentino. We could talk about the thousands of men and women who died between 1914 and 1918, during the First World War. Throughout history, the Trentini people have experienced it all – famines and floods, plagues and epidemics, war and economic hardships.
And while these things certainly took their toll on individuals and families, we – as a people – have survived. We identify with our culture; we recognise it as fundamental to who we are. Even those of us who are the children (or grandchildren) of those who emigrated to other lands, are still Trentini.
As my father said:
'We are survivors.'
I hope this article has inspired you to become as curious about learning about your ancestors' deaths, as you are about their births, marriages, and other life events. I also hope it has given you some useful tips and information to help you in your research. I would welcome any comments or questions on this, or any other topic to do with Trentino Genealogy. Please feel free to express yourself by leaving a comment in the box below, or drop me a line using the contact form on this site.
Until next time, enjoy the journey.
Lynn Serafinn
P.S.: I am going back to Trento to do research in January 2017. If you would like me to try to look for something while I am there, please first read my 'Genealogy Services' page, and then drop me a line using the Contact form on this site. I look forward to hearing from you!
Subscribe to receive all upcoming articles from Trentino Genealogy! Desktop viewers can subscribe using the form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
Lynn on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LynnSerafinn
Join our Trentino Genealogy Group on Facebook: http://facebook.com/groups/TrentinoGenealogy
View My Santa Croce del Bleggio Family Tree on Ancestry:
https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/161928829
Lynn Serafinn, genealogist at Trentino Genealogy
LYNN SERAFINN is a bestselling author and genealogist specialising in the families of Trentino. She is also the author of the regularly featured column 'Genealogy Corner' for Filò Magazine: A Journal for Tyrolean Americans.
In addition to her work for clients, her personal research project is to transcribe all the parish records for the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio (where her father was born) from the 1400s to the current era, as well as to connect as many living people as she can who were either born in Bleggio or whose ancestors came from there. She hopes this tree, which already contains tens of thousands of people, will serve as a visual and spiritual reminder of how we are all fundamentally connected.
View the Santa Croce del Bleggio Family Tree on Ancestry:
CLICK HERE to view a searchable database of Trentini SURNAMES.
19th centurybaptismal recordsCatholic Churchcause of deathdeath recordsfamily historygenealogistgenealogygenealogy tipshow toparish recordsresearchresearch tipsTrentinoTrento
Guide to Genealogical Research at the Archdiocese of Trento
5th August 2016 Lynn Serafinn	Leave a comment
Image: Title page of 17th-century baptismal record book from the parish of Drò (Trentino, Italy) drawn by the parish priest, Francesco Giuliani.
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn tells what you can find at the Church Archives in Trento, Italy, and shares crucial tips for how to prepare BEFORE you make the trip.
For me, one of the most beautiful places on early is the city of Trento, a hidden gem in the Dolomites (part of the Alps) in northern Italy. Apart from Rome, the city of Trento is arguably the most important place in the history of Christianity, especially as the venue of the Concilio di Trento aka Concilio Tridentino (Council of Trent) in the mid-1500s.
But Trento is also a vital place for modern historians, as it is home to a wealth of archival repositories, including the State Archives, the Archives at the Castello di Buonconsiglio, and the Archives of the Catholic Archdiocese of Trento. It is the last of these – the diocesan archives – that we'll be looking at today.
In this article, we'll be looking at what you can find in these archives, how to communicate before you make the trip, and how to prepare for your research so you can make the most of your time there. If you are fairly new to Trentino family history research, you might wish to read these previously published articles before reading this one:
Parishes, Parish Records & Genealogy Resources for Trentino
Searching Online for 19th & 20th Century Trentini Ancestors
Preparing for Research: Using Microfilms for Family History
SIDE NOTE: 'Trento' is sometimes referred to as 'Tridentino', and things to do with Trento are sometimes called 'Tridentine'. In English, you will frequently see it written simply as 'Trent', undoubtedly due to the influence of Austria and the Germanic influence of the Holy Roman Empire, which ruled the area for many centuries.
Genealogical Resources at the Archives
The Tridentine Diocesan Archives preserves, stores and makes available to the public many original historical writings of the bishops of Trento and many other individuals and institutions. But what is of most interest to genealogists is that they have an excellent on-site facility for viewing digitised images of all the baptisms, marriages and deaths of ALL the parishes within the Diocese of Trento, starting from the mid-16th century (when parish records began) until 31 December 1923. These digital images are NOT available online or at any other facility in the world.
In the parish record room, there are five viewing stations, with each high-resolution computer screen measuring 70 cm x 40 cm (27.5 inches wide x 15.75 inches high), which is just about as large as you could ask for in a personal workstation. You have instant access to ALL the parishes of Trentino at your fingertips. Each parish is in its own folder, and then further divided into births, marriages and deaths. You'd have to pay a small fortune to have the microfilms of all of these parishes sent to your local Family History Centre.
While the images themselves are identical to the ones you will find on the LDS microfilms, the fact that they are in digital format makes research a radically different experience. For one thing, the viewing facilities at the archives are state of the art, with extra-large computer monitor screens. This gives you many advantages over microfilm viewing:
Computer displays are much brighter and crisper than most microfilm readers.
You can quickly zoom in and out to enlarge the images.
You can simply 'click' to the image you want, without the need to scroll through a whole film.
As each image has a unique file number, you can quickly find it again later.
You can have several windows open at one time, making it easier to compare records, or work on baptisms, marriages and/or deaths, or even different parishes at the same time.
However, to be able to reap the full benefits of these features, it is important to know the 'house rules' at the Archives, as well as how to prepare before you make the trip.
House Rules When Working at the Archives
When working at the archdiocese, there are two crucial 'house rules' you will need to know and adhere to:
You cannot download the digital files yourself.
You cannot take photos of the images off the screen using your phone or camera.
However, for a very reasonable fee (30 cents per image, when I was last there), you can ask the VERY helpful archivists who work there to download specific files onto your USB memory stick for you, OR even upload them to your DropBox folder. When you enter the research room, you will find a tray with forms where you can make a list of all the files you'd like to order. Here's a scan of one of the many dozens of forms I filled in when I was there earlier this year (please excuse my horribly messy handwriting!). To see it larger, just click on the image and it will open in a new window:
If you look at the penultimate column on the right of the form, there is a space to write the file number you require. To ensure the archivists get the correct file for you, you will need to enter the parish, the type of record (baptism, marriage or death), the name of the person whose record you're particularly interested in, the date of that specific record and the file number. Some archivists will give you the entire page, while others will crop the image and give you only the record you list, so be sure to be very clear when filling in the information.
IMPORTANT TIP for Americans: For dates, Europeans put the DAY first, and the MONTH second. In other words:
12.04.1604 = April 12th 1604
(NOT December 4th)
Contact the Archives BEFORE You Book Your Trip
I highly recommend that you contact the archivists BEFORE you book your trip, and make sure:
That they will be open the week/days you want to come. The centre is always closed for a couple of weeks in August, and also on national holidays. They might also occasionally need to close if some construction or a conference is taking place.
That they can reserve a work station for you on the days you intend to be there.
That someone who speaks English will be on site that day, if you do not speak Italian.
The best way to communicate is via email at archivio@diocesitn.it. You can write in English if you need to, but if you can write in Italian (or find someone to write it for you), that would be best. The official website for Archives of the Archdiocese of Trento can be found by clicking here.
At the Archives of the Archdiocese of Trento. Left to right: Dr. Katia Pizzini (Assistant Director), Lynn Serafinn (genealogist), Dr. Claudio Andreolli (archivist), Dr. Renato Giacomelli (archivist).
ALWAYS Confirm the Opening Hours
So you can plan your research, it's a good idea to confirm their opening hours before you go, so you don't end up disappointed. The 'official' hours of the centre are:
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: 9 am – 12 pm, and 2 pm – 5 pm (closed between 12 pm and 2 pm)
Thursday: 9 am – 5 pm (no closure for lunch, as on the other days)
Friday: 9 am – 12 pm only (closed in the afternoon)
Although these are the 'official' hours, I still recommend you confirm them before your trip, as sometimes the centre needs to close early, and sometimes you might even get a 'surprise' bonus day where they are unexpectedly open when they would otherwise have been closed.
Preparing for Research
Going to Trento can be a major trip for many researchers, especially if they are coming from a great distance. Thus, it is crucial that you make a detailed plan for what you want to achieve while you are there. Otherwise, you are likely to drift around the records (much as people surf the Internet) and go home without much to show for the time you've spent there.
STEP 1: Calculate your time
The first thing you should do before you create your plan is to take a look at how many HOURS you will be spending at the Archives. There is a huge difference between what you can accomplish in a single day versus a couple of weeks. Assuming the Archives will be operating according to normal opening hours, you can calculate the maximum number of hours you will have for research:
6 hours a day on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays
8 hours on Thursdays
3 hours on Fridays
Thus, you will have a maximum of 29 hours for research per week (especially if you're neurotic like me, and your backside stays glued to the chair for the entire day once you've sat down).
STEP 2: Make a detailed research plan
The next thing to do is to create a research plan that will keep you on track during your time at the Archives. Before I go on any trip to Trento, I might spend a full week – or even longer – working on my research plan. That might sound like a LOT of time to invest in planning, but doing so has enabled me to make the most of every moment I was there. Here's the method I use and recommend:
IDENTIFY MISSING DATA: First, I systematically go through all the branches of the tree I am working on, and write down EVERY piece of vital information that is still missing (e.g. unknown marriage dates, incomplete names, etc.). One way to see this clearly is to generate a 'pedigree chart' using a genealogy programme like Family Tree Maker. That way, I can quickly see which ancestors are missing or incomplete.
CREATE GROUPS: I then take this list and group all the missing/incomplete people according to parish, then their frazioni (villages) within the parish and then into surnames. The main reason I break them into frazioni is that some parish priest would group the records according to frazione, rather than mix them altogether in chronological order. You may or may not need to be as detailed, if your particular parish does not categorise its records according to frazione.
MAKE A REVERSE CHRONOLOGY: I then organise each group in reverse chronological order, so I can weave my way backwards when I do my research. There is little point in starting from the earliest records until I know how they connect with later generations.
CREATE 'BATCHES': The next step is to take these groups, and bundle them into 'batches' of about 10 to 15 records etc. Each batch should have something in common. For example, they could be baptismal records of people who all have the same surname or live in the same frazione between a specific set of years (one or two generations). Or, I might chunk together all the marriages within a certain span of years. The reason I suggest 10 to 15 records in each batch is that this is the number you might expect to work through on a half-day session (3 to 4 hours).
ORGANISE YOUR BATCHES IN ORDER OF PRIORITY: Once I've made my batches, I then sequence them in order of priority. Of all this information, what are the things I most want to find out on this research trip? Which things would be the most difficult to find at home, if I don't try to find them in Trento? Which things could I leave to the end of my trip, and look for them only if I end up having extra time?
ASSIGN RESEARCH SESSIONS TO EACH BATCH: Finally, I made a day-by-day plan by assigning each batch to a specific morning/afternoon session on a specific day on the trip. This enables me to pace myself each day, and shift gears if I feel like I'm getting nowhere.
TWEAK AND REFINE: I look through my plan, and tweak it to ensure I have some 'buffer' time. Is there some area where I am being overly ambitious and trying to cram too much into one session? How can I lighten the load, in case some things take longer than others to find?
PAGINATE, PRINT AND KEEP IT SAFE: When I am satisfied my plan is doable, I put the plan for each date onto a SEPARATE page in Word. In other words, 10 days of research means I have a 10-page plan. Then, I print it out, staple it together, put it in a plastic sleeve and then store it in a document wallet where I will keep all my notes for the trip. You might prefer not to print your plan, but I find it easier to have it sitting next to me on my workstation. That way I can keep my tablet available with my family tree software open, and not need to switch back and forth between screens.
Here's an image of my plan for one of my own research days. You can click the image to see it larger:
If you prefer, you can download a Word docx of this sample page by clicking here.
Getting Oriented on Day 1
Before you start working through your plan, I strongly recommend that you spend the first session (or perhaps the entire first day) creating a 'map' for yourself, showing where different records are located within the parish you are researching. Once you create this map, you won't need to do it again, unless you start working with records from a different parish.
What I mean by 'map' is a spreadsheet (or whatever system you prefer) where you list the range of file numbers that contain specific information. For example, as I said earlier, some parish records are organised according to frazioni. Thus, you might see records for a span of years ALL from a single frazione, and then all of a sudden the records leap back in time to the starting point, showing all the records for that time period for a different frazione. Sometimes (if you're lucky) the priests will have put indices at the beginning of each book saying where these divisions occur, but this isn't particularly useful if you're searching for the records via file number. Thus, I might sit for a morning and go through, say, all the records for the 1600s, and write down the numbers of the first and last file within each sequence.
Here's an example for how I mapped one frazione called 'Larido' in the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio (I did the same for all the frazioni in the parish). Note that there was one file (01111) that contained two out-of-sequence entries for the year 1612, so I made a special note about this in the right-hand column:
Click on the image to see it larger.
How is this map useful to me? Well, let's say that later in the week I am trying to find the birth record for a person born around 1660 in the village of Larido. From my map I can see that the records for 1646 – 1686 are spread across 21 files (01516 – 01536). Knowing that, I can probably guess that the file I'm looking for is probably just a bit before the mid-point of this span, say file 01522. I can go directly to that file, and probably locate the document I am looking for in 5 minutes or less. Without such a map, I'd be likely to spend hours – maybe all afternoon – trying to find it.
Having a map like this also enables you to decide quickly whether a particular file is missing or (more likely) that the person was actually from a different frazione. Remember, when it comes to research, NOT finding a file is often just as informative as finding it.
Working with Your Plan
Once you create your map, you should work methodically through your plan, trying to stick to it as best you can. If you get 'stuck' trying to find a particular record, or you think you are spending too long on one thing, make some notes about what you already tried, and then move on to the next item in your plan. Maintaining some sort of momentum can help keep you from becoming bogged down and discouraged.
When I go to Trento (or anywhere else), I like to use Family Tree Maker to enter all the new data I find, making sure to include the number of the file where I found the information. Rather than try to transcribe records while I'm researching, I use the order form to request the digital file of the records I want, so I can study them in greater detail later, when I am not under a time limitation.
At the end of my research day, whenever I close Family Tree Maker, I created a 'change log' (which you can generate via the 'sync' button) and save it as a PDF file, so I can see exactly what I added, deleted or changed throughout the day. Only later do I sync the data to the online version of the tree, if I have one.
To prevent myself from getting side-tracked, if I happen to stumble upon some interesting discoveries that are NOT included in my plan, I write down the file number, and order the digital file from the Archives, so I can look at it in more detail when I get home. This method is especially useful if I happen to find records on someone whose connection to my tree is not immediately apparent, but whom I suspect could turn out to be relevant later.
Setting Goals and Expectations
Something you are probably asking yourself is how you should set your own research goals. How many records can you expect to find every day? Your individual research expectations will depend on four things:
Your preparation, i. e. whether or not you've made a plan
Your orientation, i.e. whether or not you've made a 'map'
Your experience, i.e. how much time you have previously spent working with parish records using LDS microfilms at your local Family History Centre
Your familiarity with the parish, i.e. how well you know the frazioni, the local surnames, common soprannomi of certain families, etc.
If you can give yourself high marks on all three of these things, you can comfortably expect to find at least four records per hour. I have often located more than 10 records within a single hour, because I knew exactly what I was looking for, and exactly where to find them.
If you have had NO experience with the microfilms at all and/or you know next to nothing about your family or their parish, it does not mean you should not make the trip to the Archives. However, in this case, I suggest writing to them in advance asking whether someone who speaks English there can help you with your research. Try to bring as much concrete information about your ancestors as you can, such as birth names, birth/marriage years, parish, etc.
OF COURSE, I am also available for hire as a genealogist, specialising in the family history of Trentino. I could mentor you through your research OR you could hire me to do the research for you. As an experienced author, I can also help construct your family history in writing. If you would like to discuss how we might work together, I invite you to write to me via the contact from on this website, and request a (free) 30-minute Skype chat, so we can get to know each other.
The Really Important Work Starts AFTER Your Trip
One thing that can REALLY slow you down in your research is if you try to process all the information mentally while you are in the 'discovery' phase. Thus, my best advice to you would be to use your trip simply to FIND the files you need, and not to analyse them or transcribe them (unless you want to do that in the evening). Be sure you keep a good record of what you managed to find, and what you TRIED to find but could not.
Then, assuming that you've obtained all the digital files you discovered, when you return home you can sit and spend as much time as you want studying, translating and 'connecting the dots' with your discoveries. Remember, hidden within a baptismal record for one of your ancestors could be the names of that child's grandparents. Or, you might discover that a child's godfather/godmother, or the witnesses at your ancestors' wedding are yet OTHER ancestors of yours. You might see clues indicating they originally came from another parish. You might see hand-written notes indicating death dates, marriage dates, occupations or many other gems. There is no way to take it all in when you are on the hunt for the records themselves; what's more, you shouldn't try to.
I am STILL working methodically through the 300+ pages of records I located and retrieved during my 5 weeks in Trento earlier this year. I have a special spreadsheet where I write down the number of each file, which village(s) it covers, the earliest and latest date in the file, and how many records it contains. I also make notes if there were some records I couldn't read or understand in the file. This way, I always know which files I have already analysed, sparing me from accidentally repeating work I have already done. It also helps me identify which files I might still need to locate at a later date.
Using this method, my primary tree has blossomed from about 1,000 people in December 2015 to (as of this writing) over 8,700 people, supported by nearly 1,500 digital images (old photos, civil documents, census records, parish records, and my transcriptions of the same).
UPDATE JUNE 2019: My Santa Croce tree now has nearly 24,000 people on it.
Don't Fear the Learning Curve
I am sure some of you are feeling a bit overwhelmed at this point. I'd like to quell your feelings by telling you about the very first time I went to the Trento Archives. Back then, I couldn't yet speak Italian, and I had a very sparse tree through the 19th century with no actual images of the records. Bringing my Italian friend Vanessa with me as a translator, I went to see an archivist there named Claudio Andreolli (who speaks almost no English). Claudio knew I was coming, and I had given him all the information I had gathered so far. When I arrived, I was thrilled to discover that he had ALREADY traced my father's Serafini line back to the late 1500s! While this was just the male line – about seven generations of Serafini grandfathers, with the names of some of their wives – this really kick-started my research, and everything I have done since blossomed from that point. Over the next year, I actually found a couple of errors in Claudio's original research, which I corrected. However, when I did that, I discovered that Claudio himself was actually my 4th cousin. What an exciting discovery!
I tell this story for two reasons. First, please remember that EVERYONE starts out as a beginner in genealogy. Second, don't worry about MAKING MISTAKES. Every single researcher, no matter how learned or experienced, will make mistakes. The important thing is to check, double-check, and triple-check your work over time, as you gain experience and expertise. Sometimes the answers to things you didn't know or corrections to mistakes you made in the past just sort of POP out at you, and you can't figure out why you hadn't seen them before.
Coming soon on the Trentino Genealogy blog, we'll be looking at:
Reading and interpreting parish records from Trentino
Notaries and noble families
Using church parchments to understand more about your ancestors' daily lives
I hope you'll subscribe to this blog so you can follow along on this genealogical journey, and read all future articles on this site. Desktop viewers can subscribe using the opt-in form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
We also have a thriving 'Trentino Genealogy' Facebook Group, open to ANYONE interested in discussing genealogy, and meeting others who are researching their family history. Who knows? You might meet a long-lost cousin there!
Lastly, if you have any questions or comments about this article, or if you'd like to talk to me about researching your family history, please feel free to drop me a line via the contact form on this site, or leave a comment at the bottom of this page.
archdiocesearchivesbaptismal recordsCatholic Churchfamily historygenealogistgenealogygenealogy tipshow toparish recordsresearchresearch planresearch tipsTrentinoTrento
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, Trentino Culture, Trentino Names
16th June 2016 Lynn Serafinn	Leave a comment
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn explains what to do before working with parish records on microfilm, and shares tips for finding your Trentini ancestors' parish.
IMPORTANT NOTE (June 2019): Since I originally published this article in June 2016, the LDS Family History Centres have DISCONTINUED their microfilm ordering service, and are working on digitising all their microfilms. However, these digital images will only be viewable at one of their Family History Centres, not online. Nonetheless, the tips below might still be useful if you are lucky enough to have Family History Centre centre near you that can give you access to the old films OR the newly digitised images.
If you're new to genealogy, you'll notice that family historians talk a lot about parish records (if you're unfamiliar with parish records and what they can tell you, you might find some useful information in a previous article on this site called 'Parishes, Parish Records & Genealogy Resources for Trentino'). While parish records are fundamental to nearly every family history, they are old and fragile documents that would not survive being handled by every modern researcher who comes along. The other challenge they present is that the original, handwritten records are kept as archives in their parish of origin, often thousands of miles away from those who would like to access them.
To address both of these problems, back in the 1950s (or so I read somewhere) archivists at the archdiocese of Trento permitted historians at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) to photograph these records and convert them into microfilm. The original films are kept in Salt Lake City, Utah, but copies can be rented (not purchased) by the public for a nominal fee, and viewed at their local Family History Centre (FHC). According to one source, there were more than 4,700 FHCs in 134 countries as of September 2014; it is my guess that this number has probably grown since then. You can find instructions for locating your local FHC by following the above link.
These microfilms are what the majority of English-speaking family historians with roots in Trentino use for their research. However, finding your way around the microfilms is rarely straightforward, and extracting accurate information from them requires an organised approach and regular study. I can remember numerous occasions when I was trawling through microfilms at the National Archives in Kew, London, when a first-time enthusiast came in (probably after having watched a TV show like 'Who Do You Think You Are?') and turned on a microfilm reader, fully expecting they would be able to trace their family back 200 years in a single sitting. Nine times out of ten, the person gives up after an hour.
Microfilms themselves are extremely unwieldy tools, and the challenges of using them are only compounded by the fact that the parish records themselves are even more unwieldy. If you're not ready to commit yourself to many days, weeks or months (or even years, if you're really serious) of study to master both of these challenges, you are unlikely to find much joy in using microfilms to construct your family tree.
In this article, I will be offering my advice for things you need to do before you attempt to research your Trentini roots via LDS microfilms. We'll be looking at:
What your ancestors may have meant when they said they were 'from Trento'
Finding your ancestors' parish
Understanding how your ancestors' parishes may have changed over time
Locating and ordering the film you need
Familiarising yourself with the layout of the film
Did your ancestors actually come from Trento?
So many people of Trentino descent say to me, 'My parents/grandparents came from Trento.' But what they don't always understand is that saying 'Trento' is kind of like saying 'New York'. If you say you're 'from New York', most people assume you mean New York City. However, 'New York' could also refer to New York State. So, simply saying 'I'm from New York' could lead people to misunderstand where you mean.
The same is true for Trento. You've got Trento the city, and you've got Trento the province (also referred to as Trentino). Furthermore, you've got Trentino-Alto Adige – referred to as an autonomous region – which is comprised of the two provinces of Trentino (Italian speaking) and Alto Adige (largely German-speaking). On top of this, there is the Catholic archdiocese of Trento.
SIDE NOTE: For those who may be unfamiliar, a 'diocese' or 'archdiocese' is a collection of many parishes under the 'governance' of an Archbishop – a high-ranking priest within the church.
In my experience, when our parents/grandparents said they came 'from Trento' (or 'Tirol'/'Tyrol' as so many of us heard when we were growing up), they were usually referring to the province of Trento (Trentino). The fact is, the majority of those who emigrated from Trentino to the Americas in the late 19th and early 20th century did not come from the city, but from rural villages (frazioni) scattered around the province. Each of these frazioni belongs to a parish and a single parish may be comprised of a dozen or more frazioni. ALL of the parishes of Trentino (over 400 of them) come under the umbrella of the Catholic archdiocese of Trento.
Through your local FHC, you can rent individual microfilms for any of these 400+ parishes from the archdiocese of Trento. Thus, the very first thing you need to know is the name of your ancestors' parish (or parishes).
But what can you do if you DON'T have this information?
How to find your ancestor's parish
Even though my father was born in Trentino, he never told me name of his frazione or parish of origin. Whenever I asked him where our family came from, he would say, 'Near Trento.' If I pressed him further for the name of the village, he would deflect my question by answering, 'It's not even a village. It's barely even a hamlet. It's so small it's not even worth mentioning.' And that would be the end of the conversation. To be honest, I'm not even sure he knew.
Perhaps you were luckier that I was, and you know the name of the parish and/or frazioni of your Trentini ancestors. But if you don't, all is not lost! Even if you have only a bit of information about your ancestors, you have a good chance of finding their parish using the Nati in Trentino website, which I mentioned in a previous article. Sometimes, simply having a surname and an approximate year of birth can reveal a definitive parish of origin. This is because many families lived entirely (or almost entirely) within a specific parish over the centuries.
For example, let's say I was trying to track down my father's mother, Maria Onorati, and that I had only a rough idea that she was born in the early 1890s. In this case, if I search simply for females with the surname Onorati born between 1890 and 1895, ALL of the returns are from a single parish – Santa Croce del Bleggio (the Onorati lived almost exclusively in the village of Bono in that parish for many hundreds of years). You might discover that your family name is similarly 'attached' to a particular parish.
Of course, many surnames will pop up in various parishes throughout the province. The more information you can put in the search form on Nati in Trentino, the more you will be able to narrow down your results (I recommend reading through my search tips in the previous article). If your search ends up giving you too many options, try to think laterally. Is there someone in your ancestor's family – a sibling, perhaps – with a more unusual first name than your direct ancestor? For example, one of my grandmother's sisters was named Rustica. This name is so uncommon I have only ever seen it once (i.e. in the baptismal record of my great-aunt). Searching for a 'Rustica' is far more likely to give me definitive results than searching for a 'Maria', and can therefore lead me to discovering not only the name of the parish, but also the names of the parents and other siblings.
How your ancestors' parishes may have changed over time
Another matter that might cause some confusion for you is that parishes are not static entities, and they will probably have gone through many changes over the centuries.
Some parishes no longer exist today because they were incorporated into another parish at some point in time.
Conversely, new parishes may spring up having separated from another parish as populations changed.
Sometimes, smaller villages will be 'passed back and forth' between two (or more!) parishes over the years. This means you'll need to cross-check records in both parishes lest you miss something.
Some parishes are actually 'sub' parishes of a larger parish. In such cases, records for a specific ancestor may appear in the registers of both
If you hit a 'brick wall' in your research, it could be due to this fluidity of parish boundaries. More than once I've accidentally stumbled upon a record I never thought I would find when I was browsing through a neighbouring parish. Another thing to remember is that, if a husband and wife in your lineage come from different parishes, it is probable their marriage was recorded in the registers of both parishes. This can be very useful if their marriage record in one of the parishes happens to be missing or unreadable.
How to order a microfilm of your ancestors' parish records
Once you are confident you have found the parish you want to research, you are ready to order a copy of the microfilm from the LDS website. Sometimes finding the correct film can be a bit tricky, if you don't know your way around (and, in my experience, few people at the FHC centres understand enough Italian to be able to help you).
Here's a quick, step-by-step way to find the microfilm you need:
In a new tab on your browser, log into your account at http://familysearch.org (if you don't have an account, you can create one there for free).
Once logged in, click the word 'Catalogue' in the top menu on your screen.
When the search window opens, enter 'Country, Diocese, Parish' where it says 'Place'. That is to say, if you are searching for a parish in the archdiocese of Trento, you should enter: Italy, Trento, Name of the Parish.
TIP: I recommend putting only the main word(s) from the name of the parish as it might be spelled slightly differently on the LDS site from how it appears on Nati in Trentino. Here's a screenshot of what that could look like:
click on image to see it larger
SIDE NOTE: Even though Trentino was part of Austria prior to 1918, the records are listed under its current country (Italy).
4. When the search results for your parish pop up, CLICK the arrow next to the name to expand it. Then, click the link that says 'Registri ecclesiastici', etc. to open more information about it.
5. Scroll down the page to see the catalogue number of the film for those parish records. Be aware that many records are spread across more than one film. For example, below you can see that the very early baptismal records for the parish of Drò are on a separate film from the other baptismal records (and marriage records), and that the death records after 1828 are on yet another film. This means, depending on the era you are researching, you may need to order more than one film to get all the records you require:
6. Once you know the NUMBERS of the films you need, you can order them from the Family Search website at https://familysearch.org/films/. Just enter the number of each film and choose either a 'short term' or 'extended' loan period. While an extended loan costs slightly more, I strongly recommend choosing that option if it is available so you don't have to worry about rushing through your research. Otherwise, the usual length of short-term loans is about three months. You can renew them, but some centres will only allow you to renew them once. In my experience, every Family History Centre has its own rules about this, so be sure to check with them first before ordering your film.
Before selecting which FHC you want to use to view the films, be sure to check their opening hours as many of the smaller centres are only open a few hours a week. You might find it better to have the films delivered to a centre slightly farther away, if their opening hours are more convenient for you.
SIDE NOTE: SOME (but by no means all) of the actual images of the Trento parish records are viewable online, but you can only view these when using the site AT a Family History Centre or if you are a member of a 'supporting organisation'. Also, some of the records have been transcribed and can be searched online using the Family Search site. However, this research is still in its very early stages, and the transcriptions do not give nearly as much information as you will find if you consult images of the original records.
Getting familiar with your microfilm
When your film arrives at your Family History Centre, you're probably going to be tempted to dive right into it to find specific ancestors. My recommendation is that you try to resist this urge, and spend a session or two simply orienting yourself with how the film is organised. This can save you countless hours of research in the long-term. Here's how I work whenever I want to get acquainted with a new microfilm:
Locate the relevant Items. Every microfilm has been broken into 'Items' to make navigation a bit more manageable. Not all the items on your microfilm might be records of your parish. For example, if you look at the screenshot above of microfilm number 1448235, you will see that only Items 1 through 4 (out of 32) pertain to the parish of Drò. In fact, if I go back to my catalogue search and look up the contents of this film number, I can see it contains images of records from seven different parishes:
2. Get a feeling for how the records are organised. Prior to the mid-19th century, priests had no 'standard' system for recording events in their parish records. In fact, it was all a bit of an experiment, especially in the early days of record-keeping. While most marriage records tend to be chronological for the whole parish, the chronological organisation of earlier baptismal records can be a bit 'loose':
Organisation by frazione. Many priests chose to organise birth records by frazione. In other words, they would enter all the births for a particular frazione chronologically during a specific time period, and then start the same process all over again for the next one. The 'specific time period' could be anything – 5, 20 or even 50 years. This means you can't just scroll through the film to find a particular record, you'll need to know which frazione you're looking for, and where that frazione and time period is located on the film. Otherwise, you'll have no choice but to scroll through pages and pages of files, just in case the record you're looking for is hiding there.
Organisation by first name. Even more challenging is when a priest chooses to organise his baptismal records by the child's first name. This means you'll see dozens of pages of Antonios and Annas followed by dozens of pages of Bartolomeos and Brigidas. Fortunately, this type of record keeping doesn't happen too often, but when it does it can be a nightmare for research, unless you happen to be looking for one specific person whose name you already know.
3. Create a 'map' for yourself. Once you know which items are relevant to your research, and how the priests have organised them within each of these items, I strongly recommend making some sort of 'map' or guide that helps you remember where everything is, and how the information is organised. Sometimes the records have page numbers in the corners of the images (although, these numbers can be confusing, as they are numbers of the original books and not of the films themselves). In such cases, you might find it useful to make a table of where the different frazioni are located, where to find certain first names, and where different years/eras start and end in the records. Armed with this 'map', you will find your job much easier and less frustrating when you do your research.
I mentioned in an earlier article that, when researching parish records, I prefer to work with the digital image library at the Archives at the archdiocese of Trento. Of course, this requires making the trip to Trento (and it also helps if you speak Italian). For many people, however, going to Trento is not always possible. So, even though working with microfilms can be challenging, it is often the more practical option. Hopefully the guidelines I've shared in this article will help you approach those challenges with some sort of plan of attack, so you can build your Trentini family tree more easily and with greater confidence.
Coming up soon on the Trentino Genealogy blog, we'll be looking at what to expect when working with the Archives at the Archdiocese in Trento (if you do decide to make the trip), how to interpret parish records from Trentino, an introduction to notaries and noble families in Trentino, and how to use church parchments to understand more about your ancestors' daily lives. I do hope you'll subscribe to this blog so you can follow along on this genealogical journey, and read all future articles on this site. Desktop viewers can subscribe using the form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
If you have any questions or comments about this article, or if you'd like to talk to me about researching your family history, please feel free to drop me a line via the contact form on this site.
baptismal recordsDrofamily historyFamily History CentergenealogistgenealogyLatter Day Saintsmicrofilmparish recordsresearchresearch tipsSanta Croce del BleggioTrentinoTrento
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, Trentino Names
27th May 2016 Lynn Serafinn	Leave a comment
Ca. 1923: Serafini and Franceschi families of Vergonzo in Bleggio, Val Giudicarie
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn explains how to find your ancestors using use 'Nati in Trentino', a free online database of baptisms from the Archdiocese of Trento.
Last time on Trentino Genealogy, we started our discussion on parish records. In that article I spoke about what we can learn from church records, and the role of the parish in Trentini life. I also mentioned that there were three primary ways to access parish records from the archdiocese of Trento:
The Nati in Trentino website
Microfilms made by the Latter Day Saints (LDS)
The archives of the Archdiocese of Trento, in Trento, Italy
If you didn't catch that article, you can read it by clicking HERE.
In today's article, I'm going to be talking about the Nati in Trentino website, because I believe it is especially helpful for anyone who is just starting to construct their Trentini family tree. It is also highly useful for experienced researchers who quickly want to flesh out parts of the 19th and early 20th century in their tree.
In this article, I'll be looking at:
What Nati in Trentino is and how to access it
Advantages of using it for research
What the site CAN and CANNOT tell you (compared to the original parish records)
Technical limitations of the site
Tips and tricks for getting the most out of it
Nati in Trentino – What it is and how to access it
Nati in Trentino is a free, searchable website located at https://secure.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net. This site contains a database of information taken from ALL baptismal records registered in the Archdiocese of Trento between the years of 1815 and 1923. The project was done by experienced researchers at the Archivio dell'Arcidiocese (the archives of the archdiocese).
When you land on the site, select your preferred language. Assuming you've selected 'English', after you enter the site, look to the right side of your screen and you will see these options:
If you click "Search Database Birth Index", it will take you to a log-in page. If you already have an account, you can log-in here. If you haven't yet created your free account, you register from that page as well.
NOTE to Users of Ancestry.com and similar sites: The Nati in Trentino database is owned by the Archdiocese of Trento, and is NOT accessible via other, commercial sites. The only way to access it is to go directly to the Nati in Trentino website.
Advantages of Using Nati in Trentino
It has been made by EXPERTS
I think this is the primary advantage of using Nati in Trentino. The people who made this database are not random volunteers (as is the case with MANY other online databases) but official researchers who work for the diocese. They are native Trentini who speak Italian AND have studied Latin. They are familiar with the parishes and local surnames of the region. They have been trained to read old handwriting. Furthermore, these people (and I know some of them personally) CARE about preserving this history.
It is extremely accurate
Unlike so many other transcription projects you might find on the Internet, Nati in Trentino is clear and accurate. You'll especially appreciate this if you've ever found yourself pulling your hair out trying to make sense of your Trentini ancestors' names and villages in US census records or Ellis Island documents.
It has an English language option
If you are an English speaker, you will especially appreciate the Nati in Trentino website as you don't need to have any knowledge of Italian to use it. Also, if you are less experienced in working with parish records, it takes the guesswork out of trying to read the priests' handwriting.
It can save you time
Lastly, the most obvious advantage is that it can save you hours of research time. Records that might otherwise take you hours to find via microfilm can often be found within minutes. For speed and ease of use, there really is no other Trentini resource like it (not yet, anyway!). I often use the site to do a 'first draft' of certain family groups for the 19th Century. Then, when I next have an opportunity to work directly with the images of the baptismal, marriage and death records, I can start to fill in the missing information.
What The Site CAN and CANNOT Tell You
It is important to be aware of what the site can and cannot tell you, lest you inadvertently assume the wrong person is your ancestor. One thing to bear in mind is that this site does NOT contain the full transcription of the baptismal records. Nor does it contain the images of them. Thus, many things that are probably IN the baptismal record are NOT included in the search results on Nati in Trentino.
To give you an idea of how a search on Nati in Trentino differs from an original parish record, compare these two images. First, is a screenshot of a search I did on Nati in Trentino for my great-grandmother, Domenica Filomena Europa Parisi (who was known in life only as 'Europa'):
As you can see, from this record we now know:
Europa's full name
Her gender
Her date of birth
Her father's first name
Her mother's first name
Her mother's maiden surname
Her parish
VERY IMPORTANT (especially for readers in America): European dates are written with the DAY first, followed by the MONTH (the opposite of what is used in the United States). If you see a date that says 06/12/1850, for example, it means December 6th, NOT June 12th.
About the date of birth: Prior to the introduction of printed forms (about 1810), parish records would only record the date of baptism, rather than the date of birth. For this reason, most researchers will use the baptismal date as a date of birth in a family tree, if no other record of birth is available. In earlier times, due to the high mortality rate, a child was often baptised within hours of their birth anyway (sometimes by the midwife). But by the 19th Century, there might be a gap of one or two days between the birth and baptism of a child; both of these dates are recorded in most Trentini parish records from about 1810 onwards. Wherever both dates have been recorded, Nati in Trentino will give you the actual date of birth.
About parishes: You don't need to know the parish from which your ancestors came to search the database, but it can really help narrow down your search, especially if the surname is common to several areas of the Province. Fortunately, the search function includes a drop-down menu of all the parishes (which means you don't need to know how to spell them!). You can find a complete list of parishes in the Diocese of Trento on the diocese's official website.
Now let's compare the information we found out on Nati in Trentino to the information you will find in the original parish record. Europa's entry is the last one in the image:
If you look closely at this image, you will see that, in addition to the information you found on the Nati in Trentino website, you now also know:
Europa came from the frazione of Duvredo (written in the left margin).
She was born at 10 PM
She was baptised the day after she was born.
The midwife who delivered her was Margarita Furlini (written under Europa's name). In fact, if you look closely, you will see that Margarita delivered ALL the babies on this record (that's four babies in within 20 days).
Europa died on 24 Feb 1937 (this was inserted by the parish priest many years later)
She was Catholic
She was the 44th girl baby to be born in the parish that year
She was legitimate (i.e. her parents were married)
The names of all four of her grandparents (full names of the grandfathers; first names of the grandmothers)
That her maternal grandfather (Luigi Troggio) is deceased (signified by the word 'fu' in the record)
The name of the priest who baptised her
The names of the godparents
That the godparents were contadini –
As you can see, there is a lot more to be gleaned from parish records than can be discovered through the Nati in Trentino database. I am not pointing these things out to discourage you from using it, but to ensure you are clear on what to expect when you use it, and also to give you something to look forward to when you progress to the stage where you are ready to study the parish records for yourself.
When you begin a search on the site, you'll see this input form:
There are a few technical limitations of this search, namely:
Surname is a required field. Let's say you are trying to find out more information about your great-grandfather's sister. To do that, you'd have to be able to search by the mother's surnme. But on Nati in Trentino, you are required to enter the child's surname (ie. the surname of the father). So unless you know the surname of your great-great-aunt's husband, you're stuck.
The surname MUST be spelled completely and exactly as it is in the record. While this isn't immediately apparent from this form, unfortunately, you cannot use 'wild card' searches on the Nati in Trentino website. This means you need to know the exact spelling of your ancestors' surname as it appeared in the record. For example, while 9 times out of 10 my paternal surname is spelled 'Serafini', some priests spelled it 'Seraffini'. Because there is no flexibility with regards to surname in their search engine, if I search for 'Serafini' on the site, I will NOT see any of the 'Seraffini' records.
Gender is a required field. This means, if you are working on a family, you'll have to search for brothers and sisters separately. It's not unworkable, but it can slow down your research.
Each search is restricted to a 10-year range. This can also slow down your research, but it's not so bad once you get the hang of it (TIP: don't forget, a range from 1900 – 1910 is actually 11 years).
You will NOT see the names of parents if the child was born less than 103 years ago. This is pretty much standard privacy policy on any genealogy site. I've got a trick below that can help you work around this in many cases.
Tips and Tricks to Get the Most from Your Searches
I've worked enough now with the Nati in Trentino site that I no longer worry about these limitations, as I know (to some degree) how to work around them. Here are some of my personal tips and tricks.
Surnames: Because the site has no flexibility with surnames, and because different priests may have spelled your surname differently over the years, you will need to search using all the alternative spellings you can think of for your family's surnames. Unfortunately, some surnames have LOTS of different variations. If you click here, you can see a table I made of some Trentini surnames with some of their spelling variations. Look to see if your surname is on the table and take note of any variations it might have. Please note that this table is FAR from complete, so if you know of any variations I might not have included, please let me know via the contact form on this website.
Use only 1 – 3 letters in the non-required fields: If you look at the form, you'll see that many of the fields are NOT required: name, father's name, mother's name, mother's family name. Also, for some reason, THESE fields have much more flexibility when you do your search. In fact, I normally enter only a few letters of a name (or even ONE letter), in these fields, so that I don't inadvertently miss a record that might be spelled slightly differently. Even a common name like 'Domenico' can sometimes be spelled 'Dominco' in a parish record. So rather than putting in a complete name, I would enter only 'Dom', as I know these will be the same regardless of how the priest has spelled the name. Similarly, if I am looking for a child whose mother's surname is 'Caliari', I might just put 'Ca' in the mother's family name field, in case the priest happened to spell the name 'Cagliari'. The name 'Bartolomeo' is sometimes spelled 'Bortolo'; so if the name of the child I am looking for (or his father) is called Bartolomeo, I would put ONLY the first initial 'B', in case the priest happened to spell it that way in the record.
To work around the 103-year privacy issue: If you cannot see the names of the parents of a child because he/she was born less than 103 years ago, try finding siblings who may have been born earlier. This process can often help you work out who the parents are, by a process of elimination. Here's how:
First, search for any children born with the child's surname during the five years preceding that child's birth (presuming that this will take you before the 103-year threshold). If you know the name of the parish, this can really help narrow it down.
Write down the parents' names of all of those children.
Then, perform your search AGAIN for the child you are seeking, but this time enter the first few letters of the name of a father and mother of one of the other children.
If you choose the RIGHT couple, the child you're looking for will appear in the search results, even though the names of the parents won't be visible. If you haven't entered the right parents, the child you are looking for won't appear in the results.
Coming Up Next Time…
I hope this article has given you some useful information about how to use the Nati in Trentino website, and has inspired you to use it to work on your family tree. If you have any questions or comments about what I've discussed, please feel free to reach out to me via the contact form on this website.
As I showed in this article, there is much more that can be learned about your ancestors if you study the original parish records. So over the next few articles, we'll be looking at how to find and use the microfilms of those records through your local Family History Centre. Then, in later articles, we'll explore working at the Archives of the Archdiocese in Trento, and different ways you can take your research beyond parish records.
I do hope you'll subscribe to this blog so you can follow along on this genealogical journey, and read all future articles on this site. Desktop viewers can subscribe using the form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
As always, if you'd like to talk to me about researching your family history, you are most welcome to drop me a line via the contact form on this site.
baptismal recordsfamily historygenealogistgenealogyNati in Trentinoparish recordsresearchresearch tipsSanta Croce del BleggioTrentinoTrento
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, Trentino Culture, Trentino History, Val Giudicarie
6th May 2016 Lynn Serafinn	Leave a comment
Postcard from 1910, written by parish priest Giovanni Battista Lenzi, with an artist's rendition of the parish church of Santa Croce del Bleggio. Click image to see it larger.
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn tells what you can learn from church records, the role of the parish in Trentini life, and where to look for your ancestors' records.
Perhaps the biggest question people have when they want to create their family tree is, 'How do I START?' The task of researching your Trentino family history can seem daunting, especially if your Trentini ancestor is more than a generation away from you, i.e. a grandparent or great-grandparent.
In my opinion, the best starting point is to look at parish records. I'll be talking a lot about the 'how to' of parish records in later articles, but today I want to lay the groundwork by explaining what they are, how parishes operated in our ancestors' lives, and what available resources there are for the parish records of the Catholic Archdiocese of Trento (which covers all of the province of Trentino).
What Are Parish Records and When Did They Start?
Parish records (registri parrocchiali, in Italian) are books kept by the parish priests to record important events that took place in their parish, including (but not limited to) the 'vital' records of baptisms, marriages and deaths of all their parishioners. Some church records include confirmations, first communions and church census records, but these are generally only accessible if you go directly to the parish itself and view the original records.
The keeping of parish records was first mandated by the Catholic Church in 1563, at the Council of Trent (Trento), when all Catholic churches were directed to keep records of all baptisms, marriages and deaths within their parish. Some parishes, including Santa Croce del Bleggio where the majority of my Trentini ancestors lived at that time, was one of the early conformists to this new regulation, and you will see baptisms and marriages appearing as early as 1565. Many parishes were late to adopt the practice, although most kept records of births and marriages by 1595. In many parishes, the regular practice of keeping death records appeared slightly later.
Bearing in mind that civil records in Italy began around the time of the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800s (and, even more significantly, Trentino has only been part of Italy since the end of the First World War), Catholic parish records are vital to genealogical research in Trentino.
The Role of Parishes in Our Ancestors' Lives
The more I research my ancestors, the more I come to respect the role of the parish in their everyday lives. A parish was (and still is) more than the place to go to church. This church was a portal of all rites of passage – coming into the world, unifying for the purpose of procreation and, ultimately, leaving the world. It was the place where people came together on a regular basis, and where everyone knew everyone else. It was also where families in need could find support. In fact, a progressive, rural cooperative movement – aimed at helping poor, farming families – was established in 1890 by the priest don Lorenzo Guetti (of Vigo Lomaso), assisted by don Giovanni Battista Lenzi (of Santa Croce).
Church records are not merely repositories of your ancestors' vital information. Within them, you can also find evidence of friendships and long-standing alliances between families, as well as clues as to the occupations and reputations of various individuals within the community. Digging really deeply into them, you can see the heartache of loss, and both the fragility and the tenacity of human existence. Some parish records can even provide us with a microcosm of contemporary community life, and the concerns of its people. I read some heart-rending accounts penned by don Lenzi during the first decades of the 20th Century, where he shared his feelings on the tragedy of the First World War and his reflections on the trend of mass immigration to the Americas. I even read an account about a devastating fire that took place in 1916 in the house of my great-grandfather.
Parishes and Life Events – Where Did They Take Place?
Marriages normally took place in the parish church of the bride, or sometimes a smaller church in the bride's frazione (village). As the vast majority of marriages took place between two people from the same parish (and sometimes even from the same frazione), you can often trace many generations of your Trentini ancestors within a single parish. If you cannot locate a marriage record for a couple, it is often an indication that the wife came from a different parish. In such a case, you might have luck looking at marriages that took place in parishes nearby that of the husband.
After a couple married, they normally went to live in the husband's frazione of origin. This means any baptismal records of children born from that marriage would be born in their father's parish. The fact that wives tended to move to their husband's frazione means that over the generations, each frazione came to be associated with specific families. For example, if you say the surnames 'Crosina' or 'Farina' in the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio where my ancestors came from, 99% of the time they will have been born in the frazione of Balbido. Knowing these kinds of trends can really expedite your research, especially because some priests organised baptismal records according to the frazione.
Burials, of course, would be registered in the parish in which the person was living at the time of death. Thus, a woman born in one parish will most likely have been buried in her husband's parish.
Exceptions to the Rule
There are always exceptions to these patterns. Sometimes a bride is the last surviving child from her parents' marriage, or is the eldest daughter, with no brothers. In such cases (and especially if the groom came from a family where there were many sons), the groom would likely move into the home of the bride and the couple would take ownership of the father's property upon his demise. Occasionally, if an unmarried man married a widowed woman, he might move into the home in which she had lived with her late husband. Because such exceptions sometimes arise, if you are having difficulty finding the baptismal records for the children of this couple in the village of the father, the most likely place to look would be the village of origin of the wife.
Another exception is when the husband is a person of import – a notary or judge, for example. Such men might be assigned to an official post in another parish. In such cases, the whole family would move to this new parish, which might have no ancestral connection to either the husband or the wife. For example, my grandmother's line, the Onorati, had several notaries in the family, going back many centuries. Although their ancestral village is in the frazione of Bono (Santa Croce del Bleggio parish), a few Onorati families lived in other parishes for short periods of time, when the heads of the families were posted at castles like Stenico (Tavodo parish) and Castel Campo (Vigo Lomaso parish). Thus, if you want to find the records for children born during those years, they may be in the parish of origin OR in the 'adopted' parish. Sometimes, you will find the records in both parishes. On the other hand, if you're unlucky, they might be missing in both.
SIDE NOTE: All of these habits were the norm in Trentino prior to WW1. While these trends still exist today, the way many people live, marry and work has changed significantly over the past century, as people have become more mobile.
Changes in Parish 'Boundaries' Over Time
Parishes are not 'fixed in stone' entities. As populations rise and fall, some parishes will merge together, while others will split apart. Some very tiny frazioni have shifted around a lot over the centuries, appearing in one set of parish records for a period of time, and then in another later on. One example is the frazione of Saone, which was originally part of the Bleggio parish, but later became a parish of its own. Another is the frazione of Favrio in the current-day parish of Ragoli, the records of which over the centuries were constantly shifting back and forth between the parish of Ragoli and Thione. As a result, there are significant gaps in the early church records for these villages. Sometimes entire decades are missing.
If you cannot find the records you are looking for, don't give up until you have exhausted all the most likely possibilities. Look on a map and see which parishes border your ancestors' usual parish of origin, and check those records before resigning yourself to the fact they may no longer exist (if they ever did). For three years I believed I would never find the marriage record for my 7x Serafini great-grandparents. But a few months ago, I 'stumbled' upon the very record (from 1642) when I was searching for something else in a nearby parish.
Click on the image below to see it larger.
1642 marriage record of Antonio Serafini (son of Serafino) and Catharina Floriani, both of Favrio, in Ragoli. This record was found in the THIONE parish records, although the baptismal records for their children were found in the RAGOLI parish records.
Where Can I Find and Search Trentini Parish Records?
We Trentini are particularly fortunate because we have three excellent resources to access the parish records of our ancestors:
Nati Trentino – a free, searchable website containing basic information from the all baptismal records for the Archdiocese of Trento between 1815 – 1923
Microfilms made by the Latter Day Saints (LDS) – rentable films of all available baptisms, marriages and death records from the Archdiocese of Trento between 1550s – 1923
Archives of Archdiocese of Trento, in Trento, Italy – research facility of digital images of all available baptisms, marriages and death records from the Archdiocese of Trento between 1550s – 1923
While I work regularly with all three of these resources, my favourite is the Archives in Trento. Of course, utilising the Archives of the Archdiocese requires physically going to Trento (as these resources are not available online). This is impractical for many, especially those who live in North America and/or don't speak Italian. Even if you do make the trip, knowing how to find and understand what you're looking for is not something easily done if you're just starting out in your genealogical quest.
That's why, when someone is just starting out, I normally recommend they use the Nati Trentino website. They have a REALLY long link to get to the English research portal:
http://www.natitrentino.mondotrentino.net/portal/server.pt/community/indice_nati_in_trentino_-_inglese/837/search_database/23738
In the next article on Trentino Genealogy, I'll be giving you a quick tour of Nati Trentino. In that article, I'll be looking at:
What the site can tell you (and what it cannot)
Technical limitations of the site and tips for working around them
What to do if you don't know your ancestors' parish
Tips on what to do if you're not certain of your ancestors' original name
Troubleshooting and strategies to use when you seem to be stuck
After that, I'll be sharing my tips on finding and using LDS microfilms, working with the Trento Archives, and ways you can take your research beyond parish records.
I hope you'll subscribe to this blog so you can read all future articles on this site. Desktop viewers can subscribe using the form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
Also, if you'd like to talk to me about researching your family history, you are most welcome to drop me a line via the contact form on this site.
Balbidobaptismal recordsdeath recordsfamily historyFavriogenealogistgenealogyGuettiLenzimarriage recordsOnoratiparish recordsRagoliresearchSanta Croce del BleggioSaoneTioneTrentinoTrento
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, One Tree Project, Trentino Culture, Trentino History, Val Giudicarie
The Science of Finding Your Female Ancestors from Trentino
28th March 2016 Lynn Serafinn	Leave a comment
Elisa Serafini (b. 1880) of Duvredo, one of many distant cousins. While she died young, her daughter Angelina Painelli lived to be 100 years old.
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn discusses the challenges of researching women in parish records, and how to find your great-grandmothers through the centuries.
A note before we begin: Although this article is about finding your female ancestors from Trentino, many of the research strategies discussed can be applied to finding your female (and male) ancestors from anywhere parish records are used to record births, marriages and deaths. If you are not yet familiar with how to find and access parish records from Trentino, be sure to subscribe to this blog, as I will discuss that topic in a later article.
Many of us strongly identify with our surname. Thus, many people will begin their genealogical journey by tracing the lineage of male ancestors with the same last name. However, when constructing a surname lineage, results will be limited. Even if you were to trace your patrilineal surname lineage back to your 11x great-grandparents* (which might take you back to the second half of the 1500s, when parish records in Trentino began), your tree would have a total of only 27 people: you, your two parents, your two paternal grandparents, your two paternal great-grandparents, and so on.
*SIDENOTE: '11x great-grandparents' is shorthand for great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great- great-great-grandparents' (i.e. the word 'great' eleven times).
While constructing a surname family tree is a natural part of exploring our identity, genealogically speaking, it is only a tiny fraction of who you really are. The real 'juice' of genealogy is when you start to explore the rich and diverse heritage you have received from your many, many great-grandmothers. After all, 50% of your DNA is from the women in your family tree, and each of those women has a mother and a father. If you do some number crunching, if you trace your complete ancestry back to your 11x great-grandparents, you could theoretically have as many as** 8,192 great-grandparents, half of whom (4,096) are women.
Even if you are not 100% Trentini, and you have only one Trentini grandparent, you could still have as many as** 1,024 female Trentini ancestors who are probably listed somewhere in the parish records.
**SIDENOTE: I say 'as many as' because that's the highest number you get if you multiply each successive generation by two. However, the number is most likely to be somewhat smaller, as Trentini families typically intermarried. For example, let's say your 10x great-grandparents had two sons who married and had children. Then, many years later, the 5x great-grandson of the first son married the 5x great-granddaughter of the second son. Many years later, you became a descendent of that marriage between the 5x great-grandson and the 5x great-granddaughter. That means your 10x great-grandparents are your ancestors via two different branches of the family. This kind of intermarriage will 'collapse' your family tree at various points, meaning it will reduce the number of ancestors you actually have. I'll talk about this in more detail in a future article.
The Challenges of Finding the Names of Women in the Parish Records
The challenge in Trentino, and I imagine in other parts of the world as well, is that women's names were not always documented as thoroughly as they are today. From my experience, this is generally what you can expect to see in parish records.
Baptismal Records
In ALL cases, the names of the priest and the godparents are given in the baptismal records, but the names of the parents and other family members are variable throughout the centuries:
1500s – The name of the mother of the child is often completely missing. The name of the father is always given, and the name of the father's father is frequently given. The father's frazione (village) of origin is always given.
1600s – The first name of the mother is usually given, but not her surname (remember, Trentini women maintain their father's surname throughout life). As before, the name of the father is always given, the name of the father's father is usually given, and the father's frazione of origin is always given.
6 Aug 1628. Baptismal record of Maria Onorati, daughter of Domenico (a notary) of Bono and his wife Chiara (spelled 'Clara' here, last word on the second line). Note that Chiara's surname (Burratti) is not given in the record. Maria was my 7x great-grandmother.
1700s – It gradually becomes the practice over the century to include the full name of the mother's father (hence, you know her surname), and also her frazione of origin, especially if it is different from the husband's. As before, the name of the father, the father's father, and the father's frazione of origin are given.
Early 1800s – After 1806, printed templates are used for the parish records, with specific columns for the information. This makes the records far more detailed and consistent. From this point, you will normally find the surnames, fathers' names and frazione of both parents of a child, but not the names of the mothers of the parents. Sometimes you might see a cross next to a child's name, indicating they died not long after their birth.
Late 1800s into 1900s – From about 1880, you will start to see the names of both parents, as well as the full names and village of origin of both sets of grandparents of the child. Some priests will also list the name of the midwives, and make a note if the child is the couple's firstborn. As you approach the 20th century, some priests will also go BACK to baptismal records many years later, and enter the person's marriage date and/or death date somewhere on the baptismal record. If the person emigrated abroad (increasingly common), they might make a note of that date as well.
In all marriage records, you will find the full name and village of origin of the fathers of both the bride and the groom. As in the case with baptismal records, you will start to see the names of the mothers of the bride and groom appear in the records towards the latter part of the 1800s, as well as the ages (and sometimes date of birth) of the bride and groom.
Example of a detailed marriage record from 1815. In all cases, the names of both sets of parents are given, as well as the ages of the bride and groom. The first two entries also include the date of birth of the brides, and whether they are widowed or single. Entry 3 (29 May 1815) is of Vigilio Aloisio Devilli (widowed, age 40) and Domenica Aloisia Caliari (single, age 36). There is a note that says they were given a special dispensation for 3rd degree consanguinity (further investigation gave me the evidence to show they were 3rd cousins).
Prior to the late 1800s, the death record for an unmarried woman typically designates her as the daughter of her father, while that of a married woman will designate her as the wife (or widow) of her husband. Sometimes, if the deceased is a young child, you might see the name of the mother as well as the father. Death records for men tend to provide even less information, as they designate the man as the son of his father, and almost never mention the wife. Thus, unless the priest has written down the age of the person at the time of death (and you already have a good idea of when he/she was born), it can be difficult to know whether you've found the record you're looking for. As in the baptismal records, from the latter part of the 19th century, you will start to see more complete details in the records of both men and women, including the names of their parents and spouse, and the dates of birth and marriage. Be aware, also, that some parishes started keeping death records much later than they started recording baptisms and marriages.
The Science of Genealogical Detective Work
Given these factors, finding your female ancestors further back than the middle of the 19th century can be significantly more challenging than finding your male ancestors (which can be challenging enough!). Still, finding your female ancestors can be done if you take a systematic approach in your research.
Good investigative genealogy is a scientific process. Like all science, it all boils down to a 4-step system:
Use the clues to formulate a hypothesis
Use your hypothesis to find evidence
Use your evidence to draw a conclusion
Once you have drawn conclusions, the cycle starts all over again, as you begin to look for clues to answer the next batch of questions that will inevitably arise.
Let's take a look at how to apply that system to finding your female ancestors.
Lateral Thinking – How to Uncover Crucial Clues
Looking for clues involves lateral thinking. This means you need to expand your scope of research to include not only your direct ancestors, but also their siblings. There are many important reasons for this. First, the very clue you seek may be in the birth or marriage record of a sibling, and not in the record of your direct ancestor. Second, as I discussed in my previous article, 'How Much Do You Really Know About Your Ancestors' Names?', families tended to name their children after other members of the family, including elders and recently deceased siblings. Thus, the only way to make sure you have found the correct person – and not a dead sibling, cousin or someone unrelated – is to construct the whole family as completely as possible. Once you have the family constructed, you can make some hypotheses to help you locate evidence about your female ancestor.
For example, let's say you know the name of your 5x great-grandfather in the 1700s, and you are trying to find out more about his mother, your 6x great-grandmother. You've managed to find the baptismal record of your 5x great-grandfather, which gives the full name of his father, but only the first name of his mother. In this case, you would need to look for all of your 5x great-grandfather's brothers and sisters. Go backwards and forwards, continuously looking for children of the same father, where the father is married to a woman with the first name. Statistically, MOST of the time, there will be only one couple with that name during those years. Occasionally, you will encounter the genealogist's nightmare: two men with the same first/last name married to two women with the same first name, but I'll talk about how to get around scenarios like that in a later article. For now, let's assume there is only one possible couple who meet the criteria of your 6x great-grandparents.
Typically, children were born continuously anywhere between one and three years apart. Even those who died soon after birth will be listed in the baptismal records, as they were often been baptised within hours of having been delivered. In fact, when you see two children born only about a year apart, it can sometimes be an indication that the first of these children died in early infancy (as, biologically, a woman cannot ordinarily become pregnant again until she has finished nursing the previous child). If you stop seeing children after five or more years in either direction, it is likely that you've reached the beginning/end of the childbirths for that couple.
SIDENOTE: The 'gap' theory is NOT always applicable to families after the 1880s. From that time, many men were spending extended periods of time working in the coal mines in the United States, coming home to their families every few years. In those cases, you might see big gaps (sometimes as much as eight years) between the births of children. One example is Elisa Serafini in the photo at the top of this article. Her two children, Angelina and Costante Painelli, were born 7 years apart because her husband Ambrogio was working in the mines in Pennsylvania between 1904 – 1909.
Family of Ambrogio Painelli and Elisabetta (Elisa) Serafini from the early 20th century. The 7-year gap between their children flagged up the probability that Ambrogio had spent some time working in the coal mines of the US. This clue led me to find him in an immigration document in 1904, when he was on the way to Pennsylvania. I have not found any other children for them. I knew Ambrogio lived a long life, I had a photo of him at an advanced age, and a cousin of his later confirmed his date of death as 1961. This led me to assume Elisa died as a young woman. My next step will be to look for evidence of her death in the parish records.
Forming a Hypothesis from These Clues
Constructing a family group like this can give you a lot of very important clues about your 6x great-grandmother, if you know a few things about how your ancestors lived and married. From my experience, following these generalities can be very useful in forming your hypotheses:
ON AVERAGE, most Trentini couples had their first child about a year after they married. So, if you know the birth of the first child was in February 1707, you can form a hypothesis that the couple married sometime around 1705 or 1706.
ON AVERAGE, most Trentini women tended to be about 21 years old at the time of their first marriage, with a more general norm of anywhere between 18 and 24. Younger than 18 was uncommon. Older than 24 was possible if there were a lot of daughters of marriageable age in her family, or she was widowed and in her second marriage. There was no such thing as divorce in the Catholic families during this period. Thus, if you have formed a hypothesis for her marriage year, you can also form an estimate for her year of birth. In the above example, if your 6x great-grandparents were probably married around 1705, your 6x great-grandmother was probably born between 1681 and 1687, with the most likely date around 1684-5.
The birth date of the LAST child can also tell you a lot about the dates of birth and/or death of your 6x great-grandmother. Before the late 19th century, when the rate of infant mortality was heart-wrenchingly high, it was the norm for women to give birth to 10, 12, 14 or even 18 children. If your 6x great-grandparents had such a 'normal' sized family, you can narrow down your 6x great-grandmother's birth date by looking at the date of birth of the last child. Statistically, it is reasonable to hypothesise she was between 43 and 45 years old when that child was born. If you balance this against the estimate you made when you looked at her probable date of marriage, you might be able to narrow down her birth date to within a year or two. For example, here's a screenshot of my 4x great-grandparents, which I shared in the previous article. Margherita Giuliani gave birth to 14 children, born between July 1805 and May 1827. From this information alone, I can hypothesise that she probably married in 1803 or 1804 (up to 19 months before the birth of her first child), and that she was born around 1783 or 1784 (as she would have been 43 or 44 when her last child was born). The parish records show that she indeed married in September 1803, and was born in August 1784.
The SIZE of the family can also give important clues. Before the middle of the 1800s, if there are fewer than eight children in the family, it could be an indication of the death of either the husband or the wife. If their children were still young, widowed men and women tended to remarry within a couple years of their spouse's death. So, if you see a small family followed by a gap in the birth records, and then you start seeing a man with the same name having children with a different woman, it could indicate that the man remarried (of course, it could be referring to a different man altogether). If you suspect your 6x great-grandfather remarried, you can estimate the year of death of your 6x great-grandmother by looking at the date of birth of her last child, and the date of birth of her widowed husband's first child by the new marriage.
Collating Your Clues to Find Evidence
After having constructed the family, you can collate all your clues. Even if you don't know her surname yet, here's what you might now know about your 6x great-grandmother that you didn't know before:
An estimated marriage year
An estimated year birth
Possibly an estimated year of death
At this point, I recommend you enter these estimates into your family tree. I do NOT suggest you put them as fixed dates; rather, use descriptors 'about', 'before', 'after' or (in some cases when I am less sure of the range), 'between'. That way, you have a guide to know where to start looking to find your evidence.
Once you have these clues, the first thing you need to do is find the MARRIAGE record. Go the marriage records for your ancestors' parish and look within the estimated time period to find a marriage between a man with your 6x great-grandfather's name and a woman with the first name of his children's mother. This is important because the marriage record is the ONLY document where you know for sure you will find the full name of your 6x great-grandmother's father and, importantly, her surname. Now you can change your estimated marriage year to an exact date.
Here's something else VERY important to do at this stage: be sure you record the VILLAGE (frazione) of origin of your 6x great-grandmother's family. Sometimes, knowing the frazione is the only way you can FIND your ancestors, or distinguish them from another family of the same name. For example, in the parish of Bleggio, there are two distinct branches of the now extinct 'Pellegrinati' family. One lived in Bivedo and the other lived in Duvredo. Many of them had the same first names. If you inadvertently identify someone as your ancestor from the wrong frazione, you could end up going down entirely the wrong path and waste months of research time.
Armed with all this information, you can then go back to the baptismal records and look for your 6x great-grandmother, daughter of the man you now know is your 7x great-grandfather, born during the estimated time period for her birth in the frazione you found in the marriage record. When you find someone who seems like a likely candidate, go through all the records in the same frazione before/after her for about 10 years. Look for her siblings and keep a record of all of them. If you're lucky, you'll also discover their mother's (your 7x great-grandmother's) first name. Make sure there isn't ANOTHER child with the same name from the same couple who might have been born a few years later, lest you enter the wrong information for your 6x great-grandmother.
TIP: Take a moment to review the things we looked at in the previous two articles, regarding soprannome, spelling variations and middle names. Remember: your 6x great-grandmother might be referred to by her middle name in her marriage record, and both her surname and first/middle names might be spelled differently in the baptismal record.
Once you have exhausted all the possibilities using this method, you are (hopefully) ready to draw the conclusion that you have found the woman you are looking for.
Lastly, if your hypotheses include an estimated death date, you can look for the record in the death records. If the record identifies her husband or father, and/or gives her age at the time of death (which is often rounded-off, and rarely precise), you know you have the right woman.
Repeating the Cycle to Grow Your Tree
After you've done this for one generation, you're ready to go back to the beginning of this process and work through it again to locate your 7x great-grandmothers (there are as many as 512 of them!), and continue back as far back as you can go.
What Can You Do When a Mother Isn't Mentioned at All in a Birth Record?
As I said earlier, in many of the baptismal records from the 1500s, the mother's first name isn't mentioned at all. However, if there is more than one man with the same name during the same period, chances are the records will identify one of these men as 'the son of so-and-so'. In some cases, the priest might notate his soprannome (see my previous article about Trentini surnames). This information can also help you construct family groups of siblings, even if you don't yet know the names of the mother (or mothers) for these children. If you're lucky, all the children will be from a single couple. If that's the case, you can probably find their marriage record fairly easily using the method we've already discussed. But sometimes, due to the proximity of births, it becomes obvious you are looking at two different couples. Solving those kinds of riddles can require much closer scrutiny of the records, something I'll talk about more in future articles.
Coming Up – Finding Parish Records and Thinking Outside the Box
I hope this article has helped give you some ideas about how to start identifying some of the more elusive women who make up your genetic blueprint. If you found it useful, please subscribe to this blog so you can receive future articles. Desktop viewers can subscribe using the form at the right side at the top of your screen. If you are viewing on a mobile device and cannot see the form, you can subscribe by sending a blank email to trentinogenealogy@getresponse.net.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am aware that some of you reading this might not know much (or anything) about parish records. For starters, WHICH parish records do you need? How do you obtain copies of them, and how can you understand them? We'll be looking at that in the next article on the Trentino Genealogy blog.
Later, we'll also be looking at some ways to 'think outside the box' to find your ancestors, such as how looking at the godparents of your ancestors, and what you can learn when you see your ancestors showing up as godparents of other people's children.
Until then, I always welcome your thoughts, comments OR questions, so please feel free to share them in the comments box at the bottom of this article. And if your family are from Bleggio and you're looking for help with your Trentini family tree, you are most welcome to drop me a line via the contact form on this site.
baptismal recordsdeath recordsfamily historyfemale ancestorgenealogistgenealogymarriage recordsparish recordsresearchSanta Croce del BleggioTrentinoTrentowomenwomen ancestors
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Genealogy Tips, Trentino Culture, Trentino History, Trentino Names
How Much Do You REALLY Know About Your Ancestors' Names?
C. 1909. Anna Corona Onorati and her sister Rustica Fausta Onorati of Bono, Santa Croce del Bleggio. Rustica hated her first name, so she changed it to 'Lena' when she grew up. Few family members knew her actual birth name.
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn talks about how our ancestors named their children, and gives tips for making sense of names in their often-confusing parish records.
Last time, we took a whirlwind tour around the many idiosyncrasies of the surnames of Trentino. I really just scratched the surface in that article, aiming simply to provide some rules of thumb when researching Trentini family names. Now, as promised at the end of that article, we're now going to take a look at our ancestors' FIRST and MIDDLE names. We'll be looking at how our ancestors' names changed when they migrated across the ocean, how and why parents chose names for their children, and crucial things to remember when working with old parish records (1500s – 1800s).
SIDENOTE: While I will be referring to my own research (with specific examples from Bleggio in Val Giudicarie), the basic principles I will share here are useful for ANYONE constructing their family history within countries that utilise parish records to record baptisms, marriages and deaths.
Name Changes After Migration
Most of you reading this probably have a family member who changed his/her first name after leaving Trentino for the Americas. If your grandfather was known as 'Joe' in America, chances are his birth name was the Italian equivalent, Giuseppe. Antonio would become Anthony or Tony, and Giovanni would become John. In my family, my grandfather was born Luigi, but he changed it to the English equivalent 'Louis' about ten years after he migrated (he also changed our surname from Serafini to Serafinn, as I discussed in the previous article).
While many first names were easily translatable into English, some names had no real English equivalent. When that was the case, people often changed their name to something that sounded like their Italian name, rather than a translation of it. That means your Uncle Ned and Auntie Mabel might actually have been Zio Nerino and Zia Amabile.
There are also cases where a person's name bears hardly any resemblance to the original at all. For example, my father's first name at birth was 'Romeo' – hardly a good name for an immigrant boy in early 20th century USA where 'men were men'. So, he changed his name to something unquestionably masculine and 'rugged' – Ralph. Except for the first letter, it has nothing in common with his original name.
Some people changed their name simply because they didn't LIKE their birth name. My great-aunt Rustica Fausta Onorati changed her name to 'Lena', solely because she hated the name Rustica! Unless you happened to know her birth name was actually Rustica (fortunately, I did), you would never find her in the parish records, as the two names bear no similarity to each other whatsoever.
TIP: I often come across family trees where a person is listed under their 'adopted' name rather than their birth name. Personally, I find this very confusing, and I think it can lead a researcher down many dark alleys. I believe it is always best practice to use the name a person was given at birth, and cite any aliases or name changes in your notes about that person. On Ancestry.com, for example, you can write these aliases in a field called 'also known as'. You can also put them in the 'person notes' in software programmes like Family Tree Maker.
Keeping Names in the Family
These days, many parents go out of their way to find unusual names for their children. But most of our ancestors were named after elders – parents, grandparents and great-grandparents on both sides of the family. Knowing this can often help you identify family groups more easily when searching through old records. Just this week, my brain was going into a twist when I was trying to figure out which of two men named Eleuterio Parisi (born about the same time in the same village) was my 9x great-grandfather. The definitive clue was in the names of his children: his eldest son and daughter were named after his parents, Pietro and Maria.
This practice of keeping names in the family can even help you identify the order of children, as the first son was frequently named after their paternal (and, in some cases, maternal) grandfather.
Another common practice was to name a child after a family member had recently died. Sometimes this person was a wife of the father who may have died shortly after childbirth. I have seen many instances where the first daughter of a second marriage is named after the deceased first wife.
The deceased person could also be an older sibling. If you see a couple with three daughters named Margarita, it means the first two died in infancy or early childhood. My 2x great-grandfather was the fourth Matteo in his family, having had three older brothers, all called Matteo, who died shortly after they were born. In fact, of their 14 children, no more than 6 (and possibly only 3) of them lived long enough to have children of their own.
Family group sheet of Alberto Serafini and Margherita Giuliani. Most of their 14 children died in infancy. My 2nd great-grandfather, Matteo Luigi, was the only one of 4 'Matteos' to survive to adulthood.
This brings up another important tip: if you find a birth record with the right name and parents, don't immediately assume it is your ancestor. Keep looking ahead to locate the births of all children of that family, to see if there is a later child with the same name.
Ordinal Names
Something you might find amusing is that you occasionally see names that indicate which number this child was in the family. For example, boys' names like Primo, Secondo, Ottavio and Decimo would indicate they were the first, second, eight and tenth born, respectively. While you might find these names less than 'inspired', they can be great clues in your research.
Spelling? There's NO Such Thing!
In the previous article on surnames, I already mentioned that the concept of standardized spelling did not exist in Trentino until relatively recently. While surnames are affected greatly by this, first names are even MORE variable. Here are a few common examples (but the list is almost endless):
Bartolomeo, Bartholomeo, Bortholamio, Bortolo
Margarita, Margherita, Margaretha, Malgarita
Elisabetha, Elisabetta, Isabetta or Helisabeta
Cattarina, Chatarina, Catherina, Chatalina
See the previous article on surnames for a few general rules of thumb on how spelling can vary.
IMPORTANT: Always remember that variations in spelling do NOT indicate different people. The same woman might appear as 'Isabetta Rochi' in her birth record, but as 'Elisabetha Rocche' in her marriage record.
Brush Up Your LATIN!
If you work with parish records, you will discover that nearly ALL first and middle names tended to appear in their Latin forms until the 19th century. What's interesting is that many Latin names actually look like English. You'll see Joseph (for Giuseppe), Anthony (for Antonio) and Jacob or Jacobi (for Giacomo). Some Latin first names resemble German names, such as Johannes or Johann (for Giovanni) or Joachim (for Gioacchino). You'll also see some fabulous old names like Hieronymus (for Girolamo) and Aloysius (for Luigi).
When looking at 19th century records, you might start to see the shift from Latin to Italianised spelling. For example, I've seen many an 'Aloisio' in early 19th century baptismal records who was later listed as 'Luigi' on his marriage record. If you're not aware that this could be the SAME name (and same person), you might miss the record altogether.
Middle Names Are VERY Important
Before the 18th century, middle names were not commonly used, except in the case of noble families (which were more common than you might imagine). Later, especially from the 19th century onwards, giving a child one or more middle names became a more widespread practice. While the shift towards using middle names was probably seen as a practical means of distinguishing one person from another, it's my belief that it was also a reflection of the shift in worldview spreading throughout Europe from the end of the 18th century, when beliefs about the importance of the individual and personal expressiveness were becoming increasingly popular.
In our modern, English-speaking culture, middle names are often seen as 'extra' names. But for the Trentini genealogist, middle names are extremely important when constructing your family tree, because some people come to be known exclusively by one of his/her middle names. For example, everyone in my family knew my great-grandmother as Europa. If you look at her marriage record, she is called Europa. If you look at her children's birth records, she is called Europa. But if you try to look up Europa Parisi in the birth records, you won't find her. Why? Because her birth name was Domenica Filomena Europa Parisi. That's a mouthful!
Sometimes, you might know the name of the parent of a child, but you cannot find the parent's birth record anywhere. A few weeks ago, I spent four hours looking for a man named Pietro, who was the father of about 10 children. After trawling through every possible baptismal record, I concluded that his birth name was Giovanni Pietro.
I've also seen many instances where a child's baptism was registered in more than one parish, and the first and middle names were recorded in a completely different order in each of them. When such a thing happens, how can you possibly know which one is THE name of the child? The truth is, you can't. Sometimes the priest will give you a clue by UNDERLINING the name by which the child will be known. But unless he was insightful enough to do this, you'll find yourself without a clue of how this child came to be known until you dig further down the line to find their descendants. Also, if you are using transcriptions for your research, instead of images of the original parish records, you will never even be aware the priest underlined the preferred name (unless the transcriber was very thorough).
BOTTOM LINE: Using a middle name as one's primary name is extremely common in Trentino. So, if the father of one of your ancestors is supposedly Luigi, but you cannot find a Luigi in the birth records, try looking for someone with the middle name of Luigi. (Incidentally, the 'Matteo Luigi Serafini' in the family tree above, WAS known as 'Luigi' throughout life, not Matteo.)
ABBREVIATIONS are Everywhere!
If you work with parish records, you will also encounter many abbreviations of first names. Sometimes these are just shortened versions of the name, such as Bortolo for Bortolomeo, or Gianbatta for Giovanni Battista. But other times, you will see actual abbreviations. You will frequently find Francesco and Domenico written as Fraco and Domco ('co' in superscript), and Francesca and Domenica as Fraca and Domca ('ca' in superscript). Similarly, Antonio will be abbreviated as Anto (superscript 'o') and Antonia as Anta (superscript 'a'). Needless to say, you have to read very carefully to make sure you're looking at the record for a male or a female.
One very common (but rather odd-looking) abbreviation is 'Gua', which stands for Giovanni. To make things even more confusing, you'll see Latinized names abbreviated, such as Jo. Bapt for Giovanni Battista, or Domcus ('cus' in superscript) for 'Domenicus' instead of Domenico.
TIP: The words 'figlio' / 'filius' (meaning 'son') and 'figlia' / 'filia' (daughter) are almost always abbreviated as figo / figa, fils / fila or simply fo / fa.
Baptismal record from 1708 of Domenico Antonio Salizzoni of Cares in Bleggio. The priest has used Latin abbreviations for his first and middle names (using 'cus' in superscript), and Salizzoni is spelled with only one 'z'. The word 'filius' ('son of') is abbreviated with 's' in superscript.
The Link Between Names and WHERE Your Ancestors Lived
Being familiar with the names of the various frazioni (the tiny hamlets) in which your ancestors lived is also crucial to building your Trentini family tree. In a later article, I'll talk more about frazioni and how they are tied to our ancestral roots. But for now, as we're talking about first names, it's relevant to mention that all parishes – and most frazioni – have their own church, and every church has its own patron saint.
It is not uncommon to see many people in a particular frazione or parish with the same first name because they are named after their local patron. For example, you'll see a lot of boys named Felice in the frazione of Bono in Bleggio, where their patron is Saint Felice. Giustina is a common girls' name in the frazione of Balbido (also in Bleggio), where Saint Giustina is the patron. On a parish-wide level, the boys' name Eleuterio was extremely common in Bleggio during the 1500s, as St. Eleuterio was one of the patron saints of the parish at that time (the parish was not known as Santa Croce until after 1624). In the parish of Saone, I recently discovered a glut of boys named Brutius (Latin for Brizio), as their local patron is Saint Brizio.
The 14th century church of San Felice in Bono, Bleggio.
Proximity to Patron Saints' Feast Days
Aside from village patrons, there are also patron saints for specific days. I came across a record for a Giorgio (George) who was born on April 23rd – the feast day of Saint George. I have seen more than one Giuseppe Maria (Joseph Mary) born during Christmas week. I also found a girl named Epifania born on the day of the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6th) and many baby girls named Pasqua around Easter time (Pasqua means Easter). Being aware of the various patron saints can help you understand why your ancestors may have been given their specific names.
If you really want to find out who you are, it all starts with the names of your ancestors. Far more than simple designations, these names are drenched in meaning, culture and history. If you're like me, sometimes you'll find a particular name that draws you in and gets you really curious. Sometimes, you'll find yourself loving this great-great-great-grandparent because of their wonderful name. These emotions are what give genealogy the power to connect us with our past and transport our ancestors into the present. If you haven't yet started to trace your Trentini ancestry (and all the other ancestral roots you might have), I encourage you to make a start.
Next time, I'll be giving you tips on finding your FEMALE ancestors from Trentino. Finding your great-great-great-great-grandmother is not always as straight-forward as you might think! Drawing upon my own research for the 'One Tree' project, I'll be sharing some of my very best 'genealogical detective' strategies for finding all the wonderful women who contributed to your DNA through the centuries.
I do hope you'll subscribe to Trentino Genealogy blog (see the form on the top-right side of this page), to receive that and all future articles on this site.
Until then, I look forward to reading your comments or questions about this article below. And if you have any comments OR questions about Trentini genealogy, I cordially invite you to drop me a line via the contact form on this site.
I look forward to connecting.
family historygenealogistgenealogyLatinLatin spellingmiddle namenamenamesparish recordsresearchTrentinoTrento
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy Tips, One Tree Project, Trentino Culture, Trentino Names, Trentino Surnames and Soprannomi
What's in a Name? A Short Tutorial on Trentini Surnames
26th February 2016 Lynn Serafinn	2 Comments
Born Romeo Fedele Serafini in 1919, my dad's name changed to Ralph Serafinn around the time this shot was taken in 1937.
Genealogist Lynn Serafinn shares tips for researching your Trentino family history, and tells what you need to know about your ancestors' surnames.
When it comes to family history, all research springs from one thing: a NAME.
Our Trentini ancestors had wonderful names – rich in meaning, culture and history. Having a solid understanding of the names of Trentino is crucial to constructing an accurate picture of your family history. That's why, over the next few articles on this blog, I'll be looking at some of the idiosyncrasies of our ancestral names so you can more easily identify your ancestors in historical records, and have a better understanding our colourful heritage. In today's article, we'll be taking a look at cognomi – surnames.
SIDE NOTE: I've made a searchable database of Trentini surnames on this site. CLICK HERE to view it and see if your surname is currently on our "One Tree" project family tree.
Changes to Surnames after Immigration
The first thing to remember is that many of our ancestors who immigrated to the Americas changed their surnames to make them sound less "foreign". Surprisingly, some descendants might not even be aware this change occurred. Such was the case with me. When I was growing up, neither I nor many of my cousins knew our family name was actually Serafini. But after my dad died, I discovered our original name when I started digging into our family history. I even found the official change of name request my grandfather had filed in the 1930s. This meant that my dad had been known by the surname Serafini until he was in his late teens, but (for reasons unknown) he chose not to tell me. It was a bit of a shock to discover that something I had been told since childhood was an untruth. Be prepared for the possibility of unearthing a few of your own skeletons as you do your research!
Natural Evolution of Surnames Over Time
Prior to the 18th century, surnames were still in a state of evolution, and your surname will probably look very different the further back you go in time. One example is the surname Gusmerotti. This name is likely to be written as Gosmero or Gosmeri in records from the 1500s and early 1600s. This is because Gusmerotti comes from the masculine first name Gosmero plus the suffix -otti (meaning large).
Santa Croce del Bleggio – Example of surname Gusmerotti spelled as Gosmeri in parish records
Another example is the surname Devilli. Prior to the 19th century, you will typically find it written as either "de Vigili" or simply Vigili. The term "vigili" refers to someone who keeps guard. As a name, it was first used to refer to specific branches of the military during the reign of the Prince Bishops. Thus, knowing the origins of your surname can sometimes give you a clue as to what some of your ancestors did for a living.
Latin Version of Names in Parish Records
Until the late 18th century, Latin was the language used in Trentini parish records, rather than Italian. While this practice was nearly always used in the spelling of first and middle names (which we'll explore next time), it could occasionally also alter the spelling of surnames. One example is the surname Onorati, which was frequently written in its Latin forms, Honoraty, Honorati or Honorato.
8 Feb 1596. Baptismal record of Francesco, son of the noble Valerio Honorato (Onorati) of Bono and the lady Giustina. Santa Croce del Bleggio parish records.
Forget About Spelling!
Even after modern surnames began to "stick", there was no concept of standardised spelling until relatively recently. For example, the surname Caliari can also appear as Calliari, Cagliari or Caliary.
Along the same lines as the Devilli example above, any kind of "conjunct surname" (one that was originally two separate words) could appear either as a single word or two separate words. For example, the name Daldos might show up as Dal Dos or Dal Doss.
Consonants in between vowels might be doubled or left single (Benassuti, Bennasuti, Bennassuti)
The letter "a" is often interchangeable with the letter "o" (Bonomi, Bonami)
The letter "e" is often interchangeable with the letter "i" (Rocche, Rocchi, Roche, Rochi)
A "g" can sometimes appear before an "ni" or "li" (Cagliari, Caliari, Benini, Benigni)
This flexibility means it is not uncommon to see different surname spellings in the birth, marriage and death records for members of the same family (or even for the same individual). So, it's important to remember that variations in spelling do not normally indicate the person is from different family, as it would in modern English-speaking culture.
SIDE NOTE: Research become even more complex when you add to this the plethora of variations you will see in first and middle names (which we'll look at next time)!
Surnames of Women in Trentino
When researching your female ancestors, you need to remember that women in Trentino do not take their husbands' name when they marry, but retain their fathers' surnames throughout their lives. So, when researching your female lines, don't try to find them under their husbands' names, as you won't find them. Also, if you use software for your family tree, make sure it is set so it doesn't automatically change the women's surnames to their husbands'.
Soprannomi – A Blessing or a Curse for Family Historians
Lastly, it's worth mentioning "soprannomi" (plural). A soprannome (singular) is an add-on or nickname sometimes given to one branch of a family to distinguish it from other branches. While saying "Giovanni son of Giovanni" can help distinguish that person from "Giovanni son of Pietro", sometimes there are just too many Giovannis to know who is who. That is where a soprannome can be useful. For example, the branch of the Serafini family from which I am descended was given the soprannome "Cenighi". This soprannome was chosen because Margherita Giuliani, the wife of my 4x great-grandfather Alberto Serafini, came from the village of Ceniga in Drò parish.
For the genealogist, a soprannome can be a blessing OR a curse. You might come across a baptismal, marriage or death record where the priest used ONLY the soprannome, omitting the person's surname completely. When that happens, if you don't know the soprannome (or you're not paying attention) you might accidentally gloss over the record you're looking for.
I hope this article has got you interested in knowing more about all the wonderful Trentini surnames that make up your heritage. If you'd like to dive more deeply into the subject, there are many excellent books available in Italian. One I use almost on a daily basis is Guida Cognomi del Trentino by Aldo Bertoluzza.
Next time, we'll be looking at things every family historian needs to know about our ancestors' first and middle names. If you subscribe to Trentino Genealogy blog (see the form on the top-right side of this page), you'll be sure to receive that article via email, along with all upcoming articles.
Until then, I look forward to reading your comments or questions below. And if you have any comments or questions, I cordially invite you to drop me a line with me via the contact form on this site.
BenassutiCaliaricognomiDevillifamily historygenealogistgenealogyGusmerottiLatinLatin spellingOnoratiparish recordsresearchSerafinisoprannomesoprannomisurnamesurnamesTrentinoTrentowomenwomen's surnames
Family History, Family Trees, Genealogy News, Trentino History, Val Giudicarie
Welcome to Trentino Genealogy by Lynn Serafinn
6th February 2016 Lynn Serafinn	3 Comments
Serafini family in Brooklyn, 1928. Luigi Serafini, Maria Onorati and their children came to the USA from Santa Croce del Bleggio after World War 1.
Author & genealogist Lynn Serafinn reveals the ancient roots of the Trentini people, and tells why she prefers the term 'Trentini' to 'Italian' or 'Tyrolean'.
Welcome. My name is Lynn Serafinn. A quick hello to welcome you to my new blog, 'Trentino Genealogy dot com'.
My late father, Romeo Serafini (later known as Ralph Serafinn) is the 9-year-old boy on the right side of the above photo. Romeo was born in the parish of Santa Croce del Bleggio, in the Giudicarie Valley in Trentino, Italy in 1919. My genealogical research has shown that our ancestors were present in the Giudicarie at least as far back as the early 1500s, when parish records first were used to record births, deaths and marriages. In all likelihood, if older records existed, we'd probably learn that the roots of our family — and many hundreds of others — can claim ancestry in Trentino possibly for millenia. In fact, archaelogists have unearthed many paleo-villages in the region, showing the that an argiculturally-based culture, much the same as our more recent ancestors, was present in this region at least as long as 4,000 years ago.
Earlier I referred to Trentino as 'Italy' because that is what it is today. However, for many centuries, up until the end of World War 1, Trentino was actually part of the Austrian (and later, Austro-Hungarian) Empire. In fact, many descendants of the Trentini who immigrated to America at the end of the 19th century (or the beginning of the 20th century) don't think of themselves as Italians, but as 'Tyroleans', as Trentino used to belong to the old County of Tyrol. Today, however, it is part of Italy. As this can sometimes create a confusing sense of identify for those who are descended from Trentini immigrants, I prefer to use the term 'Trentini' rather than either 'Italy' or 'Tyrolean' to describe us, as I believe it transcends the political designations, and refers more our ancestors' connection to the land itself.
In my opinion, the unique history and vibrant culture of the Trentini people make them a truly special people. In fact the more I study about 'our people', the more I come to love them and respect their values.
On this site, I will be sharing information, discoveries, videos, and tips on how to weave together the wonderful history of our Trentini ancestors.
I have been an avid blogger on other sites for many years, so I promise you some good stuff in the coming months. Until then, please feel free to contact me via the contact form on this website, if you would like to ask a question or discuss the possibility of working together.
ancestorsfamily treeTrentino
Receive Trentino Genealogy's Articles via Email
Stay on top of our latest genealogy news and tips.
We respect your privacy. We will ONLY send you new articles as they come out, and will NEVER send you spam.
Trentino Genealogy – La Genealogia del Trentino
Closed group · 565 members
Founded by genealogist Lynn Serafinn, this is a special community for people who are actively researching their Trentino family history, to enable us …
Without Prejudice. Honouring All the Heroes in Our Families
DNA Ethnicity Reports. Who You Are Vs. What They SAY You Are
Ethnicity Vs. Cultural Identity. Trentino, Tyrolean, Italian?
Why DNA Tests Are NO Substitute for Genealogical Research
DNA Tests, Genealogy, Ethnicity and Cultural Identity
How Cemeteries Can Help Grow Your Family Tree
Was One of Your Trentino Ancestors a Notary?
Keeping Our Ancestors Alive: Reflections on the Day of the Dead
Genealogical Breadcrumbs: Notes, Sources & Reviewing Research
How the WRONG Information Ends Up in Your Family Tree
ancient DNA
autosomal
Balbido
cultural identity
ethnicity reports
genealogy tips
Gusmerotti
Latin spelling
Onorati
pedigree collapse
research tips
Santa Croce del Bleggio
Saone
Trentino history
Y-DNA
Ancestry, family trees, research, translations, genealogy advice for those with ancestors from the province of Trento, Italy (formerly Tyrol, Austria)
"One Tree.
One Family.
One Humanity."
Genealogy News
Genetics and DNA Tests
One Tree Project
Trentino Culture
Trentino Names
Trentino Surnames and Soprannomi
Val Giudicarie
Trentino Genealogy Sitemap
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume you are happy with it. Be assured that we will NEVER use cookies to advertise to you. OKRead more on our Privacy Policy page.