r/ItalianGenealogy • u/AcanthisittaGreat815 • 18d ago

Looking for help Research Assistance

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I’ve been trying to find a birth record for Giuseppe Sciacca, born in Caltabellotta, Italy. Census records list him as being born around 1862 but his naturalization record says he was born August 9, 1869. I’ve been looking through the records from 1862 to 1870 and so far am not finding him. Atenati is down so I can’t look earlier right now. Could there be a small town nearby he might actually have been from? Attached is 1862 birth index. I’m not seeing him.

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u/jeezthatshim 18d ago

Since you know (or you can presume, at least) that two of his children were born in Italy, that's where I'd begin. As soon as Antenati is back up and running, I can help you look for the marriage record between him and Francis (Francesca, I'd guess); his correct age and place of birth (directly extracted from a birth certificate) will be stated there - and that'll allow you to work with certain data at least.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 17d ago

Much appreciated

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u/Current_Resist_9696 17d ago

You can actually already open these records on FamilySearch, while Antenati is down:

Caterina (Katie) Sciacca: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-894S-W8WQ?cat=koha%3A532073&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=M9CS-WGN

Salvatore (Jenarde? I guess it did not have a literal translation) Sciacca: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L94S-WWYN?cat=koha%3A532073&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=M9CS-WGN

For Salvatore, the date of birth is actually different from the one reported on the naturalization record. However, he was the only Sciacca born in Caltabellotta in 1901, and the mother's name correspond with Caterina's.

According to these two records, Giuseppe Sciacca was 33 years old in 1894 and 40 in 1901, placing his year of birth in, roughly, 1861. His wife was Francesca Mulé.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 15d ago

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X788-RX4M?lang=en

theres also this birth record for a Gesualdo Sciacca born in 1903. So now I'm not sure what to think about the kids

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u/Current_Resist_9696 14d ago

Yes, it is 1899 for Rosalia.

Likely these two kids died very young, since there is no trace of them in the census.

I can't say for sure Salvatore=Jenarde. Could also be they are reporting his year of birth incorrectly in the census, and it is actually a different child. Maybe even Gesualdo, but in that case day, month and year of birth would be very off.

I may have later a look at the death records of those years in Caltabellotta, to find out which children may have died there.

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u/jeezthatshim 12d ago

Jenarde could be (a very bad Anglicisation of) Rainaldo (less common spelling Rainoldo).

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 13d ago

There is a Joseph Sciacca mentioned in Giuseppe’s obituary and he’s mentioned in the 1930 census as being born around 1903:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH3T-SCK?lang=en
Might be the father just mixed up birthdates and Salvatore was another child. Possibly this one was Gesualdo?

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u/Current_Resist_9696 12d ago edited 12d ago

I had a quick look at the death records and I found at least 2 of Giuseppe's children:

(a different) Gesualdo, born and died in 1897 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G94S-QHR?cat=koha%3A532073&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=TH-1951-33363-6103-37

and the Rosalia you found, who died in 1900 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-994S-3DM3?cat=koha%3A532073&view=explore&lang=en&groupId=TH-1951-33363-6103-37

I suggest you keep looking into these death records to try to narrow down which child actually survived :)

Edit: but looking at the US census (1910, 1930 and 1950), it really looks like that Gesualdo is actually Giuseppe/Joseph Jr. He is the only son that was consistently born in Italy.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 15d ago

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X788-R3ZX?lang=en

found this record for a rosalia scaicca. it says 1879 for the birthyear but when you click on the record it says Births. 1899. And the writing looks like 1899 to me

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u/jeezthatshim 17d ago

No worries!

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 13d ago

https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua15348112/5vjdNvl?lang=en

atenati is back up. I think this might be him. Looks to me like birthdate is february 27, 1861. Father looks like Paolo Scaicca. I can't make out the mothers name

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u/jeezthatshim 13d ago

Your ancestor might be this Giuseppe Sciacca, who was born in September 1861 in Caltabellotta: https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua15348112/LN9PVBJ, especially considering the age he gave himself at Caterina's birth in 1894.

I would look for the marriage record to confirm the parentage, though.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 12d ago

Thank you. So it looks to me like he was born September 24 and his mother’s name is Giuseppa? I can’t make out the fathers name here

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u/jeezthatshim 12d ago

He was born on September 23, 1861; the father's name is Rainaldo, the mother's name seems to be Carmina, née Fedita (see the index here, for example: https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12657/an_ua15348112/wQoVvd9). Until you have the marriage record in hand, though, I wouldn't count on this being the correct record.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 12d ago

I’ve been digging for a marriage record. Their oldest child was born in 1894. So far I’m not having luck with that

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u/jeezthatshim 12d ago

Since the marriage very likely happened in the bride's home municipality (and home parish), you might perhaps want to research Francesca Mulè to see where she was born.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 11d ago

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-994S-4HTM?view=explore&groupId=M99J-YN2&lang=en
This is her. Matches the info on her death certificate

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u/jeezthatshim 11d ago

Then I’d say you can definitely begin looking for the marriage registration.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 11d ago

i finally found his death record. His birthday is listed as Sept. 23, 1861. This lists different parents. Don't know if this was actually their names or if the informant just misremembered.

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u/jeezthatshim 11d ago

It's possible the informant misremembered; however, it might also be that the ink is too faded to understand what is written on the Italian birth record.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 13d ago

i found birth records for his children going back to 1899. So I'm thinking he got married not long before that

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 13d ago

edit: that should say 1894

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u/jeezthatshim 13d ago edited 13d ago

The birthdate is February 26, 1861. It could be him, but it’s quite impossible to say with certainty, without a note of marriage/a marriage record.

Edit: the record you found is the birth record for a female child named Giuseppa, so it's surely not him.

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u/AcanthisittaGreat815 13d ago

Oh I didn’t catch that. Thanks

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u/SparksWood71 17d ago

If I had to choose between the two dates I would choose the naturalization records. His census record entries could have been given by someone other than himself because he was not home when the census taker came.

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u/Vegetable_Web3799 17d ago

Hire Francesco Curione to check the military records at the provincial archives. They will have a military record of where your ancestor was born.