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The 1853 civil
record of the
marriage promise reproduced below, for Angela di Giugno
and Calogero Alessi, covers four pages. To the right
is a summary. The form is in two columns, on the
left showing the Record of the Solemn Promise to
celebrate matrimony, while the right-hand column is
entitled 'Indication of the
subsequent canonical [church]
celebration of marriage'.
Essentially, the left column gives the details of the
civil promise made at the Town Hall, while the right
column simply confirms that the couple was married in
church on the following day, and that civil and church
records were cross-referenced. Click on the images
at left to see the original documents. This record is only the promise to
marry, but it contains much more information than the
actual marriage record made by the church. |
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RECORD OF THE SOLEMN PROMISE
to celebrate
matrimony |
[p. 1]
Number
20
Year eighteen hundred
fifty-three,
day
eighteen
of the month of
August
at hour
twenty-three,
before Us,
Giuseppe Maida
elected assistant functionary of the
Mayor and official of civil
records of the town of
Serradifalco,
District of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta,
have appeared in the Town Hall:
Calogero
Alessi adult widower
age
thirty-four,
born in
Marianopoli,
District of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta, occupation
sharecropper,
living in
Serradifalco,
son of
the late Modesto,
- - and
Emmanuaela Ferraro
age sixty,
living in
Marianopoli;
and
Angela di Giugno single adult,
age
twenty-two,
born in
Serradifalco,
living
here,
daughter of
the late
Leonardo
- -
and daughter of
the late
Michela Vella - -
The couple,
in the
presence of
witnesses who
will be
mentioned below,
and produced by them,
[p. 2] have
requested to receive
their solemn
promise
to celebrate
prior to the
Church ceremony,
according to the
format
prescribed
by the Sacred
Council of
Trent for the
marriage which they plan between them
and with the
support of the mother of the groom and
the paternal grandfather of the bride, who
came together for the present record in
order to lend their express and formal
consent, which they have accordingly
declared.
The notice of this promise was affixed
to the door of the town hall of
Serradifalco on
Sunday the
twentieth of the
month of
March
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
1st the
birth record of the groom
2nd the
birth record of the bride
3rd the banns as noted above at the town
hall, regarding which there have been no
objections
[p. 3]4th the death records of the
fater
of the groom
5th the death record of the paternal
grandfather of the groom
6th the death record of Rosa Giampapa
first wife of Calogero Alessi
7th the death record of the father of
the bride
8th the death record of the mother of
the bride |
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The bottom of page 3 continues:
and
having also read chapter six
under the title of
marriage
of the
civil laws
regarding the
respective
rights and obligations
of the spouses,
we have received from
each
of the parties,
one after
the other, the
declaration, that they
solemnly
promise to
celebrate
the marriage
before the
Church according to
the format
prescribed
by the
Holy Council
of Trent.We
made the record of all this
in the presence
of
four witnesses
attending
the solemn
promise of marriage:
Giuseppe
Aronica, twenty-four, a Carter, Strada
Purgatorio; Filippo Micciche, twenty-four,
a Carter,
[p. 4]
Strada Micciche;
Lorenzo Ricotta, twenty-six, - -
Strada Accurzio; Andrea di Francesco,
twenty-six, Sulfur miner, Strada Macaluso
We have read
this record, which is inscribed on the two registers, to
the witnesses
and
the bride and
groom, to whom
we have also
given two consistent
copies signed
by Us, to be
presented to the
parish priest,
to whom the celebration
of the
marriage pertains,
and then
it is signed
by us
alone, the bride
and groom, the mother of the groom, the paternal
grandfather of the bride and the witnesses having said
they don't know how to write. |
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[Signed]
The Elected
Assistant
Giuseppe Maida |
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