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I have not yet
located the marriage record of my GGG-grandparents
Angelo Ferraro and Francesca Alessi.
However, the 1838 civil
record of the
marriage promise for Angelo and his second wife
Crocifissa Agrò 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 2 June 1838 in the presence of witnesses,
and that the civil and church records were
cross-referenced. The record is not added
here as yet, the thumbnails are only examples.
However the record does give the name of Angelo's
parents as Grazia Burgio and Mariano Ferraro, and
Mariano's father's name as
Francesco.
The civil record is a promise or
contract 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
four
Year eighteen hundred thirty-four,
day two
of the month of
June
at hour one before Us
Rosolino
Butera Mayor and Official
of the Civil Status of the Town of
Marianopoli, District
of
Caltanissetta, Val of
Caltanissetta
has appeared in the town hall
Angelo
Ferraro, age
sixty-one,
born in
Serradifalco,
District of
Caltanissetta, Val
of
Caltanissetta, a
townsman
living in
Marianopoli, son
of the late
Mariano, age __,
occupation __, domiciled
here in
life, and of
Grazia
Burgio, age __,
domiciled here in life, and
Crocifissa Agro, age
fifty,
born in
Marianopoli,
domiciled
here, daughter of
the late
Leonardo, age ___,
occupation ___, domiciled
here in
life, and of
Anna Agro,
age ___, domiciled
here in life.
The couple, in
the presence of witnesses who will
be mentioned
below, and produced
by them, have requested
to receive their
solemn promise to
celebrate prior
to the Church
ceremony, according to the format prescribed by
the Sacred
[p. 2] Council of Trent
for the marriage
which they plan between them
The notice of this promise was affixed
to the door of the town hall of Marianopoli on
Sunday the sixth of
the
above stated
month of the current year.
We,
in accordance with their
request, after
having read them all
the consistent documents:
1. the
birth record of the groom
2. the
birth record of the
bride
3. the banns as noted above at the town
hall, regarding which there have been no
objections
[p.
3]
4.
regarding
consent, by the spouse's free will, as
an adult, having declared in good faith
the death of his first wife Francesca
Alessi, the death of his father Mariano,
his mother Grazia, and of Francesco
Ferraro, his paternal grandfather
5.
regarding
consent, by the bride's free will, as an
adult, having declared in good faith the
death of his first wife Francesca
Alessi, the death of his father Mariano,
his mother Grazia, and of Francesco
Ferraro, his paternal grandfather
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:
Croce
Abate, fifty-four, peasant sharecropper,
subject of the Realm of the KIngdom of
the Two Sicilies, domiciled here;
Prospero Balio, thirty-two, peasant
sharecropper, |
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[p. 4]
subject of the Realm,
domiciled here;
Girolamo Lovetre, twenty-mine,
peasant sharecropper, domiciled
here; Felice di Marco,
fifty-five, range patroller,
subject of the Realm, domiciled
here.
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 declarants and witnesses not
knowinghow to write. |
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The Mayor
[Signed] Rosolino
Butera |
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