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The 1841 civil
record of the
marriage promise reproduced below, for my maternal
great-great grandparents Concetta lo Guasto
and
Antonio Cimino, covers four pages. 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'.
The translation below is of the left side only. 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 24 April 1841 in the presence of witnesses
Don Rocco Candela
and Girolamo Curatolo, and that
the civil and church records were cross-referenced.
Click on the images at left to see the original
documents.
This record is only the promise or
contract to
marry, but it contains much more information than the
actual marriage record made by the church. Click
on the images at left to see the original documents. |
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RECORD OF THE SOLEMN PROMISE
to celebrate
matrimony |
[p. 1]
Number
10
Year eighteen hundred forty-one,
day
twenty-three
of the month of
April
at hour
twenty-two,
before Us,
Francesco Mastrosimone 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:
Antonio
Cimino
age
twenty-three,
born in
Serradifalco,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta, occupation
Sharecropper,
living in
Serradifalco,
son of
the late Pietro,
~ ~ ~
and
of Giuseppa
lo Vecchio;
and
Concetta Guasto,
age
nineteen,
born in
Serradifalco,
living
here,
daughter of
Libertino age
forty-six
occupation
Sharecropper
living
here,
and daughter of
Francesca
Lattuca living
here.
The couple,
in the
presence of
witnesses who
will be
mentioned below,
and produced by them,
have
requested to receive
their solemn
pro-
[p. 2]mise 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
with the
support of the mother of the groom and
the parents 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 on day
seven of
March
of the year
stated above.
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
First,
the birth records of the groom
Second, the birth record of the bride
[p. 3]Third,
the death record of the father of the
groom
Fourth, the record of death of the
paternal granfather of the groom
Fifth, the banns posted in this Town, regarding which there have been no
objections
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. |
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At the bottom of page 3, the record continues:
We made the record of all this
in the presence
of
four witnesses
attending
the solemn
promise of marriage:
Michele
Aquilina, twenty-four, Sharecropper, Strada Calvario;
Gaetano Iannello, twenty-five,
Sharecropper,
[p. 4]:
Strada Milazzo;
Giuseppe lo Valente, forty,
Sharecropper, Street as above;
Ignazio Milazzo, twenty-two,
Sharecropper, Strada Middione
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 groom and the bride
and the respective parents and witnesses having said
they don't know how to write. |
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Elected Assistant
[Signed]
Francesco
Mastrosimone
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