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The 1859 civil
record of the
marriage promise reproduced below, for my maternal
great-grandparents Giuseppa Cimino
and Gaetano Abate, 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'.
Only the left column of the record is translated below.
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 25 May 1859 in the presence of witnesses
Girolamo Curatolo
and Luigi Calabrese,
and that the civil and church records were
cross-referenced.
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.
Unfortunately, the church marriage records for the years
1856 through 1865 are missing. |
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RECORD OF THE SOLEMN PROMISE
to celebrate
matrimony |
[p. 1]
Number
18
Year eighteen hundred fifty-nine,
day
twenty-four
of the month of
May
at hour
fourteen,
before Us,
Felice
Cacciatore Mayor and official of civil
records of the town of
Serradifalco,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta,
have appeared in the Town Hall:
Gaetano
Abate, single adult
age
twenty-four,
born in
Serradifalco,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Caltanissetta,occupation
Sulfur
miner,
living in
Serradifalco,
son of
Giuseppe,
age
forty-eight,
occupation
sharecropper living
here,
and
of Rosa
Saetta
age fifty,
living
here;
and
Giuseppa Cimino, single minor,
age
seventeen,
born in
Serradifalco,
living
here,
daughter of
Antonio age
forty-six,
living
here,
and daughter of
Concetta lo
Guasto
who lives
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 respective parents of the
espoused, 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
tenth day of the
month of
April 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 marriage banns made in this Town
where they both live, to 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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Page 3 continues:
We made
the record of all this
in the presence
of
four witnesses
attending
the solemn
promise of marriage:
Giuseppe
lo Vecchio, forty-eight, Sharecropper, Strada
Piconotti;
Filippo Cimino, thirty, Sharecropper,
[p. 4]
Strada Acquisto;
Salvatore lo Vullo, forty-five,
Sharecropper, Strada
Cellura;
Calogero Arcadipane, twenty-three,
Sharecropper,
Strada la Giarra
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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The Mayor
[Signed]
Felice Cacciatore
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