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The
format below was used for
civil marriage
contracts
in the period 1820 through 1865. |
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The 1830 civil
record of the marriage promise reproduced below, for my
paternal great-grandparents Raimondo Coniglio and Maria
Messina, covers four pages. To the right is a
translation. 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, recorded on 16
October 1830, is translated below. Essentially,
the left column gives the details of the civil promise
made at the Town Hall, while the right column (not
translated here)simply confirms that the couple was
married in church on 17 October 1830 in the presence of
witnesses
Don Rocco Candela
and Giuseppe Vaccari,
and that the civil and church records were
cross-referenced. Although this record states that
Raimondo was born in Canicatti, all other evidence is
that he was actually born in Serradifalco.
This record is only the promise,
or contract, to marry. However 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
twenty-four
Year eighteen hundred thirty,
day
sixteen
of the month of
October
at hour
eighteen,
before Us,
Giuseppe Sferrazza Mayor and official of civil
records of the town of
Serradifalco,
district of Caltanissetta,
val [region] of
Caltanissetta,
have appeared in the town hall:
Raimondo
Coniglio
age
twenty-five,
born in
Canicatti,
occupation
shepherd,
living in
this town at
Vicolo
Pardi,
son of
Gaetano,
age
fifty-six,
occupation
sharecropper living
here with
his son,
and
of the
late Giuseppa Montalto;
and
Maria Messina,
age
twenty-three,
born in
Serradifalco,
living
here at
Vicolo Pardi,
daughter of
the late
Luciano
who resided
here when
living,
and daughter of
Maria
Butera,
age
fifty-five,
who lives
here with her daughter.
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
with the
support of their respective parents, 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
twelfth of the
current
month
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
1. the
birth records of the spouses
2. the banns as noted above at the town
hall, regarding which there have been no
objections
3 the death records of the
[p. 3]parents
of the groom and those of the
parents
and paternal grandfather of the bride
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:
Vito Guarneri, forty,
Master Shoemaker, Strada
San Giuseppe;
Michele Giambra, twenty-two, Undertaker,
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[p. 4]
Strada Angilella;
Leonardo Giarratano, thirty-six,
Trumpeter, Strada delle Concezione;
Calogero Arcadipane, seventy-four, Civil
servant, Cortile Spezio
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]
Giuseppe
Sferrazza |
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