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Salvatore
Lanza and Paolina Faldetta pledged marriage in a civil
ceremony in Mussomeli Town Hall on 18 September 1841. The
civil record of the marriage promise reproduced below 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 18 September in the presence of witnesses
Giuseppe Sorce
and Salvatore Alaimo,
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 below at left to see the original documents. |
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RECORD OF THE SOLEMN PROMISE
to celebrate
matrimony |
[p. 1]
Number
36
Year eighteen hundred
forty-one,
day
eighteen
of the month of
October
at hour
fifteen,
before Us,
Don Giuseppe Calsi Assistant to the Mayor
and official of the Civil Record of the town of
Mussomeli,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province
as above,
have appeared in the Town Hall:
Salvatore
Lanza, bachelor
age
twenty-three,
born in
Mussomeli,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province
as above, occupation
peasant
villager,
living in
Mussomeli,
son of
the late Vincenzo,
age
______
occupation
peasant villager living
here,
and
of
Giuseppa Grisafi
age
sixty-six,
living
here;
and
Paolina Faldetta, a maiden,
age
twenty-four,
born in
Mussomeli,
living
here,
daughter of
the late Carmelo age
_____,
occupation
cabinetmaker living
here,
and daughter of
Marianna
Piazza
age
sixty-six,
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 mothers 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
Mussomeli on
Sunday the
eighteenth day of the
month of
October of the year
stated above.
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
First,
the birth record 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
Fourth, the death record of the father
of the groom
Fifth, the death record of the paternal
grandfather of the groom |
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Page 3 continues:
Sixth, the death record of the father of
the bride
Seventh, the death record of the
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
witnesses
attending
the solemn
promise of marriage:
Salvatore
Montante,
age foty-four,
occupation
peasant villager
subject of the realm of the Two Sicilies, living
here;
Francesco
Cala,
age thirty,
occupation
peasant
sharecropper
[p. 4]
subject of the realm,
living
here;
Giuseppe Genco,
age
thirty,
occupation
peasant villager
subject of the realm of the Two Sicilies, living
here;
Michele
Callari,
age
forty,
occupation
peasant villager
subject of the realm,
living
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 betrothed, the
mothers of the betrothed and the witnesses having said
they don't know how to write. |
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[Signed]
Giuseppe Calsi
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The right hand side of Page 1 reads
This is essentially a 'cover my back'
statement that all the proper
procedures had been followed,:
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Record of the Subsequent
Canonical Celebration of Marriage
Number
36
Year eighteen hundred
forty-one,
day twenty
of the month
of
October
the Pastor of this
town remitted
one of the copies of the
promise written at
the left, at the foot
of which he has certified that the
celebration of matrimony
occurred on day eighteen
of the month of September,
current
year
in the presence of the witnesses
Giuseppe Sorce, son of
Benedetto and
Salvatore Alaimo
Having seen it after opening that record
I transcribed it and saved the aforesaid copy
in the volume of documents at page
36
I have also informed
the Pastor of my receipt of
the same, and have signed
this record, which is inscribed
in two registers. |
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From Mussomeli Registri Stato
Civile Film 1438827, 1841 Marriages, No. 36,
Salvatore Lanza and Paolina Faldetta |
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