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The 1861 civil
record of the
marriage promise reproduced below, for Giusto Sforza and
Salvatrice Spoto, 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 16 August 1960 in the presence of witnesses
Salvatore Valenza
and Domenico Frisa,
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
35
Year eighteen hundred sixty,
day
sixteen
of the month of
August
at hour
twenty-four,
before Us,
Don Giuseppe Langella,
Adjudicator
and official of the Civil Record of the
Town of
Mussomeli,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of Caltanissetta,
have appeared in the
Town Hall:
Giusto
Sforza, bachelor
age
twenty-five,
born in
Mussomeli,
district of
Caltanissetta,
Province of
Calta-
nissetta, occupation
villager,
living in
Mussomele,
son of an
unknown father,
age
______
occupation
______ living
____,
and
of an
unknown mother,
age
______,
living
______;
and
Salvatrice Spoto, maiden,
age
nineteen,
born in
Mussomeli,
living
here,
daughter of
Giuseppe, age
forty-five,
occupation
villager living
here,
and daughter of
Maria
Carmela
Faldetta
age
deceased, who lived
___.
The couple,
in the
presence of
witnesses who
will be
mentioned below,
produced by them,
have
asked me 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 father of the bride who
in our presence has declared his express
formal cansent.
The notice of this promise was affixed
to the door of the town hall of
Mussomeli on
Sunday the twenty-second day of the
month of
July of the
current year.
We, in accordance
with
their request,
after having
read
them
all the
consistent
documents:
[p. 3]First,
the birth records of the groom
Second, the birth record of the bride
Third,
the marriage banns made in this Town, to
which there have been no objections
Fourth, the death record of the mother
of the bride |
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Page 3 continues:
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:
Lodovico
Lombardo,
age fifty,
occupation Villager
subject of the Realm, living
in Mussomeli;
Giuseppe Castrogiovanni,
age
thirty-four,
occupation Villager;
[p. 4]
subject of the Realm,
living
here;
Salvatore
Vaccaro,
age
twenty-three,
occupation Villager
subject of the Realm, living
here;
and of
Salvatore Lombardo,
age
twenty-eight, occupation
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
since those assembled for this
record and the witnesses are illiterate. |
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The Adjudicator
[Signed]
G. Langella
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From Mussomeli Registri Stato Civile Film
1438828, 1860 Marriages, No 35, Giusto Sforza and Salvatrice Spoto |
