denicola update again

Since my last post, where I updated my DeNicola to-do list, I discovered that the antenati.san.beniculturali.it website added church records for Rome, which is where the DeNicola's were from.  Looking through these records, I found some interesting information.

I had been having trouble finding Adolfo Denicola's (my 2nd great grandfather) death record in Rome.  I had assumed he died somewhere around 1880 as my 2nd great grandmother had another child with another man in 1882. (actually found out this child was born in 1886, not 1882)  As it turns out, I made a couple of incorrect assumptions with my great grandfather, Arnaldo DeNicola, and his parents, Adolfo DeNicola and Eugenia Farnetti.

1. I assumed Adolfo DeNicola and Eugenia Farnetti were married; however, I was not able to find a marriage record in Rome for Adolfo and Eugenia.  I assumed they were married as they are the parents listed on my great grandfather's (Arnaldo) death record in Quincy, MA.  As I mentioned in my last post, I did find Arnaldo's birth recording in Rome, from the FamilySearch microfilm.  His father Adolfo DeNicola is listed, but where his mother's name should be, something else is written (in Italian) that I am unable to translate.  I do not see Eugenia's name on the record.

Birth Record of Arnaldo DeNicola, Rome, 1879

2.  I had also assumed Adolfo DeNicola was deceased by the time Eugenia married Luigi Faiella (around 1885), who I thought was her second husband.  Turns out Luigi was probably her first husband, although I was not able to find this marriage record either.  However, on the marriage record of her supposed son, Arnaldo, to Louisa Terragnoli, Eugenia's name is again no-where to be found.  This record also states that Arnaldo's father, Adolfo DeNicola, is still living in 1904!  Adolfo is residing in Genova, Italy, profession is a painter.  Arnaldo's mother is listed as unknown.  Usually in records that I have seen, if a parent is listed as unknown, it is almost always the father.  How can they not know who the mother is, as she gave birth to him!  I find this very interesting.

Marriage Record of Arnaldo DeNicola and Louisa Terragnoli, Rome (took place in Prezza) 1904

Since Adolfo DeNicola is still alive in 1904, and Eugenia is not listed on her son's birth record or marriage record, it seems highly unlikely that Eugenia and Adolfo were ever married.  It is still very possible that Eugenia is Arnaldo's mother, as she is listed on his death record as such.  Also, Eugenia had many grandchildren from her marriage to Luigi Faiella -  and Arnaldo's children (possible grandchildren of Eugenia's) are included in pictures with these other grandchildren.  There is definitely some connection between the families.  Another possibility is that Eugenia sort of "adopted" Arnaldo and his family without a familial connection.  In Eugenia's obituary, it states she only had a certain number of children which was one less than she should have had if Arnaldo was her son; but, Arnaldo was deceased before Eugenia so he may not have been counted.

There is evidence that the later generations of the DeNicolas and the Farnetti/Faiellas were close, but what about Arnaldo and his possible mother Eugenia when Arnaldo was a child?  It looks like Eugenia was in Rome when her first daughter was born in 1886, then by 1888, when her second daughter was born, she was in Prezza, Italy.  By 1903, her family was in Chicago; then eventually by 1910 they were in Quincy.  So where did Arnaldo grow up?  Did he spend his childhood with his father Adolfo?  I do not have any records for Arnaldo between 1879 and 1901, so I am not sure where he spent the first 22 years of his life.  Arnaldo was born in Rome in 1879, so Eugenia was probably in Rome at the time of his birth.  In 1902 he traveled to Boston and states his last residence was Prezza.  (He may not have actually traveled to Boston as his name is crossed off on the passenger list.)  If he did travel, he was back in Prezza by 1904 where he married his wife Louisa .  So 1902 is the first evidence of Arnaldo in Prezza, where his possible mother had been living (at this time Eugenia may have actually been in Chicago).  By 1906 he was back in the Boston / Quincy area.  Interesting that they are in a lot of the same places, just at different times.  By 1910, both Eugenia and Arnaldo are in Quincy, MA.

I have had my DNA tested, but have not been able to make any connections yet to possible cousins descended from Eugenia Farneti.  This is not unusual though as many of my matches do not have family trees online, so it is difficult to assess at this time.

Update on Denicola To Do List

I wrote a "to do post" on this blog almost a year ago for my DeNicola lineage from Rome, Itlay.  The first step was to order microfilm from the Family History Library.  I finally ordered and reviewed the microfilm, but did not find as much information as I had hoped.

This is what I had hoped to accomplish for Adolph DeNicola, my second great grandfather, first husband to Eugenia Farneti:

• death record - Adolph DeNicola, probably occurred in Rome between 1879 when his son Arnaldo was born and 1882 when his wife had another child by her second husband.  Need to order death index for Rome from familysearch for these years.  UPDATE:  I ordered microfilm 2280749 (death index rome 1871-1881) and 2280754 (death index rome 1882-1891).  Neither of these indices had an Adolph DeNicola or DiNicola.  Not sure where to go from here.  Two possible scenerios are 1. Adolph did not die in Rome, 2. Adolph did not die between these years.  Is it possible that Adolph and Eugenia were never married; therefore Adolph may not have been deceased at time of Eugenia's marriage to Luigi Faiella. 
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola. This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome, according to all of his US records.  I have ordered the index to marriage records for 1871-1879 for Rome.  Once I find out the year, I can order the microfilm which contains the records.  UPDATE: I ordered microfilm 2280663 (marriage index rome 1871-1879 and publication index 1875-1882.)   I browsed through this index and found no entries for this couple for the years 1872, 1875, 1876, 1877, and 1878.  I did not see an index for 1879 or beyond on this microfilm.  It is possible that Adolph and Eugenia were married in 1879 or 1880, but there does not seem to be a microfilm for these years, the microfilm jumps from 1878 to 1882.  LEFT TO DO : (allegati for arnaldo's birth might be helpful, could be in either of these?: Allegati [nati] 1879 (ser. A, n. 1-192; ser. B, n. 51, 1954, 52-57, 48, 186, 646-43) microfilm 2335194 Item 4; Allegati [nati] 1879 (ser. B, n. 42-34, [numeri vari]), microfilm 2335195 Item 1)
• marriage record - of Adolph's son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born. This may also give Eugenia's age and place of birth.  I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain this record, as there does not seem to be microfilm available for these years. UPDATE:  There is a notation in Arnaldo's birth record below that he married Luisa on Nov. 21 190?.  I cannot make out the last number for the year.  It also does not say if the marriage took place in Rome or Prezza.  LEFT TO DO : (index for rome marriages from 1898-1911 on microfilm 2280664; Prezza microfilm only go up to 1865)
• marriage record - of Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  If I find the marriage record, the allegati would possibly have Eugenia's first husband, Adolph's, death record.  UPDATE: I ordered and reviewed microfilm 2280742 (rome marriage index 1882-1891) There was no Luigi Faiella or Eugenia Farneti listed in this index.  I had also looked in the year 1879 when I was looking for Eugenia's first marriage, but she was not listed here either.  As I wrote above, the index skips from 1879 to 1882.  It could be that both of her marriages took place in 1880 and 1881 where there does not seem to be an index for Rome, or perhaps she did not marry in Rome. 
• birth record - of Adolph's son Arnaldo DeNicola.  He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.   UPDATE: I ordered microfilm 2280908 (birth index rome 1878-1880).  This index did contain a birth of Arnaldo DeNicola, son of Adolfo item number 1356C.  In order to see the actual birth record, I ordered microfilm 2140328.  The writing on the microfilm was very dark and very small, and the only way I could get a copy of it was to take a picture.  Needless to say, it did not come out very well.  The record is below...

Microfilm 2140328 Rome Births

The only useful pieces of information I was able to read from this document are 1.) his birthdate of September 20th, 1879, which agrees with his WWI record and naturalization papers, and 2.) Arnaldo's father's name is indeed Adolfo, which I had first obtained from Arnaldo's death record in Quincy, MA.  Unfortunately, I am unable to read the section which would state his mother's name, which I think is the middle of 9th to 11th row.  Lastly, in the margins of Arnaldo's birth record is a notation of marriage to Louisa Terragnoli, with a date which looks like November 21.  I am not sure of the year, maybe 1904 or 1906?  

• birth record - Eugenia Farneti around 1863 probably in Rome, Birth records not available this early in Rome 

to do

I just finished creating a family history book through ancestry.com on my grandfather, Amedio Pompeo's, line.  I was able to go back to my 5th great grandfather in the 1700s, Severino Pompeo, in Torre de Passeri, using the Italian records online through familysearch.org and the Italian State Archives. 

Now that I have so many names on my paternal Italian side, my maternal Italian side looks sparse in comparison.  This maternal line, the DeNicola's and Terragnoli's, are also mostly from the Abruzzo region, but from the province of L'Aquila in the commune of Prezza.  These records only go up to 1865 online, which means I was unable to make that connection back in the records since I am starting with my great grandparents, who were born in the 1870's.  It also seems that the DeNicola's may have been from Rome.     

Pedigree chart for Remo DeNicola

I do have the names of my 2nd great grandparents from the records in the US, but I was unable to find most of these names in the Prezza records.  As the chart above shows, there is one line I was able to trace back a bit further, that of my 2nd great grandmother, Francesca Lucente. Since she died in the United States, I was able to obtain her death record which included her parent's names.  She was born in 1846, which allowed me to find her birth record in Prezza online.  This leaves me with three lines to spend some time researching.   

to do: (bold items I have started the process)

1. Guiseppe Terragnoli, my second great granfather, probably died in Italy before his wife Francesca came to the United States.  (Francesca married secondly Luigi Pettinelli in Prezza).  These are the records that I would like to find for Guiseppe Terragnoli; I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain any of these records, as I have written to Prezza town offices a couple of times with no response.
• death record - I was not able to find Guiseppe Terragnoli's death record, which probably occurred after 1865, maybe in Prezza. 
• birth record - I am not sure if Guiseppe was born in Prezza, as I was also unable to locate his birth record after browsing through the Prezza records that are available before 1865.  He would have been born before this date, so I am not sure why I cannot find him, unless he was born in a different commune. 
• marriage record - of Guiseppe Terragnoli and Francesca Lucente, probably in Prezza, as their first child was born there in 1877.  The marriage record will give the age of Guiseppe, his place of birth, and his parents' names.
• marriage record - of their daughter Luisa Terragnoli to Arnaldo DeNicola.  This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born.  This may also give Guiseppe's age and place of birth.
• marriage allegati - for Francesca Lucente's second marriage, which may include Guiseppe's death record.  Allegati contain documents which were necessary to marry.  I have this marriage date of 1894 which was annotated in Francesca's birth record.
2. Eugenia Farneti, my second great grandmother, died in Quincy, MA in 1937. 
• death certificate - this will be easy to obtain by ordering through mass document retrieval.  This will contain Eugenia's parent's names and date of birth.  (UPDATE: I ordered her death certificate and it states her parents' names are Peter Farnetti and Anunziata Gismondi, and birth year would be abt 1870 - see this post about analysis of Eugenia's birth year)
• birth record - her son's birth record, Gaetano Faiella, states Eugenia was born in Rome.  There is microfilm from familysearch that I can order once I have a birth date - which is probably around 1864 according to some other US records.   May have to order Rome birth index to find date. 
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola.  This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome.  I have ordered the index to marriage records for 1871-1879 for Rome from familysearch.  Once I find out the year, I can order the microfilm which contains the records.
• marriage record - of her son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  (same as above under Guiseppe) This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born. This may also give Eugenia's age and place of birth.  I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain this record. 
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  I will have to check if the marriage allegati records are available at familysearch for this year in Rome.  The allegati would have Eugenia's age, place of birth, and possibly her first husband, Adolph's, death record.
• birth record - her son Arnaldo DeNicola.  He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.  I have ordered the 1878-1879 index and records for Rome from familysearch.  This may obtain Eugenia's age and place of birth. 
3. Adolph DeNicola, my second great grandfather, first husband to Eugenia Farneti
• death record - Adolph DeNicola, probably occurred in Rome between 1879 when his son Arnaldo was born and 1882 when his wife had another child by her second husband.  Need to order death index for Rome from familysearch for these years.
• marriage record - Eugenia Farneti to Adolph DeNicola.  (same as above under Eugenia) This probably occurred in Rome, Italy as their son Arnaldo was born in 1879 in Rome.  I have ordered the index to marriage records for 1871-1879 for Rome.  Once I find out the year, I can order the microfilm which contains the records.
• marriage record - of her son Arnaldo DeNicola to Luisa Terragnoli.  (same as above under Guiseppe and Eugenia) This probably happened around 1905 in Prezza, as this is when and where their first child was born. This may also give Eugenia's age and place of birth.  I will probably have to hire a professional to obtain this record. 
• marriage record - of Eugenia Farneti to her second husband Luigi Faiella.  (same as above under Eugenia) This probably occurred in Rome also, as their first child was born there in 1882.  I will have to check if the marriage allegati records are available at familysearch for this year in Rome.  The allegati would have possibly her first husband, Adolph's, death record.
• birth record - her son Arnaldo DeNicola.  (same as above under Eugenia) He was born in Rome in 1879 according to his naturalization papers.  I have ordered the 1878-1879 index and records for Rome from familysearch.  This may obtain Adolph's age and place of birth. 

I definitely have some ways to expand my Italian line on my maternal side.  Guiseppe Terragnoli will probably be the most difficult to obtain as I have to go through a professional, but I can get a start on the other two lines.  It looks like I have some records to order.