A Note about the Italian Records and Names

A bit of Housekeeping

One of the issues that arises when finding records from a different country is which name to use:  the American one they used when they arrived here, the Italian one that's in the records, or even the Latin one that is in some of the church records.  Some are easy; Marina Morelli Parisi used the same name in the records that I have found in both countries.  However, others are not so easy.

For the purpose of this blog, I'll note at the top who is who, then use the names in the records.  For example, Joseph Marco Parisi was the Americanized version of Guiseppe [Marco] Parisi in the Italian records.  I'll note this at the start of the blog post when I post any Italian record where he appears.

Also, Joseph/Guiseppe had both a father Pietro and a brother Pietro.  I've written about his brother before; he's listed in the labels/tags as Pietro (Peter) Parisi.  Therefore, Joseph/Guiseppe's father is labeled/tagged as Pietro Parisi (Premione) since I believe he stayed in Italy and didn't emigrate.

While I'm talking about the records in general, I'd like to warn everyone that the italian records get more blurry and harder to read as we go along.  The ink has bled through the pages over time and the writing is more of a scrawl for many years.  I'll do my best to translate.

The photos are also not the best.  I am taking a picture of the record as it is projected from the microfilm.  The records are also filmed very small; it takes an older machine with a higher magnification to read.   All of this can combine for some pretty low quality images, and I apologize.  I believe the Church of Latter Day Saints is working on digitizing and indexing all their films (Yahooo!), so if they ever post better images, I will fix the ones I'm posting now.

For anyone who is interested in finding these records on microfilm, here are their numbers so you can order them to your local Family History Center:

Baptisms 1545-1867    #1448115     Items 6-19


Baptisms 1867-1923    #1448116     Items 1-17
Marriages 1571-1923
Deaths 1641-1923
Foreign Baptisms 1869-1921
Foreign Marriages 1851-1923
Foreign Deaths 1883-1923


Baptisms 1572-1573      #1448476     Item 16

Enlarging Pictures on the Blog

Ok, time out from genealogy for a little housekeeping. I've stated before that I have been working on getting the pictures on the blog to show up bigger and easier to read. Unfortunately, nothing I've tried has worked, so this has been really frustrating for me.

Imagine my surprise when my hubby was reading my latest post and had a HUGE image of the census on his screen! When I asked how he got that, he looked mildly confused and said "I just clicked on the image." D'oh! Ok, I hadn't tried that.

So for all those of you (if any) who, like me, hadn't figured this out: Click on the image to get a larger view of it. It makes things like the census much easier to read. To get back to the blog, just hit your browsers "Back" button.

And thank you to my hubby for the tip (and not pointing out that I was being a ditz).

Housekeeping: Gone to Oz!

You may not see any more posts this year (2006) because I will be on vacation until Jan. 7, 2007. I will be in Australia (aka Oz) with my family, hunting down those elusive ancestors ~ maybe the ones I can't find moved there? Just kidding. I have no known family there, but I will be taking a much-needed break.

However, I am looking forward to a picture of the latest of the Parisi clan who is due to make his/her appearance around Dec 22nd! I will definitely post those when I get them, even if I am on vacation! Best wishes to my cousin Andrea (the baby will come when the phone calls inquirying if you've had it yet are 5 minutes apart).

Have a great Holiday Season and a Happy New Years! I will continue to post after I get back (give me a few days to recover from jet lag!)