Last week a man posted in the "My Italian Family Tree" Facebook group. It wasn't the typical post. He said he wants to know more about his Italian ancestors. He's seen their birth, marriage, and death records, but he wants to know more about their lives. I know my 19th century ancestors were illiterate peasants living in small towns. There was no local newspaper covering their exploits since they couldn't read.
Ancient Roots—Not Names
But we can learn something about our ancestors' lives if we look at the history of the place and the people. They call my ancestors' general area the Sannio or the Sannita region today. In Roman times they called it Samnium—named for the ancient Samnites. And when I say ancient, I mean ANCIENT. The Samnites were in my ancestors' area as early as the 8th century BC.
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| Placing an ancient map over a current one puts my ancestors in a key place in history. |
The Samnites were a league of several independent tribes. They banded together to fight against the Romans many times. They were farmers who raised crops and livestock. They also fished in their rivers and mined iron ore.
One characteristic of the Samnites that's interesting to me is their physical description. They didn't look like the typical dark Southern Italians. Many had blond hair and blue eyes, as do I, and as did some of my great grandparents. Historians say this coloring comes from the Ligurian people. They settled alongside the Italic people early on. Among these people were some Gauls. Gaul was a region that today is France, part of Belgium, Western Germany, and Northern Italy.
When I took a DNA test in 2012, my husband guessed I would find some German in my pie chart. It would explain my great grandfather Giovanni's looks. But there is no German in my DNA. These days my AncestryDNA test does show 2% France, which is new. My Ancient Origins on MyHeritage say I'm a solid Roman by the Roman Era and pure Italian by the Middle Ages. Still, I have blue-green eyes and my hair was blond in my youth.
The Life of a Peasant
I searched for details of Southern Italian peasant life in general. Their daily life was much like life in the Southern U.S., as described in William Faulkner's novels. (I've been reading his books in order of publication since November.) Faulkner's novels cover a lot of time, from pre-Civil War to the 1950s. In the rural Mississippi of his novels, there were a few rich landowners, and many workers. The workers never seemed to get ahead. They worked the fields, raised livestock, repaired their clothing, tools, cabins and barns. They grew the food they ate. The sharecroppers didn't get to keep all they grew.
The same is true of my Italian ancestors. Children began working very young, performing whatever tasks they could. Older boys and men did the more demanding labor. Older girls and women managed the household. The females would milk the cow, fetch water, take the clothes to the river for washing, and feed the family. They would also make and mend the family's clothing. The males would plow the fields, plant and harvest the crops, and maintain any structures.
In Southern Italy, the Church or members of the ruling class were the rich landowners. I have a copy of a book that is invaluable to my family tree research. It is "Colle Sannita nel 1742" by Dr. Fabio Paolucci. Dr. Paolucci has shown me documents from the town bearing my maiden name as early as the 1500s.
His book is a detailed 1742 census of the town's 600 or so households. Often the descriptions say that the head of household "has" a vineyard or land that's leased to him by the Church. Sometimes he takes care of livestock owned by the Church. The book also details the land owned by 35 priests and clerics. There's also an accounting of the land and livestock owned by more than a dozen churches and chapels.
Based on their vital records, I know my people were farmers or they practiced a trade needed by the town. They were shoemakers, barbers, tailors, midwives, and seamstresses.
Newspaper Coverage, or Lack Thereof
While I won't find my family members in old Italian newspapers, I can search for mentions of their towns. La Stampa is an Italian newspaper I can access online. The issues go back to its founding in 1867. I found only one thing, and it's about my maternal grandfather's town. On 8 Oct 1872 in Baselice, they opened a government telegraph for both government and private use.
I had better luck with La Stampa when I wanted to see coverage of Italian battles during the first World War. Based in Torino, I wouldn't expect La Stampa to cover my little Southern Italian towns.
I answered that Facebook post. I suggesting he look into the history of his ancestors' place and the people (in general) who lived there. I came away from my research with a better idea of my ancestors' lives. And a better idea why I don't look how you might expect an Italian to look.