I'm still spending hours a day creating the missing source citations for my huge family tree. I use efficiency techniques, such as working through one ancestral hometown at a time.
That's why I noticed a repeating error in one of my hometowns in Italy that is inexplicable. How can this keep happening again and again?
Here's what's happening—and how I'm handling it in my family tree. One of the greatest things about Italian vital records is the "matrimoni processetti". (That translates to pre-marriage inquiries, according to Google Translate.) These are the documents required before a man and woman can marry. All in one place, you can find the evidence to take a family back three generations! These documents include:
- the groom's birth record
- the groom's father's death record, if he's dead
- the groom's father's father's death record, if he's dead (which can include the groom's great grandparents' names)
- the groom's mother's death record, if she's dead
- the groom's previous wife's death record, if there was a previous wife
- the bride's birth record
- the bride's father's death record, if he's dead
- the bride's father's father's death record, if he's dead (which can include the bride's great grandparents' names)
- the bride's mother's death record, if she's dead
- the bride's previous husband's death record, if there was a previous husband
Jackpot, right? Civil record-keeping began around 1809 in Italy, so these documents are priceless.
Where Did This Come From?
As I work on the town of Circello, Italy, I'm finding handwritten copies of vital records that do not exist!
 |
| His marriage documents include a handwritten copy of his birth record. Only problem? It does not exist! |
Here's an example. A document says Domenico Cerrone was born on 25 Mar 1812 to Giovanni Cerrone and Arcangela diTello, and it's record #45. But when I go to the town's 1812 birth records, record #45 has the same date, but all different people. It's the birth record of Domenico Fiscarelli, born on 25 Mar 1812 to Pietro Fiscarelli and Carmina Iacobacci. Now, I'm the lunatic who indexed every available vital record for this town. So I know there is no civil birth record for Domenico Cerrone, son of Giovanni and Arcangela.
So far this has happened 12 times, all in Circello. In a couple of cases, the copy in the matrimoni processetti contradicts the civil record. Everything's right but the date. What document was the clerk looking at when they made this copy? What do I do with this?
Cite the Source and Acknowledge the Problem
In each case, I created a source citation that points to this inexplicable document. But I went a step further. In "Leave Breadcrumbs for Future Genealogy Research", I explain how to use stock phrases in a fact's description field. For example, it used to be common to reuse a name if a baby died. The next baby of the same sex gets that same name, so you know the first baby had to have died. If there's no death record available, I note that the first baby died before the second baby's date of birth and write: "His brother [Her sister] of the same name was born on this date." Without an approximate date of death and that note, it would look like I made a careless mistake in my family tree again and again.
Stock phrases are the solution to the inexplicable documents problem, too. Each time the marriage papers include a copy that's not in the civil records, I add a phrase to the description field. "This record is not found in the [year] civil records; only in the [year] marriage documents."
When the copy shows a different date than the original civil record, I use the date from the original record. Then I add a note about it in the description field. "The copy of the birth record in the [year] marriage records has a different date of [date]." And I add a source citation for both versions of the birth record.
Why Cite an Error?
If you're wondering why create a source citation for two versions of the same fact, here are two good reasons:
- Citing both documents shows you've done your research.
- You may find another document that proves the inexplicable record was correct.
These stock phrases serve me well. See if the software or website you use for your family tree has predictive typing. It should. With predictive typing, I type "This record is not", and the software shows me the matching phrases I've typed before. I can choose one and change the years as needed. Each time I need to use "His brother of the same name was born on this date.", all I type is "his bro" and choose the correct phrase.
What types of inexplicable documents have you found in your genealogy research? How do you handle them?