Earlier this week I posted the marriage certificate for my great-grandmother – Catherina Moretto. The really tough part of the older certificates is that they may be in another language (in this case Italian). I have tried to learn Italian, but when you combine Italian with older handwriting, I have no clue what the translation is. In Italian I know Commune is the town, Chiesa – church and so on. A few other words I can guess at too – but finding someone who speaks the language is pretty important. Additionally in my case a dialect is involved. Locana, Italy is just a short distance from the border with France.
In the past I’ve gotten some of the information involved:
14. Giovanni Moretto, son of Benardo Moretto and Domenica Cula was born on 01 Oct 1880 in Locana Italy. He died on 14 Oct 1918 in Westville, Illinois. He married Caterina Maria Negri on 11 Apr 1903. (I think the certificate actually says he was born in Costallamente and that’s what I had heard previously)
15. Caterina Maria Negri, daughter of Giacomo Negri and Francesca Maria Pezetti was born on 17 Nov 1874 in Locana Italy. She died on 01 Jul 1961 in Belgium Town, Illinois at 7:30 pm.
The marriage certificate includes names, place of birth, parents, and dates. From what I’ve heard that seems to be collaborated from the official certificate, Italian weddings involved two separate ‘weddings’. One being a civil wedding and one a church wedding. I’m going to see if I can get with friends in Italy and see if they can translate this a little more for me.
