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Most of the records used to develop this work are from the
town of Serradifalco, Caltanissetta province, in central
Sicily. Images of original Serradifalco civil birth,
marriage, and death records are available on microfilms
taken by representatives of the Mormon church at the
Caltanissetta state archives for the years 1820 through
1910. A list of those microfilms is at
http://bit.ly/SerradifalcoCivilRecords. Serradifalco's church records of baptisms,
confirmations, marriages, and deaths are also available on
microfilm for the years 1698 through 1910. A list of
those microfilms is at
http://bit.ly/SerradifalcoChurchRecords. Civil
records are available on line for the years 1866 through
1910, on the free Mormon website
https://www.familysearch.org and on the subscription
site
http://www.Ancestry.com, at
http://bit.ly/SerradifalcoCivilRecordsOnLine. The latter site also has
Serradifalco death records for 1931 through 1939. More
recently the Italian government has begun to post civil
record on line on its 'Antenati' (Ancestors) site
http://bit.ly/ItalianRecordsPortal.
As of January 2016, records are available there for 47
Italian provinces and regions, including Serradifalco's province of
Caltanissetta. Serradifalco's records, including many
for post-1910,
are at
http://bit.ly/SerradifalcoAntenatiRecords
The civil records are in
the 'Napoleonic format' advocated by Napoleon when he ruled
much of Europe. His forces held the mainland portion
of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies at the time and
instituted civil record-keeping there as early as 1805.
These early records are called 'Stato Civile Napoleonico',
or 'Napoleonic Civil Status'. Napoleon
never occupied the island of Sicily, but Bourbon Spain, which controlled
insular Sicily, was so influenced by his policies that it instituted
Napoleonic civil records on island Sicily in 1820. The
original format was on pre-printed forms that were uniform
throughout the island, with blanks for local clerks and
officials to fill in with details. Through
1860, the Roman Catholic church had strong influence in
Sicily, and civil records were cross-referenced to
ecclesiastical actions. Birth records carried a
section that indicated that the birth had been reported to
the church, and that the church had responded, confirming
that the child had been baptized. Civil marriage
records merely stated a couple's intent to marry, and
though they listed the spouses' names, ages and occupations,
and the names of their parents, they had a section that
indicated that the contract had been sent to the church, and
showed that the church had performed confirmed the actual
marriage and confirmed the date. Civil records for
this period are called 'Stato Civile della Restaurazione',
or 'Restored Civil Records', since there was no nation of
Italy at the time and the actual records are from the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies' archives.
In 1861, the Kingdom of
the Two Sicilies was 'unified' with northern states to form
the previously non-existent Kingdom of Italy. One
result of that event was that the Roman Catholic church was
divested of much of its power, property and influence.
Baptisms were not considered proof of birth. Church
marriages were not recognized by civil authorities as legal
marriages, and children of spouses married only in church
were illegitimate and could not legally inherit property.
The church-friendly civil record forms were used until about
1865, but for several years after unification, from about
1866 through 1874, all civil records were completely
hand-written, and still provided the same basic 'Napoleonic'
civil information, but with no mention of the church.
In 1875, new pre-printed forms were issued by the civil
authorities, again in the Napoleonic format, but with no
reference to the church. Those forms were used through
the early 1900s, and comprise the 'Stato Civile Italiano',
or 'Italian Civil Status'. Generally, Mormon microfilming of
records has been limited to the years 1910 and earlier,
although more records for later years are slowly being made
available.
Some
family records that were registered after 1910 were obtained through personal
communication with Serradifalco town officials. The chart below shows the
records available for Serradifalco on microfilm. There are some
gaps. The town Anagrafe (Registry Office) may
have civil records for the years that are missing form the
microfilms, which were made at the Provincial archives.
The shaded portion of the chart indicates the years included
on Ancestry.com. The microfilms whose numbers
are on the chart
are on extended loan at the Mormon
Family History Center at 1424 Maple Road,
Williamsville, New York 14221 (716-688-2439). Click on the image to enlarge
and print. Records beginning in 1866 (shaded area) are
available on-line at the several venues noted above. |
