Birth Record from 1760 in Santa Ninfa, Partanna, Trapani
Hi, I've made so many great strides in researching my family tree (all from Sicily) with some lines going back to the mid-1500's but I'm stuck on one. My 4-times great-grandfather, Nicolo (or Niccolo) Biondo (or Biundo) born in Santa Ninfa, Trapani, Sicily circa 1760, died around 1802. I have found Biondo's & Biundo's in the 1500-1600's and some in the earlier 1700's - all from Santa Ninfa - but can't find the connection to Nicolo/Niccolo Biondo/Biundo. His sons were born in/around Partanna, Trapani, Sicily. This is all on my maternal grandmother's side. Any ideas?
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My entire paternal lineage is from Sant Ninfa. I do have numerous people with the surname Biondi in my tree, but none are related by blood. Interestingly, I recently saw an 1839 marriage for Luigi Biondo son of Nicolo. I have never seen records prior to 1820. You mentioned you have many records from the 1700's and I would be curious as to how and where you found them. Are you in touch with the main church there in Santa Ninfa?
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It's quite a challenge finding records in Sicily. Many simply don't exist. All 4 of my family lines (maternal and paternal grandparents) are from Sicily, as well as my dad! The Biondo's were the last line I worked on. I knew of some family starting with my maternal grandmother (b 1894 in Partanna), who was born Biondo and I knew the names of 2 of her siblings (later found there were 5 kids in her family!). So, that gave me a foundation to start with. Once I had that info, with help from an older cousin who remembers some names, i was able to use on-line searches and semi-pro-genealogists (who were kind enough to help me). Once I got going, I was able to find her parents (my great-grandparents 1850's in Santa Ninfa), then my great-great grandfather (b 1814), then 3 times great (b 1784), then lastly my 4 times great (b 1760) - which is where I'm stuck. So, some research on my own, some help from older relatives, online sites (Family Search, My Heritage, Ancestry, Geni, Findagrave, etc.), churches, got a lot of info from Ellis Island passage records, and some very nice people, I was able to get where I am with her line. They have located documents (in person and online) and have helped translate for me.
The main piece of info I can share with you is that name spellings change. I have found family under Biondo, Biundo, LoBiondo, LoBiundo, and Biondi. So, it's a lot of 'hunt and peck' to find the right people. Just keep looking as there are quite a few with versions of that name in Santa Ninfa. Also, remember that many who immigrated in late 1800's/early 1900's, 'americanized' their first names so you have to be a bit creative. Your Giovanni may now be John, things like that.
Another hint: naming conventions. Sicilians usually name their first born son after the grandfather. Subsequent sons after the father. And if a baby dies, they will 'reuse' the name, especially if it's from a father or grandfather.
I found an email for the records office in Santa Ninfa so I'm waiting to see if they can help. If not, I'll mail my request and try that route. Then if still nothing I'll mail the churches. Some offices are helpful (usually the larger ones in the actual provinces), while I'm finding the smaller ones (in the communes) not so much. Also, try asking for baptism certificates as those were easier to find then asking for birth records (many of which don't exist). Look up catholic churches in Santa Ninfa and write to them asking for help with baptism records as those they almost always have, although getting people to help find them isn't easy. I use Google Translate English to Italian when I write to people. Start with the oldest person you know the date of birth for and ask for their records as the parents names will be on it. It's not perfect, but it's worked for me.
I've gotten back to the mid-1500s on my maternal grandfathers line (mostly from Bisacquino, Palermo), mid-1700's for my dad's maternal line (from communes in Messina), but stopped at 1820 for his paternal side. So, I've been searching three provinces over the years. Not easy, not quick, but possible. If you REALLY want to find records, you need to go there in person - to the churches and cemeteries. People tend to not leave the area so many elders know names and can help point you in the right direction.
Sorry this got so long. It's just a bit complicated to trace family history in Sicily. I hope this gives you some ideas of where to start and to encourage you to keep looking. It's been extremely rewarding and heartwarming to find all these people who made us who we are.
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One more quick tip. Don't rely solely on on-line ancestry sites. Rather use them to get some basic info - names, year of birth, year of death, birth location, potential parents or sibling names, etc. But for verification you need to write or visit or hire someone to go to the places in person.
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Thanks for all of your information!
I'll take some blame here for not properly introducing myself. I am a professional genealogist speacializing in Italian genealogy. I speak, read and write Italian. I am familiar with all of the websites online that have Italian records, naming conventions and rules, immigration, etc…, as I've been doing such research for over 30 years.
What piqued my interest were your statements about having actual records from the 1700s. I have never seen such records for Santa Ninfa other than some church records that were emailed to me about 10 years ago. Granted, many Italian towns have churches with records that are avaialble online - so, in those cases, I have seen plenty from the 1700s and earlier - just never from Santa Ninfa. Even death records from 1820 to 1860 are mostly missing.
So, I wish I could help you further in your quest for Nicolo's records, it's just that I've never seen them for years prior to 1820 in Santa Ninfa.
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The gentleman in Partanna I spoke of was able to locate a church baptism record for the 1760 Biondo, which was under Biundo. But neither he nor the church were able to make out the father's name. His name was completely illegible - possibly from water damage (and likely age). How he finally found it, I don't know. Just went into a few churches, showed them a copy of my ancestry book that I had sent him (to show my request was legit). Took quite a few months but at least I was able to validate my 4-time great grandfather. Sadly, I may never be able to go back any further.
I should note that I still have family in Sicily (cousins, mostly) so I do have "boots on the ground" so to speak - at least in Palermo and Messina, which is why I've had better luck with some of my family lines. My dad, who is also an immigrant (deceased now - everyone is…) - took me 3 years to find a copy of his naturalization record. And I found out he was not born in the town he had always said he was from. He was from an even smaller commune about 20 miles away. Part of the reason why no one could ever find any records for him.
Lastly, my older brother had DNA testing done (mostly for health reasons) and he was able to garner a lot of information from that. So, again, we had some names and contacts to work with in Sicily.
I've learned anything prior to 1800 and not in one of the main provinces is rather difficult to find unless you are there in person and very persistent. Since I'm not able to travel that far (age and health), I have to rely on others to do some of the work for me. But I do as much as I can so others have a decent starting point and it's done well for me.
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