Italian Name Help Please

KimRedford63

I found my ancestors' marriage record in St. Louis, Missouri. The groom is Henry Clary, and the bride is Jennie Devoto. I'm having a challenging time deciphering some of the Italian names in the marriage record. May I have some help deciphering some of the Italian names in this brief marriage record? Names needing help are underlined in red. (This is the original on FamilySearch: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS79-B2F)

Also, Jennie is not an Italian given name. What might her name have been in Italy?

Thanks in advance!

MatteoBonatesta

Hello Kim!

I have been looking around for the surnames, but I believe they are not spelled correctly. I think the first one might be "Maria Pastorino" (since Pastorino is one of the most common surnames in Liguria). The second underlined word might be "Andrea"? But I'm not so sure. The last word is probably also misspelled, and it could be "Baccigalupi", also typical in the area of Genoa.

I hope it helps (and let's hear someone else's opinion)

SantaNinfa

Hi -

I don't know the rest of Kim's family story, so I was wondering where in Italy they were from.

I'm seeing Maria Portafina as Jennie's mother.

The witnesses are Andrew DeVoto and Madalena [Baccigalupi] perhaps

Also, Jennie is most commonly the name derived from Giovanna or Giovannina

The writing is poor so I'd love to hear what others think

Good luck!

Stephen

Cousin Vinny

BTW, the groom's surname appears to be Clancy, not Clary.

KimRedford63

@MatteoBonatesta

@SantaNinfa

Thank you for this expert help. I don't know enough about Italian names so I don't think I would've come anywhere near those surnames.

I've been searching for many years for these individuals. My grandma Louise is their daughter (born 1885 in Texas), and then the family shows up in the late 1890s in Los Angeles. As I've been working with DNA matches and following up on leads, I've discovered family connections in San Antonio and Galveston, Texas and New Orleans. I believed that Henry was the son of Louise Francioni and François Clary -- and this marriage record confirms that.

I haven't found many records for either Henry or Jennie. Locating this marriage record was a miracle. The only lead I had for Jennie's family was that she was from "Italy," and there were some suggestions that she may be from Genoa area ... but nothing confirmed. Hearing that the Pastorino and Baccigalupi surnames are typical of the Genoa area is also very promising.

KimRedford63

@Cousin Vinny

It does look like "Clancy" but I think it too is a misspelling of the Clary surname. I've seen the surname spelled "Clarey" and "Cleary," which is what the priest may have written in the above record. Henry's parents match to what I believed that are, and other items seem to suggest that this is indeed the Henry Clary and Jennie Devoto couple that I've been looking for. (I'm still not sure why they are in St. Louis, but that is another mystery for another day. 😄)