Giuseppe & Antonino Friscia's Ancestors

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Translations provided by members of the GenAG - Genealogie Agrigentine and the Italian Genealogical Records Facebook groups.
Note that the Latin months September thru December are often written in numbers, 7ber, 8ber, 9ber and 10ber, respectively.

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Filippo Friscia was born on May 10, 1637, and baptized as Philippius Mariaus that same day in the St. Michele church parish of Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, the son of Antonina Ficara and Antonio Friscia. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) He was named after his paternal grandfather, so he was probably the eldest son. On April 27^th and May 1^st and 3^rd of 1659, church banns were read for Filippo to marry Anna Vela.  She was born on July 24, 1638, in the mother church parish of Sciacca and baptized the next day as Aña, the daughter of Francesca Biundo and Carlo Vela. (Mouse over and click on her Latin baptism record lower right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Twenty-two year old Filippo and 20 year-old Anna were married at the mother church in Sciacca on May 6, 1659. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) It should be noted that The Basilica of Maria Santissima del Soccorso is the main church of Sciacca thus called the mother church.

Filippo and Anna had two sons, who were ancestors, Antonino and Giuseppe. Their elder son Antonino’s descendants go down five generations to Caterina Friscia who married Accursio Sabella. Their younger son Giuseppe’s daughter Caterina Friscia married Antonino Sabella.

Five mother church baptism records have been found for the children of Philippo and Anna Friscia as follows — ancestor Antonino was named after his paternal grandfather; Francisca Accursia was born on November 16, 1661, and baptized the next day; Nicolo was born on October 3, 1663, and baptized as Nicolaus Francescus Calogerus the next day; Sebastiano was born and baptized as Sebastianus Antonius on January 27, 1665; and Aloysia Santa, who was born on November 1, 1675, and baptized the next day. A baptism record for ancestor Giuseppe has not been found yet.It is documented that

It is documented that Filippo and Anna were still alive on July 17, 1701, when their son Giuseppe was married. Thirteen years later, on July 28, 1714, Filippo was recorded as deceased on his son Guiseppe’s 1714 Riveli (tax record). Unfortunately, nothing else is known about Filippo and Anna.

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Antonio Friscia was baptized as Antonio Silivestro on February 27, 1595 in the mother church parish of Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record right to enlarge in a new window or tab.)He was the son of Angelica Polo and her husband Filippo Friscia.

On January 29^th, February 2^nd and 5^th of 1634, church banns were read for Antonio to marry Antonina Ficara. She was probably born in Sciacca, the daughter of Isabella diMino and Paolo Ficara. Antonio and Antonina were married on February 6, 1634, at the mother church in Sciacca. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) On this marriage document Antonio is called Master, which means he was a master craftsman. It also seems to say that both sets of parents were deceased, but it is very hard to read.

Antonio and Antonina had at least one another child after ancestor Filippo. The name of the child is difficult to read, it looks like Pietra Paola Domenica, but that is uncertain. This child was baptized on September 2, 1639, at St. Michele’s church in Sciacca.

Unfortunately, at this time, nothing else is known about Antonio and Antonina.

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Carlo Vela was born and baptized as Francesco Carlo in the mother church parish in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, on December 15, 1614, the son of Calogera and Calogero Vela. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) On his baptism record his surname is spelled Vella, but on one of his son’s baptism records, his surname was recorded as Vella, but the first l was crossed out.

Carlo and Francesca Blundo entered into a notarial marriage contract on May 6, 1634. Francesca was born and baptized also in the Sciacca mother church parish on April 9, 1615, as Francesca Margarita, the daughter of Elisabetta Longo and her second husband Filippo (Philippi) Blundo. (Mouse over and click on her Latin baptism record lower right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Francesca is also the sister of ancestor Grazia who married Gaspare Bentivegna.

Carlo and Francesca, both nineteen years old, were married in the mother church in Sciacca on November 12, 1634.(Mouse over and click on their church marriage record left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) They were the parents of two ancestors.

Francesca’s surname in her marriage document looks like Biundo, which is a Sciacca surname, but in Pellegrino Mortillaro’s book, Andrea Randazzo un notaio storico, on their marriage contract entry, he lists it as Blundo, which is also found in the Sciacca records. There are two 1652 Sciacca Rivelis (tax records) for her name, one is in the name of Francesca Biundo and the other is in the name of Francesca Blundo. Neither is for this ancestor, but after careful inspection, it is obvious that they both are for the same person. This seems to say that the surnames of Blundo and Biundo are used interchangeably.

Eight Sciacca mother church baptism records have been found for the children of Carlo and Francesca Vela as follows — Antonino was born on March 12, 1635, and baptized as Antonius Calogerus, the next day; ancestor Anna; Domenico was born and baptized as Domincos Leonardus on June 25, 1641; Rosaria Calogera was baptized as an infant on October 18, 1643; Petra was born and baptized on September 23, 1646; Vito was born on the evening of October 4, 1649, and baptized as Vitus Raimundus the next morning; Natale was born and baptized as Natalis Felix on December 24, 1651; and lastly ancestor Rosario.

There is a 1652 Sciacca Riveli for Carlo Vela and his wife Francesca, that is dated May 9, 1652, and is certainly for this family. (Mouse over and click on their Riveli image right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) It lists his parents as Calogera and Calogero, and does not state that they are deceased. (They may still be alive in 1652, but a Rivelo for that year could not be found for them.) After Carlo and Francesca’s names it lists their four children as follows — twelve year-old Antonino, seven year-old Domenico, two year-old Vito and finally ancestor Anna, whose age is not given. It doesn’t seem like they owned much, but on the lines below the names it does state that he owned a boat to travel in co-ownership with a certain Vincenzo Barrilaro. This boat was priced at 18 gold ounces, making his share worth 9. It is documented that they had another son named Rosario, who happens to be another ancestor. On his marriage to ancestor Anna Francaviglia, his parents are documented as Carlo and Francesca Vela.

It is not known when Carlo and Francesca died, but it is documented that he was alive and she was deceased when their son ancestor Rosario was married on January 24, 1677. It is also documented on their daughter ancestor Anna’s May 6, 1659, marriage document that her mother was alive, which makes Francesca’s death sometime within that almost 18 year span. For now, this is all that is known about Carlo, Francesca and his parents.

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Filippo Friscia was one of ten children born to Angela (surname unknown) and Pietro Friscia. It is not known when and where he was born, but it may have been in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy. A Sciacca baptism record for him can not be found, but he was mentioned in his father’s 1564 will.

On February 1, 1573, Sciacca notary Stefano Caruso filed a notarial marriage contract for Filippo married Angela Polo. She was the daughter of Angela (surname unknown) and Antonino Polo. Filippo and Angela married that same day at the mother church in Sciacca. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Their only known child was ancestor Antonio.

It should be noted that there was a Filippo Frixa who married Angela Bellissima in October of 1573, just 8 months after ancestor Filippo married. Is this another Filippo or could the first Angela die and this is ancestor Filippo’s second wife? If so, then she is the mother of ancestor Antonino.

It is not known when Filippo and Angela died, but they were deceased when their son ancestor Antonio was married on February 6, 1634. In volume one of Pellegrino Mortillaro’s book, Andrea Randazzo un notaio storico, there is a property inventory entry for his name dated February 1, 1628. (Mouse over and click on the inventory entry image left to enlarge in a new window/tab.) Unfortunately, there is no proof that this is ancestor Filippo.

For now, nothing else is known about Filippo and Angelica or her parents.

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Paolo Ficara was baptized as Pauley Calogero on January 25, 1594, in the mother church parish of Sciacca Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, the son of Antonia (surname unknown) and Vincenzo Ficara. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.)

On October 28^th and November 8^th and 11^th of 1615, church banns were read for Paolo to marry Isabella diMino. She was baptized as Betta Costanza on October 19, 1598, also in the mother church parish of Sciacca the daughter of Elisabetta Mineo and her husband Giuseppe diMino. (Mouse over and click on her Latin baptism record lower right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) She is also the younger sister of ancestor Giovanni. Twenty-one year old Paolo and 17 year-old Isabella were married at the Sciacca mother church on November 22, 1615. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record upper left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Their marriage document only lists their father’s names and does not mention their mothers.

Seven years later on January 14, 1622, in Sciacca, a notarial marriage contract was drawn up for Paola Ficara and Bella diMino, who have the same father’s names as on the 1615 marriage document. (Mouse over and click on the first page of their marriage contract image lower left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) This type of contract was usually created a few days or weeks prior to the marriage, so this is a very strange event. There is another type of marriage contract that is usually made at the birth of the first child, the conversion of one of the spouses or the death of one of the spouses, called a dowry restitution. This may be what this is, but for another unknown reason. This contract was written in Latin and is very challenging to translate meaningfully. Pictured is only the first page of this many paged contract. Some things in this contract seem to indicate that this is not for the same couple who married in 1615. In the contract, the bride’s father, Giuseppe, called Joseph, is giving a dowry to the future husband. What is gleaned from this document is that Isabella was single and both families were from the city of Sciacca. Both sets of parents names are given and the father’s names match Paolo and Isabella’s 1615 marriage document, but the surnames of the mothers are not given. It could be that this document was written as if they were getting married for the first time, as a 1615 marriage contract could not be found for them. Also, there isn’t a 1621 to 1623 Sciacca church marriage record for this couple. It is interesting that this contract was written eight months before the death of Isabella’s mother. It may have something to do with her mother giving her first born daughter property before she dies.

To complicate matters more, there are seven mother church baptism records for children of Paolo and Isabella Ficara, who is sometimes listed as Bella, Elisabella, and Elisabeth, as follows — Giovanna was baptized as Joanna on November 1, 1616; Francesco Vincenzo on September 19, 1618; Barbara was born and baptized on December 4, 1620; Elisabetta Joanna was born and baptized on January 2, 1623; Caterina Elisabeth was born and baptized on September 9, 1624; Elisabetta was born during the early morning hours of December 16, 1626; and Calogero Francesco, who was born on the morning of April 17, 1628, and baptized later that day. Note that none are for a daughter named Antonina or one with a middle name of Antonina. Antonia had to be at least 13 years old when she married in 1634, so she had to have been born in or prior to 1621. After much research, this researcher believes that ancestor Antonina is their eldest daughter, Joanna, or possibly the second eldest daughter Barbara. Note that the children’s first names do not match with any of the grandparent’s names, but there are similarities. The first born son does have a middle name of Vincenzo, after Paolo’s father and there were three Elisabetta’s which is often used for Isabella.

Nothing is known about Paolo’s parents except that his parents were alive at the time the 1622 contract was drawn up. It is also not known when Paolo and Isabella died, but the were deceased when their daughter Antonina was married on February 6, 1634. For now, that is all we know of Paolo, Isabella, and his parents.

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Angela and Pietro Friscia’s ancestries are unknown, but they lived in Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy. She is only referenced in their children's marriage records by her given name, so her surname is unknown. They are the parents of four children, Giuseppe, Natale, Filippo and Gurlizia Vita, who are all ancestors on the Marotta line. Angela and Pietro married sometime before 1530 and had at least ten children, nine sons and one daughter. Their children were all were baptized on the dates shown in the mother church parish of Sciacca — Giovanni Antonino in October of 1530; ancestor Giuseppe, whose birthdate is unknown, but married ancestor Antonella Venezia on February 3, 1578, and was buried on May 29, 1613; ancestor Filippo, who married Angelica Polo; Girolamo Tommaso on January 1, 1547; Antonino Leonardo on December 3, 1551, who was called Leonardo; Vincenzo on January 7, 1554; Calogero Bernardino on September 22, 1556; ancestor Natale Vito who married Andriana Girgentano; Vito Antonino on October 30, 1561; and daughter Gurlizia Vita, known as Vita, was baptized on July 16, 1563, and is also an ancestor who married Pietro Bivona. None of these baptism records list the mother’s name.

It is documented in their daughter ancestor Vita’s marriage contract dated October 12, 1578, that Pietro was deceased but her mother Angilelle was still alive. (See the except image in Vita’s bio.) It is not known when Angela and Pietro died, but on August 15, 1564, Pietro gave a testimony in the form of a will, to notary F. Giuffrida about the last dispositions of his earthly assets. (Mouse over and click on Pietro's testamony index image right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) In the will he mentions only four of his sons, ancestor Giuseppe, Leonardo, ancestor Filippo and Natale. This will is also documented, in the form of a Testamento, in Pellegrino Mortillaro’s book, Andrea Randazzo un notaio storico, but his surname is spelled Frixa. This means that Pietro died sometime between August 15, 1564, and October 12, 1578. Unfortunately, this is all that is known about them.

Giuseppe diMino was baptized as Joannello Joseph on July 23, 1571, in the mother church parish of Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, the son of Leonardo diMino and his wife Isabella, whose surname is unknown. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.)

On January 6^th, 7^th and 14^th of 1596, church banns were read for Giuseppe to marry Elisabetta Mineo. On September 29, 1579, she was also baptized in the mother church parish of Sciacca, the daughter of Leonarda Dardaro and her husband Antonino Mineo. (Mouse over and click on her Latin baptism record middle right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Twenty-four year-old Giuseppe and 16 year-old Elisabetta were married at the Sciacca mother church on February 13, 1596. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record upper left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) They are the parents of two ancestors.

Twelve Sciacca baptism and two burial records have been found for their children. On the baptism records Giuseppe is called either Joseph or Giuseppe, spelled many different ways, and Elisabetta is called Lisabetta or Elisabeth, but mostly she is listed as Betta. Their first, third and fourth children were baptized in the St. Vito parish, and all the others were baptized in the mother church parish as follows — ancestor Giovanni Battista; ancestor Isabella; Pellegrino was baptized as Pellegrino Nardo on July 20, 1600; Leonarda Caterina, named after her maternal grandmother, was baptized on October 9, 1602, the last to be baptized in the St. Vito parish, but she may have died young; Caterina on July 24, 1607; another Leonarda, but with the middle name of Giovanna on March 16, 1609, who died 5 months later on August 24, 1609; another Leonarda was baptized on June 22, 1612; Nicolò Francesco was baptized on December 6, 1613, but died at 2 years old on January 2, 1616; Simeona Leonarda on October 27, 1615; Paolo Francesco on July 3, 1617; Maria Francesca on October 19, 1618; and Giovanni, who was born and baptized as Jo: Francesco on September 2, 1620. The two additional children whose baptism records have not been found, but were buried in the mother church cemetery are — Caterina on March 16, 1607, and Ramondo, who was buried on October 7, 1608. Neither of these records give an age or a mother’s name, they just list the child's name, place of burial and father’s name as Gioseppe di Mino. It is possible that these two children were born in the 5 year gap between the fourth and fifth child listed above.

It is documented that both Giuseppe and Elisabetta were alive when their daughter ancestor Isabella was married on January 14, 1622. Elisabetta died and was buried in the Sciacca St. Domenico cemetery on August 22, 1622. (Mouse over and click on her Latin burial record lower left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Her mother church burial record lists her as Elisabeth di Mino, age 40, but she was actually 42 when she died. It is also documented that Giuseppe was alive when their son ancestor Giovanni married on November 26, 1626. There is a Sciacca St. Michele church marriage record for a Joseph Mino who married the twice widowed Vita Petrancosta. Because he is not listed as a widower on this record, it can’t be certain that this is ancestor Giuseppe. A burial record dated November 11, 1646, for an 85 year-old Joseph Mino alias Cirotto, who died in his home, has been found. (Mouse over and click on his Latin burial record lower right to enlarge in a new window or tab.)This could be for this ancestor, but there is no proof that it is for him. His age is 10 years off, as he would have been 75 at the time, and none of his other records has this alias. Until more documents can be found, this is all that is known about Giuseppe and Elisabetta.

Leonardo diMino was baptized as Nardo Gilormo, on May 31, 1546, in the mother church parish of Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, the son of Giuseppe diMino and his unnamed wife. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.)

Sometime in or before 1570, he married a woman named Isabella, whose ancestry is unknown. They are the parents of two ancestors and lived and raised a family in the mother church parish of Sciacca. On all the records found for them, he is called Nardo and she Bella. A Sciacca church marriage record or a marriage contract entry could not be found for them.

Seven Sciacca mother church baptism records have been found for the children of Nardo and Bella di Mino as follows —ancestor Giuseppe was named after his paternal grandfather; Antonino on January 3, 1574; Biaggia was baptized as Blasa Caterina on February 3, 1580, and married Gaspare Buscemi on August 5, 1595; Petro Calogero on December 11, 1584; Filippo Silvestro on December 31, 1586; ancestor Giovanni Leonardo was known as Nardo; and Crispino Filippo, who was baptized on October 25, 1591.

It is not known when Nardo and Bella died, but it is documented that he was alive and she was deceased when their son ancestor Giuseppe was married on February 13, 1596. It is also documented that Leonardo was deceased on October 17, 1610, when their son ancestor Nardo was married. So he died sometime within that more than 14 year span. Unfortunately, a Sciacca burial record could not be found for him, but they start in September of 1606. For now, this is all that is known about them.

Antonino Mineo was baptized on October 20, 1549, in the mother church parish of Sciacca, Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy, the son of Vincenzo Mineo and his unnamed wife. (Mouse over and click on his Latin baptism record upper right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Antonino had at least two sisters both baptized in the mother church parish of Sciacca with a father named Vincenzo — Margarita, who was baptized on December 27, 1543; and Milia Catinella, who was baptized in October of 1546. A mother is not listed on Antonino’s or his sister’s baptism records.

In Pellegrino Mortillaro’s book, Andrea Randazzo un notaio storico Volume Primo, there is a notarial marriage contract for his name. It is for a marriage to Lisarella Geremia and is dated July 29, 1576. A Sciacca church record could not be found for them, so it is uncertain if this is ancestor Antonino.

On October 12, 1578, almost 29 year-old Antonino married almost 16 year-old Leonarda Dardaro. (Mouse over and click on their Latin church marriage record upper left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) Their ages seems to indicate that she was indeed a second wife. Leonarda was baptized as Narduza on November 7, 1562, in the mother church parish of Sciacca, the daughter of Giorgio Dardaro and his unnamed wife whose name may be Joannella. (Mouse over and click on her Latin baptism record middle right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) The Dardaro surname has been spelled many different ways including Dardo and Dardano. Leonarda had at least three siblings — Giovanni was baptized as Johany Ant’nio on April 21, 1560; Margarita on January 23, 1568; and Nicolò, who married Antonina Restivo on January 20, 1585, and on this record his parents are listed as Georgi and Joannella Dardano.

Only five Sciacca baptism records have been found for the children of Ant’no and Narda Mineo, the first three in the mother church parish and the last two in the St. Vito parish. The four records found are as follows — ancestor Elisabetta; Giuseppe Vincenzo, whose middle name is his paternal grandfather’s given name, was baptized on April 14, 1582; Batta was baptized as Jo: Batta Jacobo on September 22, 1583, and was married as Batta to Maria Elia in 1613; Constantina, was baptized in the St. Vito parish on November 11, 1589, and on April 8, 1623, married as her second husband, Pietro Friscia, the son of ancestors Giuseppe Friscia and Antonella Venezia; and their last child, Leonora was baptized on May 22, 1593, and married Accurso Bonanno on September 12, 1610.

It is documented that both Antonino and Leonarda were alive when their daughter Constantine was married for the first time on January 19, 1609. It is also documented that Antonino was alive on November 25, 1613, when his son Batta was married. Unfortunately, there were two other Antonino Mineo’s living in Sciacca at the same time, so it is difficult to pinpoint his exact burial. Because they had no other children after 1593, it is possible that the following burial record is for this ancestor. A man with his name died and was buried in the St. Margarita cemetery on March 1, 1616. (Mouse over and click on the Latin burial record middle left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) This very brief St. Vito burial record just lists him as Ant’ino di Mineo and does not give his age. If this is the ancestor he would have been 66 years old when he died. The burial record for his wife Leonarda, has a similar problem. There are two possible burial records for her name. The first is a woman who died in her home on June 16, 1632, and was buried the next day in the St. Michele cemetery. (Mouse over and click on the Latin burial record lower left to enlarge in a new window or tab.) This St. Michele burial record lists her simply as Leonarda di Mineo, 60 years old. If this is ancestor Leonarda, she would have been 69 when she died. The other is a mother church burial record dated November 23, 1643, and is for Leonarda Mineo, 80 years old who was buried in the mother church cemetery. (Mouse over and click on the Latin burial record lower right to enlarge in a new window or tab.) If this is the ancestor she would have just turned 81 at this time. Unfortunately, neither record mentions her husband’s name, so either of them may or may not be for ancestor Leonarda. For now, this is all that’s known about Antonino, Leonardo and their parents.