Augusta Sicily Genealogy Info

The Genealogical data contained in the following sheets is a collection of searches for particular surnames, namely Marino, DiMare, Morello, Amara, and later Danieli, Saraceno, Passanisi and others. In essence, the list grew with the addition of each maternal surname branch. But these sheets are not a complete list of all names in Augusta.

Although I am not a genetic genealogist, when I first did my Ancestry DNA and began collecting the original Augusta records back in 2010, I transcribed information from microfilms of the records. Several years later, FamilySeach digitized the records from 1900 onwards, and eventually completed the digitization of all records available from 1820. In many entries, you will find a link back to the original records on FamilySearch (you may need to be in a Family History Library to see them) or to Antenati which will be accessible on a home computer.

For some surnames, such as DiMare, I went through methodically and recorded every PATERNAL instance of that surname. However, searching for female descendants of a line requires targeted searches, which was not done for every maternal descendant. So, many branches are incomplete with many surnames not yet on the tree. But please check back to these sheets because more entries are added as often as possible.

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Research Notes

Sicilian Naming Notes

Surname equivalents found in our trees

As you are looking for your surname, do not dismiss a name that may look similar in case there are two written forms. It is worth recording alternate-looking forms just in case it does represent another version.
Even though the towns are small, it is uncommon to have the same marriage pair of names in the same generation.
A woman has the same surname on her birth, marriage and death records (with some exceptions. * See "The trick with maternal surnames" )
Women who died unmarried ("nubile") could have had children (birth would have been labelled "naturale")
A child can have the mother's surname if the birth was listed as "Naturale", but the child's marriage record could have the father's surname.
Not all records in the family trees have been recorded in the databases below, and the databases contain some names that have not yet been matched to a family line on the trees (so check all trees and databases).

Surname equivalents found in our trees

Buffo/Baffo
Bramanti/Bramante
Castro/Crasto
Danieli/Daniele
DiFazio / Fazio
DiMare/DiMari/Mari/Mare
DiModica / Modica
Frixa/Friscia
Galofaro/Garofalo
Inferrera/ Ferrera
L'Astorina/Lastorina/Astorina (and possibly Lastrina)
LaSaia/Saia
LoGiudice/Giudice
Magnano/Mangano
Martines/Martinez
Patania/Platania/Patané
Peres/Perez
Ruiz/Ruizi/Ruisi
Saraceno/Saracino
Scalzo/Scauzo
Spinali/Spinale
Vaiasicca/Aiasicca
Zuppello/Zappulla/Zappalá.

Augusta Sicily Family Tree Links in Ancestry.com

Public Family Trees on Ancestry.com

DiMare Family Tree

One of the largest Augusta-based family tree on Ancestry. Nearly comprehensive list of DiMare, Marino, Amara and Morello surnames. Entries often include links to the original records, and minimally point the the records number in the associated vital records. Many entries link to sources from the Ruma-Spinali tree.

Francis Patania Family Tree

Another large tree with family connections to surnames Patania, Morello, Noe, Piazza, Pitruzzello, and Finocchio. This tree also cross links to many records in the other two trees here.

Augusta Sicily Tree

One of the most extensive trees focusing on Spinali and Ruma. The tree but also has multiple family groups yet to be connected to the main tree. This tree is a major collaborator with DiMare Family tree and all entries accurately point to records in the original vital records.

SicilianFamilyTree.com Vital Records

This website mainly focuses on the towns of Misilmeri and Ventimiglia di Sicilia. However, they have also posted other researchers' contributions from others towns, including Augusta. This link will take you to a data sheet for the Births | Marriages | Deaths in Augusta, posted in 2014. It is not a comprehensive list of all vital records, but focuses on specific Augusta surnames, including Tringali, Bellistri, Cannava, and Saraceno.

1820-1929 Augusta Sicily - Births Database

Births are a good way to create family groups. Information in these document is birth date, father's age (sometimes mother's age in the early records), and occasionally the marriage of the person written in the margins. Families typically would have a child every 1-3 years, and men would marry typically in their 20's. Therefore, if a record shows the father age 40, then you can assume there are many siblings preceding that record. The person presenting the infant is usually the father, but can be a midwife (levatrice). Births 1820-1899 and 1911-1915 are available on the Antenati site. Births 1900-1910 are available on FamilySearch from your home computer, and births 1916-1929 have been recently digitized but are only viewable from the affiliate libraries.

Genealogy data - Births - Augusta 1820-1929 (pdf)Download

1820-1943 Augusta Sicily - Marriages Database

Marriage records will be recorded as Matrimonio or Promessa records. Although they usually coincide, I have seen a Promessa occasionally that did not result in a marriage. Once you have the marriage record, you can then go to the Allegati to find the marriage bans, which include the bride and grooms birth or baptism record, as well as the death record for deceased parents, and grandfather of the groom of the father is deceased. This database includes link to the allegati records if recorded, and the corresponding data. The Antenati site has all Matrimoni 1820-1892, plus recently added 1943 and 1945. Year 1893-1899 are missing from all records possibly due to a fire or other destruction event. Matrimoni 1900-1945 is available on the Familysearch site. Once you have the record number, you can locate the "Matrimoni, pubblicazioni allegati" (1867-1892) and "Matrimoni, processetti" (1822-1865) on the Antenati site.

Genealogy data - Marriages - Augusta 1820-1943 (pdf)Download

1820-1945 Augusta Sicily - Deaths Database

Death records will give you the date of death, and the age at death. Additionally, the spouse will be given as either the "moglie/marito" (they have survived the person in the death record) or vedova/vedovo (the spouse is pre-deceased). This can help you narrow down the spouse's death date if you are searching for that as well. Occasionally the record may say "in ultimo", which indicates that the person in the record has been married before the spouse given in the death record. Also, it is worth noting the specific birth location ("nata in") which may may be different than their place of residence (in Augusta). The record may also give you a current address since most died at home.

Genealogy data - deaths - Augusta 1820-1943 (pdf)Download