Need help translating hand-written Italian death record for Maria Azzarello from Termini Imerese in 1907

Question

Would anyone be willing to help translate the hand-written death record below? I believe that Maria Azzarello was the wife of Nick Arrigo in Lincoln, NE at the time she died of typhoid fever on 15 Sep 1906. There is a newspaper article from Lincoln on 16 Sep 1906 that mentions the death of Mary Arrigo, wife of Nicholas, on the prior day. I obtained a death certificate for "Marie Graziana Arrigo" in Lincoln from 15 Sep 1906. I believe Graziana could have been used on the death certificate because that was her mother's maiden name and her father died before she was born, but the name variation still makes me a little unsure. If someone were willing to translate this document it would help to better connect the death to her name at birth, Maria Azzarello. This document appears in the 1907 death records from Termini, but I anticipate that when this record is translated it will mention that the death happened in 1906 in Lincoln. The record actually continues on the next page and is very long. It does appear to refer to Lincoln on the second page, but the details are unclear to me. Thank you for any assistance you can offer!

Geoff

"Italia, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Stato Civile (Tribunale), 1862-1910," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M8-WBMF?cc=1947613&wc=MDB6-L38%3A245880801%2C249735401 : 20 May 2014), Termini Imerese > Morti 1890-1910 > image 2136 of 2578; Tribunale di Termini Imerese (Termini Imerese Court, Termini Imerese). [record 39 on bottom right]

Comments

Did she die in Lincoln or Termini?  She shouldn't have two death registrations.

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I believe she died in Lincoln because the newspaper article from Lincoln the next day mentions her death, and then there are the details of the undertaker and others in Lincoln on the death certificate. On the second page of the record from Termini I can make out the words Lincoln, Lancaster, and Nebraska, along with some of the names, so it appears that the record from Termini was referring to her death in Lincoln. I have seen something similar involving births and baptisms, where records from the United States and elsewhere were sent back to Termini, so it doesn't seem unprecedented for records to exist in both places. I can't say exactly why they did this in each case, but I do see evidence that it happened often.

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My Italian isn't good enough to be really helpful, but I can make out something about Maria Azzarella died 15 Sep 1906 in Lincoln, Lancaster, Nebraska, United States. I don't want to confuse you with a mis-translation, so you'd be better to wait for someone else, but I just wanted to say that it is not unexpected that the death is recorded in her comune. I've found a similar situation with one of my ancestors who died in a hospital in Lucca (I think I'm remembering that right). The death was recorded in Lucca, and a copy sent to the comune where it was also recorded. (I had to get help with that translation, too!)

It is expected. When I had my Italian citizenship recognized, I had to present copies of my birth and marriage records, as well as those of my parents to the embassy here. They forwarded those records to my comune (where my grandfather was born), and they are now recorded in Italy. I have my US birth certificate and also a copy of my Italian birth certificate that states I was born in the US.

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Records are different then registrations for us,  in Switzerland  when someone born in Switzerland leaves home they retain their Swiss citizenship wherever they live so when they die wherever they die,  that information is entered beside their birth registration or on the death page to carry on family history.  It is a record/information but not considered a registration.

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I'm going down that rabbit hole soon... "Riconstruzione Citadinaza"... But the Buenos Aires Consulate is a mess. Wish me luck!

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Hi Lynn, Yes, this applies for Switzerland (and it's a bit more complicated than you described), but as the only country I ever heard of. I'm both Swiss and Italian.

For Italy I found that sometimes the civil registry office or the church got message from the US or from Canada and then added this to the birth record. Or sometimes when someone died in another town, then it was later registered in the appendix of the death register of the town where the person lived.

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It applies to Argentina-Italia too. There're international treaties between Italia (where "ius sanguinis/blood law" is still valid) and countries where only "ius solis/place law" abides. That's why I can ask for Italian citizenship through my grandfather Corbellani even if my father and I where born in Argentina, as long as I have all the documents and my grandfather didn't take the argentinian citizenship before my father was born (which he didn't). After that, I'll have two valid citizenships.

Answer 1

Translation of marginal note:

N°39 Complete translation of the death record of Azzarello María daughter of Antonino.

Translation of text:

Town Hall, September the 12th, 1907, 12:30PM. Before me, Tommaso Giardina, delegate secretary due to act dated October 30th 1898 duly approved, Civil State Official of the city of Termine Imerese, has appeared Maria Coniglio, 63 years old, housewife, domiciled in Termine; who has presented to me a copy of the death certificate of Maria Azzarello and has asked of me to transcribe the whole of it in the register of the current year. Attending to the legitimate request and interest of Maria Coniglio I proceeded to transcribe in full the certificate copy that reads:

State of Nebraska, Lancaster County. Reverend Father Giorgio (Aguirre? Aguius?) D. D. solemnly swears that he has known well and personaly Mrs. Maria Azzarello, daughter of Antonino Azzarello, who has died, and the declarant is in personal knowledge that the mother of Maria Azzarello was Antonina Graziano; that Maria Azzarello was born in Termine Imerese, Sicily, on April 6th 1874 and that on February 6th 1898 she married Nicola Arrigo, son of Girolamo and Maria Coniglio. The declarant testifies that Maria Azzarello died on September 15th 1906, in her house in Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States of America after suffering from tiphoid fever for one month. That to the day of her death she was 27 years and 4 months old. The witness declares that he is aware of her death from personal knowledge and that she was buried in the cemetery close to Lincoln on September 17th 1906 and that he was the priest that officiated the ceremony. The declarant knows this all from personal knowledge, signed: R. Giorgio Aguius? D. D.

Subscribes, after duly swearing in my presence [seal] (follows the list and names of officers in Lincoln, Lancaster County, etc. and witnesses, various certifications and seals, validation of the translation to italian and witnesses to that, etc.)

I hope MY translation is more or less understandable...

So, from what you said, she died and was buried in Nebraska, but her mother-in-law Maria Coniglio asked that her death certificate was transcribed in her home town Termine Imerese's record too. Maybe it was for some legal or inheritance issues.

Comments

Excellent!!  Great to see it!

I have seen records of such deaths when people born in an area have died in other areas, the records I have seen have been just written beside their names in the church books to keep a history of the family.

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Thank you very much for taking the time to do this Cristina :-) And so quickly!

It is interesting to see the name of the priest who officiated her funeral. This month I tried to obtain records of her death from the Archdiocese of Lincoln, but according to the sister I spoke with there was a fire in the early 1900s at St. Mary Church (at the time it was called St. Theresa) in Lincoln that destroyed the death records from 1880-1936. I did get a baptismal record for her second son Anthony James, and a marriage record of her first daughter so it was the right church.

I know that Nick remarried in Chicago in January of 1908 and I wonder if this record has something to do with that. As you said though, perhaps there could be other legal or inheritance issues I could look for.

Well thank you again!

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Well, maybe those names at the end could be useful for you then.

- John J. Ledevitti (public notary, Lancaster County))

- W. L. Davison (Secretary of Lancaster County)

- H. E. Wells (Vice-secretary of LC)

For the translation at the Italian Consulate in the USA:

witnesses: Agostina (no last name written), 44 years old, housewife and Giuseppe Coniglio, 50 years old, farmer.

Maybe this Coniglio was related to the mother-in-law.

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Here is the original English document that was translated and transcribed: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M8-37ZG?i=197&wc=MDB6-J29%3A245880801%2C247233601&cc=1947613

Note that the document says she was born in 1879, not 1874 (the number is hard to read in the transcription). That agrees with TI birth records (1879 birth #223).

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Wow, thank you for this as well! Now I feel bad asking for the translation, but I didn't expect to see this come up in two different places in these records. Good to know for the future, since it helps to understand a little better how the documents are organized.

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Yes, TI records are pretty good about having the original documents that are transcribed/translated and put into Part II civil records.

BTW I added some other records to her profile and updated the bio since you didn't have her original birth record or civil marriage record.

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The more the merrier! Great job, Frank!