**Disclaimer** this is a blog takeover. Uncle Danny invited me to write about my recent trip to Italy and my recent family research. This is VERY long story – but if you're interested in Alberti family history this is worth the read.
“The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel
for some way, and then dipped suddenly down,
so suddenly that Alice had not a
moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what seemed to be a very deep
well.”
Alice in Wonderland has been a favorite story since I was a little girl.
No matter what mysteries and impossible challenges were placed in her path, she
found a way through. She met tricksters and villains but always persisted on
her missions. What does Alice have to do with the Alberti family blog, you ask?
Uncle Danny has awarded me and my genealogical research skills, the moniker of
Alice. Stay with me here and I promise you won’t be disappointed…
Until a few months ago, the solid facts about Great Grandpa
Alberti were pretty foggy. Uncle Danny has done an incredible job of taking
what crumbs we know about him from “the box”: vague scribblings from Grandma
Godfrey, tales passed down through generations, a few inflated newspaper
stories and two passport applications. He traveled down his own rabbit holes of
research to build fabulous and plausible accounts of what his life might have
been like growing up in Italy and immigrating to the United States.
While I was totally enthralled with the grand tales of Great
Grandpa Alberti’s life, I couldn’t let go of the fact that there was really no
solid evidence to back them up…and well, that just won’t do. I am a realist. I
want evidence. Uncle Danny’s blog motivated me. I wanted to know more about the
Albertis of Florence.
So off I went down my first rabbit hole at the beginning of this
year - starting with a trip to Italy with my cousin Kara (because every great
adventurer/sleuth needs a sidekick right?) The journey to Italy via Newark, NJ
was packed with fascinations and signs. We had a few hours to kill before our flight
to Rome, so upon arrival in Newark we decided to hop on the ferry and cross the
Hudson to Lower Manhattan.
This was my first time seeing Lady Liberty. It was extremely
moving to begin our ancestral journey this way. It created a meaningful and
introspective energy for Kara and me as we crossed the river. We disembarked
the boat and found ourselves wandering through Battery Park. After walking a
few miles we happened upon a large rock, somewhat hidden by tall weeds, with a
plaque on it. The plaque read: Pietro Cesare Alberti 1608-1655.
The first Italian American Immigrant settler in the colony of New
Amsterdam. What is now known as New York.
I would describe the look on our faces as something between
astonished and inspired. Before you get too excited…remember that I am a facts
girl. We have zero evidence of any relation to Pietro Alberti. It was just a
really cool coincidence that on a trip looking for facts about our Alberti, we
found our first Alberti. It had to be some kind of blessing on our upcoming
travels.
A quick backstory for some clarity…see I told you this was a
rabbit hole. In 1969 Uncle Danny and Aunt Sharon made a quick trip to Florence attempting
to find out more about our mysterious Alberti ancestor. They visited what is
now the Firenze National Archives and submitted a genealogy request. The
response came in a letter to Uncle Danny confirming that there were in fact
many Albertis in Florence, some of which were nobility (however our family
could not be directly connected to them). The letter also contained the
approximate location of the Alberti family crest located on the side of the
Alberti Tower near the Via dei Bardi.
Armed with these directions, upon arrival in Florence, Kara and
I dropped our bags at our Air BNB near the Boboli Gardens and immediately set
out to find two things: Espresso and the Via dei Bardi.
Imagine, two jet lagged cousins speed walking the narrow streets
of Firenze, following 49 year old directions to the location of a 700 year old building.
I wouldn’t say we were lost exactly. Lost feels like a permanent situation. We
were more finding our bearings in an ancient city… and just like we stumbled
upon the Alberti memorial in Battery Park, we happened upon the Alberti Tower. The
Alberti crest is a shield with two crossed silver chains. Nothing intricate,
but standing on the sidewalk staring up at the symbol of my ancestors, bathed
in a golden sunset, was magnifico! Ready for another coincidence? The Alberti
Tower is now a mixed use building that houses a café in the bottom and offices
and apartments upstairs. One of those offices belongs to the Medici Archive
Project. The Medici Archive Project is an organization dedicated to digitizing
old Florentine genealogical records from the time of the Medici’s.
Another sign. With only three nights left in Florence, I figured
that I needed to work fast to get anything discovered on the ground. Later that
evening I began Googling like a madwoman. Reading the Medici Archive website
directed me to the location of the Firenze National Archives and further instructed
me to make a research request. Like all things Italian, this place was on its own
schedule. Due to a national holiday there were no appointments available until
after we left Italy.
That didn’t stop Kara and me from chasing the golden
Florentine light all over the city. We wandered down narrow streets, drank wine
and cappuccino in cozy cafes and daydreamed about walking in the same place our
ancestor’s might have walked over 200 years ago.
I returned home relaxed and
more inspired than ever to know more.
Well imagine my excitement when I heard that cousin Trisha and
her husband would be traveling to Florence and Pienza just a few months later. I
sent her all the Alberti information I had and crossed my fingers for her success.
That success came in April. I would even venture to call it a major breakthrough
in my research.
Before we can continue with the story, I need to make a list for
you to recap what we think we know about Albert Alberti’s early life in Italy. Because
this is what I do. I make lists.
What we think we know about Albert Alberti’s life in Italy
1855-1870
-
Born in Florence in March
11, 1855 (from his passport application)
-
Born in Pienza in March
4, 1855 (passport application – hmm two birthdays eh?)
-
Placed in a Monastery at
age 3 -17 which he ran away from (family story)
-
Worked as clerk in a
town called Galluzo (from a newspaper story for his retirement)
-
Father: Joseph Mother: Siena (passport application)
-
Had two sisters,
Assontina and Anntonina (notes from Grandma Godfrey)
-
Spoke Italian, Spanish,
Portuguese, French and Hebrew possibly more languages (notes from Grandma
Godfrey)
-
Parents were a Count and
Countess with a large estate in Florence (G.G. notes)
There. Now we are all on the same page with the “facts” about
Albert. Moving on. I promise we are about to get to the really good stuff!
Trisha received an e-mail a few weeks later from the Archivio Di
Stato Di Firenze. It was the “Nato” or birth record for Alberto Alberti. It was
of course, written in Italian. Apparently Albert was a better first name than
Alberto to use in America.
I will translate the Nato here for you:
Alberto Alberti born at 9 in the evening, on March 11, 1854 to
Guiseppe di Gaetano, a pharmacist and Fioravanti Maria di Serafino, a landowner
(or blacksmith *I’ll explain this more later on) Living as part of the
population of the Pienza Cathedral. Baptised on the 13th day of March.
Godfather, Progaj Gaetano
*(Progaj is listed on
the record as the god parent’s second name, but this must be a typo as there is
no J in Italian. Perhaps it’s Primo or Proggio. This record has been translated
for us and the original is not online for me to see. This person could be
Guiseppe’s father or perhaps this is a word in Italian I am not familiar with
yet. I’ll keep researching this one.
Italian
birth records are arranged a bit differently than ours. You often have the name
of the fathers of the parents listed as well. So for research purposes that is
a goldmine. It gave me two more names to search for in history *Gaetano Alberti
(Alberto’s dad) and *Serafino Fioravanti (Maria’s dad). Tuscan records pre 1861
were organized by the Parish, so this birth record also told me exactly where
to look – Pienza Cathedral Parish in Pienza.
If you have been following along with Uncle Danny’s blogs you
have to be sitting with your mouth open right now. This tiny paragraph of
information is monumental in the hunt for Alberti. It confirms a few “what we
thought we knows” and in my mind, makes them cold hard facts. Remember? I love
facts. I start with identifying everything that I know as true and work
backwards or sometimes forwards from those truths. Like Alice in her Google Wonderland
I set off to find more.
Ready for a new list? Thought so.
What we now know as fact about Alberto Alberti
-
Given first name is Alberto
-
Born Pienza, Italy on March 11, 1854
-
Father: Guiseppe Alberti di Gaetano Mother: Maria Fioravanti di Serafino
-
Father was a Pharmasict, Mother a Landowner/Blacksmith
-
Alberto’s paternal grandfather was named Gaetano Alberti
-
Alberto’s father in law was named Serafino Fioratanvti
-
Sister: Assontina
To
date, I have read over 500 Italian birth records and census pages. All in
Italian and all written in scrolly, faded and hard to read script. So, while
the Tuscan government was kind enough to scan birth, death, marriage records
and some census books from 1808-1865, they are not searchable documents. The
reader must virtually flip, page by page, for the names they seek. My labors
did not go unrewarded.
I
was sitting at my desk at 4pm, waiting to leave the office at the end of a
pretty boring day. I decided to spend an hour searching for Great Grandpa
Albert(o)’s father – Guiseppe Alberti di Gaetano. On the website for the Tuscan
Atenati, I found the 1841 censimento (census) for all of Florence. Pienza is a
town within Florence so this seemed like a very good place to start. Page 1…lots
of Italian names: Brunori, Formici, Sagnome, Vegni. Page 2….more Italian
surnames names, members of the household and occupations...farmers, laborers,
maids, smiths and their families.
Page
3…first entry lists – Serafino Fieravanti, age 52, widowed, Catholic, a Fabbro
Possidente. Fabbro Possidente translates to Master Blacksmith. This is a tricky
one - as Possidente means Landownder and Fabbro Possidente means Master Blacksmith.
The census takers of the time weren’t very good at capturing accurate occupations
in Southern Italy. Some political and economic situations happening in Italy at
this time encouraged census takers to list the least the important occupation
or to combine occupations. Not so important in 1841 perhaps, but puzzling for the
7x great granddaughter in 2018. This means Alberto’s future father in law might
have been both a Master Blacksmith and a Landowner.
In
his household is also Maria Fieravanti, age 12 and a servant, Marianna
Tamagnini, age 48. No mention of Maria’s mother. Perhaps she died in
childbirth. Another rabbit hole to go down on another day.
Now
before you point out of the variation of the last name, remember those Italian census
takers. They were probably underpaid, facing regional language barriers and had
sloppy penmanship. My guess is the researcher working for Trisha in Florence
read the cursive “e” in Fieravanti as an “o”.
Even
though I sat, gob smacked, looking at proof of Alberto’s mother living in
Pienza in an 1841 census....remember...facts. That small variation of the
surname left a tiny seed of doubt in my mind. Well, only 55 more pages of the
census to read. I couldn’t help but wonder if I might find Guiseppe Alberti
living in the same town as Maria. Maybe he was a neighbor boy and they fell in tweenage
love under the Tuscan sun. Wait, I think that’s a movie. Nevermind. Back to census
scanning. Towards the end of the census, halfway down the page is all the proof
I need. I found Alberto’s Mother and Father.
I could hardly believe what I was reading - Giuseppe Alberti, age 29,
unmarried, Catholic, occupation: Pharmacist.
You
might have noticed that Guiseppe had a good 17 years on his future bride in 1841.
That is a bit puzzling. By the time she turned 20, he was already 37. I am currently
on the hunt for their marriage record. I don’t know the exact year they were
married. Working backwards from the year their first son was born (Alberto in 1854)
and her age at the time of the census, and also assuming she was around 20 and they
were probably married for at least one year before his birth, I estimate they
walked down the aisle between 1849-1853.
I
also found what I think is Maria’s uncle living in Florence at the same time.
Antonio Fieravanti, age 58, a Shoe Shop owner and his wife, Maddalena, age 46.
They had one son, Caiimer who is listed as a Clerk. Antonio must have been a
patient man. Also listed in their household was his mother in law, Barbera
Ciolfi, a widow, age 80. I found it interesting that they listed her as “Impotente”
or powerless under the occupation category. I wonder if Antonio felt that way
about her at the time.
With
confirmed names, locations and the beginning of a timeline taking shape, I started
the search for the next family members. The mysterious sisters of Alberto: Assontina
and Anntonina. These two ladies are enigmas. They are only mentioned twice in
the documentation I have from Uncle Danny. Once, in a letter from Assontina’s
husband. Antones wrote to Grandma Godfrey from Firenze. He shared they were
married for 60 years and she died in 1947 after suffering with illness for 30
months. Another mention of the sisters is in Grandma’s notes about the Alberti
family. They are mentioned as having disappeared/died during the Nazi
occupation of Italy during WWII. The fact that there are no photos of them and
no other information about their lives was puzzling and I love a good mystery.
The
letter from Antones is enough proof for me that Assontina existed. However,
there is still no evidence of Anntonina at all. Except for one tiny clue. In
1940, the Kansas City Star published Alberto’s obituary. In that write up, it
states he is survived by two sisters
living in Florence, though neither one is named.
I
return to the digital treasure chest of the Tuscan Atenati records to begin my
search for Assontina Alberti. The Pienze birth records for 1861-1865 are available
online. Time for more math – if she was married for 60 years and died in 1947, she
married Antones in 1887. Subtract another 20-25 years from that and it lands us
smack in the middle of the available birth records for Pienza.
While
searching through all five years of records I found not only Assontina (which I
assume was her nickname), listed as Assenota Sactona, born June 6th,
1863, but also her brother who was lost in history until now – Gaetano Serafino
Alberti, born February 27th 1865. Both children born of Giuseppe
Alberti and Maria Fieravanti.
Assenota’s
150 year old records are very hard to make out, but you can see that Alberto
Alberti is listed as her god parent. A person named Dolci Annunziate is listed
as the god parent of Gaetano Serafino. If you aren’t completely bored out of
your gourd with reading this genealogical novella I am writing, then you will
have noticed that Giuseppe and Maria named their second son after their
fathers. Probably a great honor to them.
Wow!
That was a lot of research rabbit holes! This Alice has a brain cramp. 1861 is
the next census that occurred in Florence. The 1861 census should show Alberto’s
entire family living under one roof. It would prove if the stories about
Alberto living in a monastery from 1857-1871 are true. It would prove if
Anntonina existed and if that was, in fact, her name. Unfortunately the only
way to view these documents is in person, at you guessed it, the Firenze
National Archives. Perhaps Trisha’s research contact in Florence can help us
out via e-mail. If not, then another trip is in order.
Now
if you’ll excuse me, I have about 1,000 birth records from 1809-1813 to read
through on the hunt for more details of Alberto’s father, Giuseppe Alberti. He
was born during the French occupation of Florence. A very interesting time in
Italy for you history nerds. My hopes are to find his father and continue to
trace the Alberti lineage as far back as I can. Who knows, maybe we really were
nobility. Remember, I am a facts girl. So off I go…in search of Alberti.
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