Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

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pronio
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Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

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I'm posting this in hopes of receiving advice on how to get around this obstacle.

Last year, I decided to trace my surname Pronio using microfilms from Family Search. My father was born in Santa Ninfa (Trapani), population 5,000. I already knew that my relatives are the only people with that name in town. I also had learned that there is a high concentration of Pronios in Abbruzzo near Sulmona, so it is the likely "homeland" for that surname. My research goal was to find out when my Pronio ancestor arrived in Santa Ninfa and from where.

I easily found my grandfather's birth record and then my great grandfather Lorenzo's marriage records. The first from Nov 1877 states he is 27 and the second from Dec 1899 states he is 50. They both state he was born in Santa Ninfa and parents are unknown. However, the 1899 record has a margin note stating the marriage was noted in his birth record of 1850, atto 17.

I located that birth record but it was for someone else! I then went page by page through 1850 and years before and after but there was no Pronio name to be found. In tracing my other Santa Ninfa lines in the same collection back to the 1820s I kept an eye out for a Pronio but there were none.

Ok, so Lorenzo was an orphan, but there were no other Pronios in town to adopt him and give their name. And it isn't a traditional foundling surname. Did he just name himself at some point? From online searches I found intriguing info related to the Pronio surname and the 1848 revolution in Sicily. This led me to imagine possible scenarios.

What is the best way to proceed?
Search through Diversi which are available for mid 1800s?
or
write to Trapani archive for draft record of Lorenzo Pronio in hopes there is useful info? (is exact date of birth needed?)

Thanks in advance,

Micaela
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liviomoreno
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Re: Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

Post by liviomoreno »

It is very likely that Lorenzo was a foundling and therefore the name and surname was assigned by the Civil State officer, who decided to assign the surname Pronio. This would explain why you ancestors where the only people in town with that surname.
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Re: Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

Post by erudita74 »

Here are two email addresses you might try, as well as a mailing address for the town. If he was born in Santa Ninfa, the birth record, which would be more of a description of the abandonment than an actual birth record, should either be in Part II of the records for the year in question, or among the diversi acts. I would email the town and say that you believe he was a foundling and give the date you have.
Erudita

Perricone Maria Pia
Telefono: (+39)0924/992205
E-mail: demografico@comune.santaninfa.tp.it
m.perricone@comune.santaninfa.tp.it

Servizi Demografici
Comune di Santa Ninfa
Piazza Libertà , 1
Santa Ninfa (TP)
Italia
pronio
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Re: Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

Post by pronio »

Thank you for this advice. I checked the Atti Diversi and found Lorenzo Pronio's record of abandonment in 1850. He was left at the wheel in Santa Ninfa and named by a committee of three that dealt with registering foundlings. He was handed over to a nutrice and it names both the woman and her husband.

I can only surmise that they chose the surname "Pronio" because it was a well known at the time and foreign to Santa Ninfa. A General Paolo Pronio from Abruzzo was sent by the King to put down the Sicilian Revolution of 1848 and was still in Palermo at the time of the birth.

Do you think there is any possibility of finding out more details through records research? Should I search for Atti Diversi in subsequent years pertaining to guardianship? Would he have stayed with the nutrice or been reassigned as an apprentice as he got older? I'm thinking of writing for military records in Trapani. He was not married until 1877 and I would like to see what it lists for residence and parents.

Tante grazie!
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Re: Pronio surname in Sicily: "unknown parents" dead end

Post by Italysearcher »

Why not read my blog on the subject of abandoned babies. It will give you some insight.
Ann Tatangelo
http://angelresearch.net
Dual citizenship assistance, and document acquisition, on-site genealogical research in Lazio, Molise, Latina and Cosenza. Land record searches and succession.
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