Death Record: Spirito Cantoia or Castaldi?

[kencwalker]

Buongiorno fellow IG sleuths,
I have an interesting death record to interpret.
The handwriting is clear and the translation is straight forward. It's the facts that are confusing, and inconsistent with the birth record. One thing I've learned, inconsistencies need to be closely examined, and not brushed off as "oh, they made a mistake".

First the deceased's name in the margin is Spirito Cantoia, and yet entered as Spirito Castaldi in the text ("morto Castaldi Spirito di anni dieci"). The second inconsistency is his age, 10 years old. Note that the father is "Carlo".

I have a Feb-1876 birth record for Spirito Cantoia that matches most of the facts: parents, father's age and home address. If it's the same Spirito, that would make him 5 years old in 1881.

Declarers in this record match family names for Spirito Cantoia: Carlo Cantoia (age 47), his father, and Giovanni Battista Castaldi (age 66), his maternal grandfather.

Looking for your insights. Grazie,
-Ken

[liviomoreno]

Theoretically (according to the law) the correct name is the one in the text, not the one in the margin.

[kencwalker]

(according to the law) the correct name is the one in the text.

Grazie, Livio,
You're not helping my cause.

Seriously.... the obvious solution is to search the Cavalgio records for a matching Spirito Castaldi birth entry around 1871. Unfortunately, they can only be viewed at the family history center. I grabbed this image, then left for the day. I don't expect to find a Spirito Castaldi. If I do, it makes for a very interesting family story (given that Carlo Cantoia and Annucniata Castaldi married before 1865).
-Ken

[krash142]

When I read this, I cannot help but see that the name is Cantoia.

[kencwalker]

When I read this, I cannot help but see that the name is Cantoia.

thanks krash142. Yes, the name in the margin is clearly Spirito Cantoia.
However, the name in the body looks to be "è morto Castaldi Spirito".

Personally, I don't think Carlo Zoia is the most accurate Uffiziale dello Stato Civile in Lombardy.
He flubbed another Cantoia as Cattaneo.

-Ken

[erudita74]

Ken
Despite what Livio said, I do believe the child's correct name is Spirito Cantoia, and that the father is one of the declarants.
Erudita

[kencwalker]

Thanks to all for your input. I made a trip to the local Family History Center and reviewed birth entries from 1871-1876 for potential Spirito Castaldi's. None exist. In fact, I could find no other Spiritos (by any last name) born in that time frame. (I did find a death entry in 1874 for a Spirito Castaldi, age 23.) So, I'm 99.44% sure this record is for Spirito Cantoia.

I also looked up the 1903 marriage record for Pietro Cantoia/Cattaneo, and discovered Pietro Cattaneo married Maria Mandelli. Second mystery solved.

I'm chalking both of these up as a data entry errors by Signore Zoia, Uffiziale dello Stato Civile. Ugh.
-Ken