1862 Torre le Nocelle Death - Rosa de Angelis

Pedigree of Rosa de Angelis

#33 Filed 14 Settembre 1862
Name: Rosa de Angelis, 40, contadina, figlia dei furono Pasquale ed Alessandra de Angelis, contadini
Death: 13 Settembre 1862 alle ore tre
Declarant: Ciriaco Ardolino, 40, contadino
Declarant: Gennaro de Carro, 66, contadino

Yup, Rosa's pedigree chart is sparse.  Eventually I hope to solve the mystery, but in the meantime here's what I have - 

Rosa Angela de Angelis was born 28 June 1822 in Torre le Nocelle to Alessandra de Angelis.   The levatrice who delivered Rosa also reported the birth, claiming the father was Saverio Ardolino.  Alessandra and Saverio were not married.  The registrar recorded the baby's name as "Rosa Angela" - no surname - but the baptismal section of the act records her as Rosa Angela de Angelis.  

In a situation where the parents were not married I've found one of two things.  Either the father will come forward to report the birth and acknowledge the child (sometimes with a notation by the registrar, sometimes not ), or the registrar will write "padre incerto" where the father's name should be.  

It is very unusual to find the name of the father written on the act when he was not married to the mother or had not reported the birth himself.  This is not to say everyone in town didn't know who fathered the child ... just that he was not legally obligated to recognize him / her if he chose not to do so.

So here we have Rosa de Angelis, said by the midwife to be the daughter of Saverio Ardolino and Alessandra de Angelis, and a death record forty years later that claims her father was someone named Pasquale, who was deceased prior to 1862.   Incidentally, mother Alessandra also gave birth to a set of twins in 1830 (Carmine and Angelo), but their father was a "padre incerto" and they were also given the surname de Angelis.

One of the benefits of researching an entire town as opposed to doing just one or two lines is that I have a mass of other data I can draw from to narrow down paternal possibilities.  Normally I would pull up all of the Saverio Ardolinos from that time frame who could have fathered the child, weed out the ones who were married, deceased or reported to be in the U.S. and be left with an obvious culprit.  Not so in this case.

Based on the assumption that Saverio was born in Torre (and it's also just as likely he wasn't) I've narrowed him down to one of two men.

Up first is Francesco Saverio Ardolino, born 1797 - family group chart below.  His age is right and the name Pasquale seems to run through the family, (Rosa's death act has her father as "the deceased Pasquale") but he went by the name Francesco, was married to Emanuela Altavilla at the time Rosa was born, and was still living at the time of Rosa's death.

Family Group Sheet - Francesco Saverio Ardolino

Next up is Desiderio Saverio Ardolino, who went by Saverio.  If I had to make a wager I'd put money on this guy ... just not my entire paycheck. Saverio's oldest son Carmine died in prison in Porto Longone, convicted of charges related to the 1861 massacre in Torre. This branch of the Ardolino family rivals our Cape Cod Kennedys ... they always seemed to be in sh*t up to their eyeballs.

Saverio married Maria Guarino sometime around 1815.  There is no record of the marriage in Torre, so at this point it's still an assumption that they were actually married, although the birth records of most of their thirteen children list Maria as his legitimate wife.  This Saverio would have been the right age, plus he was deceased at the time Rosa's death.  Family group chart for this couple is below.

Family Group Chart - Desiderio Saverio Ardolino

As far as Rosa's mother Alessandra de Angelis ... she's still anyone's guess.