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Sunday, February 7, 2016

Tinetti Family: Finding the Right San Giovanni

     In Italian research it's all about finding the right town.  In the US it's more about the right County but in Italy it's definitely the exact right town. I was stumped on finding Giovanni Tinetti's birth record and his father, Giuseppe Tinetti's death record because I couldn't find the right San Giovanni. In all the records I had from Torre Canavese, where he raised his family, Giovanni's birth place is listed as San Giovanni and sometimes San Giovanni dei Boschi.  There are many towns in Italy named San Giovanni. I knew where his was, it was on the map right next to Torre Canavese in the Canavese area of Torino, Piedmont, Italy.  I had even been to that San Giovanni, gone through the Church and so on in 2014. But I was having trouble finding the microfilm of that Church's records at the Family History Library of Salt lake City.  I rented two different films with no success. So, recently I tried again, I'm not sure how I found it but I saw I hadn't tried one so I sent for it. Last Thursday I went to my local Family History Library and looked at it. Bingo! Right town!

     Here was Giovanni's birth record at the same date that I had had from a photo sent to his daughter. But there was a surprise: he had a middle name which had never appeared in any record. the record is in Latin so it says Joannes Baptista, or, in Italian, Giovanni Battista Tinetti.  John the Baptist. A very common combination in Northern Italy, at least I surmise so because it appears also in the records of Sporminore in Trento. The birth records of the rest of Giuseppe and Maria Tinetti's children were also here. But now a new mystery, the records give Giuseppe's mother's name as Antonia Amosso, the birth record in San Martino gives her name as Joanna (Latin again, so, Giovanna). I am assuming that this is the same woman.  I also found Giuseppe's death record on 14 Feb 1860, a date I didn't have before.

     San Giovanni also had the marriage record of Giovanni and his first wife, Domenica Zanotti. This was different from the family record I had. That said 28 May 1846 in Cuceglio and this was 27 August in San Giovanni.  As I was not able to find a marriage record in the Cuceglio records I have to accept this one. Domenica was only 17 years old.  The next interesting find was the birth record of their first son who I knew as Giuseppe.  He was born Giuseppe Ottavio on 20 Nov 1846 so less than three months after the marriage.  Perhaps why the doctored May date (still only 6 months). Again this middle name had not appeared in any other records. Finally I found the birth record of their second son, known to me as Antonio.  His name at birth was Antonio Amedeo Secondo Tinetti.

     Obviously I was very happy to discover all the new data and glad to have found the right San Giovanni!







   

5 comments:

  1. Great finds - and once again, persistence pays off!

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  2. Hello - I'm not sure if this is weird of me to do or not, but I think we must be related somehow (if very distantly!).

    I randomly decided to search Giovanni's name because I am going to Italy in a few weeks and I couldn't remember where he was from exactly.

    If you are interested in comparing family histories, please feel free to contact me at bethderosier14@gmail.com.

    My grandfather (who is 93 and still living) is a great grandson of Giovanni Battista Tinetti and Domenica.

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  3. We are distant relatives. My great-grandfather was Paolo Tinetti. He and my great-grandmother, Madelena, immigrated from San Giovanni to Laurium, in Michigan's upper penninsula, in around 1900. I have his naturalization certificate which is dated 1903. I have a family tree going back to the 1700's, I think (not sure), as well as a little booklet, "Al Me Pais," that my grandfather brought back in 1970- when he went over to a centennial celebration. It was written by local writers, including a Tinetti. It is getting late now and I don't have time to look for them but if you want to contact me my e-mail address is mtinetti@charter.net.

    Michele Tinetti
    Rochester, Minnesota

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  4. My great-grandparents were Anton Tinetti and Appolonia Marta from San Giovanni Canavese. My grandmother, Dominica Tinetti, was born in San Giovanni Canavese. Her siblings were born in Negaunee, Michigan. Appolonia returned to San Giovanni Canavese for a period of time with her children (Domenico Tinetti, Antonietta Tinetti) and my grandmother, the youngest, was born there.

    I have a booklet from 1930 titled "S. Giovanni Canavese Nel Primo Centenario Della Chiesa Parrocchiale". In this booklet, it mentions my great-uncle, Domenico Tinetti as living in Butte, MT, where my great-grandparents and grandparents lived. In the booklet, there is also a picture of the church façade. It is the same church that you show in the pictures posted here. The church is identified in the booklet as S. Giovanni Battista. There are many Tinetti names in the booklet: Martino Tinetti, Giovanni Tinetti, Giacomo Tinetti, Palmina Tinetti.

    Also, I have a passenger list from 1899 with Appolonia Marta, Domenico, Antonietta and Dominica with their last residence as San Martino.

    Can you tell from your apparently extensive genealogy if we are related? I am just starting to try to dig into the Tinetti side of my family. I have lots of letters from San Giovanni Canavese that I think come from cousins of my grandmother. They are, of course, all in Italian and the translating is going very slowly.

    My sister is going to Italy in June and wants to make a trip to San Giovanni Canavese so any suggestions would be most welcome!

    Feel free to contact me at margie.robert@gmail.com.

    Thank you.

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  5. Hi to the previous posters. WE all have S. Giovanni Canavese in common and Tinetti ancestors from there I guess. Also S Giovanni is also known as dei Boschi. Which means in the woods! Since some of you have been there, its pretty accurate as it is forested around there and in the foothills of the Alps.

    I recently retired and am working on family genealogy for my side and also my wife's side, her English side goes back to Pilgrim New England and farther, with common English names there is alot of genealogy. Not so easy for our Piemontese ancestors....

    Jeff Pricco, jpricco@gmail.com

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