The town offices of S. Margherita di Belice are now in the Gattopardo's palace.
I just spent four days in S. Margherita di Belice, my paternal grandparents' home town, with relatives. I was on a mission to get three documents from the town records office to aid me in my quest for Italian citizenship.
No, I was not able to get the documents, yet. The woman who was working the Ufficio Anagrafe that day said that
1) My grandmother's birth is not registered (but it is, I saw it myself years ago; perhaps she does not know that in the 1800s the names were listed alphabetically by FIRST name, not last name) and
2) that birth records from my grandfather's year of birth are in the archives, inaccessible, and "unhygienic."
I expected resistance, so I did not despair.
I went back to my cousin who called a friend who represents his neighborhood on the town council. That friend spoke to the mayor, who suggested I write an e mail to the mayor himself asking for those documents. When he receives the e mail with my written request he will forward it to the records office personnel and direct them, as their boss, to find the documents for me.
I sent the e-mail request to the mayor Thursday night. The consigliere plans to follow up on my request in ten days, to keep it alive and moving.
I heard rumors that the precious 19th-century records were moved into a room where a water pipe burst and they got wet and ruined. If this turns out to be true, I must ask the Italian consulate in Boston what alternative I have.
The new town office is in the Gattopardo's palace!!!
No, I was not able to get the documents, yet. The woman who was working the Ufficio Anagrafe that day said that
1) My grandmother's birth is not registered (but it is, I saw it myself years ago; perhaps she does not know that in the 1800s the names were listed alphabetically by FIRST name, not last name) and
2) that birth records from my grandfather's year of birth are in the archives, inaccessible, and "unhygienic."
I expected resistance, so I did not despair.
I went back to my cousin who called a friend who represents his neighborhood on the town council. That friend spoke to the mayor, who suggested I write an e mail to the mayor himself asking for those documents. When he receives the e mail with my written request he will forward it to the records office personnel and direct them, as their boss, to find the documents for me.
I sent the e-mail request to the mayor Thursday night. The consigliere plans to follow up on my request in ten days, to keep it alive and moving.
I heard rumors that the precious 19th-century records were moved into a room where a water pipe burst and they got wet and ruined. If this turns out to be true, I must ask the Italian consulate in Boston what alternative I have.
The new town office is in the Gattopardo's palace!!!