Articles

Abstract: Italian genealogical research has been transformed by the digitization and indexing of civil records. In Corato, civil recordkeeping began in 1809 and has continued uninterrupted since then, providing a fundamental resource for reconstructing families of the coratino diaspora. However, civil records – and especially their indexes – became progressively less detailed in more recent years. The oldest handwritten indexes were remarkably rich, often including the subject’s full name, parents, date of the event, act number, profession and hometown; marriage records from 1835–1865 could provide exact dates and locations for births and deaths spanning three generations. After the standardization of the stato civile italiano in 1866, annual indexes were simplified, making homonyms harder to distinguish without consulting complete records. AI-generated indexes and full-text transcripts on FamilySearch partly compensate for these limitations, but access restrictions and transcription errors remain significant obstacles. The problem becomes particularly acute after 1910: many records are not available online and some registers lack annual indexes altogether. Since 2024, the Atelier Généalogique has been digitizing Corato’s 1911–1938 civil records. Digitally indexing or transcribing these records is essential to trace families of coratino immigrants, connect the diaspora with living relatives in Italy, and expand the collective family tree to more recent generations.

Abstract: Last year, two valuable resources for coratino genealogy research were published online: the 1754 catasto onciario and the parish indexes for baptism and marriage records. These resources have allowed me and many genealogy enthusiasts to research our coratino roots multiple generations further back than those found in the earliest civil records (1809); in many cases, the parish indexes – together with the catasto – are sufficient to paint a complete picture of a family over several generations. Sometimes, however, researching more distant generations is impeded by the lack of complete information or inability to distinguish similarly named individuals found in these records. I present several case studies of coratino families that utilize all the resources currently and potentially at our disposal. In particular, I show how one goes about bridging the gap between civil records (beginning in 1809) and the catasto onciario, as well as reconstructing more remote generations prior to the catasto. I first illustrate an exceptional case where individuals are uniquely named, readily found in the catasto and parish indexes, and all descend from one person whose patrilineal ancestors can be traced to the late 1500s. Next, I present a case where there is a generation missing between civil records and the catasto and it is necessary to consult complete parish records – which are currently not available online – to bridge this gap. Finally, I demonstrate how variations in names introduce an additional layer of ambiguity that also cannot be resolved without complete parish records. These examples serve to illustrate what can be accomplished with access to complete record sets, but becomes difficult or impossible with incomplete, incorrect, inconsistent, or inaccessible records. We hope that it will be possible to digitize the remaining parish registers and for these records to be made freely accesible to individuals of coratino descent all around the world.

Abstract: This article presents a proposal for the integrated indexing and matching of historical records from Corato, Puglia, including parish registers, the 1754 Catasto onciario and civil registration records. The project follows a two-phase approach: first, the systematic transcription (indexing) of these records and, then, an algorithmic matching system designed to identify and consolidate references to the same individuals across some or several of them. The method emphasizes key genealogical criteria such as filiation, chronological consistency and relational context, with manual verification for ambiguous matches. A practical case study of the Mastrolillo family demonstrates how this approach reconstructs multi-generational family histories by linking fiscal, ecclesiastical and civil sources. The proposed system is locality-agnostic and scalable to other towns with similar sources. Moreover, it is designed to integrate data from external partners such as FamilySearch, thus facilitating transnational migration research and supporting institutional record management. This model positions Corato as a prototype for developing an international database on emigration from Puglia, while also serving as a tool for academic collaboration in the digital humanities and migration studies.