Florence—Appendixes

APPENDICES THE MEUCCI many thousands of souls, up to a FAMILY maximum of about ten thousand. The Religious censuses were compiled according to the order in The Religious Censuses of which the houses were blessed. If Florence’s parishes a family was not in during the first The Religious censuses were round, it was listed subsequently. actual annual censuses done by At any rate, every year almost all the parish priests of each parish parishes drew up an index of last during their pre-Easter visits to the names in alphabetical order, so houses placed under their that still today it is easy to find the jurisdiction. This work began in page on which the individual souls the pre-Lent period, that is to say were registered. six weeks prior to Easter, thus, As one can see from the 1808 generally, in February. The data religious census of the S. Frediano collected were accurately recorded parish (see p. 119), the religious on a special register (generally censuses are ordered first of all by triennial) on an individual basis, street; for each street, the houses soul by soul, as well as in a are listed according to their num- summary compendium; it was ber; then the families living in then verified and countersigned by each house are numbered, the curate who put down the date followed by the name and number on which the verification was of the souls in each family, their completed (generally in June). relationship with the head of the Naturally, the souls were family and their age (often classified according to the roughly indicated, since it merely ecclesiastical criterion, as: served to distinguish adults from Married men, Married women, impuberals). Unwed adult men (or Adult Indeed, a column follows males), Unwed adult women (or which indicates the progressive Adult females), Impuberal boys number of impuberals, whereas (under fourteen), Impuberal girls the last column indicates the (under twelve), Priests, Nuns, progressive number of adults. Heterodoxes (namely people belonging to a different religion). At the time, a parish could count 118 Antonio Meucci (On the left) Example of the ‘recapitulation’ of a Domiciles of Amatis Meucci Antonio is registered at the age of religious census (S. and his family one. Giuseppe, 1834) It was possible to identify most The other residences were of the domiciles thanks to the Re- traced in the various religious cen- ligious censuses of the parishes suses of the subsequent parishes they belonged to, which - thank- they belonged to, identified most fully - were always mentioned of the time through the baptisms also in the baptism, wedding and and weddings of Amatis’ children death registers and, often, also in (nine on the whole). The final police reports. In the baptism compendium is on page 120. certificate of Antonio Meucci, the As one can see, all the resi- eldest son of Amatis, son of dences of Amatis and his family Giuseppe Meucci, and Maria have been identified, up until the Domenica daughter of Luigi Pepi, time Antonio Meucci and his wife it is indicated that he was born in left for Cuba (5 October 1835), the S. Frediano quarter. However, except for the last three years. Of according to the aforementioned these, it was possible to trace only religious census of the S. Frediano the domicile of Amatis’s family in in Cestello parish of the year 1808 1834, which was on Via delle (shown here), only Amatis and his Mete, house no. 7426, in the S. wife lived on Via Chiara no. 475, Giuseppe parish; Antonio, how- whereas their son Antonio was not ever, is not included, although in registered. This can be explained the wedding certificate (dated 7 by the fact that Antonio (their August 1834) he was indicated as firstborn son) was born in April, belonging to the S. Giuseppe when the round of pre-Easter parish. Research has been con- visits - hence the census - had ducted for the three years previ- already been completed. ously mentioned in the S. Religious Census of After Antonio’s birth, Amatis Giuseppe as well as S. Michele the S. Frediano in Cestello parish of 1808 moved with the family to house Visdomini, SS. Annunziata, S. no. 765 in Via dello Studio1, under Ambrogio, S. Frediano and S. Fe- the parish of S. Maria de’ Ricci. lice in Piazza parishes, unfortu- Indeed, in the 1809 religious cen- nately with no results. sus of that parish, 1In the Florence’s State Archives, this domicile is given in Via dello Studio, house no. 759, instead of no. 765. Florence 119 Year Domicile Parish 1808 Via Chiara, 475 S. Frediano in Cestello 1809 and 1810 Via dello Studio, 765 S. Margherita de’ Ricci 1811 and 1812 Via dei Pucci, 6119 S. Michele Visdomini 1813 to 1816 Via dei Pilastri, 6766 S. Ambrogio 1817 to 1820 Via del Castellaccio, 6412 S. Michele Visdomini 1821 to 1832 Via de’ Servi, 64122 S. Michele Visdomini 1833 unknown unknown 1834 Via delle Mete, 7426 S. Giuseppe 1835 to 1838 unknown unknown 1839 unknown S. Giuseppe (Luisa’s wedding) 1840 unknown unknown 1841 Via della Salvia, 75083 S. Giuseppe (State census) 1842 to 1847 unknown unknown 1848 unknown S. Ambrogio (Luigi’s wedding) 1849 to 1855 unknown unknown 1856 Via de’ Pentolini, 71554 S. Ambrogio 1857 unknown unknown 1858 unknown S. Giuseppe (Giuseppe’s wedding) 1859 unknown unknown 1860 unknown S. Maria Novella (Fanny’s birth) 1861 to 1863 unknown unknown 1864 Via de’ Pentolini, 285 S. Ambrogio (Amatis’s death)6 1866 Via dei Pepi 45 S. Lorenzo (Ida’s birth) 1869 Via Nazionale Aretina 3 S. Lorenzo (Ugo’s birth) 1881 Via S. Antonino 24 S. Maria Novella? (Fanny’s death) 1889 Via S. Antonino 24 (Lazzeri Daria’s death) 1890 Via S. Antonino 247 S. Maria Novella (petition of inheritance) 2It is certain that the house remained the same (Casa Pasqui, thus named after its owner, who lived next door to the Meuccis), but was subsequently assigned to Via de’ Servi instead of Via del Castellaccio, since it was positioned on the corner between the two streets. This is proven by the fact that the house number remained the same. 3Currently Borgo Allegri. 4Currently Via de’ Macci, according to the papers left by Giuseppe Meucci Jr, discov- ered by Renzo Martinelli, of the Florence’s newspaper La Nazione, in 1913 (see bibl.). 5It is probably the same residence of 1856, but with the new numbering system of the Kingdom of Italy. 6The data reported below refer to the residence of Giuseppe Meucci Jr, instead of those of Amatis Meucci. 7From the Petition of inheritance presented in February 1890 by Charles Bertolino, Antonio Meucci’s testamentary executor. 119 120 Antonio Meucci A first hypothesis is that Anto- wedding is unknown. According nio lived at the Teatro della to the aforementioned report of the Pergola and that for some reason S. Croce Police Superintendent, he was not included in the Giuseppe was supported by his ecclesiastical census. Another son Amatis. However, as he is not hypothesis is that Antonio was in listed in any religious census with hiding for political reasons. In a Amatis’ family, he must have letter written by him to his friend lived elsewhere (perhaps in the Carlo Paladini from Lucca, he country), probably alone, as he says: “… the Italy for which in ’33 had been left a widower for many and ’34 I served many months in years. prison with Guerrazzi.” Evidently, if Antonio was in prison during Amatis Meucci, son of the pre-Lent periods of 1833 and Giuseppe and Cateni Anna, was 1834, he could not be registered probably born in Florence in 1776, by the parish he belonged to. But according to the religious census in 1835 he should have been living of the S. Ambrogio parish and to somewhere with his wife Esther. the already mentioned information Perhaps they were still at the note of the S. Croce Police Theater. Superintendent dated 15 January 1829. According to Florence’s census of 1841 he would appear as Personal information on the born in 1780. According to less members of the Meucci reliable religious censuses, he was family born in 1778. At any rate, since Giuseppe Meucci (Sr.), son of Amatis’ baptism does not appear Iacopo and Stella … (illegible last in the registers of S. Maria del name), born between 1739 and Fiore between 1771 and 1775, he 1742, according to an information must be born on or after 1776. On note of the S. Croce Police Super- the basis of many documents, he intendent dated 15 January 1829 was Royal Employee by (which mentions him as being 89 profession. In the register of years of age) and to a plea for- deceased it is indicated that he warded by Amatis on 5 January died a widower and ‘poor man’ 1828 (which states that he is 86 (though ‘goldsmith’ by years old). Instead, according to profession) on 4 March 1864, at the register of the deceased of S. the age of 86 (instead of 88, which Maria Nuova (certificate no. 832), is actually more likely), in Via de’ he died on 3 November 1829, at Pentolini no. 28, in the S. Am- the age of 80; this latter informa- brogio parish. tion, however, is quite unreliable. In the same register he is defined Maria Domenica Pepi, as laborer by profession and un- daughter of Luigi and Maria … able to see. He was married to (illegible last name), was born al- Cateni Anna, but the date of their most surely in 1786, according to Florence 121 the religious censuses of the S.

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