Who are our ancestors?
Sessa-Tropea Branch: Don Ferdinando (and his
family tree)
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Don Ferdinando was born around 1789 in Sessa, cadet son of Antonio and Maria Anna Colacicco and grandson of Don Domenico (born in 1721). Over 19th century he moved in Pizzo in Calabria region, for work, having become "Tenente dei Dazi Indiretti” (equivalent to the current Lieutenant of Guardia di Finanza for customs areas).
In 1821 Don Ferdinando married, at the age of 31, in Monteleone (today Vibo Valentia) Donna Raffaela Ciaccio¹ (25 years old), daughter of a landowner of Monteleone. They had 7 children (including the first two, who died few months after their birth), all born in Pizzo and Tropea. Don Ferdinando , meanwhile become “Controloro” or Captain, died at the age of 48 in Tropea, in 1837, few weeks after the birth of the his last child, leaving his wife and 5 children (Salvatore, Maria Giuseppa, Giuseppe, Alfonso and eventually Filomena).
Raffaela Ciaccio, a widow with 5 children (the oldest of which was only 9 years old), four years later remarried in 1840, again in Tropea, with Francesco Maria Conti, "usciere"² (Court bailiff) at the Tropea Court and son of a chancellor.
It
might be that the Raffaela's husband was transferred
for work from Tropea to Catanzaro. Whatever the truth is, it is a fact
that the whole life of this branch of Monarca family is conducted
entirely in Catanzaro untill 19th century end. The Don Ferdinando
and Raffaela sons
will all marry in Catanzaro and Donna Raffaela
Ciaccio
herself will die there at 86 in 1883, widow of Francesco Maria Conti.
Ferdinando's family grew up in Catanzaro with the birth of numerous
grandchildren. But in early 20th century, the various descendants
(usually
active in public administration sectors and therefore subject to
frequent movements) left Catanzaro for work, and spread around Italy: today no Monarca lives in Catanzaro anymore.
