James Francis Coffarelli 1898-1934

I continue to sort through documents I've had for a long time to review them seeking new insights or information. This is James Francis Coffarelli's baptismal certificate.  I don't blame you if you're wondering "Is she SURE that's what this is?  I don't see his name listed anywhere."


This was one of the very first documents I used to study the Dalpiaz family history.  That was bad luck for me.  I did not know who Jacob Simeon Coffarelli was for many years until I figured out that this document was dated 1923 (just a few weeks before James was married) and therefore transcribed by someone many years after the actual baptism.  I suspect the baptismal record may have said Giacomo which could be Jacob OR James.  I haven't yet figured out the Simeon/Samuel references.  Perhaps if I keep pulling these threads, I will figure it out.  I was convinced it was James' baptismal certificate by the birthdate which I knew to be his.

Another problem created from using this information first was that I read James' mother's name as Rosa Pidous.  I put that information in all my records and searched using that name.  I've come to accept that her name was likely Rosa Pedano (which you can kind of see in that example above).  Searching for Pedano is a whole different ball game than Pidous--and not just for the difference in spelling--but that's another blog post for another day.

I was curious about his sponsors Frank Scaretta and Margherita Nigra but haven't found anything in particular about them--not long lost cousins as far as I know today.

This Certificate of Marriage is why James needed the baptismal certificate.  How nice that this is seasier to read and makes much more sense in the overall picture.  We see familiar names.  It has a raised stamp.  It fits perfectly.  Enough to make a family historian smile a little as she falls asleep.