After a visit to Oltre il Colle in early December to look for some information about Jodie’s family, she noticed that the local parish archive was not well organized due to a recent move. The keeper of the archive didn’t really know what he had and where to find information. Jodie and James, our son-in-law, looked through the records and were able to find a birth, marriage and death records from 1816-1867 that have been very helpful to her research.
Contemplating on the visit to Oltre il Colle, Jodie felt impressed to offer our services to organize their archive. With some hesitancy (so as not to overstep our welcome) she reached out to the keeper of the archive and offered our services to inventory and label the records in the archive. We were thrilled when he responded that they would welcome our assistance.
We arranged to return to Oltre il Colle on January 9, 2025 to begin our service project. We were fortunate to be joined by Ken and Pam King and Mattia Da Ponte (some of our fellow Family Search Missionaries) for the project.
We had an absolutely wonderful experience organizing the archive for them. The whole project took about 6 hours (allowing for about an hour break for lunch) in which we were able to inventory, organize and label their entire archive.
We printed labels for 61 volumes of birth, marriage, death, confirmation and state of the parish records. We also organized miscellaneous other records chronologically and then put all of the books/records back on the shelves. We also labeled those shelves.
As you can see, we ended up stacking the books as they were of all shapes and sizes and didn't stand on end very well. They didn't really stack well either, but this looked like the best way to leave them.
What a privilege it was for us to be welcomed into the parish archive and allowed to organize these precious records. Now that they are grouped and organized chronologically it will be much easier for others to access information contained in the archive. As a backup to the physical records contained in the archive, Jodie also gifted them a flash drive containing photos that we had taken of their parish records for Marriage, Birth and Death records spanning from 1816 to 1867 along with an index of each volume outlining the years contained on each page.
I think that I’ve mentioned this before, but the Catholic Church was responsible for civil records (birth, marriage and death) between 1816 and 1867. As part of the unification of Italy, the state assumed the role of official record keeper in 1866. From a researcher perspective, the records from 1816 to 1867 are a critical link in the generations for Italian family history efforts.
Leonardo, the keeper of the Oltre il Colle archive, was very thankful for our work and for the photos that Jodie gifted him. Of his own volition, he provided us with the name and contact information for the man that oversees the archives for the Bergamo Diocese and encouraged us to contact him and discuss the possibility of Family Search photographing all of the records in the Diocese. Oh, how wonderful that would be. This contact information is now in the hands of our friend Walter, who is Italy’s Family Search Leader. We pray that new opportunities will be forthcoming as a result of our service.
A side benefit of our trip to Oltre il Colle was that Jodie was also able to photograph additional birth and marriage records from the archive, which we have labeled. We will again gift a flash drive with a copy of those photos on our next visit.
Upon completing our work in the Oltre il Colle archive, we also went to the church in Zambla Bassa to introduce the Kings and Anziano Da Ponte to our new friend Mario (Jodie’s distant cousin) responsible for the parish archive in Zambla Bassa. During our visit, we were also able to photograph a few pages of the Zambla Bassa death records. We found a family death record from 1860 that Jodie has been in need of.
We are so grateful for the opportunity to be of service here in Italy. It has been a privilege and blessing for us to be engaged in a variety of efforts to preserve and protect precious records, but this project was particularly meaningful and personal for us.
No visit to Oltre il Colle would be complete without a photo of this beautiful area. We love visiting the area and marvel at the beauty of the surrounding mountains (the Bergamasque Alps). Interestingly, this area was actually a part of Austria prior to 1859, and it shows in the architecture of many of the homes and buildings in the area. It was a cloudy rainy day. By the time we departed the rain had stopped; however, a few clouds still lingered low in the valleys.
Now for just a few more photos from the day …
