Compiling a Health History for Your Italian Ancestors
by: Laura Heidekrueger
For most of us the challenge of putting together a "Health History" leads directly back to small
towns in Italy where health care was almost nonexistent. Other than obvious causes (i.e. childbirth, accidents or acts of violence), they
simply had no idea what people died from. Italy did not require a cause of death until after the 20th century. Even then
the information is vague and unreliable. Death records in Italy are said to hold the least amount of genealogical value. The
information will depend greatly on the area of Italy and the person who recorded the facts.
Unfortunately, our ancestors standard of health care did not improve much upon immigration. They were often overcrowded into
"Little Italies", with poor sanitation and language barriers. The recording systems used in the United States
were not much better than in Italy. So how do we take almost nonexistent 19th century information and turn it into an
asset for our descendants headed into the 21st century?
The first step is to change thinking regarding the information needed. For a health history, you will not be searching just
for strict genealogical evidence, but rather for patterns. These patterns will emerge as you research collateral lines. How
often I have heard, "Grampa had a few brothers that immigrated, but they lost contact and I am only interested
in my direct line." Not only will it give us the patterns to use in a health history, it will
also make our family histories richer. It may even lead to meeting wonderful new relatives we never knew we had.
Second, a working knowledge of the records for your areas in Italy and the United States will be a definite prerequisite. Study the death recording
patterns for your towns in Italy. Information that is said not to exist just may be there. Check the requirements for
burials and death certificates, not just of the state but the county and city, for the area your immigrant ancestor settled
in. The death certificates will vary from state to state and year to year. Causes of death were cited in the standard terms
of the day. Learn to dissect a death certificate to uncover hidden information.
Third, avoid getting caught up in "disease hysteria." It is not necessary to run to the library and take home every
medical book on the shelf and read all night! I know a wonderful lady that fell into this trap. By morning she was sure
that her ancestors had Beriberi, and that every future descendent would succomb to the same disease! She ran to her doctor
and presented her case. He set her mind at ease by telling her that her ancestors quite possibly had Beriberi, as a vitamin deficiency
would have been common in small Italian towns. That would, however, be less likely today.
Once the known facts are collected, we can then map them out in a special "medical" pedigree chart called a genogram. Learn all
about genograms in Laura's next article, Measuring Your Family Health History with a Genogram.
This information is provided by Chicago Genealogy and Family History Research Services, active
Genealogy researchers for over 14 years.
