Verdabbio Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland Genealogy

Description: Guide to Verdabbio Parish, Graubünden, Switzerland, ancestry, family history, and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, parish census, civil census, family history, area history, and military records.



Geography
The former municipality of Verdabbio is in the district of Moesa in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. The municipality consisted of the fraction of Piani di Verdabbio, whose territory is cut in two by that of the municipality of Cama. The main part of Verdabbio, with the village and Piani di Verdabbio, is located on the right side of the Mesolcina, while the other, higher up, is on the left side.

Verdabbio (as of 2006) has an area of 13.1 km² (5.1 square miles). The land use is divided up as follows:
 * 4.9% - agricultural purposes
 * 62.1% - forested
 * 1.1% - settled (buildings or roads)
 * 31.9% - non-productive

History
In 1203, Verdabbio was first mentioned by the name of Vertabio.

Verdabbio merged into the Grono municipality on 1 January 2017. Other municipalities merged include:
 * Grono
 * Leggia

The population history of Verdabbio is: 1850 - 198 inhabitants 1900 - 185 inhabitants 1950 - 177 inhabitants 1960 - 154 inhabitants 1970 - 159 inhabitants 1980 - 156 inhabitants 1990 - 143 inhabitants 2000 - 164 inhabitants 2015 - 163 inhabitants

The parish church of Saint-Pierre, attested as early as 1219, was enlarged in the 17th century.

Church Records
Original church records are held in the local municipal archive or civil registration office. Microfilm copies are available at the Graubünden State Archives.

Digital images of church records are available on FamilySearch. These records have a restriction for use only at a FamilySearch center near you.

Catholic
The parish church of Verdabbio was first mentioned in 1219. Church records begin in 1838; the earlier registers cannot be found. The following volume is available on FamilySearch:
 * Baptisms, marriages, burials 1838-1875

Census
(See here for information regarding Graubünden census records.)

The following censuses are available from FamilySearch for Verdabbio:
 * 1835
 * 1838
 * 1848
 * 1850
 * 1850, form C

Civil Registration
Civil registration began in 1876.

Duplicate civil registration registers are located at the Graubünden State Archives. The following records are available:
 * Both A and B registers are available through 1916-1917 and are open without restriction.
 * Family registers are available from at latest 1860 through 1910; these records are viewable but require permission to access. For more information, contact the State Archive.

Surnames
The following surnames held citizenship in Verdabbio prior to 1875:

Related sources
The town's website (in Italian) can be found here.

Libraries and archives
State Archives of Graubünden

Societies
Rätische Vereinigung für Familienforschung (RVFF)

Società Genealogica della Svizzera italiana (SGSI)