Vergeletto Parish, Ticino, Switzerland Genealogy

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

Geography
Vergeletto is a parish within the Onsernone valley region of the District of Locarno, Canton Ticino, Switzerland. It consists of the municipalities of Vergeletto and Gresso.

History
Vergeletto broke away from the parish of Russo in 1757.

The discovery in Gresso of a Roman tomb, dated in the 1st or 2nd century, proves that this area was an outlying part of the Vicus of Muralto. One of the earliest mentions of the modern village of Gresso is in 1316, when it was called Agrassio. Until 1803, Vergeletto/Gresso was part of the Squadra of Russo, one of the five Squadre that made up the medieval community of Onsernone.

Gresso was formerly part of the municipality of Vergeletto, until obtaining independence in 1882. After its political break away, it remained ecclesiastically within the parish of Vergeletto.

Locations in Vergeletto parish
Vergeletto

Gresso (also known as Agrassio or Agressio in earlier records)

Surrounding parishes
Russo

Crana

Comologno

Mosogno

Berzona

Loco

Auressio

Parish Registers
The following parish registers are available on microfilm

Vergeletto broke away from Russo and became an independent parish in 1757. Persons researching Vergeletto/Gresso prior to that time will need to consult the Russo parish registers. While Vergeletto began a register of baptisms in 1710, there is considerable overlap between the two parishes in the period between about 1710-1769.

Parish records are mostly written in the Latin language, with some Italian. Help with translating the Latin records can be found here.

Census
There is an 1808 civil census from Ticino available on microfilm. This census enumerates males only. Vergeletto and Gresso are found in this census on pages 190-192.

The 1808 Ticino census is available on film FHL 1196718

Soprannomi
It is important for researchers of this parish to keep in mind that “soprannomi” are used in the church records. Soprannomi roughly translates as “nickname”. A soprannome is not a nickname in a personal sense, but a designation of different branches of the same family. An example of why soprannomi would be used would be to distinguish branches of a family that owned and lived on land in different areas, etc.

Soprannomi appear mainly in earlier parish records. They can appear several ways. For example, a soprannome of one branch of the Garbani family is “Gardelli”. In the parish register, their records may say either “Garbani”; Garbani-Gardelli”; “Gardelli”; or “Garbani dicti Gardelli”, where dicti translates as ‘otherwise known as’.

Researchers should remain alert to the use of these name variations. At times the usage can frequently change back and forth in the records. Sometimes the surname will permanently change.

Vergeletto
The following is a list of surnames occuring in the municipality of Vergeletto, along with some of the name variations.

Gresso
The following is a list of surnames occuring in the municipality of Gresso, along with some of the name variations.

Archives and libraries
Ticino State Archives

Website can be found here

Contact information:

Archivio di Stato del Cantone Ticino

Viale S. Franscini 30a 6500 Bellinzona

Telephone: +41 91 814 13 20

Fax: +41 91 814 13 29

Email: decs-asti@ti.ch

Periodicals
La Voce Onsernone

La Voce Onsernonese is a locally produced and published Italian language periodical which contains a wealth of valuable information about the people, culture, history, and landscape of the Onsernone Valley area. Most of the issues from its inception in 1972 through 2012 are archived and viewable online.