What We Learn From the Inheritance Claims Records
Let’s see what we can learn from a few examples from the Claims records. We first provide the English meaning of the act, followed immediately by the Italian abstract:
Example 1: The Family of Barthélemy Odin
Marta, by 1697 widow of Bartholomeo Odin (who died 5 years before, so in 1692), was daughter of deceased Gioanni Rivoire. She, for herself and for their children Bartholomeo, Pietro, Margarita, Maria, Cattarina, and Marta, claimed the inheritance of her husband, their father.
The act then lists the names of neighbors owning the surrounding lands, thus providing a clue that Bartholomeo Odin was her widow. (Remember that from Notary Records we had learned that Marta was Bartholomeo Odin’s 2nd wife and was actually the mother of only 4 of his children. The section about Notary Records includes examples revealing his ancestry and the identity of his 1st wife, whose ancestry we later discovered as well in the Notary Records.)
From SENATO DI PINEROLO, mazzo [batch] 97: LUSERNA SAN GIOVANNI
18 NOVEMBRE 1697
pg 182
Marta RIVOIRA fu Gioanni vedova del fu Bartholomeo (Bartholomeo è morto 5 anni addietro) ODINO, a nome proprio e a nome di Bartholomeo, Pietro, Margarita, Maria, Cattarina e Marta (suoi figlioli), consegna i beni ereditati da suo marito. I beni consegnati risultano confinanti con: gli eredi del fu Antonio ODINO; Giacomo SIBILLIA; gli eredi del fu Gioanni BOERO; gli eredi del fu Antonio PRATIUTO; gli eredi del fu Daniele REVELLO. Daniele GIRARDO e Daniele PARISA confermano la consegna.
Important: The pedigree charts (like the one above) found with many of the abstracts of the Claims Records, as well as of the Notary Records, are not part of the act itself, but were added by the abstractor, Giovanni Cena, to clarify the family relationships for the PFO Family Researchers.
Example 2: The Family of Giosuè Janavel
Although there are 7 Claims acts pertaining to people named Janavel, these are all relatives of Captain Giosuè, but not his descendants.
We have found, however, a claim by one of his grandsons, in behalf of himself and his brother:
Giosuè Bonnet son of deceased Stefano (who died in 1691), in his own right and also for his brother Gioanni. Again, those owning adjacent land are named. (The Notary Records inform us that Stefano [French: Estienne, later Etienne] Bonnet married Maria Gignous-Janavel, daughter of Captain Jiosuè Janavel.
From SENATO DI PINEROLO, MAZZO [batch] 98: VILLARO [PELLICE],
3 OTTOBRE 1697
PG 73
Giosuè BONNETTO fu Stefano (il fu Stefano è morto nell'anno 1691), a nome proprio e a nome di Gioanni, suo fratello, consegna i beni. Nella consegna dei beni vengono citati: gli eredi del fu Constanzo ALLESANO; gli eredi del fu Paulo CABRIOLLO; Daniele FILIPPONE RAMBAUDO; gli eredi del fu Giuseppe CABRIOLLO; fu Davide RAMBAUDO FILIPONE. Daniele PELANCHONE (sindaco cattolico) e Pietro SIBILLIA confermano la consegna.
Example 3: The Family of Antonio [Durand-]Canton
Antonio Canton [in other records called Durand-Canton] Catholicized during the tumult of the war of 1686 (which explains why he is not listed with his siblings in the Exile records) but “Religionary” [Waldensian] again; his father Bartholomeo died at Bussolino in 1687 [during the forced march into Exile in February of that year]; and the said Antonio has a brother Daniele, the 2 brothers holding the land indivisible. As always in the Claims records, the neighbors are then given.
From SENATO DI PINEROLO, mazzo [batch] 99: RORATA [the fomer name of RORA]
(no date)
pg 1
Antonio CANTONE fu Bartholomeo, cattolizzato nei tumulti di guerra del 1686, al presente religionario, consegna i beni avuti in eredita’ dal detto Bartholomeo, suo padre, morto in Bossolino nel 1687: [The act then has 16 lines of text describing his inheritance, left out here to make this section more readable.] Il fu Bartholomeo CANTONE teneva i beni sopra registrati e alla sua morte sono pervenuti al su detto consegnatario e a Daniele, suo fratello. I beni sono attualmente indivisi tra i due fratelli.
These examples show how these Claims records provide valuable links to the later Parish Registers and to the earlier Notary Records.