52 Ancestors Week 27: Family Business

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 27:

The theme for Week 27 is “Family Business.” Do you have an ancestor who ran his or her own business? What about a trade that seems to run in the family? This is a good week to write about them!

"On this the day of my daughter's wedding...."

   As strange as it sounds, I don't really have any family businesses in my family tree unless you count the laborers in Italy. I do have people who owned a business or two, though. My great-grandfather Alfred Hamel had a fix-it shop in Newburyport and none of his children ever took over the business. When Alfred passed away in 1962 that was the end of the Fix-It shop. For true family businesses, we're going to have to cast a wider net to the rest of my family tree because there's one collateral relative or two who definitely meet the criteria for family business. 

    Two of Giovanni Coppola's children had businesses of their own and only one of them has lasted to this very day.  For those of you keeping score, Giovanni was the first cousin of my second great-grandmother Caterina Coppola. He was responsible for inviting several people to Haverhill, Mass including my great-grandfather Vincenzo, his wife and their children.

    To make a long story short, he had two children who went on to have very, very different family businesses. His son Frank owned and operated the Coppola bus company in Haverhill until his death in 1979. His children continued the business and they ran it until 2019 when it was sold to North Reading Transport.

    Meanwhile, Giovanni's daughter Concetta married a man named Guido Pitocchelli who started his own funeral home business with his brother in nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts and as amazing as it seems that funeral home still operates today albeit under a slightly different name. These days it's known as the Pitocchelli Bros & Joseph A Langone Jr Funeral Home. Times change, I guess. But, back in the day my family had a close and unfortunate connection with the funeral home.

    When my great-grandmother Maria Tedesco passed away in the March of 1943, the Pitocchelli funeral home hosted the funeral and almost every single Italian in Haverhill at the time was there. At least that's what it feels like when I look at the list of who all went to the service.

    When I first found the list in my great-grandfather's toolbox, I wondered why the funeral was in Lawrence and not in Haverhill. You would think they'd have gone to one of the many places in Haverhill to have a service. After all, Maria was buried in Saint Patrick's cemetery in Haverhill.  So, why did they go to Lawrence for the service?

    The only thing I can think of is that maybe it had to do with the familial connection? Vincenzo was a cousin of Concetta and Concetta was married to the funeral director. Because of that link, Vincenzo and Guido were likely friends. So, he might have offered to have the service in Lawrence rather than in Haverhill. I'm sure there's another reason for it. But, that's the only thing I can think of at the moment.

Giovanni Coppola in his grocery store.

        Even though Concetta and Guido's son, Sabatino didn't go into the family business, the Pitocchelli funeral home does count as a family business. It was owned and operated by the family and they provided a tremendous service to Lawrence and of course nearby Haverhill much like Giovanni's grocery store.

    I'm not sure when the name changed. I would think it happened shortly after Guido passed away in 1995. Concetta passed away in 2007. She likely had to deal with the sale, name changes and all the headaches that come with a business changing hands.  It is nice that the name is still there after all these years as it gives the funeral home a lasting legacy. Though, I will admit I had to check the spelling of Pitocchelli more than a few times as I was writing the blog.

    It's good to know that there are some family businesses somewhere in the tree as there's a legacy surrounding them. When you look at a restaurant that's been open since the 1920s, you want to learn more about its story. Who started it? Why? Who owns it now? It's nice to see some legacy companies around and it makes me want to learn more about it. Sadly, I haven't been able to find much on the funeral home. Their website doesn't go into their history that much and it's a shame because I bet it's got a long and storied history. To each their own, I guess. At least the funeral home was there for my grandfather's family at a very sad moment of their lives and that it was run by family as well. I think that maybe helped with their loss since family was around to support them in their time of need.

See ya next time!

Picture of the Coppola family is from O'Malley, Patricia Trainor. "Italians in Haverhill". pg 98

52 Ancestors Week 26: Favorite Name

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 26 is “Favorite Name.” Whether it’s the name of a favorite ancestor or you just like the way it sounds, many of us have a name in our family tree that makes us smile. This is a good week to write about the person with that name.

Zebulon Drew will always be an "S" tier name. Facts.

    According to my archive it's been four years since I last talked about a favorite name in my family tree. Zebulon Drew still ranks among the top ten all these years later just on the star power of the name alone. Like I said in the blog, the name sounds like it belongs to the lead singer of a Nordic Metal band. I know that isn't the case. But, if I ever decided to form a metal band I would so call it "Zebulon Drew". It'd be original! 

    In any case, it's time to once again look at the "Big Book of Baby Names" to see what names really stand out in my family tree. As you all know, I have a healthy mix of French, English and Italian names to choose from. There's no shortage of people named "Paolo", "Jacques" and "Maria". Some names end up repeating themselves and sometimes the same name appear as second great-grandparents albeit in different languages. This week we're going to talk about Antonio Tedesco and Antoine Legault, my two "Tony" 2nd great-grandparents!

Antonio Tedesco and
Domenica Gullo.

    I've always thought it was pretty cool how I have two guys named "Anthony" as second great-grandparents. Of course both names are in different languages. Antoine is a very French name and Antonio is Italian. Both names would be anglicized to "Anthony" if they were to go to America or any other English speaking country. 

    As it is, only one of the Tonies ever went to America and that would be Antoine. More on him later.

    Antonio here couldn't be more different from Antoine. For starters he was twenty-five years younger than Antoine. When Antonio was born in 1876, Antoine had been married to his wife Lucie Cadran for two years at that point and had two daughters, Lucy and Melvina. 

    I will say this. At least both men were born in July in their respective towns. Antonio was born on July 23rd, 1876 in San Pietro a Maida and Antoine was born on July 28th, 1851 in Riguad, Quebec. That's another amazing coincidence! My family tree is full of them. Sadly, this is where the similarities start to end.

  

      Unlike Antoine, Antonio never went to America. He spent his life in San Pietro. He married Maria Domenica Gullo in 1899 and had at least three children that I know of with her. One of those children did end up going to Haverhill, Mass and that lucky lady was my great-grandmother, Maria who was born the same year Antoine passed away.

    It's a shame Antoine passed away so young. As I've said before, he worked in a factory in Haverhill and passed away just after his son Oliver was born. That's another thing. Antoine had way more children than Antonio did. He and Lucie had thirteen children together from 1874 to 1901. That's a lot of people to keep track of!

    Fortunately, Massachusetts has great records and I have a ton of DNA matches who descend from Antoine. They've all been able to confirm bits of information here and there and share enough stories that I've been able to piece together his and Lucie's life together in Haverhill. However, I haven't been able to find pictures of either of them and I hope a cousin out there has one!

    I think finding a picture of Antoine might be a little bit harder than finding one for Lucie. Any photo of Antoine would have to be a tintype. Getting your picture taken in his day was also very expensive. So, who knows if he had his picture taken. I'm hoping he did. Fingers and toes are crossed on that front. At the very least, I am hoping Lucie had her picture taken. One never knows!

    Back to the two Anthonys. Antonio may not have had as many children as Antoine. However, I've been told he was a good man by his great-grandchildren who still live in San Pietro. And I can sort of see where my ears came from when I look at his picture.  It doesn't help that my grandfather Robert ALSO had two radar dishes attached to his head. Sigh. I was doomed from the start, gang.

Check out the two Tonies!

    Anyway, it's nice having two guys named Anthony in the tree at the second great-grandparent level. Both men were similar in name and they came from somewhat similar backgrounds. They may have been born in two very different parts of the world but, their cultures were more or less the same. French-Canadians and Italians are Catholic, love wine and are known to tell really good albeit LONG stories. I have a feeling that if Antoine and Antonio ever met they'd be good friends once the language barrier was broken. They might even bond over how common their last names are in their respective homelands!

    Having the name "Anthony" on my tree in two different languages has the added benefit of showing everyone just how similar two different sides of a family tree can be. While the names come from two different cultures, they're still fundamentally similar in the way they act and the religion they practiced. It's an amazing coincidence that both men ended up being my 2nd great-grandparents and to me it'll always be cool how that turned out. Who wouldn't love having an Antonio on one side of the tree and an Antoine on the other side? 

 See ya next time!

P.S. I also have several people named Anthony further down the tree. Notably Antoine's son, Anthony and Antoine's grandson Anthony. On the Italian side of things I have Antonio Carrabis, son of Rocco Carrabis and Antonio Forgione, son of Pasquale Forgione.

52 Ancestors Week 25: FAN Club

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 25:

The theme for Week 25 is “FAN Club.” In genealogy the FAN club refers to someone’s friends, associates, and neighbors – the people we often need to research to find answers about our family. Who is a member of the FAN club in your family tree? Who did you make a discovery about because you looked a bit wider? Or… is there someone in the family who was known for being a fan of a certain celebrity? Be creative!

So no one told you life was gonna be this way.....

    If I were to include everyone from my parents' FAN club, my tree on Ancestry would double in size in less than a week. My parents have friends from the marina, work and just about everywhere else you can think of. A lot of them join my father in the "Grumpy Old Italian Men" club. In fact, I think I talked about them here on more than one occasion. My parents met many of their friends through their old accountant, Anthony Pappalardo and two of their friends definitely hold a special place in their hearts.

Need your car or boat fixed? Come
see Ron!

    Ron and Cyndi Abraham owned and operated Elm Street Auto in Andover, Massachusetts since January 1972 and have always treated their customers like family. That explains a lot because they have been friends with my parents since the 1970s.

    They also had a boat at the marina right behind ours called "The C-Camel". Get the pun? Sea Camel? Huh? I always thought that was pretty clever to be honest.  Then again I've always liked a well placed pun.

    Ron was always good at fixing things and naturally he and my father hit it off right from the start since he liked tinkering with motors, too. You would always find him working on either his engine or our engine. Lord knows the Toothfairy needed tune ups every now and then.

    The odd thing is that we've gone through like three boats while the C-Camel always stayed the same. This might be a testament to how well the Abrahams maintained their boat. Or it could be the fact that we all went on adventures with the Toothfairy more than the C-Camel!

    And OH the places we've gone with the Abrahams. We've had so many boating expeditions that I don't know where to start. We've gone to the Isle of Shoals, Portland and on many, MANY fishing trips. If my dad wanted to take the boat out, the Abrahams were definitely going to tag along. It should be noted that the C-Camel was for cruising and that the Toothfairy was for fishing trips. That's just how it was when I was growing up.

    The adventures didn't stop there. My family and I have even gone on vacation with them to the Bahamas and my parents went with them to fabulous Las Vegas once. Every once in a while my dad would reminisce about a trip or two with them and I swear the stories would make for a good movie or two. I mean Vegas is involved. How could there NOT be a good story there?!

Ron in the 1950 census!

    Speaking of stories, Ron's family story is pretty cool. I found Ron fairly easily in the 1950 census living with his parents and grandparents in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Finding him was relatively easy as his last name isn't very common in this part of the world. As you might have guessed from the census he is the grandson of Syrian immigrants. From what I've been able to piece together it looks like his family were mechanics. That must be where he learned everything there is to know about motors!

   Ronald's grandfather Abraham Shideed owned and operated a repair shop and his father, William Abraham, worked there. William's parents originally came from Kfartah, Lebanon and moved to Lawrence after living in New Brunswick, Canada for a while. That is quite a tale. I'm not sure if I could push the tree back further than others already have. It would depend on record availability and everything. I'm afraid I'd be way out of my comfort zone.

    At least we know that the Abrahams' story is like many other stories in New England. Immigrants from all over the world made lives for themselves in the region after escaping hardships. Lives intersected and lifelong friendships began. 

    I'm actually not sure about Cyndi's family story. I've never really asked her as I've only ever heard stories about Ron's family.....over some hummus and Syrian bread. 

   You knew I was going to bring up the food at some point, right?  I've told you all that the marina was like the United Nations. Food from every corner of the globe was represented.

    Seriously, if there was a cookout I'd start at the C-Camel and get some Syrian bread and come back with spinach pie, grape leaves and a hamburger for good measure. You never went hungry at the marina! Trust me!

    I will admit that researching the Abraham's family tree does sound pretty appealing. The next time I see them I should ask a few questions. I already know a lot about the Abrahams after a quick search on Ancestry. I'd like to know about Cyndi's family. Perhaps I'll ask them and perhaps I'll put their tree on WikiTree for all to see. Couldn't hurt. Every family has a story no matter what corner of the globe they came from.

    My parents have friends from all walks of life and it's a trait they likely inherited from their parents and so forth. New England has been called a melting pot like New York City because of the various cultures living in that part of America. When you live here, you never know who you'll meet and what kind of amazing stories they might have in their tree. Will I dig deeper into the Abrahams? Probably. Time will tell!

See ya next time!

The picture of Ron is from the Andover Townsman. 23 Feb 2017. https://www.andovertownsman.com/business/elm-street-auto-and-its-owner-still-going-strong/article_75aa180f-d839-50db-b465-012dfb818f81.html

52 Ancestors Week 24: Artistic

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 24:

The theme for Week 24 is “Artistic.” Is there a painter, crafter, quilter, knitter, crocheter, or musician in the family? This is their week.

Art by the talented Becky Hopkins and was colored in by me!

    So many people in my family have been artistic in one way or another. I've already talked about how my grandfather Marco painted some pretty cool paintings. I have a second cousin who is an actor. I may have even mentioned my own webcomic in this blog once or twice. This is only a few examples of how artistic my family can be. While drawing and acting are great talents to have. I think it's about time I tossed in some music. Ready? Blues riff in B. Watch me for the changes and try to keep up.

    I don't know if my great-grandfather Vincenzo ever played a musical instrument. He did have a great singing voice according to my mother, though. Whenever she would visit him or he'd visit, Vincenzo would actually sing to her in Italian. Now, I have no idea what he was singing or if she even knew. What I can tell you is that Vincenzo's singing was just a small part of my family's appreciation of music.

   On my father's maternal side, his cousin Joe Villanucci was also musically inclined. When he the cousins were growing up, they would play music together. Was Vincenzo the front man for the group? Probably not. No. 

    Still, they had pretty good songs from what I've been told and later Joe himself became a music teacher. He even played local gigs in Haverhill, Salisbury and other places around the Merrimack Valley. He actually taught me how to play the piano as that was his instrument of choice. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. There's more to this musical story about Joe and my father!

    When I was looking for articles about my family, I happened upon this gem from the Newburyport Daily News.

    I might have talked about this article before. This comes to us from the Newburyport Daily News on July 12th, 1962. In the picture we see Joe tickling the ivories while his brother Dennis plays the guitar. In the background, my father watches. The caption said that my dad was "playing it cool" while his cousins played their instruments.

    The small group played for the motel Joe's father Arnold and my grandfather owned. I'm not sure how big the crowds were at the Colonial Arms motel. But, it was cool that they played for the people there. You gotta love good live entertainment and I'm sire my grandfather and Arnold paid them well for their services. I mean they had an in-house band that was related to them. What could go wrong?

    The music continued well after my brother and I came around. Our father was and still is a huge fan of classic rock. He's a huge fan of the Beach Boys and this is a huge contrast to the type of music my brother and I listen to. While my dad was all about classic rock, we were very much influenced by the music we grew up listening to. And that's normal. I just wish I had some musical skills. As it is, I can only do "Rock Band"/"Guitar Hero" on easy mode.

Still playing it cool, Dad?

   My brother and I learned to play piano from Joe and every time we visited him I'd always play the piano. Was I good? I don't know. The the most I was ever able to do was "Stairway to Heaven" or "Chopsticks". Just basic stuff. I was never Elton John or anything like that.

     It's just as well, I suppose. Everyone has their own specific artistic skill. Some people draw. Some people sing. Some people act. Whatever the case is, it's clear to see that my family has many artists running around the tree making music or drawing.

    It would be nice to carry a tune, though. And hey. It never hurts to try! I was surrounded by music and got a great appreciation for the art style as a result!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors #23: Wedding Bells

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 23:

The theme for Week 23 is "Wedding Bells." Do you have a favorite ancestral wedding photo? What about an ancestor who heard wedding bells multiple times?

DING.....DONG!

    Amy sure has a way of timing these prompts just right. Not only is today my grandfather Bob's birthday. Today is also my grandparents' Bob and Natalie's  77th wedding anniversary! My grandmother always said that they picked that date so he'd never forget. Smart woman! We do have several pics from their wedding in our archives. Join me as we take a trip to Haverhill, Massachusetts on June 5th 1948!

Look at this motley crew.

    This picture is probably one of my favorite pictures from their wedding because not only is my great-grandfather Austin there along with the other Felkers. There's a story that goes with the dresses the ladies all wore. Rather than buying all of the dresses, my grandmother and her sisters handmade each dress and the accessories that went with them. Nana had serious stitching skills. Unfortunately, that meant that each of her ten grandkids got wooly sweaters for Christmas every year. Man, they itched....

    I digress. I can also identify everyone in the picture, too. In the front from left to right we have Natalie's sister, Dorothea, Dorothea's daughter Brenda and Natalie's sister Eleanor. In the back, we have from left to right my grandfather's uncle Donald Laplante, his brother Alfred Hamel, my grandparents Bob and Natalie, Natalie's sister Elaine, my great-grandfather Austin and my grandmother's brother Norman.

    Whew. That's quite a crew.  Everyone's all dressed to the nines and looking quite spiffy. If Gentlemen's Warehouse was around in the 1940s, I'd say they'd like the way they looked. I guarantee it.  It's a great picture and even though I could colorize it, I've never bothered to because I think we have a color version of this picture somewhere. It's a priceless gem like this next photo.

    I have a feeling this picture was taken after the ceremony. My grandfather's wearing the same tux he had on in the wedding party photo. My grandmother wisely changed out of her dress and put something that was a bit more comfortable on. Let's face it. Late spring in Massachusetts gets pretty muggy and there is no way my grandmother was going to party in that hot dress for a long time. She wouldn't have made it past the DJ playing the chicken dance song.

    Nah. I doubt they had the chicken dance at their wedding. They had style. They had class. And the fact that the song wasn't written then. John Phillip Sousa on the other hand? That would be a "Yes". My grandfather was a HUGE fan of his work.  He collected everything John Phillip Sousa ever wrote. What can I say? My grandfather had great taste in music.

    Though, I am a bit curious about why he kept VHS copies of "Golf's Funniest Moments" lingering around for decades. He had great taste in music. But, he kept a lot of weird stuff.

    It was very cool how both of my grandparents included all of their siblings in the wedding. The ones in the wedding party weren't the only ones helping out. Nope. All of their brothers and sisters participated in one way or another. Some of them handled the flowers. Some of them helped with the tuxes. It was pretty clear that both families worked together to give Bob and Natalie the wedding of their dreams. 

    I do wish that I had more pictures from the wedding. There might be more of them in the boxes my aunt gave me in 2020. There are albums there and I haven't gotten through everything. Once I have some time, I'll be sure to check it out. For now I have these two great gems in my collection.

    All in all these wedding pictures are fantastic. My grandparents obviously had no idea that their marriage would produce six children and that those kids would give them ten grandchildren and eventually many great-grandchildren. It's quite a legacy that got its start on one late spring day in 1948. Happy anniversary, Nana and Papa!

And I'll see you all next time! 

52 Ancestors Week 22: Reunion

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 22:

The theme for Week 22 is “Reunion.” Whether it’s a family reunion, a class reunion, or some other commonality that brings people back together, it’s an opportunity for connection and context. What reunions can you think about in your family tree?

Keep smiling while grandpa takes the picture. Just keep smiling....

    In my experience, just about any family get-together can be a reunion. When your family is as large as mine, it sometimes takes an act of God to get everyone in the same room at the same time. Christmas parties, birthday parties, weddings and all those events can be considered a family reunion. What about graduations? Yeah, we can toss those into the mix. I remember one graduation/reunion VERY well. Let's go back in time to Friday June 13th, 1997.

    Why are we going back to that specific date you ask? Well, it was the day of the famous Merrimack Valley Lightning Storm, of course. It was also the day I graduated high school. It wasn't my idea to graduate in the pouring rain!  Before graduation our class huddled together in the gym and we could hear the thunder and lightning outside. It was almost daring us to go out there and get our diplomas. Our family and friends were gathered at the outdoor track and we put it to a vote. Do we go out there and get rained on or do we wait another day?

Want to give me a second to
change, Papa? No? Fine....

    Judging by this picture you clearly can see that the class decided to graduate that day despite the rain and despite it being Friday the 13th. We had a very, very rushed ceremony with very few speeches. We grabbed our diplomas and headed home after a few hugs and promises that we'd get together when it was less...ya know....rainy.

    On the ride home my parents told me that it was probably for the best that I graduated when I did. I said "Ma, I'm drenched.. The first thing I'm going to do is change out of these clothes." My dad said "You might want to wait a few minutes...."

    We pulled into the driveway and I see a ton of cars sitting there. It looked like a mall parking lot on the day of a sale.  I sat back and I was like "Oh, god...the party." I had almost forgotten because of all the hustle and bustle. We had planned a party for weeks and family members from all over the place were invited to attend.

    I go inside and who was the first to greet me? My grandfather Bob with his camera! He ushered me into the living room and I was still soaked to the bone.....

  I've explained many times how my grandfather took his photography hobby very seriously. He was the kind of man who'd make sure every shot was perfect and that everything came out exactly as he'd imagine it. The only problem was I was impatient and soaked while I was getting my picture taken. My parents took a picture with me and it wasn't very flattering as they were getting wet just standing next to me.

    Off to the side I could see my brother and my cousins laughing and that was why I was giving someone the side-eye as the picture was taken. I was not having a good time (At first.) After what seemed like ages, my grandfather finally finished taking pictures of me. I ran upstairs and changed before anyone could blink.

Can I has cake?

    After a few minutes, I went back downstairs and greeted everyone properly. My little cousins still made jokes about the rain and everything but it was all in good fun. I greeted my grandparents, aunts, my great-aunts, my dad's cousins, their significant others and everyone else who was at the party. See. All it took was a change of clothes to improve my disposition. I do not like being photographed soaking wet. 

    I did appreciate the hugs from various family members who were so happy that I graduated.  I got to hear family stories about their own graduations. All of them were much, much drier than my own. 

    Both of my grandmothers graduated Haverhill High at different times and told me how different it was graduating with the war on the horizon. I can only imagine. I think I touched upon that when I wrote about their yearbooks a few years ago.  It was still great hearing stories while waiting for dinner and everything. I was honestly just glad to be dry at that point. Still, it was fun catching up with everyone that day.

    We also talked about my plans for the future. Everyone knew I was going to Merrimack College in North Andover. But, they didn't know what I'd be studying. At that point I hadn't decided on a major. Naturally, everyone gave me some advice. It wasn't until I talked to my future sister-in-law Kathleen that I decided on something that I'd actually be good at. I'm not sure if she was at the party. I know she came by the house some time after my graduation since my brother and her were dating at the time.

My mom took this pic in three seconds
to prove a point.

        I also got to see cousins who I usually saw around Christmas. My cousins Kristyn and Ryan used to live in the apartment above my father's office and had moved to Nashua by the time I graduated. I saw them less despite them being relatively close by. It was good seeing them and the other cousins.

    My grandfather took the opportunity to take pictures of the whole motley crew while he could. And once again he took forever and a day to take the picture! Meanwhile, my mother used one of those disposable cameras and took a quick pic of him taking a picture of us. Imagine if she had an iPhone back then. That's something my grandfather NEVER figured out. I think he just preferred the old-style cameras. I wasn't gonna argue with him!

    After the final pictures were taken, my cousins and I went upstairs to play video games. I think we had enough of pictures for a while. After food and everything I just wanted to relax with my cousins  I do have a bit of a mystery, though. Since my grandfather was taking a picture of us in that shot, what happened to the picture? I haven't been able to find it in the photo albums my aunt Linda gave me in 2020. Perhaps someone in the family has it. Or it could be in the pile of photos in a box labeled "Pics from the '90s".

    As you can see reunions can happen even at graduation parties. We had a great time despite the torrential rain. I guess it's true what they say. You can make the best out of any situation despite the weather conditions outside. Sure it was wet and I had the mood of a wet cat when I came home. But, it didn't matter. I was with my family and the day was made even more memorable since I was with them. That's what reunions are all about. Making new memories and being together in any situation. They all came by to celebrate and that was all I wanted. I don't even care much that it was raining. We were inside and I probably wouldn't change anything if I could. 

    Though, I did have to make sure my college graduation was dry.  Thankfully, that ceremony was inside!

See ya next time!

The most Italian pic ever.*

*= Yes, I know some of those people aren't Italian. Work with me.

52 Ancestors Week 21: Military

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 21:

The theme for Week 21 is “Military.” Who is someone in your family tree who served in the military? Who was a civilian whose life was affected by the service of a family member? This is a great week to write about them.

I'd be remiss if I didn't continue the banner theme from last week.
Come on down, Autobrat!

   If you've been a regular reader of the blog, you'd quickly see that generations of people in my family served in almost every armed conflict America has been involved with since the American Revolution.  I have ancestors who've served in multiple capacities and have served in just about every branch of military there is from the US Army to the Navy, Marines and the Air Force. Sadly, there's no Starfleet officers in my family tree. Then again that's just exploration and defense and well....we  haven't invented the warp drive, yet. Now, with all that in mind you'd think that everyone in my family had a good idea of who served in what conflict. What if I told you that wasn't always the case? 

So much swagger.

        My great-grandfather Alfred Hamel was known to have served in the US army during World War I and in World War II. Records of him serving in those conflicts are easy enough to find on Ancestry and Familysearch. He had various medals awarded to him during his time in the service as well. It's pretty clear that he served in those wars. There's no doubt about that!

    Despite the mountain of evidence saying he served in those wars, people in my family have claimed that Alfred Hamel was also a rough-rider who served with none other than President Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War. I mean they were like "Yeah. Alfred charged up San Juan Hill with Teddy! Here are the pics to prove it"

    There's just one teeny, tiny problem with that. Alfred was born in 1896. The Spanish-American War took place in 1898 when Alfred was only two years old. The only "rough-riding" he did was a case of the terrible twos.

   Now, to be fair, maybe he played "horsey" with his father Eugene at the time. I have no idea. I also have no clue how this odd story got started. I didn't even hear about it growing up. I first learned about it well into my genealogical adventure and a few years after my grandfather Bob passed away. Mmm. Convenient, huh? I think my mother never told me because of how farfetched it sounded. The math wasn't there. My grandparents never told me about it because it never came up. It was just so random how some people assumed he was a rough-rider. Thankfully, quashing that story was quick and easy thanks to a box my aunt Linda gave me during the Covid lockdown.

    I'm pretty sure I've talked about the box before. Inside were various family albums and near the bottom of the box were photos from Alfred's tour of duty during the first World War and various other documents like the image on the right. This picture is a certificate commemorating Private Hamel for his service along the Mexican border during World War I. 

    Could this conflict have been confused with the Spanish-American War? I would say "most likely". Even his obituary in 1962 made references to serving on the Mexican border during the "Pancho Villa era". There was no reference to him being anywhere near Teddy Roosevelt or any of the rough-riders.

    The conflict was actually the Mexican Border War which lasted from 1910 to 1919. I get the feeling that event was quickly glossed over in history class because of the the much bigger crisis happening in the world at the time. I didn't even learn about it until later myself. I knew about Pancho Villa and everything. But, I had no idea the conflict he was involved in was called the Mexican Border War. You learn something new every day.

    I think this is probably why people in my family were confused about which conflicts Alfred actually served in. It's pretty easy to get the Spanish-American War and the Mexican Border War confused.  Both wars involved Mexico and that's where a lot of my family's confusion came from. I think I need to create a spreadsheet illustrating who fought in what war. At least I have a free space page on WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Chris_Ferraiolo%27s_Notable_Relations

We are NOT rough riders!!

    Figuring out Alfred wasn't a rough-rider was pretty simple since all the evidence was already inside the box my aunt gave me. I don't think any two year-olds were riding horses. Old Teddy wouldn't have allowed that for sure.

    Still, you have to wonder how the rumor got started in the first place. Maybe people in my family were confused since other conflicts were happening at the same time. Alfred did technically served in the US Army during the first world war. However, he went to Mexico rather than Europe.

    You really can't blame anyone for the confusion. World War I was over a century ago and over time stories are lost.  Not everyone is going to know who fought in what conflict and it's up to genealogists to solve the riddles. Sometimes the solution is really simple. I mean can a two year-old really carry a rifle and ride a horse? Hm....This actually sounds like a great idea for a comic character. No wait. That one already exists. Check out "Captain Underpants". Yes. That is a thing and that is his name. Have I ever told you all that comics are weird? Because they are.

    In any event, it's easy to see why Alfred's time in the US National Guard was distorted. So much was happening in the world at the time and it's easy to see some stories get lost or distorted. Stories aren't told and people assume pictures are from various events. This is probably why it's a good idea to keep various military records and put them in a place where the information could never be forgotten. Sites like WikiTree come to mind. I might be a little biased there. 

    At least I have a good idea of who served in which conflict and in which branch of the military. It's hard to talk about just one ancestor who served because I've got so many of them on both sides of the family tree. It's neat and I do my best to honor everyone who served regardless of rank, where they served and when. It's just a good idea to keep track of WHAT conflicts people served in. You don't want to accidentally picture a diaper clad upstart charging up a hill with a wooden sword. 

See ya next time!