52 Ancestors Week 49: Written

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 49:

The theme for Week 49 is “Written.” Who is the writer in your family (besides you 😉)? Did they write books, keep a diary, or have a habit of sending letters to the editor? What about someone who had lovely handwriting? This is their week. 

Sounds better coming from Samuel L Jackson.

     Long time readers have always said that I should write a book about my family history. The only problem is finding a place to start. I have stories from all of the branches of my family tree and I feel like if I ever wanted to do it justice I'd have to put out at least three to four books or focus on one branch at a time. There's a lot of stories to tell and to be honest a blog is a easy way to get those stories out there!

    Thankfully, a cousin of mine is a ahead of the game since she has published quite a few books in the last year. Her name is Caterina Aleardi and she has written a book about her family recipes, a book about wine, a book about the history of Calabria and a few other books.  That is very impressive and naturally I grabbed one of the books the first chance I got. 

Caterina's mother, Concetta.

        You remember me talking about Caterina, right? I may have mentioned her a few times!  Let me bring you up to speed if you don't. She is a niece of my great-grandfather Vincenzo Ferraiolo. Her mother Concetta was his sister. I met her back in 2021 when she emailed me on Myheritage. 

    We exchanged stories back and forth and she even showed me a letter her mother received from a cousin in Argentina.  For details on that letter, please check out this blog and be sure to grab some tissues. 

    Caterina also confirmed a few old family stories of my own. I could honestly write a book about how my grandfather, grandmother, Vincenzo and my great-aunt went to Italy and eventually went to Switzerland to attend her wedding. The story was not only confirmed, but, I got a picture or two to go with it. That is awesome and it's a gift I'll always treasure!

    One day Caterina told me that she was planning on writing a book. She told me she wanted to write down her family's recipes and talk about a few things that were near and dear to her heart. Naturally, I supported her endeavors since I have no Calabrian recipes and I want to learn as much as I can about Calabria. You can only learn so much online. It means more when you hear the stories from the people themselves.

Book one!

    In no time at all Caterina published her first book in Italian. I told her about my plan to purchase it on Amazon. She told me to wait for her to translate it into English so that I could understand everything better. You got to love how she was looking out for me. She knew Italian isn't my first language and that I wanted this book.

    So, I waited and waited. Eventually, the book was released in English and my parents purchased the book. Inside, I found a lot more than I expected! Not only were there great Calabrian recipes inside. There were a few stories in the book, too. To say that this book is a jewel in my collection is an understatement.

    Caterina did an amazing job with her first book. My father wants to try out her recipes some day. I can't wait to try them because the food looks so good! Of course, now I have a dilemma. Do I buy her other books once they come out in English? That's a silly question. Of course I should! Just as long as I have shelf space. Then again space may be limited. I might have to make a bookcase just for her books!

    In any case, her books are definitely a must-have. Why? Because not only do they have Calabrian recipes that I lack, they provide a history of the region my Calabrian ancestors came from. The next book I intend to purchase is likely going to be her history of Calabrian towns. I'm certain her home town of San Pietro a Maida will be mentioned in those pages!

Marco and Caterina

    Caterina dedicated her books to "All Calabrese across the ocean whose hearts still beat to the rhythm of the waves that caress our shores. Though distances may divide us, memories and tradition unites us."

That is a powerful statement right there and it's true. The food of your ancestors will put you in touch with your heritage. It doesn't matter if it's homemade or from some random restaurant. Though, I do prefer homemade food over certain restaurants that will remain nameless.

     No matter how much time as passed you still have ties to the countries of your ancestors.

    Looking through the book now, I can see how amazing the food looks. It's not all just various types of pasta. There are other dishes like fried dough that I'd love to try. Some of these dishes you would not be able to order at a restaurant in America and that's why I am anxious to try these recipes out! 

    Caterina is an excellent writer and she too has said that I should write a book myself. Perhaps I will one day. I just need to figure out where to begin. Though, I'm sure she'd say the beginning is a very good place to start. I could start in San Pietro, Gesualdo, Newburyport or Haverhill. The possibilities are endless. For a writer like me it's tough to decide just where to start! That's why this blog comes in handy. I can organize my thoughts and tell stories whenever the moment arrives.

    I'm forever grateful to Caterina and her books as they give me an insight into Calabria that I probably wouldn't have gotten from an article on Wikipedia. Because of her I have a greater understanding of what life was like in Calabria when she was growing up and what life is like there today. As long as she keeps on writing, I'll be there cheering her on! Those books are awesome and are a definite must-have for anyone interested in Calabria! You can buy them now on Amazon's Italian and US websites. Check them out!

See you next time!

 "Sapori e profumi di Calabria" is property of Caterina Aleardi.

In italiano:

Da Amy Johnson Crow: Settimana 49:

Il tema della settimana 49 è "Scritto". Chi è lo scrittore nella tua famiglia (oltre a te 😉)? Scriveva libri, teneva un diario o aveva l'abitudine di mandare lettere al direttore? E qualcuno con una bella calligrafia? Questa è la sua settimana.

I lettori di lunga data mi hanno sempre detto che avrei dovuto scrivere un libro sulla storia della mia famiglia. L'unico problema è trovare un punto di partenza. Ho storie da tutti i rami del mio albero genealogico e sento che se volessi rendergli giustizia dovrei pubblicare almeno tre o quattro libri o concentrarmi su un ramo alla volta. Ci sono molte storie da raccontare e, a dire il vero, un blog è un modo semplice per farle conoscere!

Per fortuna, una mia cugina è un passo avanti, visto che ha pubblicato diversi libri nell'ultimo anno. Si chiama Caterina Aleardi e ha scritto un libro sulle ricette di famiglia, un libro sul vino, un libro sulla storia della Calabria e altri ancora. È davvero impressionante e naturalmente ne ho preso uno alla prima occasione.

Ti ricordi che ho parlato di Caterina, vero? Potrei averla menzionata un paio di volte! Lascia che ti aggiornerò se non te ne sei accorto. È una nipote del mio bisnonno Vincenzo Ferraiolo. Sua madre Concetta era sua sorella. L'ho incontrata nel 2021 quando mi ha scritto un'email su Myheritage.

Ci siamo scambiati storie e mi ha persino mostrato una lettera che sua madre ha ricevuto da un cugino in Argentina. Per i dettagli su quella lettera, consulta questo blog e assicurati di prendere dei fazzoletti.

Caterina ha anche confermato alcune mie vecchie storie di famiglia. Potrei davvero scrivere un libro su come mio nonno, mia nonna, Vincenzo e la mia prozia siano andati in Italia e alla fine siano andati in Svizzera per partecipare al suo matrimonio. La storia non solo è stata confermata, ma ho anche scattato un paio di foto a corredo. È fantastico ed è un regalo che custodirò per sempre!

Un giorno Caterina mi disse che aveva intenzione di scrivere un libro. Mi disse che voleva scrivere le ricette della sua famiglia e parlare di alcune cose che le stavano a cuore. Naturalmente, ho sostenuto la sua iniziativa, dato che non ho ricette calabresi e voglio imparare il più possibile sulla Calabria. Online si può imparare solo fino a un certo punto. È ancora più significativo ascoltare le storie delle persone stesse.

Primo libro!

In pochissimo tempo Caterina ha pubblicato il suo primo libro in italiano. Le ho parlato della mia intenzione di acquistarlo su Amazon. Mi ha detto di aspettare che lo traducesse in inglese così da poter capire meglio tutto. È stato fantastico come si è presa cura di me. Sapeva che l'italiano non è la mia lingua madre e che volevo questo libro.

Così ho aspettato e aspettato. Alla fine, il libro è uscito in inglese e i miei genitori l'hanno acquistato. Dentro, ho trovato molto più di quanto mi aspettassi! Non solo c'erano delle fantastiche ricette calabresi, ma c'erano anche alcune storie. Dire che questo libro è un gioiello nella mia collezione è un eufemismo.

Caterina ha fatto un lavoro straordinario con il suo primo libro. Mio padre vuole provare le sue ricette un giorno. Non vedo l'ora di provarle perché il cibo sembra così buono! Certo, ora ho un dilemma. Compro gli altri suoi libri quando usciranno in inglese? È una domanda stupida. Certo che dovrei! Finché avrò spazio sugli scaffali. D'altronde lo spazio potrebbe essere limitato. Potrei dover costruire una libreria solo per i suoi libri!

In ogni caso, i suoi libri sono decisamente un must. Perché? Perché non solo contengono ricette calabresi che a me mancano, ma forniscono anche una storia della regione da cui provengono i miei antenati calabresi. Il prossimo libro che intendo acquistare sarà probabilmente la sua storia delle città calabresi. Sono certa che la sua città natale, San Pietro a Maida, sarà menzionata in quelle pagine!

Marco e Caterina

Caterina ha dedicato i suoi libri a "Tutti i calabresi d'oltreoceano, i cui cuori battono ancora al ritmo delle onde che accarezzano le nostre coste. Anche se le distanze ci dividono, i ricordi e la tradizione ci uniscono".

È un'affermazione potente, ed è vera. Il cibo dei tuoi antenati ti metterà in contatto con le tue radici. Non importa se è fatto in casa o di qualche ristorante qualsiasi. Tuttavia, preferisco il cibo fatto in casa a certi ristoranti che rimarranno senza nome.

Non importa quanto tempo sia passato, hai ancora legami con i paesi dei tuoi antenati.

Sfogliando il libro ora, mi rendo conto di quanto sia straordinario il cibo. Non si tratta solo di vari tipi di pasta. Ci sono altri piatti, come la pasta fritta, che mi piacerebbe provare. Alcuni di questi piatti non si potrebbero ordinare in un ristorante in America ed è per questo che non vedo l'ora di provare queste ricette!

    Caterina è un'eccellente scrittrice e anche lei ha detto che dovrei scrivere un libro anch'io. Forse un giorno lo farò. Devo solo capire da dove cominciare. Anche se sono sicura che direbbe che l'inizio è un ottimo punto di partenza. Potrei iniziare da San Pietro, Gesualdo, Newburyport o Haverhill. Le possibilità sono infinite. Per una scrittrice come me è difficile decidere da dove cominciare! Ecco perché questo blog mi è utile. Posso organizzare i miei pensieri e raccontare storie ogni volta che arriva il momento.

Sarò eternamente grata a Caterina e ai suoi libri perché mi hanno dato una visione della Calabria che probabilmente non avrei ricavato da un articolo su Wikipedia. Grazie a lei ho una comprensione maggiore di com'era la vita in Calabria quando lei era bambina e di com'è la vita lì oggi. Finché continuerà a scrivere, sarò lì a fare il tifo per lei! Questi libri sono fantastici e sono assolutamente un must per chiunque sia interessato alla Calabria! Potete acquistarli ora sui siti web di Amazon in italiano e negli Stati Uniti. Dategli un'occhiata!

Alla prossima! 

"Sapori e profumi di Calabria" è di proprietà di Caterina Aleardi.

52 Ancestors Week 48: Family Recipe

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 48:

The theme for Week 48 is “Family Recipe.” Who made the dish that made holiday meals “complete”? Who was the best cook in the family? (Or who was the worst?) This would also be a good week to write about a favorite family recipe and the memories you have surrounding it. 

I think you can see where this is going.

I’m not about to throw anyone who has ever cooked for me under the bus. Why would I? Everyone in my life has been a great cook! Even my dad! Though, he has experimented with a few oddities over the years. I still can’t stomach liver and onions and I’d like to meet someone who can eat that dish!

My mother has always been the one who made holiday meals complete. She would make lasagna for us for Thanksgiving and the dish just makes the holiday meal complete. I honestly can’t imagine Thanksgiving without it, meatballs, sausage and braciole. I usually have that after a little bit of a turkey appetizer. Sure it’s heavy, but, the food coma is so worth it!

I bet you’re all stuffed looking at that image to your left. The recipe is prettily simple. You take the noodles and add layers of sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese and bake it in the oven. Many Italian families usually put in meat in between the layers of pasta. For some reason we’ve never used meat. This is probably because we had meatballs and sausages as a side dish.

Seeing pans of lasagna now often brings back memories of prior Thanksgiving feasts. Long before we ever had Thanksgiving in Virginia with my brother and his family we would have Thanksgiving at our house in Salem and our guests of honor would be my grandma Ollie and her sisters from time to time. Usually it was just Ollie because she lived in the next town over in Haverhill. Can you say convenient? It sure was! I loved having grandma Ollie nearby since my other grandparents were far away.

Now, you might think Ollie would be skeptical of someone who wasn’t Italian making lasagna. She never said anything bad about the cooking. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Ollie would give you the shirt off of her back! She would comment on my mom’s cooking and maybe offer a tip or two. I’m not even sure what prompted my mother to start making it all those years ago. Perhaps she just wanted to try it out.

The “worst” thing she probably ever did was talk to my mom about her mom Clementina’s cooking and how she prepared certain dishes. I remember asking her about certain recipes and she always smiled and said “It was always a pinch of this or a pinch of that. We used whatever was available.” That was true. I mean the Carrabs clan had five daughters to feed. Who had time to write things down? Don’t worry. She did! Some recipes are in the family. They’re just with various cousins at the moment.

While cousins had the recipes, we had Clementina’s rolling pin and ravioli cutter. My father once put both to good use when he made cheese ravioli. They turned out so good! The only problem was that it took so long to make! I know good food takes time to make. I just wouldn’t use it for Thanksgiving unless you start making it that Tuesday!

Anyway, seeing the dishes bring back a lot of memories of previous holiday dinners with the family. Ollie and my dad would talk about her parents, who he and his cousins called Nonmie and Nona. Oddly, they never really talked about Thanksgiving at their house.  Believe me, I’ve tried asking how they celebrated Thanksgiving and I never really got a solid answer from anyone. Maybe some things are best left to the imagination.

I do recall someone saying that  Giuseppe would use the holiday to test out his homemade wine. Giuseppe and his brothers Rocco and Pasquale had their own wine cellars and would make wine from the grapes they grew in their yards. My father and his cousins always told me Giuseppe’s wine was very sweet and that his brothers had very strong wine. I wonder if that was because my great-grandfather grew his grapes in the lush Merrimack valley. Or maybe he just picked them at a better time.

Either way, Thanksgiving was usually a time where we’d swap a lot of the family stories. My brother and I would just eat the lasagna and listen to our parents and grandma entertain us with stories from their youth or something Ollie remembered from the past.

The one thing she never did was criticize my mom’s cooking. Before we started eating she’d say “This looks so good, Diane!” She then looked to my brother and I tell us to “mangia”. 

She didn’t have to tell us twice! We were more than happy to dig in. My favorite part has always been the middle side. My brother on the other hand preferred the corners and the crunchy pasta. You can tell a lot about a person from which part of the lasagna they take!

Even today seeing a pan of lasagna brings those memories back to me. I close my eyes and picture my grandmother cooking alongside my mom in the kitchen. They’d be laughing and swapping stories and I’d come in for a visit. For the record, I was never hit by a wooden spoon for sneaking a peek or getting a snack. I wasn’t that naughty! I did, however, try to sample the banana crème pie a few times. Hey! It was good! It’s the perfect dessert to go with a meal like this!

Though, you won’t be able to move after eating. 

See ya next time! And if you’re in America, have a great Thanksgiving!

52 Ancestors Week 47: The Name's the Same

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 47:

The theme for Week 47 is “The Name’s the Same.” Chances are there are some people in your tree who have the same name as someone else. This is a good week to write about the people who carry a family name or a time when you’ve had to sort out two unrelated people who happen to have the same name. 

That’s a lot of James.

 What’s in a name? Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Would a name like “Anthony” be passed down through the generations because an ancestor was named Antonio or Antoine? In my family tree, of course they would. Names have been passed down for centuries. The last time this topic came up I talked about all the people named “Robert” in my tree. Admittedly , that was quite a wild ride. This week will be all about Paolo!

 When I first heard the name Paolo, the name honestly reminded me of a character in “The Godfather” or something. There’s always a mob guy named Paolo or “Paulie”. Not every mobster is going to be called “Nicky the Nose”, you know. So, imagine my surprise when I discovered that my third great- grandfather was named Paolo. It gets better. His last name was “Coppola”.  Of course I would have two of the most common Italian last names in my tree! For those of you keeping track, the other one is “Tedesco”.

 I don’t really have a lot on Paolo to be honest due to record availability and everything. Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together. He was the son of Francesco Coppola and an unknown woman and was born around 1843. He had a brother named Giovanni and a sister named Caterina. Both names were also passed down through the generations, by the way. The Coppola family is a textbook case of Italian naming conventions where someone in the family is named after a parent or grandparent in a specific pattern. The first masculine child would be named after the paternal grandfather and so on.

 Paolo married Rosa Suverato and had my second great-grandmother, Caterina and her siblings Paolo and Concetta. I don’t know if they had any more children. Chances are they did because Italians tended to have large families in those days. Some names would even be repeated in case a child unfortunately passed away before their first birthday. When you do research in Italy, you should keep track of the names used more than once!

 Anyway, Caterina, Paolo and Concetta all had children who had the same name as their grandfather. Caterina, though, was the only one of her siblings who stayed in Italy. She and her husband Marco had a son named Paolo in August 1896. Concetta and Paolo moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts and started having children named Paul, which is the anglicized version of the name Paolo. Here’s where research gets a little tricky….especially when the father and the son have the same name.

When Paolo came to America, he went by the name “Paul” in order to assimilate. His son Paul was born in 1909 in the city of Haverhill to Paolo and his first wife, Lena. He was the oldest of sixteen children and even he had a son named Paul! It’s nice to see the naming tradition continue on another continent! Too bad this can also lead to headaches if you aren’t a careful researcher.

I’m not going to say I’ve never made a mistake. However, when you look at documents like draft cards you always need to check when someone was born if they have the same name. Older men had old men’s draft cards and sometimes they look similar to the regular cards. Censuses can at least help you figure out who is who and which Paolo/Paul is who.

Thankfully,  birth records can really help you figure out people who have the same names. It can be really tricky when someone has the name Paul and a common Italian last name. At least a common name isn’t always common in one area.

Thankfully, Concetta’s son Paul was a lot easier to research! He was the son of Concetta and her husband Vincenzo Papatolo and was born in Haverhill in 1916.  It was easier researching him because the last name isn’t very common in Haverhill. The only thing that confuses me is how some members of the family spell the last name “Papatola” when documents in Italy spell it like “Papatolo”. It might have been a personal choice since no last names were changed at Ellis Island. 

Paul and Lorraine

Paul married Lorraine Pouliot in 1942 and they had a large family including a daughter that they named Paula. I don’t think that counts as a “Paul”. But it was so close! Paula is a DNA match and sadly she passed away in 2023. She went by the screen name “the great nana” and according to cousins who knew her, she really was a great nana!

She was also an avid Patriots fan and an education assistant. Can’t go wrong with that. Her obituary is really well written. Check it out: https://www.seacoastonline.com/obituaries/pprt0631672

I really wish I was able to talk  with Paula. I sent her a message or two on Ancestry when she showed up as a match to my father, great-aunt and I. To each their own, I guess. There’s no sense in dwelling on something you can’t control. I do talk to other relatives of Paula and they all said nice things about her! That’s good enough!

That’s pretty much all I can say about all of the people named Paolo/Paul in my tree. Like Giuseppe, Concetta, Maria and Giovanni, the names were passed down through time and anglicized once they arrived in America. If you study Italian records, the same names are going to pop up every once in a while. When that happens, you should be mindful of the dates, places and circumstances because a Paul Coppola on a death record could easily be the son or the father. You never know.

See ya next time!

P.s. As for the original Paolo from the early 19th century, I still need to figure out who his mother was. I think I’d need his marriage record. I’m 100% sure his father was Francesco thanks to dna evidence. 

52 Ancestors Week 46: Wartime

From Amy Johnson Crow Week 46:

The theme for Week 46 is “Wartime.” Who in your family has served in the military? Alternatively, do you have someone who couldn’t or wouldn’t serve? Have you had any breakthroughs using military records?

War. War never changes

     Who in my family has served, huh? Talking about everyone who served in the armed forces in any capacity would take a long, long time and I do like to keep these blogs short. There isn't anyone who hasn't served aside from my father. Both of my grandfathers were veterans of World War II. All four great-grandfathers served in World War I. I have three confirmed veterans of the American Civil War and about a dozen or so Soldiers of the American Revolution. It's a good thing I listed them all on a free space page on WikiTree for just these occasions! You need a scorecard to keep them all straight!

    Ironically, with all the men who served in my family, I only know about my grandfather Robert's service during World War II. He served in the Air Corps, the organization that eventually became the U.S. Air Force. He flew planes and the birth of my mother clipped his wings. He also traveled quite extensively to bases in Japan after the war. He was also well-decorated with tons of medals. Not bad for a kid from Brooklyn....er....Newburyport. Come on. Humor me. He was like Captain America to me! 

Fun Fact: He did chuckle a few times when I showed him some comics with Captain America. He said...and I quote "Hey! I remember that guy!" Now that's staying power for the leader of Earth's mightiest heroes!

    While I may have had heroes who served overseas, I would think that guarding America's shores is just as important as serving in Europe and in the Pacific. Enter my great-grandfather Giuseppe Carrabs. While both of my grandfathers were in Europe giving the Nazis what-for, he was stationed in Massachusetts as an air raid warden.

    Now, I already knew he served the country during World War I. I have a picture of him in his uniform that I'll be sharing in a bit. I just find it interesting that he was called into service once again.

    Giuseppe was born in 1882 and by the second world war he was in his sixties. Clearly, his draft card was one of those "Old men's draft cards".

    Nevertheless, he served and his service was noted in his obituary in 1974.  My dad's cousins make it a point to leave military markers and American flags at his grave in Haverhill. Not all heroes are on the front lines, you know. Some people have the daunting task of protecting the nation when a bulk of the fighting force is overseas. Their job is just as important as anyone else. While his time in World War II was admirable, let's go back in time a bit to the first World War and imagine what it must have been like for him.

The only pic I have of him with hair!

    On September 2nd, 1918, Giuseppe was drafted and served the U.S. army during the first world war at the age of thirty-three.  I honestly don't know much about his service during that time. However, I can tell you that it seems like he was the only Carrabs brother who served in that conflict since I can't find any record stating Pasquale or Rocco served with him.

    This isn't to say that they never served. Rocco and Pasquale both have old mens' draft cards from the 1940s. It's curious that they don't have World War I draft cards. Were they already too old to serve at that point? I'm not sure about that. Giuseppe was the oldest of the three since he was born in 1882. Rocco was born in 1887 and Pasquale was born in 1894. It's curious that he had a draft card and his brother's don't.

    I wonder if they did have cards and the cards were never digitized. Or perhaps it was because Rocco didn't speak much English or something. The possibilities are endless.

    In any case, Giuseppe clearly served toward the end of the war. My dad's cousin Dennis gave me the picture of Giuseppe in his uniform after asking him if he knew anything about his grandfather's time in the army He sadly didn't. He just told me that there was a picture of him in his uniform. He sent it to me and the weird thing was that when I saw it, I felt like I've seen it before.

  In my travels, I've seen many pictures and my grandmother Ollie and her sisters  had in their homes. I suspect that picture was at my great-aunt Louise's house. Louise was Dennis's mother and I must have seen the picture there along with many other photos. 

    Anyway, it must have been tough for Giuseppe being the only one of his brothers to serve in World War I. Sadly, I have no idea what unit he served in or what he actually did during the war. That's okay, though. Sometimes it's enough to know that he served.

    Still, I bet there is something on Fold3 about his service in that era. Then again, there may not be much considering he was discharged following year when the war ended. A lot can happen in a year. It remains to be seen what he was doing during that year. Uncle Sam called him back into service twenty years later as an air raid warden at least. I just wonder what he was doing in that year during the 1910s.

    I have a feeling he stayed in America since his daughters were very young during those days, My great-aunt Louise was born a month after the war ended in December of 1918. Because of his family situation, he likely opted to serve in the national guard and that's fine. It also syncs up with him being an air raid warden some twenty years later. Then again he may have volunteered for that service.

    In any case, Giuseppe clearly served the United States and was one of a few Italian immigrants in my tree to do so. That's pretty awesome in my book. He might not have been Captain America like my grandfather Robert. But, he was still pretty awesome. 'Nuff said!

See ya next time!

    

52 Ancestors Week 45: Multiple

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 45:

The theme for Week 45 is “Multiple.” Any twins or triplets in the family? What about someone with multiple names? Or, thinking a bit more creatively, what about a math teacher?

I still say this banner looks like a painting.

    When you work on your family tree chances are you're going to find someone with multiple spouses, twins and multiple siblings. I have them all! My 2nd great-grandmother Gertrude Stevens  had three spouses: Wilfred Felker, Walter Senter and Charles Berry. Her mother Evaline was a twin and sadly her twin brother didn't survive to adulthood. If he did, you can bet I'd be writing about him. Alas poor Edward Fisher. We'll never know if you were the evil twin or not. For more on Gertrude and her story, check out this blog from 2021.

    This week I've decided to take a look at someone who had multiple children and I have quite a few of them. Pun intended. I come from a mixed Italian and French-Canadian family. Large families come with the territory and getting every single one of the children in the same tree (let alone the same room) is a lot like herding cats. With that in mind, let me pick a couple of ancestors at random and let's talk about their many children.

Vincenzo Carrabis, looking like
Alfred Pennyworth.

    Vincenzo Carrabs and Maria Giovanna Capobianco are a couple of ancestors of mine who I don't really discuss that often in the blog.  I'm sure I have mentioned their children on more than one occasion. However, I don't really know as much about them as people as I'd have liked. I know more about my other Italian second great-grandparents and what they were like. Vincenzo and Maria on the other hand are a complete mystery to me. All I have are their pictures and sometimes pictures aren't enough.

    That isn't to say I don't know anything about them. I know they were both born in Gesualdo, Italy and that they got married in October 1880 in the Campanian town of Frigento. A cousin of mine did a lot of work researching the family and they had many children together. Not just the ones who went to America.

    Vincenzo and Maria ended up having nine children together and as far as I can tell only one of them died young. His name was Pasquale Antonio and had a younger brother who shared his name. It's a common practice in Italy to name a child after a sibling who unfortunately died young.

    

    As far as I can tell, Vincenzo and Maria's other children all lived exceptional lives. I only know of the four that ended up in America. My great-grandfather Giuseppe, his brothers Rocco and Pasquale and their sister Rosina sailed across the Atlantic in the early 1900s along with a few other Carrabis cousins who ended up near Worcester, Mass. If you've heard about the story where three brothers go to America, you might think that was a made up story. In my case it's true. Giuseppe went to Haverhill, Mass and the others ended up in Everett and Melrose. Sometimes those farfetched stories are true!

    The other children are a bit of a mystery to me. Angiola was born in 1881 and married a man named Francesco Pascucci and they had three children between 1907 and 1914. Maria Antonia was born in 1883 and passed away in 1904. Michele was born in 1885 and not much is currently out there about him. Raffaele was born in 1899 and he married Eugenia Finamore in 1921. I wish I knew more about what happened to the children who got married. I might have cousins still living in the Gesualdo area! You never know!

Rocco on the far left and Pasquale on the far right.

    I admit it's a dream of mine to come into contact with cousins living in Gesualdo, Frigento and Grottaminarda. I have cousins in San Pietro a Maida. It stands to reason that I have cousins in Gesualdo! Seems logical.

    Anyway, of all the Carrabis kids who lived in America Rocco was the one who had the most children. He and his wife Caterina d'Avino had eleven children between 1913 and 1934. To list them all would probably require a whole new blog and I have a feeling this blog will go on for quite a while

.

    To sum up many of Rocco's children had descendants who took DNA tests and I DNA confirmed six of the children on WikiTree. Many of the grandchildren have told me about how Rocco never spoke English and how he always made Italian ices for them. My father confirmed the stories as Rocco and his family would visit his grandfather Giuseppe in Haverhill many times. He was also an accomplished architect and built the houses on Windsor street in Melrose. Those houses still stand today!

    While Rocco and Caterina had their hands full with their children, Giuseppe and his wife Clementina had six children including my grandmother Olympia. I hope someone is making note of all of this. There'll be a quiz later.

    Pasquale and his wife Raffaela had four children and lived in nearby Everett and like Rocco's family they visited Giuseppe in Haverhill on many occasions. It's safe to say that the Carrabs brothers were very close to one another and it makes sense given how they were all strangers in a strange land. 

    Curiously, the odd one out of all the Carrabis siblings is Rosina. To date, I do not have a single picture of her. She lived near Pasquale in Everett and yet I've never seen a picture of her. It's so weird.

    This isn't to say I don't know anything about Rosina. I do. I know she got married twice. She married Antonio Pascucci in 1913 and Vincenzo d'Avino in 1923. Last year, I wrote a blog about how the family sort of lost touch with hers after she passed away in the early 1960s. She had one child with Antonio who died young and two with her second husband. Those two children had pretty big families as far as I can tell. I would love to get in touch with them. Maybe they have a picture of her! Dare to dream, Chris. Dare to dream. Maybe they'll show up as DNA matches on Ancestry! Fingers and toes are crossed.

    As you can see from this week's blog Italian families often have multiple children. Sometimes those kids share the same name. Sometimes people lose touch with one another. It's an unfortunate part of life. It tends to happen when you have large families. Keeping track of everyone is a full-time job and thankfully I have my online trees documenting everyone. I hope that those trees entice people to contact me because I'd love to know more about the Carrabis family. I'd especially would love to talk to descendants of Rosina and descendants of Vincenzo and Maria who are still living in Gesualdo. One way or another, I want to get the band back together! Dare to dream!!

See ya next time!

Edit: I discovered Vincenzo and Maria had a son named Carmine who was born in 1896. Will be researching him!

52 Ancestors Week 44: Rural

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 44:

The theme for Week 44 is “Rural.” Many, if not most, of us have ancestors who lived in a rural area. Having trouble who to choose? There’s nothing wrong with picking someone at random!

Rabbit rabbit

    Last week, I talked about how going to the big city was a big event for a lot of people in my family tree. I couldn't just pick one story about someone going into Boston because there were so many stories to be told. Boston is not that far away from Haverhill and so everyone went to the city at one point or another. Now, imagine living in a town that's roughly equidistant between two major cities. It's a town with a long and storied history stretching back hundreds of years. I am of course talking about the town of Salem. No, not the one with the witch trials and everything. Though, it does have the same name! This town is Salem, New Hampshire and it's the place where I grew up.

    Today Salem, New Hampshire is a town of over thirty thousand people and it had very humble beginnings. In the 1700s, it was the North Parish of nearby Methuen and in 1750 it was incorporated into its own town as part of the New Hampshire colony. These days it's considered to be a suburb of Manchester, New Hampshire and Boston, Massachusetts due to its proximity to both metropolitan areas.

My brother Jim and Mary Matorian

   Long before urbanization came to Salem it had farms and many of those farms were owned by either immigrants from places like Armenia or by people who have had ties to the land for hundreds of years.

    When I was growing up, an older couple used to take care of my brother and I whenever my parents were busy. Their names were Peter and Mary Matorian. I may have mentioned them a few times in the blog.

    Peter grew up on one of those farms I mentioned earlier and he often told my brother and I stories of how different Salem was when he was growing up. The way he told the story made Salem appear very different from what it is today.

    Peter's parents Garabed and Annie lived in a very rural part of town and their farm was one of many that sold produce to nearby communities like Derry, Haverhill, Methuen, Plaistow and other towns in Essex and Rockingham counties. They would travel along the main road connecting the towns and sell their goods. There was a train station near the intersection of Main Street and what we called "Route 28". From there farmers would load their produce onto the trains and they'd go all over Rockingham and Essex counties. 

    These days that same stretch of road in Salem is now two miles of gas stations, stores, malls and restaurants.  A horse track was even built to entertain visitors. To say times have changed is a bit of an understatement! It was like that when I was a kid, too. So, I always knew that road to be abuzz with activity. There's even a Wikipedia entry for it! Check it out! There's also a very old amusement park that also entertained visitors and it's not far from the action on Route 28.

Matorians in the 1930 census

    Rapid urbanization didn't stop farming in Salem. Many people held onto their farms and even today you can buy delicious produce from various nearby farm stands. One such stand is called "Pete's Farm" and sadly it has no connection to the Matorians. Though, I wish it did. Their corn is simply amazing! We get their corn every time it's in stock and they go great with hamburgers. There's something about farm raised veggies that makes them so addictive.

    The Garabedian farm also supplied produce to nearby grocery stores like Market Basket where you get "moah foh ya dollah". Gotta love that Boston accent!

    The Matorian farm just one of many farms in my area. Closer to home was the Duston farm. The owner, sadly, was not as eager to talk about their family as the Matorians were. In fact, he seemed to not appreciate having neighbors around at all! His name was Thomas Elliot Duston and he was a direct descendant of famous/infamous Hannah Duston of Haverhill. I found that connection decades after he passed away. Though, there were rumors about his connection when I was growing up.

Ye Olde Duston Farmhouse

       My parents wanted to experience rural life since they both grew up in urban settings. They moved into the area around Duston's farm in the 1970s and ever since that day Mr. Duston always kept a watchful eye on the family and anyone else who lived on his street.

    When I was a kid my brother and I would cross one of his fields in order to go to a friend's house as it was a lot safer to cut through the field than going around the block. The journey was a lot shorter, too.

    Our journey was often marred by screams and occasional chases. Duston did not want anyone on his property. The weird thing was that there was never anything actually growing in those fields. It was just weeds and dirt! And maybe some bugs!

    Duston never really talked to anyone save for a few other people who lived on his street. He may have said some words in passing to a few other people. He just kept his circle of friends small. He did live with his sister and took care of her.

    I do remember seeing his cows in the field across the street. Hearing them moo from time to time was an interesting wake-up call for my parents. Thankfully, I never heard them moo in the wee hours! His farm was about 150 acres in its heyday.

I feel a presence I've not felt since.....

    Once Duston passed away in 2006, the fields that my brother and I used to cut through rapidly became neighborhoods. The centuries old farmhouse the Duston family lived in was even torn down and whisked away like it was never there. 

    On occasion my brother and I would walk down those roads with my sister-in-law and my nephews. As I walked, I got bombarded with feelings of nostalgia and a sense that I really shouldn't be on that road. It's weird. It's been twenty years since Duston passed away and I could still feel like there's a presence there. My mind could be playing tricks on me. It's hard to say. 

    Still, it's interesting to compare and contrast two farming families who were contemporaries of each other. One family was eager to tell everyone about their farming past and offer advice on how to grow things and the other family was not as welcoming as we had hoped. To each their own, I suppose. Everyone has their own quirks and not every farmer is going to be like the Kents in Smallville. At least I got to experience both rural AND urban life growing up in Salem. When you live in a town like Salem, you get to experience both and you don't have to travel that far to see it. Will Salem become a city like its bewitching friend to the south? That's not likely. You never know. At least I got to experience both ways of life and you can't beat that!

See ya next time!

The picture of Duston farm is courtesy of Google Earth.

52 Ancestors Week 43: Urban

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 43:

The theme for Week 43 is “Urban.” What ancestors lived in town? Any memorable trips to the big city? How about an ancestor named Urban? This is their week.

It's thirty-six miles to Boston....

    While the cities of Haverhill and Newburyport have been discussed at great length in this blog, it's important to remember that while those Massachusetts cities are cities in every sense of the word they pale in comparison with the state's capitol, Boston. Boston is only a half hour drive from those cities and it's rightfully considered to be the center of New England. It's the largest state capitol in the region after all! Where else could you go watch a Red Sox, Celtics, or Bruins game, take a tour of a museum and have fine dining all in the same day? Sure you could go all the way to New York City. The problem is that the Big Apple is four hours away. If you lived in Haverhill and Newburyport, why go all the way there when you have the big city closer to home? 

    Boston, like its rival New York City, has always been a cosmopolitan place. People from every nation made their homes there and as a result ethnic neighborhoods formed throughout the city.

    For example, the North End is famous for its Italian neighborhoods and fine Italian dining. Italians arriving in Massachusetts often settled there or went to one of the many outlying suburbs. That's exactly what my great-grandfather Giuseppe Carrabs did in September 1908.

    Curiously, Giuseppe arrived without his wife Clementina. She was mentioned on the manifest as living in Gesualdo at the time. Why did he go to Boston without her? Well, if you look at the second page of the manifest, the reason becomes very clear.

        Giuseppe went to Boston to visit his brother-in-law Pasquale Forgione who was living in Newburyport in 1908.  For my great-grandfather it was likely easier and not to mention cheaper to take the boat from Naples to Boston rather than go to New York and take a train to Newburyport. For him, Boston was a stepping stone on his travels. Of course many of his fellow passengers on the boat may have stayed in the city.

    It's interesting to note that Pasquale didn't stay in Newburyport too long. He and his family moved to Haverhill once Giuseppe returned to America in the 1910s with his own family.  Pasquale married his wife Giuseppina Pastore in Boston in 1913. I guess they realized that the Queen Slipper City would be a better place to live than Newburyport. 

    The North End historically has been a hub of activity for Italian immigrants and because it was so close to cities like Haverhill and Newburyport many Italians visited the area. With so many Italians around, it quickly became a place many Italian immigrants felt was their home away from home much like Little Italy in New York City. An immigrant in Haverhill could visit, grab some goodies and have something from Italy at home whenever they were homesick. People often say NYC's Little Italy is important. However, you can't deny that the North End is just as iconic.

    Fine Italian dining aside, Boston is home to many museums and the largest aquarium in New England. There is a lot of history to be had in Beantown along with everything else. It was one of the most important cities in the American Revolution after all.

    Ever since I was little, my family and I would make trips to Boston whether it was for a field trip to the Museum of Science and the New England Aquarium or to simply attend a Celtics game at the Garden. I should note that the stadium the Celtics and Bruins played in changed names three times since I was a kid. At least Fenway Park is still Fenway Park!

    Of course if you're a genealogist, you may want to check out the American Ancestors building on Newbury St.  I may be a little biased since a few cousins work there as well as a friend of mine! They do great work there! Check them out!

    Getting into Boston these days is considerably easier than back when my great-grandparents were around. Today, we would drive to a train station and simply take subway train into the city. Though, if you were ambitious you could always drive into Beantown. Just remember you can't pahk the cah in Hahvahd yahd. You take the "T"! At least there are shuttles that take you to and from the city in virtually every Massachusetts town and in towns in southern New Hampshire.

    In the end, Boston is just as important to me as Haverhill and Newburyport. There's just as much history and fun things to do there than there is in the cities my ancestors came from. The only difference is that Beantown is larger and while there are a lot of people there you can still easily get to the city from the various surrounding communities.

    People from those cities frequently went to the big city for travel, to take in the sights and for the Italians it was a place to feel at home even though home was thousands of miles away.

    Perhaps this is the real reason why Boston and New York have their storied rivalry. Both places have been considered cosmopolitan areas and both have a lot to offer people living in and outside the city.

    
    This week's blog certainly gushed over Beantown didn't it? I can't help it! I've been going to Boston ever since I was a kid. I first went there in grammar school and I've been going there for fun and other activities ever since. Boston really is the capitol of all six New England states and again it holds a special place in my heart because of all the trips to Boston I've heard about or personally experienced. I couldn't just pick one this week because they were all great. Boston is a city that's larger than life. If you have the means, I suggest you check the city out.

See you next time!

This blog has been paid for by the Great Boston Travel Agency. Our motto is you "Can get theyah from heyah faster than a dropped "r".".