52 Ancestors Week 37: A Small Detail I Love

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 37:

The theme for Week 37 is “A Small Detail I Love.” Breaking through a brick wall is awesome, but finding a small detail can bring its own kind of joy. (For some reason, it made me smile when I discovered that my great-grandfather had a tattoo.) What is a detail that seems insignificant, but makes you smile when you think of it? 

If I get any closer, that will be a pixelated mess!

    Outside of traditional genealogy there's a ton of little things I've found here and there that I love. It could be my grandfather Bob's VHS copy of "Golf's Funniest Moments" or some random photograph where someone's just having a good time. Little things like that make genealogy fun for me because it shows that our ancestors were people. I can't stress that enough. Now, I don't know if any of my great-grandfathers had tattoos or anything. However, I can tell you that I like the details my great-grandmother's funeral guestbook.

    Now, don't get me wrong. Maria Tedesco's death was tragic. She passed away when she was just forty-three as as a result my father never knew his grandmother. All he and everyone else had to go on were pictures, memories and stories and in a way it actually mirrors how I grew up never really knowing my grandfather Marco since he passwd away when I was four. I just find the list of people who were there interesting because one of the people there links to several DNA matches!

Vincenzo and Maria

    On March 5th, 1943, the Pitocchelli Funeral Home in Lawrence, Mass hosted a very sad gathering. Maria Tedesco, a mother of two, was laid to rest and a veritable who's who of well-wishers from the Italian community in Haverhill were there that day to pay their respects. If you were to look at the list of the attendees, you would naturally find my great-grandfather Vincenzo, my great-aunt Nicolina and my grandfather. That makes sense since they were her family. 

    On the list were various family members including the Tedescos from Woburn and even the Pitocchellis themselves! That seemed pretty logical since it was their funeral home. Then again, how many funeral directors do you know who'd sign a random guestbook?

    My family is actually connected to Guido Thomas Pitocchelli, the man who ran the funeral home. His wife Concetta Coppola was the daughter of Giovanni Coppola who was the first cousin of my 2nd great-grandmother Caterina. Whew. That's quite the connection and it's backed by DNA evidence. My father has a DNA match on Myheritage who descends from Guido and Concetta. Connections like that are easy for me to spot but there's one name on the guest list that sparks my curiosity and also links to a ton of DNA matches. Let's take a closer look!

    On this page alone I see a ton of people I am pretty familiar with. I see several relatives of Vincenzo and many members of the greater Italian community including the ancestor of the guy who founded Benedetti's Deli, Nazarene Benedetti. That is a small detail I love. I can't think of anyone in the Merrimack valley who doesn't love the deli. If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend checking the restaurant out! I recommend the Nero. It won't give you agita like the aptly named "Caligula" will.

    You might be wondering where Maria's side of the family was and at first glance it does seem like attendance from her family was a little sparce. I think we need to keep in mind that aside from the Tedescos, most of her family was on the other side of the Atlantic in San Pietro a Maida at the time of her death. Or were they?

    I'm honestly not sure to be honest. It is a small detail I love because my great-aunt Louise used to work at Benedetti's a long time ago and I am a big fan of the subs. I do wonder why he was there. He was probably a friend of the family. Though, I should note that Nazarene had a brother Marcellus who was married to Molly D'Agosto. Molly's sister, Julia was married to Joseph Francesco Medaglia who was the son of Giovanni Domenico Medaglia and Santa Gullo. I hope I didn't make anyone go cross-eyed reading that mess. There's seven degrees of Kevin Bacon here. Or in this case seven degrees of delicious cold cuts.

    Now, the reason why this is important is because Santa Gullo may or may not be a half-sister to my second great-grandmother, Domenica. I say "might be" because apparently Santa's father was named Francesco and Domenica's father was also named Francesco. There's also the fact that my great-aunt Nicolina has a ton of DNA matches who descend from Joseph. I can't find any Medaglias on the list of well-wishers and attendees. Santa and her family did live in Haverhill, though and her presence makes me wonder if she was Maria's half-aunt.

Antonio Tedesco and
Domenica Gullo

    I discussed Santa way back in this blog from January 2021. In the blog, I outlined a plan to prove or disprove her identity. I had been in contact with several descendants of hers and while they did provide me with information about who's who and who actually lived above Benedetti's Deli they didn't know what the connection was.

    Today, I am happy to report that I sent an e-mail to the commune office in San Pietro a Maida and I asked what I couldn't ask in 2021. I asked for  Santa's birth record and I even provided them the details of Domenica's life that I hadn't had back then. Back then I didn't know Domenica's father was Pietro Francesco Gullo. Now, I am wondering if he's the father of Domenica. DNA doesn't lie.....especially if one of those matches shares over 80 cMs with your great-aunt.

    I am curious, though. If she was Maria's half-aunt, why didn't she sign the guestbook?  Perhaps she or her family didn't sign it. Either way, I do think it's odd that there weren't many members of the Tedesco family there that day. There were plenty of Coppolas! That's an understatement!

    I think we have to keep in mind that this funeral took place in 1943 and there was a war on. Gas wasn't cheap and Captain America himself was urging people to buy bonds. Not everyone could make it to the event and perhaps the venue was so crowded that she couldn't sign the book. You never know and I don't have access to a Tardis so I can't find out who was actually there. All I have to go on is a list of names in a pamphlet. She may have been there. Who knows? Perhaps she was already in California at that point?

    At least the pamphlet is full of details I love. The connection to Benedetti's deli is just one of the details in there that I love. There's a lot of names in there and I managed to find most of them on Familysearch. Some people I created profiles for and added them to my tree. Others? Not so much. Hopefully, I'll find that birth record of Santa Gullo and it can tell me whether or not I actually have a connection to Benedetti's. I do love that their name is forever enshrined in that document. Finding the connection beyond "well-wisher" or "friend of the family"  would be the icing on the cake!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 36: More than a Name

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 36:

The theme for Week 36 is “More Than a Name.” I’ve said for ages that our ancestors are more than names on a chart. They were real people with real lives. What is something you’ve found about an ancestor that really made them come alive for you?

RIP Peter Cullen

         I have to agree with Amy. You can add all the vital statistics you want into your family tree and you'd never find what made them special or real for that matter. That's why pictures are literally worth a thousand words. They tell you more things about someone than a birth record or a census would. Stories are another thing that make an ancestor come alive. Even if you have a picture of your ancestor, a story that goes along with it will transform your perception of that person. For example, if you have a picture of your ancestor and thought he/she was a decent person and then you hear a story where you find out that person isn't who you thought they were, it tends to add a little depth to them. 

    As readers of the blog know, many of my ancestors are more than just their names on my family tree. I've done my best to try and make them come alive because the stories need to be told and I definitely am not one to just say "Vincenzo Ferraiolo was born in San Pietro a Maida in 1894". There's so much more to my great-grandfather than that juicy nugget of information.  With that in mind, let's revisit my third great-grandfather Jeremiah Felker and learn about why his life was more than meets the eye. (I said what I said.)

Jeremiah and Elizabeth

    If you take a quick glance at Jeremiah Felker's page on WikiTree, you'd only get the basics. He was born in Raymond, NH in 1838 and passed away in Haverhill, Mass in 1918. He married Elizabeth Fellows and they had a family together. When I was starting my genealogical adventure back in the day, that was all I had.  As time went by, I gathered more information from descendants of his and from various records online. The more I learned about Jeremiah, the more I was able to fill in his biography and create a story that frankly should be a movie. 

    A few years ago I learned that Jeremiah was born out of wedlock to Elias Felker and Martha Smart. That wasn't the end of it. Nope. It turned out that her father Jeremiah and her sued Elias for custody of the child shortly after he was born. It is interesting that he was named after his grandfather, isn't it? Keep reading and make sure you have popcorn handy. Jeremiah's life has more twists and turns than a country road from here on out!  I actually recently sent an email to the courts in Raymond to see if they had anything more on that case. Let's hope they have some information for me.

    Time went by and his mother married Jonathan West in 1840 and had three children with him. She married Joseph Miles in 1846 and remained married to him until her death in 1875. Meanwhile, Jeremiah served with his half-brother George Mace in the American Civil War on the side of the Union. My third-great-grandfather was in the 1st New Hampshire Heavy Artillery and married Elizabeth Fellows in February of 1863. It's safe to say that the first thirty or so years of his life was full of one crazy thing after another. Sadly, this was just the beginning! Poor guy never really had the chance to settle down.

Wilfred (left) wishes he had swagger.

    Jeremiah's son Wilfred was born in 1871 and while the family was enjoying the sweet life in Haverhill, Massachusetts, young Wilfred met and married Gertrude Stevens of Wakefield, Mass in 1891. Within a year of their marriage, Gertrude was pregnant with my great-grandfather. Normally, this would have been a happy time but it seems that Wilfred took after his grandfather and also had a roaming eye.

    Wilfred met a woman named Mary Pierce in nearby Newburyport and got her pregnant while Gertrude was pregnant with their other son.  Austin was born a few months later and Wilfred and Gertrude got a divorce due to his infidelity.

    There was a bitter court battle over my great-grandfather Austin and once the dust was settled he was sent to live with his grandparents, Jeremiah and Elizabeth in Haverhill. Gertrude left town and stayed in touch with her son. Wilfred? He married the other woman and had a family with her! Sad thing is that those kids moved away from Haverhill the first chance they got. Rumor has it Wilfred was not a nice guy!

    Austin clearly broke the cycle of infidelity when he married Henrietta Legault in 1913 and stayed married to her until their deaths in the 1970s. Jeremiah passed away five years after Austin and Henrietta got married and I like to think that he was there for his grandson during that event. I would definitely love to see the guest list for that event. It should be noted that on his own death certificate, his wife Elizabeth put Jeremiah's grandfather Joseph Felker as his father. I think that made sense given how Elias died in 1844 and because of that Jeremiah likely never knew the man or had no memories of him.

Austin and Henrietta

   See what nine years of digging and talking to people about one man can dig up? And this was just a third-great-grandfather! I think I know more about him than any of my other third great-grandparents combined! Sure there are a lot of things about them online or in stories but the story here clearly needs to be a movie.

    All it took was me asking the right questions of people and seeing what information was available. The story, I will admit, isn't for the faint of heart. I do have to commend him and Elizabeth for taking in their grandson and giving him a great life. The cycle had to be broken and I think they did a great job from what my mother told me.

     As you can tell from this week's blog, there's definitely more to our ancestors than meets the eye. They had their faults, foibles and lives wrought with drama just like we do today. They're more than just names and dates. They were people. Sometimes you want to praise them for doing the right thing. Sometimes you wonder just what were they thinking. I think the story of Jeremiah proves what I've been saying this whole blog. You aren't done looking at an ancestor after you add their names and dates to your tree. There's always going to be more to their story!

See you next time!

P.S. I would have written about my grandfather Marco but since he died when I was four I really didn't want to pull at that thread!!!!

52 Ancestors Week 35: A Spot on the Map

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 35:

The theme for Week 35 is “A Spot on the Map.” Knowing an ancestor’s location does more than let us find more records. It can give insight into the life of that ancestor. This week, consider a place that has special meaning for your family. Whether it’s a big city, small town, or out in the middle of nowhere, consider how that location helped shape those who lived there. 

Where in the world is Carmen Sandigeo?

    While I have talked about Haverhill more than a few times in the blog, it's easy for me and readers here to forget there's another equally important city in my family tree. This city is right at the mouth of the mighty Merrimack river and it's called Newburyport. I admit I haven't really talked about it that much and it's really no fault of my own. Let's be honest. Most of my family tree in America ended up in Haverhill and that's why this blog is called "All Roads Lead to Haverhill". If I called it "All Roads Lead to Haverhill and Newburyport", it just wouldn't have the punch I was looking for. Short names are better and catchier!

    Now then. What can I tell you about Newburyport? My mother and my grandfather were born there along with my great-grandmother Clara Laplante. My great-grandfather Alfred Hamel had a Fix-It shop and Clara's parents Joseph and Georgianna called the city their home for many years. Like Haverhill, many of my other relatives also lived in the city. Because of this I created a one place study and while it doesn't get a lot of traction like my other three studies, it's still an important one and the city is still an important place.

So that's where I got those ears.

    As I said earlier my grandfather Robert was born there and in the 1930 Census the Hamels were living at 25 Franklin Street.  The house still stands today!  When my grandfather talked about growing up in Newburyport, he often talked about how great it was being close to the ocean. He loved to fish and being near the ocean really fostered his love for fishing. 

    Robert always told me how he loved to catch flounder right in the mouth of the Merrimack and decades later I would do the exact same thing! He never really saw me reel in any fish, but, I would often tell him about what I caught and everything. Of course in his day the regulations weren't as tight as they are now. When I was fishing for flounder, you could only reel in ten flounder per person and they all had to be a specific size.

    He did love the fact that I caught more fish than my brother. Jim just didn't really have the patience to fish. Patience is key if you want to land a big one. Or in this case a dinner plate sized fish. Let's be honest. Flounders aren't that big.

    Fishing expeditions weren't the only things Newburyport had to offer my grandfather and various relatives. Plum Island was a quick drive away from the city and from there you could easily hit the beach like my second great-grandparents Joseph and Georgianna.

So much swagger!

    I don't know why but I just really love this picture of Joseph, Georgianna and Georgianna's sister Anna. Clearly Joe had a lot of swagger and from what people told me he used to be quite a character. I think everyone has at least one or two running around in their family tree. They make life interesting for the rest of us. And who knows. The person reading the blog could be that person!

    Clearly the picture was taken at the beach in the summer of 1926. I know the date as my grandfather graciously labeled it and the people in it for me. He labeled everything and it made collecting information so much easier. I still wonder why he felt the need to keep a few things, though. Eh, it is what it is. 

    As I've said in an earlier blog, Salisbury beach and Cranes beach were the places to go in Newburyport if you wanted to get out of the sun and enjoy the cool ocean air. The beach also played host to various hotels, restaurants and an arcade or two. By the time my brother and I came around that arcade was home to some top-tier video games.

    You might be thinking to yourself  "Chris, your grandfather's hometown sounds like a place that attracts a ton of tourists" and that's actually true. I'm not going to lie. History has shown us that if a city is near the ocean and is by an important waterway people are going to come from all over to see the sights, fish and take in whatever the city has to offer. Newburyport is no exception. People have flocked to the city from nearby Haverhill and all over the Merrimack valley. Centuries ago it was a key shipbuilding town and it simply evolved into a place where locals and people from all over can enjoy the city life and that salty sea air.

Still has swagger with the grandkids.

        Living in a city close to the ocean likely changed my grandfather in a good way. I think being there helped him to appreciate just how big our planet is. When you look out into the vast ocean from the mouth of the Merrimack, you're not just looking at the horizon. You're looking at Europe. My grandfather told me that a long, long time ago.

    He was worldly well before he traveled the world as part of the US Air Force. The city attracted people from all corners of the globe and from the beach you can really get a sense of how awesome the scale of our world is. When I was growing up, I'd get the same sense of the scale. Anyone living near the ocean can tell you that's how it is. The sea takes ahold of you and never lets go. It's a romantic notion, sure. That doesn't mean it isn't true. Everyone living in the greater Merrimack valley who has been to the ocean will tell you the same thing.

    As you can tell Newburyport is just as an important city as Haverhill in my family tree. While Haverhill undoubtedly had most of my relatives living in the city limits, it's Newburyport that played a role in their recreation. It's also where a good portion of my mother's side of the family ended up if they weren't also in Haverhill. The two cities played an important role in the lives of my ancestors and everyone around them for many reasons and Newburyport still stands as a place where people of all races and cultures in the valley can experience  the world without ever having to leave home.

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 34: Long-Lasting

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 34:

The theme for Week 34 is “Long-lasting.” It could be a marriage, a career, a document, an heirloom – feel free to be creative with the theme!

Fully charged and ready for a trip!

    When I look around my house, I see a lot of items that have been around a long time or have been passed down to us by a family member or a family friend. These items range from simple things like a coffee table or a candle stick. Some items are so old that they might as well be considered heirlooms at this point. I don't know if having a launch era Sega Genesis could be considered "long-lasting" if I don't even know if it would work on a modern television. I'm not about to experiment on it!! Fortunately Nintendo has ported several Genesis games in various compilations over the years. Personal items side, I do know some people who have had long-lasting marriages. 

    I've already discussed my grandparents Bob and Natalie Hamel's 50th wedding anniversary in this blog from 2023. I've talked about my great-grandparents Austin and Henrietta's 50th wedding anniversary in 2024.  What do you say we go a little closer to home this week? My parents' wedding anniversary is coming up in a few days at the time of this blog's posting. So, let's talk about my parents' long-lasting marriage as they celebrate their fifty-fifth year of marriage.

    Being married to someone for over fifty years is no small feat and yet my parents Dr. James Ferraiolo and Diane Hamel made it work. They were married on August 28th, 1971 and by some amazing cosmic coincidence that was also my dad's great-grandmother Caterina Coppola's birthday. Did they know? Probably not. Then again I bet my grandfather Marco had a good chuckle when he saw the date on the invitation. He knew. He had to have known.

    To make a long story short, their wedding was held in Newburyport, Mass and the reception was held in Haverhill. All four grandparents made sure everyone was there from both sides of the family. I don't mean just a few people. EVERYONE!  To list them all would take forever and a day and yes I have that list on a spreadsheet somewhere just in case I need to tell a DNA match  their ancestor was at my parents' wedding. That HAS happened. I'm surprised it doesn't freak them out.

    I think I've discussed their wedding before. For the new readers out there:  I'm connected to almost everyone who attended their wedding via blood or marriage. My grandparents made a concerted effort to include everyone they could. Some people could make it and some couldn't. It is honestly very cool that I'm connected to a lot of people who were there or were invited and couldn't make it. Life happens and you just deal with it.

    My brother Jim was born the same year the house I grew up in was built and I was born two years later.  The rest of the story pretty much writes itself. However, the question is what is the secret to a long-lasting marriage like theirs? That's something a lot of people have asked them.

Don't let those innocent looks fool you.

    There has been much debate over what the secret to a long-lasting marriage is and their consensus has always been: communication and shared values. That makes sense. When I was little they always talked out whatever problem they were having and whenever my brother and I would have a problem, we'd talk things out. It was nothing like one of those '80s family sitcoms we saw on television or anything. We'd just discuss things and share our opinions.

    Of course the shenanigans my brother and I got into during that time probably didn't help matters. We were good kids! HONEST!

    In the end, I think that's all you really need for a successful marriage. If you communicate with your significant other what your problems are or any issue you have, then you can get anything accomplished. Failure to talk can lead to problems down the road. As for shared values? I think that goes without saying. If someone likes "X" and your significant other likes "y", there's going to be a problem if "x" and "y" are completely different from each other!

Happy 50th!! Put your masks on.....

    My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary during the height of Covid in 2021. It wasn't as glamourous as their wedding but we still had a great time at Tuscan Kitchen in Salem. My parents reminisced about their wedding, talked about old friends and even gave my brother and his wife some sage advice about long-lasting marriages. That was cool of them.

    Their fiftieth was still fine like I said. Was it ideal? No. Not at all. We still made the most of it and went home with plenty of leftovers. It's an Italian restaurant. You're going to leave with leftovers whether you like it or not!

    
    Next Friday will be their 55th anniversary and I know for a fact we're likely going to go out to one of my parents' favorite restaurants. My parents' advice for a long-lasting marriage is very sound. It's worked this long and there hasn't been any complaints. So, to my parents I say Happy 55th Anniversary! Here's to many more!! 'Nuff said!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 33: Multiples

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 33 is “Multiples.” There are lots of ways you could interpret this theme: multiple marriages, multiple children, twins (or more), or even someone who shows up in multiple records. Have fun with this prompt!

More people than you can shake a stick at!

    According to my archive I've talked about multiple children twice. I've discussed my 2nd great-grandmother Gertrude and her multiple husbands and children in 2021. I've talked about the Carrabs family just last year. These things come in threes and since I have a plethora of large families in my tree it's only fair to talk about one of them. I've already talked about the children of my 2nd great-grandparents Antoine Legault and Lucie Cadran. But! Did you know he had a brother named Felix? And did you know that one of Felix's descendants owned the marina my parents had their boat in for several decades. Before you can start singing "It's a Small World" let's dig into the life of Felix Legault!

Felix, Matilde and Evelyn in the middle.

    Felix Napoleon Legault was just four years younger than Antoine and like his brother he also lived in Haverhill. Also like his brother he too had a dozen children. I'm willing to bet that the cousins all knew each other only because they were in the same general area and if you have cousins in the same city you usually hang out with them unless there was a family feud or something.

    And yes his middle name was Napoleon. You see that a lot with French-Canadians. Some people name their kids after US presidents. French-Canadians name their kids after generals who slid down waterslides and traveled through time.

    We could be here all day naming every single child Felix and Matilde had. They had twelve of them between 1875 and 1900. Oh and to make things ever so slightly confusing Felix named one of his daughters after one of Antoine and Lucie's daughter, Delphine. This makes sense to me because Delphine was the name of Antonie and Felix's mother. Like in Italian families, the names repeat over and over in French-Canadian lines. You're going to come across many Jacques or Maries. You just need to be careful because one Jacques might not be the one you need. Oh and it doesn't help that Legault is a very common last name in Canada. Sacré bleu! 

    One of their daughters was a woman named Matilda Vina Legault. Not to be confused with her cousin WITH THE SAME NAME! That Matilda went to Connecticut the first chance she got and married a Rowell. This one in the picture was born in 1892 in Haverhill and spent all of her life there. She passed away in 1993 and was one of the first centenarians I ever discovered in my tree. All I can say is good for her. Give her a round of applause, everyone. She won at life. I wonder what her secret was. 

    She sadly outlived three of her children. Evelyn passed away in 1976 and is in the picture with her grandparents. Two others passed away in the 1960s and in the 1980s. It's very sad. But at least she looks happy in this photograph.  She seems like she was a nice lady. And for some reason I really want some of that cake.

    Moving on Felix and Mathilde had a son named Felix who was born in 1875 and no his middle name was NOT Napoleon. Nope. His middle name was Joseph. Hey. Let's give the Legaults a little bit a credit, huh? I think they realized the name "Napoleon" wasn't going to fly in America. Granted he was born in Quebec. Felix is the ancestor of the Corbins who owned Rings Island Marina.

Bowling? What?!

        Felix married a woman by the name of Albina Lefebvre. Lefebvre is another one of those last names you need to watch out for. It's extremely common and yes I have that one in my tree, too. Of course I do.

    According to this article I found on Felix junior, he and his brothers were into bowling. Keep in mind that the bowling in the Merrimack valley isn't the one people usually think of when they think of bowling. They probably bowled candlepin style.  I wonder how a a family that bowled went into boating. Actually, no. Wait. I take that back. I do know. My family did it. Everyone has hobbies!

    Felix and Alvina had a daughter Irene who married Phillip Corbin and they had a son named James. The rest as they say is history. Family history, that is. When I found that connection laughed so hard and told my mother about it. She smiled at me and said she already knew about the connection for years. I said to her "Why didn't you tell me?!" I mean....Jim Corbin was a nice guy. VERY nice. He bought coffee and donuts for everyone at the marina every Sunday morning. I guess I was on a need to know basis and I didn't need to know right away. Let's not forget I was the kid who asked a million questions. My parents probably figured I'd find out soon enough. And I did. It really is a small world after all.

    Jim Corbin unfortunately passed away in 2008 before I could talk to him about his family history. It was certainly surprising that I had that connection. Then again Felix's family was pretty large. It stood to reason that I'd be connected to other people in the valley like that. I expected it with my Italian side because everyone was in close vicinity with one another. I didn't really expect it with my French-Canadian side to be honest. I guess I really should. You never know when the French-Canadian cousins are going to pop out of the woodwork.

    Large families tend to create more connection possibilities. You fill in a tree and you end up finding cousins you either never heard of or cousins you knew about and never thought you had a connection with them. It's really exciting to think about when you're looking stuff up. Though, you still have to watch out for the common names out there. You'll have to research the family lines carefully because one Jacques may not be your Jacques. Keep that in mind!

Now I have this urge to go watch "Bill and Ted". Be excellent to each other. And party on, dudes!

52 Ancestors Week 32: Neighbors and Community

 From Amy Johnson Crow:Week 32:

The theme for Week 32 is “Neighbors and Community.” Our ancestors didn’t live in a vacuum. They were part of neighborhoods, congregations, social groups, and more. (Bonus: Those neighbors might be extended family!) This week, explore an ancestor’s neighbors or a group that they belonged to. What do they reveal about your ancestor?

This looks like a friendly neighborhood!

    I kind of like this week's header. I just wish I was able to find a free image of one of those Italian neighborhoods in New York or Boston to use that didn't have a watermark on them. Some of them were pure gold! When I saw those, I kept picturing there was some lady screaming for "Anthony Joseph Marco" in there!  Just thinking about it gives me 'Nam-like flashbacks. In my experience, you were dead meat if someone used your full name when they were calling for you and if your name is as long as mine is you had better pray whatever God you believe in has mercy on your soul.

    With that in mind, I think we all know where this blog is going to go. I've written about the Italian community in Haverhill, Massachusetts a million times and I'll write about it a million more times. Why? Because it's fun to talk about and this is my blog. I can do whatever I want! It's that and I don't really know much about the French-Canadian community in Newburyport except that it existed, they had a church and there were some festivities thrown in there. Moving on!

Makin' my way downtown....

    As readers of the blog are aware, the area around Washington Street in Haverhill was basically the Italian neighborhood in the city and was just as influential as Little Italy in places like Boston and New York. Why? Well, everyone and their brother lived either on Washington Street or on one of the side streets that came off that road. There were grocery stores nearby like the one owned by Giovanni Coppola, Loconte's and others in the area. Banks were close by as well. Churches, restaurants, tailors and schools were there, too! It was basically a community within a community and it was pretty special.

     My grandmother Ollie lived on Washington Street in a house that once belonged to my great-grandfather Vincenzo. She grew up just around the corner on Bartlett Street where her parents' house was. Her friends and family were always nearby and it was especially true for her parents and my grandfather Marco's parents. Everyone knew what everyone else was doing every minute of every day and from what my father tells me it was a little chaotic but in a fun way. 

    I can understand why. There'd be little to no privacy because everyone talked and everyone knew each other. In order to get a real understanding of what the Italian community was like, I suggest checking out the Italians in Haverhill book by the late, great Patricia Trainor O'Malley. I actually tried to contact her a few times since my family is in the book. I found out she passed away a couple years ago and that was pretty upsetting. I really wish I could have talked to her.

    However, the show must go on. Her book is a great starting point when it comes to understanding the Italian neighborhood in the city and this blog will serve as my take on everything! Okay, that's a bit much. Still, it's only fitting.

    Anyway, Trainor never really discussed all of the Italian families in Haverhill like the Ferraiolos or the Carrabs. She apparently reached out to my great-aunt Louise when she was working on the book and my great-aunt said she didn't want to take part in for some reason. I never knew why. She was still mentioned because her husband's family, the Villanuccis, are in the book! Talk about a loophole.

    I think I got a little sidetracked. Now that we know that there was an Italian neighborhood in Haverhill we can talk about the groups they belonged to. Many Italians in the area joined the Sons of Italy Victor Emmanuel II lodge. That was a fraternity of Italian men who looked after each other, played cards in smoke filled back rooms (Not joking. It was a thing.) and just socialized with their paisanos in a strange new land. 

   The Italian community tended to take care of one another whenever there was a problem. It didn't matter if your ancestors came from Sicily, Calabria or Campania. You needed help, they'd give you the shirt off their back. It is funny, though. Most of the Sicilian Italian immigrants in the Merrimack valley went to Lawrence rather than Haverhill. No idea why. Maybe the mills up the river paid them more? I'll have to ask my friends from Lawrence.

il famiglia di Ferraiolo

    I would have loved it if Vincenzo, Maria, my great-aunt and my grandfather were mentioned in the Italians in Haverhill book. We'd have sent in that picture and it would have wrapped up the San Pietro a Maida section of O'Malley's book with a neat little bow. Seriously, she spent at least a dozen pages talking about the people who came from San Pietro to Haverhill and several of those people I am related to! She should have looked up my father since there were no Ferraiolos in Haverhill when she published the book in 2001.

    It's all good. At least I know people are in the book and that I'm connected to them either genetically or through marriage. 

     Sadly, none of my ancestors were part of that Victor Emmanuel II lodge. My great-grandfather Giuseppe Carrabs was a president of the Italian American Credit Union and that was mentioned in the book and my family had family who were members of the lodge. I'm not sure why they never joined. Maybe they just never saw the need to join since the community was already well connected? Perhaps.

    Overall, I think the best part of the Italian community in Haverhill is how close they were to the North End of Boston. The North End is the Italian neighborhood in Boston and it's where a lot of people go to get authentic Italian food if the shops in Haverhill didn't carry it or if you can't afford a plane ticket to Italy. Haverhill is about a half an hour from the big city and it is considered to be a fringe suburb of Boston. This meant that people could go to the North End, get some food, bring it to Haverhill and no one would complain. After all, there were paisanos there.

    The Italian neighborhood in Haverhill was born from immigrants who worked in the mills along the Merrimack River. The community still thrives today with some notable changes, of course. The famous Saint Rita's Parish is now part of All Saints Church for example. Saint Rita's was were all the Italians worshiped and all the Catholic churches in Haverhill eventually became one church.  Despite its many changes, there is one thing that will forever be constant in Italian neighborhoods. It's that lady screaming for you to come home and if she uses your full name---RUN!

See you next time!!!!!!!

The map of Washington street is property of Google Earth.

52 Ancestors Week 31: A Day in the Life

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 31:

The theme for Week 31 is “A Day in the Life.” Our ancestors were more than just names and dates. This week, explore an ancestor whose daily life you know something about (or that you wish you knew something about).

Eagle eyes should spot that that's the 1996 calendar.

    It's just another day in the life, huh? I was fortunate to know what my grandparents were up to almost every day since they either lived close by or they'd call my parents telling us what they were doing and what they did that day. This was before texting and everything so phone calls were usually the norm! I honestly can't picture either grandmother texting someone using a modern iPhone! It would have been funny to see at least! 

    My grandfather Bob was no stranger to Red Lobster. When he and my grandmother moved to Florida, they would often frequent the local Red Lobster, order a lobster dinner and talk about how it wasn't nearly as good as the lobsters back in New England when they talked to my mother. You can take the man out of New England. But you certainly can't take New England out of a man! He talked about going to Red Lobster quite often despite his complaints!

    Closer to home, a day in my grandma Ollie's life was a little different. This week, I'm going to talk about what Ollie did every Friday for as long as I can remember. For the stake of nostalgia, I'm going to pick a Friday in the summer. Why? You'll see by the end of the blog! With all that in mind, let's go back in time to a random Friday in the summer of 1996.

Totally not a real blond!

   On that Friday morning Ollie wakes up in her house on Washington Street in Haverhill. She has a full day planned with loads of fun things to do. After showering and getting dressed, a car pulls into the driveway driven by her brother-in-law Arnold and with him are her sisters, Louise and Ellie.

    After talking for a little bit, Arnold took the sisters down the road to their hair salon where they would spend hours catching up on the latest gossip and of course making themselves look great. Fun fact. I've never known Ollie, Louise or Ellie with the dark hair they were born with. I was blown away when I saw them with dark hair in a photograph. I never asked why she colored her hair. I suspect that she didn't want to and that was her call.

    At least she looked good and that's all that matters. I've never known her with any other hair color so I never judged!

    It was also amazing that they were all the same shade of blonde!

    Once they were finished, the three would go to lunch at the nearest restaurant and go all the way to Salem to shop at Macy's. They liked to go to the malls in the Salem area because of the lack of sale's tax in New Hampshire. This is a big reason why the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem, which opened in 1991, became the dominant mall in the greater Merrimack valley. The mall, unlike others in the United States, is still operational because it's right on the border and people like my grandmother spend cash and look for great deals in New Hampshire. Yay, Capitalism? 

    At the end of the day, the sisters would return to either Ollie's house on Washington Street or Louise's house on Bartlett street and have dinner. Here is where my family and I would come in. In the summertime, we would sometimes go to Ollie's house on the way to the marina that Friday.  We would sometimes enter the house and catch the sisters in mid conversation. It often took my parents a few minutes to catch up to whatever topic was being discussed that day.

    Our visits were often a surprise and yet somehow Ollie always had a bowl of fresh pasta e fagioli waiting for me. It was as if the universe told her we were coming by for a quick visit.  The visits were short as my father always wanted to hit the road. But it was nice catching up with my grandmother and all the gossip she heard that day.

    Arnold was always cracking jokes whenever the sisters talked when he saw me, he'd call me "Superman" because of the DC character and I guess his favorite superhero was "Superman". Little did he know my favorite was Marvel's web-swinging wonder, the "Amazing Spider-Man".  Actually, he knew. He just liked to call me "Superman". I suppose there's worse names to be called.

    Ollie's weekly outings with her sister shows just how strong the bonds were between the sisters. They lived close by and were always talking to one another at each other's homes. They even talked on the phone all the time despite being a few miles away!  Ollie was never in a nursing home or in an assisted living facility. She and her sisters lived life on their own terms and by their own rules. They were always great to talk to and yes I have to say it once again. They were all definitely like Sophia from "The Golden Girls"!

See ya next time!