52 Ancestors Week 44: What Surprised Me Most

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 44:

The theme for Week 44 is “What Surprised Me Most.” Good, bad, big, little – surprises come in lots of flavors. What have you found in your research that took you by surprise?

Tried to find a surprised jack-o-lantern but I didn't want to blind the Internet

    When you're on your genealogical adventure, surprises come around every corner and can take many forms. One day you find out your great-grandfather had two children out of wedlock or you're connected to at least half of the city of Haverhill. Some surprises are good and some aren't so good. I've discussed many of the good ones in the blog before and a few of the bad ones, too. When you're working on your family tree, sometimes you need to take the good surprises with the bad ones. No one's tree is perfect. Trust me. This week, I think I'm going to go with a couple of relatively recent surprises involving my 2nd great-grandmother Maria Giovanna Capobianco and members of her family. 

 

Yup. That's her.

       The first surprise involved finding her actual date of death. For a long time everyone in the family thought that Maria passed away in 1956 and was a centenarian. Genealogist friends of mine swore that it was the case for a variety of reasons. I didn't know what else to think and I put her death date in as being some time in 1956. That remained the case for almost a decade now.

    Imagine my surprise when I found out she actually passed away on December 24th, 1941!  My cousin Gesualdogenie found the death record and the first thing I asked her was "Are you sure that's her?" She told me to look for myself.  I saw the record on Antenati in high res black and white.

   It was definitely her. The parents were Angelo Maria Capobianco and Carmina Martone. Her husband Vincenzo Carrabs was even mentioned on the record! There's no mistake here. That was her! Any other person might have been shocked by the news. I take changes to the tree very well as long as there's a source backing up the facts. If someone told me someone died in a certain year and provided me with evidence, I will change things. Your family tree should be treated as a living organism in that it should have the capacity to grow and change with each new discovery you or someone else makes along the way. It's okay to make changes and fix things. It just becomes a problem if you're too fixated on family lore to change things. That's how errors in your family tree gets spread around the Internet.

    Maria's actual death date did open a few questions about the picture of her I've had in my collection for a long time. If she passed away in 1941, then when was this picture of her taken? Since she looked quite old in the photograph, I want to say it was taken some time in the late 1930s. Don't let the sepia tones fool you. That picture was NOT taken in the 1870s. She was in her twenties at that point!  If it was, she hit those twenties pretty hard. 

    I would say that this picture was taken in the late 1930s given her age. What I like most about the picture is that she definitely doesn't look like a frail, little old Italian lady. I think she had some spunk to her and that spunk was definitely passed down to her grandchildren, my grandmother Ollie and her sisters. I definitely get "cool Italian grandma" vibes whenever I look at this picture.

    Of course, finding her actual death date wasn't the only Capobianco related surprise I had this year.

    This year saw a lot of Capobianco DNA matches come out of the woodwork. Up until now I had some fairly distant Capobianco DNA matches who descended from Angelo's siblings. That was to be expected. Angelo had seven other siblings and several of those siblings had children who went to America. What I didn't expect were DNA matches who descended from her brother, Antonio.

Antonio and his wife Maria.

    I knew I would eventually have DNA matches who descend from Antonio and his wife Maria Saveria Genua at some point. I had to have faith that one of their descendants would take the DNA test and pop up on my match list some day. What I didn't expect was a rapid succession of DNA matches who popped up on my match list on Ancestry one after another. All of them were found to be third cousins once removed and third cousins to my dad.

    The first DNA match came out of left field and descended from his son Gennaro. Gennaro's descendant is a woman from Argentina who, like Meli, was very excited to learn about her family history. She sent me the photo you're seeing here and a few interesting stories about Gennaro. He apparently moved to Argentina some time after the death of his first wife, Vincenza Graziosi. Once he was in Argentina, he married Paulina Yrruti and the rest is history.

       Thanks to my cousin I was able to figure out that two other DNA matches were related to me via Gennaro's siblings, Rosa and Michele.  I love it when a plan comes together and that the long game actually pays off!

    As you can see, there were some great surprises on the Capobianco front this year. I forgot to mention that Antonio apparently donated some money to pay for the reconstruction of the cathedral in Frigento. It seems like Antonio was a pretty decent guy.  

    On the DNA side of things, I managed to DNA confirm the relationships to my third great-grandparents and this whole saga has given me hope that I might be able to DNA confirm other lines that have yet to be DNA confirmed like the Gullos. All I needed to do was wait for the right match to come along and help me see what the connection might be.

    Surprises like these happen every once in a while and I have to say I like them a lot more when they are good surprises. Have I had bad ones? Of course I did. I just think that the good ones are worth talking about when you have the opportunity to fix an error on your tree or if you have some DNA matches that help you with various connections. I would say it is surprising to have yet another cousin in Argentina but the country is known to have so many Italian immigrants that it really isn't all that surprising when you think about it. At least surprises like these can increase the quality of your tree. It doesn't hurt to change things when new information becomes available!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 43: Homemade

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 43: Homemade

The theme for Week 43 is “Homemade.” Recipes, crafts, clothing, even furniture – these items made by our ancestors can make us feel more connected to them. What is something homemade that you treasure? Or, who was someone who made things a little extra special? 

Gotta love those samplers.

    I've checked my archives and it seems that the last time I wrote a blog about homemade goodies, I managed to make the entire Internet very hungry. That tends to happen when you talk about Italian ancestors and their penchant for creating everything from homemade pasta, sauce and even their very own wine. The quality of the vino naturally varied. It just depended on whether or not it could peel the paint off the side of your house. I still wonder who had the better wine. Giuseppe or Vincenzo.  According to my father, Giuseppe's brother Rocco was the winner for the best tasting wine. There was something about the soil in Melrose, Mass just made it sweeter.

    Now, what about my maternal side? Surely there have been some great homemade goodies, right? Well, there were believe it or not! While they didn't cook as much stuff as my Italian side, they made up for it in the form of clothing. Sometimes they were itchy and other times they help you win first prize in your junior high costume party. Let's suit up and look at some of the clothes I've had to wear over the years!

Natalie Felker, maker of fine sweaters.

    Not only did my grandmother Natalie collect creepy dolls as I talked about last week. She delighted in making sweaters for all ten of us grandkids. And since I was the second one, we have quite a collection of wool sweaters sitting at the very bottom of the dressers or locked away in some closet never to be seen again.

    It's not that they were bad or anything! They just itched a lot when you put them on! It didn't matter if you had a shirt on underneath it or anything! Some of the patterns were kind of cool. My grandmother gave me a sweater that faded into different shades of green. It looked pretty decent to me and if I could find it I would show it to everyone. I don't even know if we've saved it. I do know that it itched when I put it on and it didn't take long for me to grow out of it.

    That's what happens when you give a kid a sweater and that kid ends up growing out of it a few months later. At least it's in a safe place and that's what matters.  What's really funny is how all of the grandkids got sweaters, too. We got "Weasley sweaters" before "Harry Potter" was ever a thing!

    Of course, my grandmother wasn't the only one in my immediate family who made things for friends and family. My aunt Linda was quite adept at making doggie beds that also doubled as beds for cats. She even made a "Superman" cape for me once after she saw me rocking a "Superman" t-shirt one day. Hey. It was the 1980s. Every kid had a "Superman" t-shirt at some point and those shirts are still stylish today! Just ask Sheldon Cooper. 

    

Cue the '90s Spider-Man cartoon theme.

       By the fall of 1993, my days of wearing a Superman cape were long over. It was just as well because I was reading the adventures of many Marvel characters at the time including the tales of a wallcrawling wonder some of you readers might know about. "The Amazing Spider-Man" was my favorite Marvel character and I asked my aunt if she could make me a comic accurate costume for a  party that was being held at my junior high.

    Naturally, she accepted and I had to admit she really outdid herself. I know the eyes aren't reflective lenses like the ones on Spidey's mask but the outfit beat anything you'd find at Spirit Halloween in the early 1990s. I can't even imagine how long it took her to draw the web pattern.  

    When I look at the costume, it immediately takes me back to one very unforgettable Halloween. Not only did I win a prize for best costume at the Woodbury Junior High costume contest, I apparently scared the pants off of my two year old cousin Ryan while I was wearing it! After the party, we went to my aunt's apartment and she was feeding him. She opened the door and before I could get a word out he screamed at the top of his lungs! I quickly took the mask off and reassured him that it was me. He quickly calmed down but I swear the suit was the reason he's more of a fan of the DC characters these days. Whoops.

I love how my glasses lens reflects the light just
right.

    Don't worry. Ryan got over it and we did play several Spider-Man-related Sega Genesis games together after that incident.  Seeing his older cousin in a Spider-Man costume didn't scar him for life and he did get me back on more than one occasion.  Ahh, family....

    These days, the mask and the gloves are just about the only parts of the costume that still fits for obvious reasons. The web lines have faded but it's still undoubtedly a Spider-Man costume. I've even worn the mask a few times in several videos!

    If it still works, why not? I just wish the rest of the suit still fit. Fortunately, there have been many times in the comics where Parker only had his mask. So, it's still comic accurate! HAH!

    I guess you could say I had a lot more fun with the Spider-Man costume than I did with the "Weasley sweater". And for good reason. The suit wasn't nearly as itchy as the sweater!

       Between my father's side and the goodies they make and the clothing on my mother's side, I guess you could say I had no shortage of homemade goods. Whether it was a costume of a very popular superhero or some great cookies, I definitely hit the jackpot when it comes to homemade wares. I just wish those sweaters were more comfortable and longer lasting. I mean they were not as bad as they could have been. They were not ugly Christmas sweaters. They were actually pretty stylish. And that sense of style was passed onto my aunt who gave me a Spidey suit that stood the test of time!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 42: A Life Compared to Mine

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 42:

The theme for Week 42 is “A Life Compared to Mine.” The more you work on genealogy, the more you realize that people are people. Who is an ancestor whose life has parallels to yours? Or who is completely different? 

And there came a day.....

    When I first saw this week's prompt, I was unsure what to write about. Let's face it. I'm on the young side compared to many of my fellow genealogists. I was born in the late 1970s and raised in the 1980s and 1990s. While my parents and grandparents have lived through the events that inspired the song "We Didn't Start the Fire", the fire is still burning. Pulling on that thread didn't feel right. How would their lives compare with my own?

   I looked around my room and saw the many things I've collected over the years. I have new versions of various '80s toys that have made a comeback in recent years in the form of Hasbro's "G.I. Joe Classified" and "Transformers" lines. Mattel had even brought back the "Masters of the Universe" line and that line even had crossed over with the likes of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and the  "Thundercats". Those lines tend to cater toward adult collectors along with Hasbro's "Marvel Legends". All that's missing now is the return of a few other '80s and '90s toy lines and the circle would be complete. To top it off, I have a vast collection of comic books and that got me to thinking. Who else in my family has also collected things? Who, indeed?

Nana and Papa, collectors!

    Both of my maternal grandparents were no stranger to collecting things. Grandpa Bob collected John Philip Sousa records, model planes/cars and other assorted items. My grandmother Natalie?  Oh, she collected astonishingly lifelike dolls that peered into your soul like "Annabelle". Those things were so creepy that I don't even have photos of them. When my grandmother passed away, we split the collection amongst my lady cousins. I tried not to smile too widely as I saw them go to their forever homes.

    I do wish I took pictures of my grandfather's collection, though because they were really cool. He had so many records and since my brother was also into collecting records, I really thought he'd have inherited them. Alas, that was not meant to be. At least we have a few of his planes!

    I'm not entirely sure when either of my grandparents started collecting things because they never really told me and it was one of the questions I never actually asked them. It had to have been well before I was born because as far back as I can remember they had various models hanging around the house or those creepy dolls. The worst place to display them was in the bathroom. To this day I have no idea why my grandmother put one of them in there on a tricycle smiling at people. Maybe space was at a premium.

All they wanted to do was change
the world.

    At least I can tell you when I started reading comic books. It was the late 1980s and I grew up watching various superhero related cartoons including the ones I mentioned earlier. One of them was "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends". To say that cartoon got me hooked on the Marvel universe was a bit of an understatement. I don't know what was about Marvel because I also watched reruns of the 1960s Adam West "Batman" series and the odd episode of "Super Friends" growing up. Maybe it was because the Marvel characters at the time were just larger than life. After all, Stan Lee did strive to make his characters all too human and that became the blueprint for every character in the Marvel universe going forward. Don't get me wrong. I still love the DC universe. Who doesn't love and respect their characters? Marvel just won my heart.

    By the 1990s, I was reading comic books regularly and one of my favorite titles, aside from "Spider-Man", "Avengers" and "X-Men", was Marvel's "New Warriors". I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an inspiration for my own "Starbolts" webcomic. The comic was so good that I managed to collect every single issue from its original 1990-1996 run and volumes two, four and five. I wasn’t a fan of volume three and the reality show gimmick. 

 Today, many collectors including myself compare the team with the Distinguished Competition's very own "Teen Titans". There's just something about teenage superheroes that capture readers' imagination and to think certain publishers were against the idea of teenage heroes headlining their own titles. It all started with Spidey.

        My grandparents had similar feelings toward their collections. When you collect something, you want the things that makes you happy or nostalgic for years gone by. There's always a temptation of hoarding too much of something, though. The trick is to know your limits, take a look around at space available and collect the things that interest you. When that collection of yours no longer makes you happy, it may be time to take care of the things you once cherished. Collecting comics and the dolls and models my grandparents had are comparable because it made them happy. Those dolls were freaky but they made my grandmother happy and that's what's important. 

    Sometimes our collections would cross over. I remember showing my grandfather the "Transformers" that transformed into F-15s. He appreciated the detail of the figure in plane mode and was pretty amazed that it transformed into a robot in a few steps. These days the "Transformers" require an engineering degree to get them into either mode. At least the details are still there after all these years. The "Transformers" have been going strong since 1984. 

    As far as comics go, I did show my grandfather my comic collection. He was amazed that "Captain America" was still around as he read his adventures in his youth. He even asked me how "Superman" was doing. I was never quite sure how to tell him that Clark had died, came back, married Lois Lane, and even had kids with her. When a character has been around for decades, sometimes it’s good to let them grow up with the readers.

Heroes for the '90s in plastic form.

        At this point I only collect the things that I have some connection to like the Marvel Legends “New Warriors” figures in the picture. They represent a comic that I was an avid reader of. I have the entire 1990 to 1996 run like I said and while they might not be worth as much as comics from the 1960s, they still hold some sentimental value because I grew up reading the comic. The same applies to various video games I have accumulated over the years, too.

    My grandparents likely felt the same way about their stuff. I never thought that their collections ever really took over their house. Mine certainly don't. I just need to be selective in my collection. That's what any good collector should do!

    These days, I'm not entirely sure what happened to my grandfather's record collection or his models. I think my Uncle Bob has them. I know that the creepy dolls have been dispersed amongst the granddaughters and that's honestly for the best. My mother didn't want them in her house and she has her own collection of Lladro figurines to worry about. At least collecting is a fun hobby and yes there's a concern about what to do with the items once you are gone. Again, there's nothing wrong with collecting the things that make you happy. When they stop making you happy, that's when it becomes a problem. In the end, collections of comics, dolls and models become a vital part of our family history because it gives people a glimpse of what kind of a person the collector was. 

See ya next time.

The New Warriors are property of Marvel Comics.

52 Ancestors Week 41: What the Timeline Shows

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 41:

The theme for Week 41 is “What the Timeline Shows.” Timelines are great for putting events in context and spotting gaps in your research. What is something you’ve discovered using a timeline? (Or, any clock- or watchmakers in the family?)

Tell me, Doctor. Where are we going this time?

    I would be lying if I didn't try to put timelines together for my ancestors. I know Ancestry, Wikitree and other sites have an app or something where the tree owner is presented with a very rough idea of a person's life. Granted, a lot of those timelines are created when you input data into the profile or if you add a source. For example, say someone was born in 1925. They would normally appear in the 1930 US census with their parents. Once that source is added, the event is placed into their profile and their personal timeline. Pretty simple, right? Well, what if I told you I went one step beyond. Shocking, right? I like thinking outside of the box!

    While I was gathering various census data and adding them to the profiles, I got to thinking.  If I had a time machine, what would be the best time to visit? When would I have the best opportunity to see as many of my ancestors as possible regardless of the distance? After going through a ton of census data and looking at all the facts, I concluded that the best time to visit everyone would be in the year 1950.

    I came to that conclusion just after looking at the 1950 census and finding both of my parents living in Haverhill, Mass as small children. Come to think of it. My parents were miles away from each other at the time. Kind of cool.

    According to the timeline,  all four of my grandparents would all be in Haverhill at that time, too. Other ancestors would be in Newburyport or living in Italy. Sadly, the only great-grandparent I wouldn't be able to visit would be Maria Tedesco as she passed away in 1943.

    That puts me in quite a predicament. I wanted to see what the best time I could visit all of my ancestors would be and the first barrier is the untimely death of my great-grandmother Maria. What do I do? The year 1950 might not be the best time period to be in if she's not around.

    The next logical step would be to go back another ten years to 1940. In 1940, all four of my grandparents were around as well as all eight of my great-grandparents. They were all living in Haverhill or Newburyport. Would that be the best time period to visit? It just might be when you consider that all but five 2nd great-grand parents were around too, including the ones in San Pietro a Maida! I guess 1940 wouldn't be too bad even though Antione Legault and Lucie Cadran would both be long gone. Beggars can't be choosers!

Giuseppe and Clementina

    As you can tell, it's tough for to pin down an exact date I could take the time machine and visit ancestors and relatives. Everyone is either deceased or haven't been born yet. Ah....Don't you just love time travel?

    Okay. We've decided that the year 1940 is a good time period to visit as far as my family tree goes. Why? Like I said, it's because everyone is around and even though the Legaults aren't around I would make the best of it and visit Henrietta and her older sisters in nearby West Newbury like her sister Delphine.

    The timeline suggests that that's one of the best year to visit because of the sheer volume of ancestors and relatives living in the Merrimack valley. And we also have to take Italy into account, too. However, is it the best?

    At the time of the 1940 US census, my 2nd great-grandparents Marco Ferraiolo, Caterina Coppola, Antonio Tedesco and Maria Domenica Gullo were living in San Pietro a Maida wondering when their children  and relatives in America will be sending them letters. My second great-grandmother Maria Giovanna Capobianco was even still around as she lived in Gesualdo. Would I visit them? Sure! And yes, I know there's a language barrier. Don't worry. I'd bring a universal translator aka my phone with the Google Translate app.

Gertrude Stevens, front and Senter.

        Now that I think about it. Would 1940 be the best year to visit? Why not see what was going on ten years earlier in 1930? Everyone in the 1940 census would be around in 1930 and my Italian ancestors in San Pietro a Maida and Gesualdo would be there, too! And as an added bonus Lucie Cadran would be around and so would my grandparents. They'd be young, sure. However, they'd be around and so that would count!

    Okay. Does that settle my adventure through time and space? I sure hope so! Trying to decide on a time period where the maximum amount of people are around is pretty tricky. I honestly think 1930 would be the best time period for me to visit over all. The timeline again suggests everyone  was either living in the Merrimack valley at the time or in Italy.

    In order to cement this, let's list where my ancestors were in this time period. I don't want to have to pick another time period! Let's take a look.

   In 1930, here's where everyone in my first thirty ancestors was living:

* Vincenzo Ferraiolo, Maria Tedesco and Marco Ferraiolo: 35 Pilling Street, Haverhill, Mass.

* Giuseppe Carrabs, Clementina Forgione and Olympia Carrabs: 26 Bartlett Street, Haverhill, Mass.

* Alfred Hamel, Clara Laplante and Robert Hamel: 25 Franklin Street, Newburyport, Mass.

* Austin Felker, Henrietta Legault and Natalie Felker: 40 Margerie St, Haverhill, Mass.

* Marco Ferraiolo, Caterina Coppola, Antonio Tedesco and Maria Domenica Gullo: San Pietro a Maida

* Maria Giovanna Capobianco: Gesualdo

* Eugene Hamel and Celanise Lefebvre: 12 Whitner Ave, Amesbury, Mass.

* Joseph Laplante and Georgianna Ross: 12 Bromfield St, Newburyport, Mass.

* Wilfred Felker: 354 Water St, Haverhill, Mass.

* Gertrude Stevens: 3 Walker St, Lowell, Mass.

* Lucie Cadran: 120 How St, Haverhill, Mass.

    In 1930, there's also a chance I might be able to see some third great-grandparents in the flesh! I know Elizabeth Deborah Fellows was around. It would be cool to see if other ancestors were, too!

    That's quite a list of people to visit in 1930, isn't it? The list is even bigger when you consider all of my ancestors brothers and sisters and their families. I think it's safe to say that 1930 would be the best time period to see the family. Don't get me wrong, the economic times would be pretty rough since it'd be one year into the Great Depression and everything. I'm just saying from a genealogical standpoint it seems like 1930 would be the best year to visit all eight great-grandparents, their parents and all of their relatives. 

    The list of people I have in that census is actually a mile long and I have to believe that's the best time period to go visit.  I'd just have to make sure I bring a universal translator with me if I plan on going to Italy....which is what I would so do. Let's not kid ourselves here. You would go visit ancestors in another country if you could AND bring with you a way to break the language barrier.

    I just wish it was easier to pick a time period and stick with it!

    At least I arrived at a satisfying conclusion. The timeline says this is the best time to check out if I ever want to see as many ancestors as I can in one place. Yeah, I know a good chunk of the tree is in Italy at the time, too. I would still visit them! I guess it's true what they say. If you give a genealogist a time machine, they'd be running themselves through the gauntlet trying to decide which time period to visit first. However, there is one thing a time traveler must never do. Do not alter the past. There have been many movies and tv shows stating why that would be a BAD idea.

See ya next time!

P.S. I would so visit the family in Argentina during that time period, too! =D

52 Ancestors Week 40: A Moment of Courage

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 40:

The theme for Week 40 is “A Moment of Courage.” Mark Twain said, ““Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” Think about something an ancestor faced with courage, whether it was something heroic, or the quiet courage of everyday life.

And there came a day.....

    I've honestly covered so many moments of courage in my family tree that it feels like I'm a descendant of Earth's mightiest heroes or something. I'm not. At least I don't think I am.  Let's do a quick headcount. Both grandfathers served in World War II. All of my great-grandfathers served in World War I. My grandfather Bob's brother Alfred was a firefighter and he has a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. The ladies in my family also are no stranger to being courageous. Have you ever known any Italian woman to not be willing to smack someone with their shoe?! The same applies to the French-Canadians. My 2nd great-grandmothers Gertrude Stevens and Lucie Cadran even held their own in the face of divorce and the untimely death of a spouse in the early 1900s.

    Of course courage comes in all sizes and genders. However, there's one courageous event I would love to learn more about even if it cost the hero his own life. I'm talking about my great-grandfather Vincenzo's brother, Nicola. He may not have fought in a war or anything. He was still a hero in my book.

Vincenzo and Nicolina

    I first learned about Nicola when my cousin Caterina was telling me all about my great-grandfather's siblings and how one profile was missing on Wikitree. She told me how his brother Paolo ended up in Rome and that my great-aunt was named after his brother Nicola. I told her that was very sweet and she asked me if I knew the story of how that came to be. Naturally, I didn't. I love a good story and so I asked her for more details.

   Sometime in the 1910s (possibly 1917), Nicola happened across a young man drowning near San Pietro a Maida. He quickly realized the victim was his sister Caterina's boyfriend and dove into the raging waters in an attempt to save him.

    The current was too strong and both young men tragically lost their lives. I'm not sure who all witnessed the event. Though, I can safely say that the name "Nicola" was passed down throughout the family since that day and that even includes my great-aunt. Yes, I know her name was "Nicolina" but it still counts! Don't tell me it doesn't! Either way, the family honored him from that day forward by passing down the name through the generations.

    My eyes widened after I heard the story and right away I messaged my cousin Cathie to see if she heard the tale about how her mother got her name. She said she did and she thought I knew about it. I said "Nope". Apparently, everyone in the family knew but me. I guess that story must have slipped past me while I was eating some pasta e fagioli at grandma Ollie's or something. Once the dust settled, I wanted to learn more about Nicola because I wanted to create an awesome profile for him on WikiTree.

Caterina Ferraiolo

    In order to do that, I needed to ask my cousin Caterina some questions. The most obvious was "How old was he?" Uhh....apparently he was fourteen years old at the time of his death. I have no idea how old the boyfriend was or even what his name was. I do know that Caterina was in her early teens herself. So, this guy was very likely her first boyfriend. Ouch.....

    Since Nicola was around fourteen years old when he dove into the sea, you could say he was born around 1899. He was evidentially the youngest son born to Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola as his sisters Caterina, Rosa and Concetta were born in 1904, 1906 and 1912 respectively. The story has now taken a sweeter turn. The older brother was trying to save his younger sister's boyfriend. Sometimes real life can be just as compelling as any movie or television show. I honestly don't think anyone can make up a story like this. Sure it was tragic but at the same time it shows just how heroic Vincenzo's brother was. 

    Once I created the profile, I wanted to check something out on Google Earth. Where could the accident have taken place? I like geography and distant places have always fascinated me. When you look at the area around San Pietro a Maida on a map, you don't really see anything that remotely looks like a raging river nearby. There is, however, easy access to the Mediterranean since there are a few beaches nearby. This leads me to believe that there was an accident somewhere near the beaches or even a few kilometers out to sea. 

    Here's how Caterina tells the story:

" It's true, it's a shame that Nicola died so young, and then how he died. He threw himself into the sea, even though he didn't know how to swim, to save his sister's boyfriend, and they both died. It used to be the tradition to then name the children with the same name. Aunt Caterina had Nicola, Uncle Paolo had Nicola, Uncle Vincenzo Nicolina, and my mother named Marco Nicola, and maybe they all live apart from my brother. You see, the tradition is always passed down" --Caterina Aleardi, 13 Sep 2021.

Profile is looking spiffy!

That's such a crazy story. The kid didn't even know how to swim and yet he tried to save his sister's boyfriend. I shook my head and finished up the profile. I really hope I did it justice. Of course, there's a few odds and ends I need to fill in like his exact birth date and all that. Those details will come out eventually. All I can do is have this little memorial for him on the Internet. It's really all anyone can do.

    I'll have to email the commune office to see if they know anything about Nicola. The problem is that it'd be difficult to get anything without any exact dates. That's always going to be the issue.

    In the end, Caterina married Lorenzo Astorino and like my cousin said they had a son named Nicola. I have told my cousin Meli this story since Caterina was her ancestor and everything and like me she had no idea what the name Nicola meant to the family. Some names game passed down because of a grandfather or another ancestor. In this case, it was passed down because a kid named Nicola died trying to be a hero. 

    I guess it's true what Rosemary Harris's Aunt May said in "Spider-Man 2". There really is a hero in all of us. Some of us find it quickly and some of us don't know what it is. The trick is to always be modest about it. No one likes a cocky face. No one.

    Nicola will always be remembered for what he did thanks to family carrying his name and of course that profile on Wikitree. It stands as a tribute and while I want to have more information about him, I don't know if it's really needed. The actions I talked about here and in the profile make speak for itself.

'Nuff said, true believers!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 39: What Wasn't Written Down

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 39:

The theme for Week 39 is “What Wasn’t Written Down.” We deal with a lot of written records, but we can also learn from things like photos and the spoken word. What is something you’ve learned about an ancestor in a different way? (Or what do you wish had been written down, but wasn’t?)

The rest is still unwritten.

    There are a lot of events that just aren't written down and as genealogists we only get a snippet of peoples' lives in official documents like birth records, marriages, censuses and everything in between. Some things are never written down and some stories are forever going to be internal whether we want them to be or not. Not every waking moment is written down and we have to accept that. Still, there are some things I wish were written down. I honestly would have loved a journal or something detailing an ancestor's trip across the Atlantic or across the New Hampshire border.

    Think about it. I have four great-grandparents who landed in New York in the early 1900s and unlike some of their contemporaries they didn't stay in the Empire State. They went on to Haverhill, Mass and I really want to know what happened between their arrival in American and suddenly showing up in Haverhill. That's always been a question on my mind because Haverhill is a good four hours away from the Big Apple.

la famiglia di Ferraiolo

    My great-grandfather Vincenzo was certainly no stranger to traveling. After all, he made the trip from America to Italy many times. He first went to Haverhill in March of 1912 and stayed with his aunt Concetta and uncle Vincenzo. He went back to Italy and married Maria Tedesco in 1921. He stayed there for a few years and went back to Haverhill by the later part of the decade. In 1929, Maria and her children then traveled to America to join her husband.

    That's all well documented. We have the passports, the ship manifests and everything else that synchs with the story. The only thing that's missing is how they got to the city of Haverhill! They didn't exactly take an uber to the Merrimack valley did they? No. Of course not. Ubers didn't exist then. And I honestly doubt they took a rental car for the journey. We have to keep in mind that Maria was traveling alone with two small children when she arrived in America and I really doubt Vincenzo was there to greet her at the harbor! Then again he might have been there. It's hard to say. It wasn't written down!

     With all that in mind, there's a huge plot hole in the story. I'm a writer and if there's one thing I don't like is a plot hole. Neither my grandfather Marco or his sister Nicolina ever told anyone how they got from New York to Haverhill. Of course I asked her on many occasions but Nicolina always found a way to change the subject and talk about something else from her early days in America. I can't really fault her for that. She may have forgotten at that point. I mean she was six when she arrived in America. Even now I have a hard time remembering exactly what I did when I was six years old!

On the boats and on the trains....

   Since people didn't remember how they got to Haverhill from New York I had to come up with my own theories and it's a pretty solid one. It also would explain how everyone got to Haverhill, too. 

    To put it simply they took the train from either Boston or New York to Haverhill. When Maria and the kids arrived in America, railroad clerks who spoke fluent Italian would guide her, the kids and anyone else not staying in New York to the next leg of their journey. They walked the arrivals to the platforms and sent them on their way once they told them where their final destination was.

    Once they boarded the trains and everything the story pretty much wrote itself. The Ferraiolos likely left from Penn Station or Grand Central and went to Boston since there was no direct line to Haverhill. They arrived at South Station in Boston and from there they took the Boston Elevated Railway across town to North Station. Once at North Station, they boarded the Boston and Maine Railroad express, which carried them right over the Merrimack River iron bridge and straight into the downtown Haverhill Depot. I bet Vincenzo at least met the family there. I would hope!

On the boats and on the planes....

        As a writer, I really wish there was more to the story and it's a shame that I never heard more about the trip. What did grandpa Marco and Nicolina do the whole time they were at sea? What did they do on the train ride? What did they think of America at the time? Sure they were young but they had to have remembered something from the journey. No one documented the real human aspects of the trip at I think that would have been amazing to learn and not just from a writer's standpoint. It's from a genealogical standpoint, too. After all we're talking about peoples' lives and moving from one corner of the globe to another was not another day at the office!

    There is a silver lining, though. Nicolina did tell me how they spent their first few months in Haverhill. They reconnected with family and spent a lot of time with Vincenzo's aunt Concetta who they called "Aunt Zia". There was even a story or two about how they handled policemen coming to their house from time to time. Nicolina would answer the door, speak in Italian, and the cop would be so jarred that he ended up running away. Sadly, I don't see that tactic working these days. It's a sign of the times.

    I suppose I really would have just liked some stories about their travels and it's a shame they were never written down. Their story may have been similar to my other great-grandparents but I think hearing about what everyone did at the time would have added a human element to the saga. For now all I can do is simply make an educated guess about what they did based on my own childhood experience traveling to places like Florida. My parents gave my brother and I things to do and we kept each other occupied during the long trip since there were no screens. We did have plenty of books, though!  For Maria, Marco and Nicolina, I think I can just imagine what the trip was like even if it wasn't written down. It's all you can do!

See you next time! 

52 Ancestors Week 38: A Document with Personality

From Amy Johnson Crow:  Week 38:

The theme for Week 38 is “A Document with Personality.” Let’s be honest – some records we work with can be a bit dry. But others are oozing with personality. It could be a will with an interesting clause; an obituary that paints a picture of the person’s life; and don’t forget photos and tombstones! What is something you’ve found that has personality?

Everyone. Is. Here.

    Amy has a point. Some documents can be a bit dry unless you come across a man who tried to be drafted not once but twice during the first world war. Looking at you, Paolo Coppola! I've even found an Italian guy's naturalization paper in Montana. That's right. Montana. His original document was stolen and the whole sordid affair was well documented on his new naturalization form in the Treasure state. The story of Giuseppe Barberio isn't really mine to tell as I'm not related to him. Though, he was at my great-grandmother's funeral in 1943 and was born in San Pietro a Maida. Who knows? We might be related after all. 

    Anyway, it goes without saying that I've found many crazy documents out there over the years and it's hard to pin down which one I want to talk about the most because they're all good and some are comedy gold for all the wrong reasons. Instead, I thought I'd look at a document that you definitely won't find online....because it's in my parents' wedding album and it's in a very safe place. I am, of course, talking about their wedding guest list and by the end of the blog you may be able to see that just one innocent list of invitees can have a ton of personality attached to it.

     I may have mentioned the list on more than a few occasions.  However, I felt like it was necessary to bring it up again after last week's semi morose blog entry. In may ways, the wedding guestlist is similar to the funeral pamphlet because like it I have a ton of DNA matches who descend from people in there. There's also a very good reason for that and it's the main reason why the list fits this week's theme.

    If we go back to the 1970s when my parents were tying the knot, we'd find their parents making plans for the celebration. It was obvious that they'd be at the happy event and all four of them wanted to make sure everyone else was either there or invited to the party in Haverhill. This actually doesn't surprise me at all because every party my grandparents Robert or Natalie put together always had relatives there I barely knew or seen. 

       Marco and Ollie were pretty much the same way. They wanted to make sure all of their Italian friends and family were at my parents' wedding as well and it wasn't just second cousins who were invited! The Tedesco cousins from Woburn were invited or attended along with distant relatives from both sides of the family. It was a veritable who's who of relatives and while you might think that the list was competitive that isn't the case. The list was big because the families were big and my grandparents were simply trying to see how many people were available and can fit into the church/reception hall.

Austin and Henrietta

    One of the things that surprises me the most was the appearance of three of my great-grandparents on the list. Giuseppe Carrabs was not able to make it for various reasons. He was mentioned at least! Austin Felker and Henrietta Legault were there along with several of their children and grandchildren. Included at the table were several of Austin's half-siblings, the Senters and their families.

    I guess that's proof that Austin knew his Senter half-siblings as well as his Felker half-siblings. It's too bad they were at the event. They were in Indiana at the time and I have no idea what Austin's relationship with them was.

    Joining them were my great-grandmother Clara Laplante and an army of Hamel relatives. Henrietta's sisters, their spouses and other relatives were there too. Another big surprise was seeing Oliver Legault's daughter Agnes on the list. She, sadly, couldn't make it to the wedding. I think that made sense given that she and the rest of her family were living in the Buffalo area far from Haverhill. The invitees seemed to be who were local. Then again Matilda Legault and her family made the trip up from Connecticut. So who knows? Maybe the Buffalo Legaults just couldn't get away for a few days?

    The Italian side was represented by local Italian families who were related to Marco and Ollie. To say representatives from the seven families were there is a bit of an understatement. And it's no joke! There really were seven Italian families represented: the Carrabs the Villanuccis, the Tedescos, the Coppolas (by way of Angelina Soterakopoulos and her sister Rose), the Forgiones, the DeLeos (representing the Pentas), and representing the Ferraiolos were my grandfather and his sister Nicolina. 

    I think that lineup would have made my great-grandfather Vincenzo happy. 

    I think it's pretty clear why I think this document is chocked full of personality. The people I've listed weren't just names. They were real people with plenty of personality to spare. I knew some of them personally and trust me not much changed after my parents got married! I haven't even listed everyone who was there or invited to the event. That list is safely on a spreadsheet! The people on the list came from different worlds The Italians lived in Haverhill, Everett and Woburn and had ancestors who worked in mills. They also had vivid memories of "the old country" for the most part. The Italians had to mingle with people from my mom's side of the family and with the majority of them being descended from French-speaking Quebecois, I imagine they broke bread with the Italians over a nice glass of vino. 

    In the end, two worlds came together because my brother and I are here after all. The list isn't just a list. It's a melding of two different cultures into one harmonious union and sure there were hiccups along the way like my great-grandmother Clara saying she loved calamari and hated squid. Did anyone ever correct her?! I'd have kept the joke going but that's just me!  I think that when you read between the lines in a seemingly innocent document and have some context behind the people on a list you can definitely come up with a document that has some personality as long as you know the story and the people involved. 

See ya next time!