52 Ancestors Week 18: Road Trip

From Amy Johnson Crow:

This week's theme is "Road Trip." (I love a good road trip!) Here are a few ways you might interpret this prompt: an ancestor who moved a long distance, an ancestor who traveled for work, an ancestor you took a road trip in order to research, an ancestor who was a mechanic or was involved in the automobile business.

S.S. Roma

"On the boats and on the planes. They're coming to America."

Now that Neil Diamond's "America" is stuck in your head let's talk about the longest road trip in the history of the family. It's definitely one you have heard many, many times before. It's the immigrant story of when my family first came to America. Immigration stories are always similar. People come from all over the world to start a new and hopefully better life for themselves and their families. As it turns out my family isn't so different.

My father's side of the family came from both San Pietro a Maida and Gesualdo, Italy in the early 1900s. They traversed over four thousand miles to finally settle in Haverhill, Massachusetts after they arrived in New York. My great-grandfather Giuseppe Carrabs and his family arrived in America from Gesualdo some time before my great-aunt Josie was born in 1915. It's tough to get a rough date because Giuseppe had gone back and forth a few times. He did sail on the Adriatic, (The ship. Not the sea.) in 1905. My great-aunt Jennie was born Gesualdo in 1907. Clearly the Carrabs family went back and forth a few times.

I've been told that it was a custom for Italians at that time to work in America for a few years and go back and come to America again. Think of it like work visas today. Eventually, Giuseppe and his siblings came to America and just settled in Haverhill and in Everett, Massachusetts. I think my family has a picture of that boat. Sadly, that's not the one in the header of this blog. Though, the picture IS somewhere. I assure you!

The ship in the blog's header was called the Roma. That was the ship my great-grandfather, Vincenzo Ferraiolo and his family first came to America on in 1929 when they left Naples to go to New York. Or so I thought! Growing up, I actually thought it was the first and only trip. My grandmother, Ollie told me the story. I guess she didn't know the details or forgot what my grandfather had told her. I honestly couldn't blame her if she forgot. It happened so long ago! She did tell me about her father sailing on the Adriatic with her mother Clementina and their young daughter, Giovanna (Jennie).

Once I started looking into the story of my family's journey to America, I found something interesting. I found Vincenzo's passport and on it said that he originally immigrated in 1912! That was a good seventeen years before everyone traveled on the Roma. That was a little confusing. I thought it was the wrong Vincenzo Ferraiolo at first. I mean. It is possible. Who knows how many Vincenzos there are in the world. I asked my dad's cousin and my great-aunt questions about it and showed them the passport after I downloaded it off of Ancestry.

They said it was definitely him as it listed his parents, Marco and Caterina. Apparently, Vincenzo had this passport because he was visiting his aunt, Concetta! He stayed in America for a good few years, fought in World War I, became naturalized and went back to Italy in 1920. He married my great-grandmother, Maria Tedesco in January of 1921 and then made his way back after my great-aunt and my grandfather were born.

That left me with one question. Where did the Roma fit in with all of this? We have a picture of the boat! That was a puzzle for all of five minutes until I looked at the ship manifest for the Roma in 1929. On it were Maria and her children, Marco and Nicolina. They weren't alone as members of her family came with them on that journey.

From what I'm able to piece together using my imagination, I figure that Vincenzo went back to Italy in order to get married. He spent a few years there and traveled back to Haverhill according to his Naturalization papers. He then sent for his wife and two young children aged five and three. He then met them when they came off of the boat.

I'm sure her family didn't want her traveling alone with the two kids. Traveling with two kids by yourself is a nightmare even today! Imagine what it was like in 1929! No iPads. Comic books weren't as good because Superman wasn't created until 1936. There were no Nintendo handhelds! Nothing! It was tough! Basically, the Tedescos came with Maria to see that she arrived safely. Her family ended up in Woburn and would stay in touch until the 1980s.

On my mother's side, there's not much to talk about when it comes to road trips. Her father, Robert, traveled a LOT as he was in the Air Force. He was stationed in places like North Africa and in Italy during World War II.  More on that when we discuss "Military" in a few weeks. I don't want to get ahead of myself! Her side, though, has been on North American soil for centuries.Traveling from France and the UK to Quebec and Massachusetts Bay in the 1600s had to have been more treacherous than by steamship in the 1900s.

Still, the immigrant story I have here is nice and I'm glad I was able to clear up the Roma confusion.

Vincenzo did make one last trip back to Italy, though. Just before he died in 1970, he, my grandparents, great-aunt and her daughter all went to San Pietro a Maida. They went to a family wedding up in Switzerland by train after a short visit in town. My great-aunt has pictures from that trip and they are AMAZING!

Traveling back and forth was a common practice. The movies often depict people as coming to America and settling right off the bat. That wasn't always the case. Many Italians sent money back to Italy. Some even worked for a short time, went back home and stayed there. Others, like my family, went back and forth several times. I guess it's nice to think of immigrants just putting down roots and "never look back again". Yes, it has happened. Sometimes it didn't.

Today, all of this would definitely be referred to as chain migration. That is when you have a relative in another country who helps to bring you into the country from distant lands. The laws changed over time. However, it's still very much prevalent to this day. It's funny isn't it? Times change and yet things still remain very much the same.

52 Ancestors Week 17: At Worship

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 17's theme is "At Worship." Have you used church records in your research? Do you have an ancestor who was a member of the clergy? Have you visited an ancestral place of worship?

Interesting questions this week. I have something to say from both sides of the family on this one.  It's also interesting as this is being posted a day after Easter 2019. Timing really is everything!

I've used church records in my research and wherever possible I would link them on profiles on Wikitree or Geni. Usually, I get them from Familysearch or if someone has scanned a few things here and there. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a cousin did extensive research in the Carrabis side of my tree. That would be my paternal grandmother's side. She had somehow scanned documents from the towns of Gesualdo, Frigento and Grottaminarda, Italy. We're talking:

Attos di Matrimonio (Marrriage acts)

Attos di Morte (Death records)

Attos di Nascita. (Birth records)

She never told me where she got them. A few of them came from commune offices from what I could tell. However, there were several which seemed a bit out of place. They didn't look like official government documents. They looked more like documents created by members of the Catholic church in those three towns. Those were great and even though some of the text was hard to make out, I had some help translating some of the more aged documents. She was very helpful and I thank her every day for her guidance. 

If you want to check out what records are online, I suggest you go to Antenati as they have great documents:  http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?lang=en  Familysearch also has records, too. But, sometimes they will only be accessible if you are a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints or have access to a Familycenter or Family History Library.

On the French-Canadian side, there's the Drouin archive on Ancestry and on FamilySearch. For those who don't know, the Drouin and other Quebecois records are extremely extensive as they cover church records from the 1600s to the 1960s. When you go looking through those records, you will have to know exactly what you are looking for. If you don't, then it becomes like looking for a needle in a haystack and who has the time for that?

A friend of mine actually found the baptismal record for  my 2x great-grandmother, Célanise Lefebvre this way. It's a great database which has pretty much everyone who has ever lived in Quebec in there. For details, check out this link: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/The_Drouin_Collection:_Six_Databases   

It's probably a good idea to know a little French when checking out those records. That's how they tended to write them. 

It's also a great companion piece to the PDRH records. Like Drouin, PDRH or Programme de recherche en démographie historique also houses an archive of baptismal records from the Catholic church. If you have ancestors in Quebec, it's a good idea to check out both Drouin and PDRH for your research as they will most likely have information your ancestor. The records are well kept as they tended to keep everything down from the 1600s on. It's a very useful tool. Check it out and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You'll find many people willing to help translate any and all documents be it in French or in Italian. Luckily, you can find many of these records online in various languages. Availability tends to vary due to a few reasons:

1. Not digitized.
2. The ancestral town may not be online, yet. YET being a keyword.

Just remember that if you have trouble translating the documents, there are people online who can help in various genealogy groups or forums. I go to the Italian Genealogy Facebook group and WikiTree's Genealogist to Genealogist Forum. Both places have wonderful people who are eager to help in any way! They will translate the documents and help you with your research. Good luck and happy hunting!

As for the rest of this week's question, I actually found out pretty recently that I did in fact have an ancestor who was a member of the clergy. His name was David Webster Stevens, my fourth great-grandfather. I probably have other members of the clergy way back in the tree. We're talking 1600s colonial times here. David, however, is relatively recent. He was born in 1829 just nine years after Maine became a state. He was also one of the three soldiers of the Civil War I have in the tree. Though, his story isn't nearly as exciting as Jeremiah Felker's. Coppola, I am still waiting for your call.

In his lifetime, David was married two women: Sarah Ann Goodwin and Huldah Beals. He had five children and I didn't know he was a member of the clergy until earlier this month.

What happened was I was checking out his "Find a Grave" and saw that someone edited and put in "Elder" in his name. Curious, I e-mailed the person who put it in. I had no idea why that was there. The guy who made the edit said that David was ordained as a minister on July 4th, 1876. He had the documentation to prove it. He then asked me if I wanted the info. I said "Sure." Of course this was via e-mail. I was really saying "Are you kidding?! YES! Give me the info!!!"

So, he ended up giving me information on David and said that he was indeed a member of the clergy. He even gave me this obituary:

He was born in West Parsonsfield, Me., Feb 10, 1829; was ordained to the ministry, July 4, 1876, and was a faithful preacher of the Gospel. He was twice married and by the first marriage had four children, three sons and a daughter. Since the death of his wife in 1911, he has made his home with his son George, by whom he was kindly cared for until he peacefully fell on sleep. Beside three sons and a daughter he leaves several grandchildren, two brothers and many friends to mourn his loss. Words of comfort by the writer from 2 Tim. 4:7, 8 and Rev. 14:13.

That blew me away a bit. I'm glad the researcher was able to get the info for me. There is a slight error in the obit. The second wife died in 1912. But, that's what research is for. The only thing I wish I was able to get information about his service in the Civil War. I knew he was involved. Just didn't know to what degree.

Anyway, it was interesting finding out that I had a relatively recent ancestor as a member of the clergy. Who knows what I'll discover next. In the mean time, if you have any ancestors from Quebec, be sure to check out PDRH and Drouin. They will help. A LOT! Oh and be sure to also check your ancestral town's church records for documents, too. There's gold out there and it's up to you to find it! See you next time!

52 Ancestors Week 16: Out of Place

52 Ancestors 2019 Week 16: Out of Place

From Amy Johnson Crow:

Did you ever find an ancestor in an unexpected place? I recently discovered that my 3rd-great-grandmother didn't die in the county where I found her in every census. Instead, I found her living 4 counties away from there -- in the county where I currently live. She's even buried here. (I'm still trying to figure out why.) Maybe you found an ancestor in a record you didn't expect (like finding a member of a pacifist religion serving in the Civil War). Or maybe there's an ancestor who always seemed "out of place" with the rest of the family.

Last week for #52Ancestors I covered DNA on my father's side. I like to try and alternate between both sides of the family so either side can have a fair shot at the spotlight.

This week we'll be talking about my 3rd great-grandfather, Jeremiah Smart Felker. His story would make for one of those movies that generate Oscar buzz. I even have a director lined up for his story. Frances Ford Coppola, if you are reading this my e-mail is on the side bar and I'd like to talk details. Have your people call my people. We'll do lunch! =)

Jeremiah's story is one I'm sure many of seen around genealogical circles. He was born out of wedlock to Elias Felker and Patty/Martha Smart in 1838 in the town of Raymond, New Hampshire. What happened was Elias cheated on his wife, Polly with Martha who at the time was in between husband number one, George William Mace and husband number two, Jonathan West. They had a baby and Patty's father, Jeremiah Smart, sued Elias for all parental rights.

The story gets better from here. Patty named the kid after her father and here's where the unexpected/out of place part of the prompt comes in. Patty married for a third time in 1846 to a man named Joseph T Miles. They would remained married until her death in 1875.

What is odd about this is that I thought I accounted for all of the censuses and info for Jeremiah until the last week or so. The earliest I had him in the census was 1870. By then he was married to my 3x great-grandmother, Elizabeth Fellows and living in Rockingham county, New Hampshire. The family would move to Haverhill, Mass by 1880.

I worked on her profile on Familysearch and once I added and spruced up Joseph T Miles's profile I saw a hint for the 1850 census. I was like "Okay. This probably has him and his wife living in Brentwood, NH or something. Well, they were living in Deerfield and who did I see living with them?

Jeremiah!

There's a catch, though! There always is. You can't avoid it. His name in the census was Jeremiah MILES. Not Felker. I checked and double-checked to see if this was indeed the same Jeremiah. It is. He's listed in the 1850 census as Jeremiah F Miles. I had no idea he took on his step-father's name. I suppose it would make sense. His birth-father died about five years before the census was enumerated. It was just odd seeing him there. I suppose it makes sense. Though....perhaps the F stood for Felker? I'm not sure. It's definitely him, his mother, Joseph Miles and his half-sister, Maria West.

Some time before he signed up to fight in the American Civil War, he changed his last name BACK to Felker and it was like that ever since. Jeremiah served in the 1st New Hampshire Heavy Artillery Unit and helped to defend Washington DC. He's one of only three ancestors I have who fought in the American Civil War that I know of.

After the war, he returned to Haverhill and ended up watching over my great-grandfather, Austin until he passed away in 1918. It should also be noted that his grandfather Joseph is listed as a father on his death certificate. That was another unexpected find!!

Later this spring, I plan on visiting his grave in Walnut cemetery. My great-aunt offered to take me there to see if we can find the gravestones of several ancestors. They should be there. The Felkers and the Legaults are buried all over Haverhill it seems. I'll be sure to tell that story!

The moral of the story here seems to be that you will always find ancestors in unexpected places. Some people might find them in orphanages or living with other relatives. You have to dig and sometimes you'll need to take unexpected roads in your research. You may strike gold in the most unexpected places.

The story of Jeremiah is certainly one for the books and like I said it would make for a decent movie. Seriously, Coppola. Call me. We'll do lunch!

Bonus round: My 4th great-grandfather, Jean-Baptiste Ross was counted twice in the 1880 US census. He was with his son and grandchildren in Manchester, New Hampshire AND in Berwick, Maine with his wife. The cities are about an hour apart. I wonder how he got to both places. The census may not have been enumerated on the same day. How else could he have been in two houses?

52 Ancestors Week 15: DNA

Hey, everyone!

For two years in a row I've participated in Amy Johnson Crow's #52ancestors. The goal is to write something about an ancestor of yours for every week of the year. She usually gives everyone a topic and everyone participating responds. Last year, I responded to questions in Wikitree's g2g forum and I didn't answer all of them as I was unsure of what to say for a few weeks here and there. This year is different because I'm making a concerted effort to respond to every week's prompts.

For details on how you can participate, check out http://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com

With that out of the way here is the discussion for this week!

#52Ancestors Week 15 DNA: "What ancestor have you identified using DNA? Which one would you like to find? Or be creative -- perhaps an ancestor with the initials of D.N.A. You decide!"

This week I'll be talking about my 3x great-grandparents, Paolo Coppola and his wife, Rosa Suverato and how I used DNA to confirm and identify those two.

When I started doing genealogy, I didn't have any idea who those two were. The only thing I knew was that my 2x great-grandmother's name was Caterina Coppola. That name was on my great-grandfather Vincenzo's passport from when he left Haverhill to visit his parents back in San Pietro a Maida to get married to a woman named Maria Tedesco, the lady who eventually became my great-grandmother.

My great-aunt told me about her great-aunt, Concetta and her huge family. She used to call her "Aunt Zia". Zia being Italian for "aunt". She also told me that there were also three other Coppolas living in Haverhill at the sane time as Concetta and their names were Paolo, Giovanni and Rosa. She told me that they were Concetta's brothers and sister. This was later confirmed by the "Italians in Haverhill" book by Patricia Trainor O'Malley and by DNA matching later on.

That was great! Fantastic information! However, there was one small problem! I didn't have anything to connect everyone together into one family until I took a DNA test. Once I did, I saw a DNA match pop up. She shared DNA with me, my father and my great-aunt. I checked out her tree and I saw that she had Concetta Coppola as an ancestor. To say that I was excited would be an understatement. I contacted her to see if she knew who her parents were. I also said that I was related via Concetta's sister Caterina and that she most likely stayed in Italy while her siblings came to America. She said their parents were probably a couple named Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato. She heard that story from her family and it was passed down the line.

I had a clue to their identity. The next step of course was confirming everything. So, I looked up information on Concetta and found her naturalization papers. In it I saw her birthday and an idea popped in my head. I had been in contact with the commune office at San Pietro a Maida. They helped me with my research. Could they help me figure out Concetta's parents? The short answer is "Yes."

I talked to a friend who worked there. I told him Concetta's birth date and he looked it up for me and got back to be a few days later. I was very grateful! He said that Concetta's parents were indeed Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato. He went one step beyond and provided me with information on Rosa's birth in the town and not much else. That was okay for now. I wasn't going to push it. After all you don't want to come across as pushy when you're talking to people an ocean away who offered to help you. You just don't. It's impolite.

Over time, descendants of other Coppola children appeared as DNA matches on Ancestry and MyHeritage. The names, dates, people and places all matched what was in O'Malley's book. She did a great job with that book as it has pictures and everything. If you check out the Wikitree profiles I linked, you will see a few that I scanned. I found two of the siblings living together in the 1920 census and listed as such. That further sealed the deal to me. This is why it's a good idea to build a tree out as far as you can. It helps you out and helps out others.

What ended up proving everything of course was my great-aunt's connection to the matches as well as the censuses, the book and the naturalization paper. Being in an older generation, she would have a larger amount of DNA shared with the match. It really helps to also test the oldest people in the family.

As for a person I'd like to find via DNA, I'd want to find parents for my brick wall, Domenica Gullo. I talked about her last week on Wikitree. Finding out her parents is a goal of mine and I hope to find out who they are via DNA or good old fashioned research. Hopefully something happens sooner or later.

Links to all previous answers:

Week 1: First
Week 2: Challenge
Week 3: Unusual Name
Week 4: I'd Like to Meet
Week 5: At the Library
Week 6: Surprise
Week 7: Love
Week 8: Family Photo
Week 9: At the Courthouse
Week 10: Bachelor Uncle
Week 11: Large Family
Week 12: 12
Week 13: In the Paper
Week 14: Brick Wall

Still interesting to me that Caterina stayed in Italy while her siblings went to America. I have a feeling I would find more of her story there if I dig. Perhaps there are other Coppola siblings. It's funny how solving one puzzle can lead to more waiting to be solved. At least the puzzle of how the Coppola siblings my great-aunt talked about and how they all connected to Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato was solved.

See you next time!

Editor's note: In April of 2023, I found that Giovanni Coppola was not the brother of Paolo, Caterina and Concetta Coppola. He is likely a first cousin of the three. Look for details in a future blog post.

An Introduction

Hey, everyone!

Welcome to my very first genealogy blog post! I know I don’t have much here. I just started and I hope to have a few things added once I figure out what I want. But, first. Let me introduce myself. My name is Chris Ferraiolo and I’ve got a genealogy problem. I know. It’s not the first thing people want to read when they open a blog post. But, it’s true.

I’ve been doing genealogy off and on since about 2006 when I started on Ancestry.com. I did a basic tree and added relatives. I think I added my ancestors up to my 2x great-grandparents and then added of all my cousins. The site also automatically added people as well. That was really annoying as I later found out the branches were wrong. I honestly let it simmer once I made the tree and did a fair bit of research. I didn’t get back into the swing of things until the summer of 2017.

Truth be told, I always had an interest in genealogy and in history in general. My dad’s side of the family always talked about how their parents came to America from both San Pietro a Maida and Gesualdo, Italy. My grandparents on my mother’s side had always talked about the people who settled Quebec and those who fought in the American Revolution. I was one of those kids who constantly asked questions much to the detriment of everyone around me. Thankfully, everyone was more than helpful in giving me information, stories and insight into the lives of those who came before me. I was blessed and still feel pretty lucky to this day.

It got to the point that making a tree online was relatively simple. All I had to do was remember the basic five Ws: Who. What. Where. Why. When. I started my tree in 2006 and by then both of my grandmothers had passed away. My paternal grandfather died when I was four and thankfully I had his sister help me with that side of the family. My maternal grandfather passed away in 2017. I still remembered the stories they told me and I was able to make a nice, basic tree.

Then, like I said, I let it simmer online for years. I started my own webcomic and a video review series on YouTube and barely looked at it since. In the intervening years, however, I did receive private messages from two people who helped me sort of jumpstart things once again. Both ladies, as it turned out, eventually were revealed to be DNA matches on my father’s side. I didn’t know that at the time. I finally did a DNA test in 2018 and this was in 2010/2011. I knew they’d show up as they introduced themselves to me as cousins. They knew things about the family and I verified the facts with my father and my great-aunt. I just wasn’t sure where they fit in the grand scheme of things until much later.

One cousin did exhaustive research on my paternal grandmother’s lineage in Gesualdo, a town in Italy nestled in the Fredane and Ufita river valleys. She and a few other people found so much information and gladly let me use it for my own tree. That was very helpful. You can’t argue with results when they come in.

The other cousin is a professional genealogist by the name of Mary Tedesco. You might have heard of her as she is a co-host of the PBS series “Genealogy Roadshow”. Her family, like my father’s paternal side, came from the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida. As it turned out, our families traveled to America together in the 1920s and spent many holidays with each other including their first Thanksgiving. The story of which can be found in Mary’s blog here: http://www.originsitaly.com/an-italian-american-thanksgiving/

I talked to Mary off and on over the years and eventually she asked if I considered taking a DNA test. Meanwhile, an uncle of mine suggested I branch outward into the genealogical world. He gave me a family tree my grandmother (His mother) created and told me to check out places like Geni and MyHeritage. He said people there could help me out. So, I went there and even took it a step further by registering at both Wikitree and FamilySearch.

I met several friends who helped me with my research. I took that DNA test on AncestryDNA that Mary suggested and the results came in. I’m 43% Italian and 49% French with 6% Germanic Europe and 2% Turkey and the Caucasus. This fit with what I knew about my family tree to begin with and all the stories I was told. Of course you need to take estimates with a grain of salt and be wary of things like confirmation bias. More on that at a later time. Still, the results fit in with what I knew of my family history even though the British part of my ancestry was not represented. It shows up in my mother's test results, though. Mary, as it turned out, fit into the 4th cousin bracket. My cousin on my dad’s maternal side turned out to be a 3rd cousin. That was pretty amazing and this was pretty much the start of my genealogical adventure.

I then started to learn more from the likes of genealogy superstars like Crista Cowan, Dana Leeds, Amy Johnson Crow, Blaine Bettinger and Shannon Christmas. I even learned a thing or two from non-professional genealogists as well.  There’s too many people to list and I don’t want to name-drop everyone. Sufficed it to say the list is extensive!

By now people have probably guessed that I’m not a professional genealogist. I do, however, have a Bachelor’s degree in political science and believe it or not that’s helped me a lot in my research. The methods of research are very similar as both fields require a person to think critically and make you wonder “Does this thing we're looking at make sense?”. Using what I learned in college helped me with genealogy. Those 8 AM classes finally paid off!

To close, I just wanted to say why I picked “All Roads Lead to Haverhill” for my blog’s title. Haverhill, Massachusetts is the town in the Merrimack River valley where most of my ancestors eventually converged. My Quebecois roots ended up there and in nearby Newburyport. I am directly descended from one of the founders of Haverhill whose name was Tristram Coffin. And lastly, that is where folks on my Italian side ended up settling after they came to America.

This blog will have stories to share, ancestor profiles and tips and techniques which I learned from the pros. I hope you enjoy what I have to share because I have a lot to share. I hope you all stick around!

See you all next time!