Week 22:
The theme for Week 22 is "At the Cemetery." I have a feeling that you might enjoy cemeteries just as much as I do! What discoveries have you made at the cemetery? Do you have a favorite ancestral cemetery or tombstone? What cemetery do you want to visit?
Updating a few things before we get started with this week's theme:
The 2019 Ferraiolo garden is just about planted! We have the usual cucumbers, basil, zucchini, green beans, peppers, potatoes and tomatoes. New for this year is broccoli and eggplant. I'm thinking my father might try making eggplant Parmesan. He used store bought eggplant a while ago and they turned out good. Can't go wrong with eggplant parm.
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| Ferraiolo grave |
This week's theme is "At the Cemetery" and as luck would have it, we spruced up the grave sites for both of my grandfathers for Memorial day. The picture to your left is for my grandpa Marco, his parents, my grandmother Olympia and his step-mother Fortuna. A little bit later in the blog, I'll post the one for my grandpa Hamel. After we did our spring cleaning, we sent copies of the pictures to my great-aunt. She's in her 90s and isn't able to travel. She wanted to see the grave for her family and of course we obliged.
The cemetery in the picture is St. Patrick's Cemetery in Haverhill, Massachusetts and I've made some interesting discoveries there. Not only are my grandparents and great-grandparents on the Ferraiolo side here. But, my great-grandparents on the Carrabis side are buried here as well.
You would think that the grave would be next to my grandparents'. After all they are family. Nope. They're just down the "road" from where the Ferraiolo grave is located.
Growing up I always knew where they were buried. My father always made it a point to hang a wreath on the grave every Christmas and say a prayer. He visited and we kept up the upkeep.
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| Hamel grave |
Once I started doing genealogy, I've found more and more of my relatives buried in Haverhill on both sides of the family. It was a surprise. Well, sort of. I mean. I knew they lived in Haverhill. I just didn't know if they were buried there. And they're in places like St. Joseph's Cemetery, Linwood and Walnut. Like my mom and probably any genealogist says "Just because you die in a certain place doesn't mean you're buried there."
Talk about a segue. I was surprised to learn a few weeks ago that my great-grandmother, Clara Laplante was buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Newburyport. My grandfather's mother was born in the city and moved to nearby Lawrence, Mass. She wasn't buried with her ex-husband in Amesbury. Grave seen to your right is my grandparents' on my mother's side's grave in St Joseph's. Clare had to have been buried somewhere else and after my parents and I cleaned up the graves, she asked me if I could find out where she was buried. Of course I accepted. Why not? I was curious, too. We knew she died in Lawrence and my mother had a feeling she was buried in Newburyport.
So, I ended up asking for help in Dr. Bettinger's Genealogy Squad group and someone gave me the obituary for my great-grandmother. She was definitely buried in St. Mary's Cemetery in Newburyport! That actually makes a lot of sense. My mother said it was the only Catholic cemetery in the city, a lot of French-Canadian immigrants were buried there and it's where her parents, Joseph and Georgianna are buried.
Georgianna's parents, John Ross and Marguerite Metivier are buried there as well. A third cousin took a picture of their grave as they are our common ancestors. Her line came from Georgianna's sister, Anna. Mine came from Georgianna. I asked her if she could help me find Joseph, Clara and Georgianna. They SHOULD be nearby. I have a hunch that they are. We know Clara is buried there. I just need to contact the cemetery office. Can't very well call the cemetery itself. No one's gonna answer! *badumdish!* Sorry. That's my mom's joke. Not mine. =)
I'm not sure if I have a favorite tombstone. But, I do like the ones I showed in this blog. However, a runner up would have to be the tombstone for my 2x great-grandparents in Italy, Antonio Tedesco and Domenica Gullo. Cemeteries in Italy tend to have something unique than most cemeteries in the United States. For one thing, they have pictures of the deceased on them. That's the picture I used for their Wikitree profiles. A second cousin in San Pietro a Maida took a picture for me as I told her I was researching the Tedesco family. It was a rare treat to see their picture and I thank my cousin for them.
I would love to visit the cemetery in San Pietro a Maida to see if I could find more relatives of mine. When my great-aunt visited the town in the '70s, she took a few pictures of the Ferraiolo line. I have yet to see those pictures to be honest. I hope she has them somewhere. It'd save me a trip to Europe. =) Kidding. I would totally go anyway. I just want to see what family I can find there. It would be amazing.
Back home, though. I want to go to Walnut Cemetery in Haverhill. My great-aunt on my mother's side graciously asked me if I wanted to check out where the Legaults and Felkers were buried. I said of course. So, later this spring I'll be going there to check things out. I'll be sure to record everything and take pictures. I hope I get to do it, soon. It should be a lot of fun and who knows? I might discover a few more interesting things.
One of the things I want to discover is where my 2x great-grandfather, Antoine is buried. He's not with his wife in St. Joseph's. I'm betting he's in Walnut with the other Legaults. Well, there's only one way to find out! Here's hoping I can find them and get more amazing pictures!
P.S. Totally updated my grandparents' Find a Graves: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73192889/marco-james-ferraiolo
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