52 Ancestors Week 35: At Work

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 35: 

With next Monday being Labor Day in the US, it seems a good time to think about how our ancestors earned a living. Share what you have found about an ancestor's occupation.

The storefronts of Newburyport, Massachusetts

Labor Day is approaching and Summer 2019 is coming to a close with its record heat and ungodly humidity here in the Merrimack Valley. The summer was good. I didn't get a chance to spend as much time at my parents' boat as I'd have liked. But, that's okay. Still, it is nice to go there and take a look across the river to Newburyport, where the subject of this blog lived.

Alfred Francis Hamel was born on February 6th, 1896 in Suncook, New Hampshire to French-Canadian immigrants, Eugene Hamel and Celanise Lefebvre. Eugene immigrated to the United States in the 1870s and was a teacher according to the 1880 US census. What exactly he taught remains a mystery. I'm betting it was French for obvious reasons. Eventually, he and his family made their way to the mouth of the Merrimack River and settled all over the valley.

A veteran of both World Wars, Alfred set up a repair shop in downtown Newburyport some time after marrying Clara Laplante in June of 1916. It was there that he became known as "Mr. Fix-It". I think I might have alluded to him in an earlier blog. But, now is the time to really go into depth about what I know about him, why his job was pretty cool and how it unknowingly shaped the future.

From what my mother has told me, the repair shop had all kinds of junk in there. Let's not mince words. There was a lot of junk. Useful, I'm sure! When she first told me about the shop, I was thinking he was repairing things like the first cars on the road or things like that. I was surprised to learn that he worked more on small appliances, radios, phonographs and he even made keys the old fashioned way.

What was interesting about his job was really how well respected he was around town. Look at his obituary. He was known as "Mr. Fix-It." That's pretty high praise coming from the people in the city isn't it? He was a disabled veteran who managed to rise above his disability and became highly respected in an age where people with disabilities were looked down upon and chastised. He made a name for himself through hard work and determination.

It really struck a chord with me because I have hearing aids and since I am deaf I've had to deal with various issues, too. He managed to do a lot of work and passed away relatively young by today's standards. Still, his legacy lives on.

I'm not really that great at fixing things like my dad and my grandfather. Though, I have built some cool things with Legos when I was a kid. I digress. My brother definitely is good at fixing things. He doesn't have a fix-it shop or anything. He just fixes computers for the University of Virginia. So, if you think about it the "Fix-it" shop moved from a tiny shop in Newburyport to working in a very high tech field in central Virginia. The world of fixing things has evolved considerably from my great-grandfather's day to 2019.

Alfred passed away in April of 1962 while my mother was still in high school. He was living in a house on Plum Island, which is not far from Newburyport and sadly was found by friends of his as he hadn't reported to work for several days. It's really a sad end to a life spent repairing things and making a name for himself.

Today, the fix-it shop is long gone. It was lost to development and urban renewal years ago. Still, it is good to know that his legacy lives on in his great-grandchildren who all fix things in one way or another.  For example: A cousin of mine works on cars. Another cousin works on houses. My brother works on computers. The list goes on and we probably have him to thank for our skilled hands. And hey even my nephews are getting in on the act with a toy called "Snap circuits". That's pretty neat.

The only thing I really wish I had, though, was a picture of Alfred. Some day I hope to get one and you can bet I'll be sharing it here.

See you next time!

Images of Google Earth are property of Google Earth.

52 Ancestors Week 34: Tragedy

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 34

Week 34's theme is "Tragedy." Our ancestors were no strangers to hardship and loss. We should remember those stories as much as we remember the stories of triumph.

Have I ever told you the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? No? Well, you're not going to get it here. This isn't a Star Wars blog and I am definitely not Emperor Palpatine. Find that story elsewhere or at the very least watch Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

Now that the opening reference is out of the way, let's get down to business. Amy is right.Tragedy exists in family trees just as much as triumph does. After all what's life without a few pitfalls? Even today, tragedy still exists and it goes without saying that our ancestors have had their fair share of trials and tribulations. Some may hold them on a pedestal. But, at the end of the day they're all too human just like us with faults, foibles and disasters.Today, I'll spotlight an ancestor and a second great-uncle who both have had their fair share of tragedy.

First up is my 2x great-grandfather Antoine Pierre Legault and his wife, Lucie Cadran. These two French-Canadian immigrants were born in the 1850s and came to the United States with their three daughters, Lucy, Malvina and Delphine. After moving to Haverhill, they had nine other children including my great-grandmother. Some, unfortunately, did not make it to adulthood. I know it was common for that to happen during that time period. However, I just feel sad when I see a death certificate for a child dying of a random and now thankfully curable disease. For example, one child, Emma, died at the age of seven. Oof.   

By 1896, her sister Matilda (called Tillie by my mother) was born. Her full name was Matilda Emma Legault. Apparently, her parents wanted to honor the child they lost. That doesn't surprise me. Usually people honor a child lost at a young age by naming another one after them.

What was especially tragic about this story is that Antoine ended up passing away on October 19th, 1901 just months after the family welcomed their son Oliver to the world.  Oliver was born on August 8th, 1901. After that, the family was never quite the same again. I kind of wonder what happened to Antoine. He was listed as a shoemaker in the 1880 census. Was there an accident in a factory? The answer, I think, is in the Haverhill town records and I have to make a point to dig into that the first chance I get.

After Antoine died, everyone went their separate ways as Lucie married a man named Paul Layhaye in 1917 and stayed with him until her death in 1937. Many of the children were grown by then and lived elsewhere. Some moved as far away as Connecticut where my mom's great-aunt Tillie lived until she passed away in 1976. 

Oliver in the mean time grew up without a father and ended up living in places like Barnstable, Massachusetts, Elkton Maryland and finally dying in Holland, New York in 1950. I don't yet know the circumstances of his death. But, his life does seem a bit tragic. Don't get me wrong. He still had a life with two wives and MANY children. I just can't help but think of what his life would have been like had his father lived. It's hard to say. I just hope Paul was a good father to him. There's unfortunately no way of knowing. Then again he was living with his sister, Matilda, in the 1930 census in New York at the age of 28. Could he have just been visiting? I don't know. The tragedy is that Antoine was the linchpin that held the family together. Once he was gone, things sort of went south. Sure some people stayed in touch. But, I highly doubt it was ever the same again.  

There is a bright side to all of this.The family did try to keep in contact with him and his family over the years. Distance wasn't going to keep them apart for long and no one was cut out of their lives. It didn't matter if someone was across town or across state lines! The reason I say this is because I was going through my parents' wedding invite list shortly before writing the blog and I saw Oliver's daughter Agnes on there. She was invited to come and yet she didn't. From what my mother told me, Tillie, Henrietta and the other sisters really wanted to see her. It never materialized and the family ended up losing contact with that side of the tree....until my mother and I did a DNA test and found descendants of Agnes! Talk about turning tragedy into triumph!

Giovanni Coppola also had a bit of tragedy in his life. My 2x great-grandmother's brother came to America many times during the early 1900s. After one trip back to his home town of San Pietro a Maida, he married a woman named Natalina Marinaro. They had an unnamed daughter together who tragically died during a severe earthquake that ravaged southern Italy.

It's hard to say if this earthquake was the infamous Messina earthquake which occurred on December 28th,1908. The death toll numbered somewhere between 75,000-85,000 people. Towns were decimated throughout southern Italy. It could also be said that the event forced even more people from southern Italy to seek refuge elsewhere in the world. If immigration from Italy to America wasn't booming at this point, it definitely increased in the aftermath of one of Italy's most terrifying disasters.

I'm not sure if the earthquake Giovanni's daughter died in was the Messina earthquake. But, if it was it's definitely very tragic for his family. He ended up going back to Haverhill with his wife and gradually he sent for more of his family to come to America. One by one they all came to town except for my 2x great-grandmother, Caterina. Giovanni even paid the way for his first cousins to come to America. I'm guessing that the earthquake changed how he felt about the world. It's a fragile place and he wanted his family to be safe. He saw first-hand how fragile life can be. So, he took his family and planted roots in Haverhill and urged his family back home to join him.

You have to admire someone who does that because They want what's best for everyone. Life is fragile. Life isn't always going to be sunshine and rainbows. You deal with what life throws at you be it a natural disaster or death at a young age. Life is all about risk and how you deal with it can help show the world your true colors.

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.

52 Ancestors Week 33: Comedy

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 33

Week 33's theme is "Comedy." Have you found something humorous in your research? Perhaps something funny happened while you were researching? Tell the story this week.

This week is all about comedy, huh? I have a few funny stories that have happened while I was researching. How I got in touch with family living in San Pietro a Maida is actually a funny story now that I think about it. And it's all thanks to Mark Zuckerberg. 

When I first restarted my genealogical adventure in 2017, my great-aunt Nicole wanted me to get in touch with a woman in San Pietro a Maida who she said would probably help me out with information there. She gave me her e-mail address and a few other odds and ends. I said sure thinking that I'd get to it eventually. My great-aunt, as I've explained before, was born in San Pietro a Maida and her family moved to Haverhill in the 1920s. She still kept in contact via letters and visited the country a few times since she immigrated.

To get some help on the Italian side of things, I decided I needed to join the Italian Genealogy Facebook group. I thought it was the best place to get some help translating documents. It still is! I asked a question and someone suggested that I join the town's Facebook group in order to get the real dirt and information. I was hesitant as there is a bit of a language barrier. The guy said that using Google Translate might go a long way to helping. I thought to myself "What harm could it do?" I mean computer based translating algorithms have gone a LONG way since the days of Babelfish.

I registered and posted this question. Translated of course:

"Hello, 

My name is Chris Ferraiolo. I'm from the United States and I'm researching my family's roots in town. Can someone help me look up information on Vincenzo Ferraiolo (1894-1970) and Maria Tedesco   (1900-1943). I would appreciate any and all help. Thanks for letting me into the group! 

Ciao!" 

Within a few minutes, the replies came flooding in. One guy said he worked for the commune office and said he'd be happy to help. And he did. The results have been amazing! Another reply came from a woman who had a last name that I was rather familiar with. "Papatolo". In my research, I found Papatolas connected to the Coppola side of my tree. Only, this woman wasn't on that side. She asked me this question.

"Hello! Are you by chance related to Nicolina Ferraiolo? She resides in the American state of Tennessee."

My jaw DROPPED! This lady thousands of miles away knew my great-aunt?! WHAT?! I even said that as I stared at the screen. Right away, I texted Nicolina's daughter and asked her about this lady who posted that on Facebook.  She said "That's your cousin, Caterina! Your aunt hadn't seen her since she was a little kid!"

I was still floored. You probably would have needed a spatula to peel me off! I sent a message to Caterina and we got to talking. She didn't mind that I was using Google Translate for the hard words. In fact, I think she kind of expected it. At least the Italian wasn't REALLY bad. That would have made for an awkward conversation. Not to mention a really short one.

She told me that her that her grandmother, Caterina Tedesco, was my great-grandmother's younger sister. She remembered the time that Nicole, Vincenzo and my grandparents all visited San Pietro a Maida just before they went to a wedding in Switzerland. She asked how she was and I said she was doing great for a woman in her nineties! She asked me if I had any pictures of Antonio Tommaso Tedesco and Domenica Gullo, 

Antonio and Domenica Tedesco

I was like "Nope." So, she said she would go to the cemetery the next day and get me a few pictures.

I said "Grazimille!" and we've been talking ever since. She introduced me to her brother and another cousin with the Tedesco name. That was a great story because I actually made an old man thousands of miles away smile.

Her father was born in the 1930s and remembered my great-aunt very well. He asked how Nicolina was and I said she was doing good and that I'd pass along any messages he might have. That thrilled the old man and I wish I could have seen the smile on his face. I really do.  Even though text I could tell that I made him happy.

We had a few laughs and we still talk to this day. I have added the family from Italy on Facebook. One thing still puzzled me at the time. Neither of the people I was in contact with was the woman my great-aunt told me to contact so long ago. So, I thought to myself, "Could she also be on Facebook?" I quickly typed in her name and sure enough she was there. I quickly sent her a message and some time later she replied in English. "Hi, Chris!" like she was expecting me.

We got to talking and it turns out she is Caterina's sister in law so there's no doubt that the family was talking about their American cousin contacting them. I laughed. I should have contacted her FIRST, right? That would have saved a lot of time.

So, now the family in Italy and I talk. Just last weekend my great-aunt asked me to ask them for e-mail addresses so she could send pictures. I said sure. I don't mind being the go-between between Italy and my great-aunt.

The story is a funny one because never in a million years did I expect to find family still living in Italy. Most of the Carrabs side in Gesualdo came to America and I saw them frequently. My third cousin on that side even contacted me on Ancestry long before I did a DNA test. My great-aunt told me I had family there who were still around. I just didn't know how old they were. 

Two weeks in a row with good morals here, kids. This one is to "Always listen to your elders!" Or at the very least "Expect the unexpected in your research." The family in the mother country could be out there. You'll never know who you'll find or if they find you. 

See ya next time!

Images of Google Earth are property of Google Earth.

52 Ancestors Week 32: Sister

From Amy Johnson Crow: 
Week 32: This week, it's the sisters' turn. Like we did last week with "Brother," feel free to consider other ways of interpreting "sister."

The Carrabs sisters and my grandmother.

Before we get to the prompt this week, a big shout-out goes to @_StoryWhisperer on Twitter for correctly guessing when the picture of my brother and I was taken. The picture was taken Christmas morning 1986. I actually had a discussion with my family about the picture last Thanksgiving. I told them that the Transformer was a clue. I even went to the Transformers Wikia for confirmation. The Transformer is an Autobot named Superion who was actually five Autobot jets who could combine to form a huge robot. The team was called the Aerialbots and starting that Christmas, they were being sold in a gift set. To make it even more interesting and a segue into this week's entry my aunt was living with us at the time and she lovingly put the decals on many robots in disguise including Superion. My brother and I will forever be thankful. =)

This week we're talking about sisters and my family has a lot of them. Today I am going to focus on two of my great-aunts. Both have been a veritable fountain of information and have helped me a lot in my genealogical adventure in ways both small and large.

We start with my paternal grandmother's sister, Louise and by extension all of the Carrabs sisters. Louise was born in December of 1918 in Haverhill, Mass and was Giuseppe and Clementina's fifth child. She was only two years older than my grandma, Ollie. That was okay. The sisters all did everything together. They would go to the same hairdresser, the same grocery store and even lived in apartments above each other. They also owned a house in Florida.

They were basically the "Little old Italian" ladies you hear about. Louise, especially. Out of all the sisters she had the most stories about her parents including the story about how they, along with their oldest sister,  Jennie  made the trip from Gesualdo to Ellis Island and ultimately Haverhill. I can remember walking into the house and finding them looking at pictures. I'd ask "Who was this guy with the bushy Mario-like mustache?" That was their uncle Rocco. From there it was story time over some of the finest biscotti you have EVER eaten in your life.

My grandmother told me stories, too. But, if all the sisters were around one table. Forget it. You get the entire saga. Half of the time it was like "Okay. Slow down. Rocco lived where? Melrose? Okay. And he built all the houses on Windsor Street. He didn't speak English? Huh..." There were times that I wish I had a notepad or a tape recorder because some of the stories were hilarious.

At least we got to see some home movies of them and documents were spread around my father's cousins. Their sister, Josie  kept a family tree and I used that as a basis for my genealogy when I started making a tree in 2006.

By then Louise was the only Carrabs sister still around. I remember my parents and I taking her to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut and having a great time. We were walking up to the casino and she took me aside and this conversation happened:

Louise: Christopher?
Me: Yes?
Louise: We're getting close to the casino. Stick with me, okay.
Me: Sure. Of course.
Louise: If anyone asks, you're my grandson. Capiche?
Me: Capiche.

Cookies, anyone?

I looked over at my parents and they were just laughing. That's who my great-aunt Louise was. She was warm, feisty and a really, really good cook. I swear she made the best cookies ever. The picture to your left is of "Italian Wedding" cookies. Those were just some of the ones she made.

She also made these chocolate and coconut cookies that were so good. She called them icicles and she made them every Christmas Eve. It was funny. My grandmother made the meals. Louise made the desserts. As a kid I couldn't argue with that or results. Why would you? It's free Italian food. Come on.

Still, I do like that the Carrabs sisters basically got me started on this genealogical adventure. Without the stories, what would you have? What was really funny was watching them contradict each other with the facts. It would go something like this:

"Did it really happen like that? I don't remember!"
"You were too young. Don't worry about it."
"Christopher, don't listen to a word Ellie says."
"Hey!"

Sadly, Louise passed away in 2010 and left behind two sons and a legacy that continues to this day. Her cookies, stories and her warm personality is greatly missed by all who knew her. All of the Carrabs sisters were amazing in their own way. Louise, I think, had the most fun telling my brother and I stories and I think I will always remember and cherish them. I could even write them in a blog like this one if I wanted to. Although, I kind of just did. =)

Father and daughter: Vincenzo and Nicolina

At the time of this blog post, I have two great-aunts left. My great-aunt, Nicolina, was my paternal grandfather's sister. As she is still around, I can't really go into any personal information about her. I will say this, though. Much like my grandmother's sisters, she also provided me with much information about Italy as she was born in San Pietro a Maida. She also cooked a lot of goodies and spoiled my brother and I rotten with presents and letters I have somewhere in my house. She was and still is a great person to talk to about family history. I treasure the time spent with her even though she lives far away. I keep in regular contact with her and off and on we discuss family history through her daughter, my first cousin once removed.

Her stories about growing up in Haverhill as an Italian immigrant were interesting. She would talk about the time men came to the door looking for her dad and she and my grandfather didn't know English very well. So they tried to talk to the man in broken English. I always had the feeling the guy got annoyed at two Italian immigrant children and just walked away because I never heard how the story ended. One of these days I will have to ask her. Before it's too late, you know.

In many ways, Nicolina played the role my grandpa Marco would have had he been alive to see my brother and I grow up. She talked to us, give us information about San Pietro a Maida and so much more. When I started doing genealogy, she was really excited and encouraged me to keep on going. It took her a while, but she gave me a TON of pictures over last year's Thanksgiving. One of which I will always treasure would be the picture of the family from 1929 after they arrived in America. She gave me that pic and several others I posted in the blog already. She is a wealth of information and is still pretty sharp at her age. I have to admit. I'm grateful to her and to all of my great-aunts.

The moral of the story here, dear readers, is to always, ALWAYS get the stories from the older generation before they are gone. You'll never know what kinds of information they have, how funny the stories are, how dramatic they are and just how awesome they can be. The oldest generation is a veritable fountain of knowledge. Learn from them when you do your genealogy. Guaranteed you will laugh and have as good a time as I did around the little old Italian ladies.

Let this be a lesson to you. Now go out there and listen. And mangia! Those cookies look delicious and she spent all day cooking those so you better take one or ten before you leave!