52 Ancestors Week 51: Future

From Amy Johnson Crow:

Week 51:

Although we spend most of our genealogy time looking back, we should also look ahead. Week 51's theme is "Future." Who or what do you want to find next year? Which family member do you think will pick up the family history and carry it forward? Another way to think of it is to think of an ancestor who seemed to be "ahead of their time."

Please don't drive 88.

We are just a few short weeks away from the end of 2019! What are we going to do? Well, we aren't going to panic. Everything'll be just fine! I have some genealogical plans for 2020 and I hope that something comes from these in the next year because they are definitely worth looking into. There are so many things I want to find next year. Perhaps my future self will write about it in a future blog. Wow. Got a little 4th dimensional there.

This year I made some great strides in my research into my father's paternal side. I found my 2x great-grandmother, Caterina Coppola's birth certificate from San Pietro a Maida in my own basement. Using Thrulines on Ancestry, I made connections I never thought possible. I've also helped a number of people with their own genealogical trips through time and space. So, what should I do in 2020?

Antonio Tedesco and Domenica Gullo

Well, as it happens I have a wish list. If you're like me, you plan out things and here is what I plan to do in 2020.

1. Break the brick wall that is my 2x great-grandmother,  Domenica Gullo. 

It's time to break down this brick wall and in 2020 I might just be able to finally do it. Last week, I mailed a card and a letter to cousins in Italy. Aside from the holiday greetings, I asked them if they could help me figure out Domenica's story. We know she was born in the 1870s in San Pietro and died in 1959. There's so much that I do not know like....

When did she and Antonio get married?

Who were Antonio's brothers and sisters for that matter?

There's so much that I want to figure out and I really hope my cousins can help. All I really need is an exact date of birth. Once I do that, I can ask the commune office for information on her parents and go from there.

2. Research the family of Caterina Coppola.

The Coppola family, also from San Pietro, is another semi brick wall. I say this because I already know her parents were Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato. That's really all I know about the Coppolas aside from Paolo having a sister named Caterina. I always found it interesting that Paolo named his daughter after his sister. That goes against normal Italian naming conventions....unless Paolo's mother was ALSO named Caterina! This is another Italian mystery I intend to solve in 2020.

3. The Tedescos

As you can see here, Antonio's family tree needs to be worked on. I'm taking this one step at a time. But, I would like to see it worked on more in 2020. Will it happen? That remains to be seen! The main thing I want to check out is Angela Gatto.

That about does it for my dad's side of the tree. His maternal side is well documented thanks to awesome cousins and the availability of records in Gesualdo. What about my mother's side? Surely her side needs some love and attention in 2020. Don't worry. I have plans.....

4. The Descendants of Jean Baptiste Bibeau and Therese Laroche. 

Jean Baptiste Bibeau and Therese Laroche were my 4x great-grandparents and were from Quebec. They had many, many, many kids. Most of them settled in Minnesota except for my 3x great-grandmother, Eulalie Bibeau and her husband, Pierre Cadran. They moved to Haverhill, Massachusetts in the late 1870s. So....I kind of want to know what compelled them to move there. Minnesota and Massachusetts aren't exactly next door! Did Pierre see more opportunity in the mills along the Merrimack River? Who knows?

I also want to document the DNA matches who descend from these two because there are a LOT of them. Like over 60 for my mother and half of that for me. No wonder there was a DNA circle for these two back when Ancestry did DNA circles.

There have been serious rabbit holes with the family as each child of Jean Baptiste and Therese have had many kids and they had many kids. And so on. And so on. And so on....

They're all documented. It's just a matter of PUTTING them all in there!

5. Antione Legault's final resting place.

I'm interested in finding out the final resting place of my 2x great-grandfather, Antoine Legault. No one on my mother's side seems to know where he was buried. His wife, Lucie, was buried in Saint Joseph's Cemetery in Haverhill along with her second husband, Paul. 

So, where is Antoine buried? I have a feeling he may be in Walnut Cemetery in Haverhill along with other members of the Legault family like my great-grandmother, Henrietta. My great-aunt on my mother's side has offered to take me to Walnut to check things out and I am definitely taking her up on that!

6. Wilfred Felker's exact date of death

For now my 2x great-grandfather's death date is just 1951. That doesn't really tell me much. I hope to find out more. Perhaps he was also buried in Walnut along with the other Felkers. The answers lay there. I know they do!

The only surefire way I can answer a few questions is by going to the Haverhill Public Library. Time had prevented me from doing so before. There's never enough hours in the day. So, I have to set aside some time and knock out a few of these questions in 2020. Will I do it? You bet I will. 2020 will be a year I get to answer a few questions. Knowing me....a few more questions will pop up.

I hope I get a chance to answer these and all the others I have. This is just a small checklist of things to do and is basically the tip of the genealogical iceberg.

What does the future hold? Well, to quote Doctor Emmett L. Brown.....

The future hasn't been written yet! No one's has! The future is whatever you make of it. So, make it a good one!