52 Ancestors Week 45: Bearded

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 45's theme is "Bearded." Did you know that some men celebrate "No Shave November" (or, as some call it, "Novembeard")? This would be a great time to write about the bearded or mustachioed people on the family tree.

And not one of these are a ZZ Top beard. Bummer

    Facial shrubbery is the topic this week and my personal experience with it is a bit lackluster. My brother and I never grew beards and I certainly don't plan on growing them. They just seem too itchy for my tastes. I have friends who have beards and they are really hard to maintain according to them! My father, on the other hand, grew a full beard in 2002. That lasted all of six months. At least it's forever immortalized in my brother's wedding album!

Decent beard. Nice ears.

     When it comes to my ancestors and beards, I have a couple direct ones that have had mighty beards that commanded respect, evoked thoughtfulness and dignity. Or maybe they were trying to be hipsters before hipsters were a thing? This fist one is of John Sargent Fisher, my 4th great-grandfather. At first glance he looks like that shovel-wielding guy from the first "Home Alone" movie. But, like in that movie looks can be deceiving. Check out the write-up on Johnny. Does that honestly look like the guy who'd whack ya with a shovel? If anything he'd be at the Malden library looking for a tome to throw. =)

     Nah. Johnny was a good guy. At least I think he was. I didn't know him personally. It's just my mind immediately went to that next door neighbor from the first "Home Alone" when I first saw his picture. Nice looking guy, though. The beard suits him in that old timey grandpa sort of way.

    And speaking of "old timey grandpas", up next in this parade of facial hair is Jeremiah Felker and his wife, Elizabeth! 

Please edit this photo.

    Jeremiah Smart Felker's beard makes him look like Santa a bit doesn't it? Yes, I'll be using a lot of pop culture references in this blog. Go with it! I wish the photo was in better shape. I have this plan to maybe draw the picture. The problem is I cannot draw people very well. I'm also concerned that I might miss some details. At least there are plenty of artists on places like deviantart who'd take a commission. 

Heh. Now I'm imagining the two looking like anime characters. Kidding! There are other types of artists on that website. 

His beard, like Johnny's, seems evocative of the style at the time. Men in the late 19th century had beards that were thick because they wanted to appear manly. Also, they probably wanted to hide various scars or something. Who knows what lays underneath the beard? What a mystery!

    Collateral relatives on my mother's side seem to all have moustaches to a varying degree. My 2x great grandmother's sister's husband had a very thick moustache. His name was Noah Robidoux and his 'stache reminded me of Luigi. 

    This might be due to the fact that this guy was skinny. Like REALLY skinny. It was probably just how he was standing.

    Mighty moustaches were more the thing my dad's maternal side had. My great-grandfather, Giuseppe Carrabs had a great moustache. However, his brother Rocco really had a 'stache of steel.  I mean LOOK!

Rocco is the first from the left.

    Rocco had a moustache that seemed to be the typical Italian guy 'stache. Thick and hard to maintain. My father even had a moustache like that in the 1980s to early 1990s when he decided to just shave it off. My 2x great-grandfather, Antonio Tedesco seemed to be the exception to the rule. He had a comparatively thinner 'stache which kind of reminds me of a Bond villain for some reason. I don't know why. Check it out for yourself!

Antonio and Domenica

    This has been a really quick tour of the history of facial hair in my family hasn't it? Quick and probably a little entertaining. Facial hair like beards and moustaches have always been seen as a status symbol for guys. It just isn't really my thing. Would I grow one? Probably not. It just seems like too much of a hassle, like I said. Yeah. Some guys don't want to grow beards. Shocking, I know!

    Still, it's good to look back and see the guys who all decided to have some hair on their faces. They add some character to a person's face and like I said it's a statement. But, I am a bit dismayed. Not one of these guys has a ZZ-TOP beard! I mean Jeremiah comes close with his covering his neck. The same can be said for Johnny!

    John was a musician, too. So, it could have worked! Of course it depends on what instrument he played. Bass guitar players need to have long flowing beards that are clean. It's like a musician's law that I just made up.

    Anyway, this whirlwind tour of beards in my family was brought to you by Norelco razors. You can't buy a closer shave.

See ya next time!