52 Ancestors Week 8: Power

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 8's theme is "Power." Does that mean physical strength, political power, power in the family, electrical power? Yes. It's a vague theme on purpose :-) It's whatever the theme sparks in you.

There must also come great responsibility.

    Readers of this blog and my Starbolts webcomic have known that Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character for a long time now. What's not to like? The guy was funny before Deadpool became a thing, his villains are some of the greatest in the history of comics, his supporting cast is amazing and the lessons learned from the stories are very important. The most important lesson you could ever learn from the comics came from Spidey's first appearance in 1962. In the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15, his co-creator Stan Lee wrote the immortal words "With great power, there must also come great responsibility" after it was revealed that Peter Parker could have easily stopped the thief who ran by him just days before the man killed his beloved uncle Ben.

    Applying this to genealogy is not as hard as it might seem. Do I have a beloved uncle Ben who was brutally murdered? No. But, sometimes I feel do the need to help people when they ask for it. Call it a failing of mine if you want. I just feel the need to help someone out whenever possible. Here is a relatively recent example. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

DNA doesn't lie!

    My great-aunt Nicolina has a DNA match. Let's call him Alex. As you can see Alex shares 144 cMs with her. That's nothing to take lightly because that puts you right in the 2nd to 3rd cousin bracket according to the fine folks at DNA Painter. 

    Alex naturally shares less with my father and I and when I looked at the cousins we have in common I found that they were all in the Coppola family group in one degree or another. This was later confirmed when I applied the Leeds method of cousin sorting to the match. Everything lined up with the Coppola family. It was time to send a message to Alex to see if he knew how he fit into the family.

    I messaged the manager of Alex's kit and her name was Julie. Julie was surprised to learn that her husband Alex was part Italian. That caused me to be taken aback a bit. Apparently there was some family drama and I am not going to get into that mess. She said she needed my help in figuring out who her husband's father was and where the Italian DNA came from.

     I agreed to help her out and told her all I knew about the family. She gave me some basic information as well. I told her about how Alex fit in with the Coppola side of the family and that he likely descended from my second great-grandmother's brother, Paolo. I came to that conclusion with the help of a friend of mine as we went through the children and grandchildren of Caterina's brothers and sister. Trust me when I say there were a lot of them and I wasn't making a lot of progress. 

    With little recourse, I asked Julie if she could let me see Alex's DNA matches so that I could see things from his perspective. It would greatly narrow down my search because Paolo had so many children. She agreed and I checked things out. Among the matches, I saw a lady with a last name that seemed familiar to me . Her last name was "Cheney". Paolo's daughter, Rose, married a man by the name of Everett Cheney and I already had him in my tree. I wondered if that was a coincidence. Cheney was a common last name and I put that fact on the back burner for a while.

    I created a Leeds chart and once again a Coppola group came up along with a Cheney group. Logically, Alex had to descend from those two families and that was my connection. Right away, I messaged the highest Cheney match he had and she told me all I needed to know about Everett and Rose's children. They had two girls and one boy. She also confirmed that Everett was her uncle and he had married a Coppola.

    The gears started turning in my head and to go along with the theme this week, my spider-sense was buzzing. It was looking likely that the son from that union was Alex's father. The closeness of his match with his Cheney cousin proved that much and just recently we both got a new DNA match to another Coppola descendant who descended from the same Cheney/Coppola couple! You know the old saying. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck....YOU'RE A DUCK!

Alex's connection to me. We are 3rd cousins 1x removed.

    I ended up finding Alex's place in my tree. There was a 95% chance that this was accurate based on DNA and the information Julie gave me. I had a choice to make and it was tough because of the drama involved. So, I ended up talking to some of the best genealogists I know and they all said the same thing to me.

    Everyone said I needed to be objective and not let feelings get in the way. Julie asked for help and I needed to give her some answers regardless of the consequences. It was basically a real-life version of Spidey's "With great power" adage. Only without the superpowers.

    I wasn't sure what to do and then I remembered I had went through a similar situation with my great-aunt Nicolina when I discovered that she had a half-sister no one knew about. I told her the truth and while she was shocked she thanked me for helping to figure things out. Drama or not, Alex needed to learn the truth. It was that simple as far as I was concerned.

    I sent a message to Julie and explained everything I knew. I told her to contact the Cheney cousin for verification and left it at that. Everything else was in her hands. I told her everything and went through my findings in exhaustive detail. What Alex and Julie do with that information is their business and their business alone. I did what needed to be done. They asked for help and I delivered. What else could I have done? If you have the ability to help someone find the answers, you should help in every way you can. 

    Every once in a while in this genealogical adventure I'm on, I am reminded of that old adage Stan Lee wrote almost sixty years ago. Even In the real world: with great power, there must also come great responsibility. Who says you can't learn anything from the funny pages? See ya next time, true believers!

Excelsior!

52 Ancestors Week 7: Unusual Source

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 7's theme is "Unusual Source." Not all of our genealogy discoveries come in the "regular" sources like vital records and the census. What is a discovery that you've made using an unusual source?

I'm not sure where my mind was at when I made this header.

    You would think that the first unusual source I would talk about would be my family members from all over the world. I don't think they'd like being called "unusual" and family members tend to be the first source any genealogist would go to before hitting the records. If your great-aunt tells you a story then you verify it with records and other documents. That's usually how it goes in genealogy and let's face it family members are really typical sources. Caution: They may be unusual in OTHER aspects. Let's be honest here.

    In the "Images of America" series put out by Arcadia Publishing, there has been one book that has been my go-to for Italian genealogy here in America. The book is called "Italians in Haverhill" and it's by Dr. Patricia Trainor O'Malley. There are other books in the Images of America series that I have in my collection. I have the ones on Salem New Hampshire, Newburyport Mass and even colonial Haverhill. This book blows them all away because it clearly has a special place in my heart for obvious reasons.

    You might have seen me post scans of photos from the book in various blogs here and on WikiTree. This is for a very good reason. I am connected to over fifty people in that book! It's amazing! I don't have any direct ancestors in there. However, their brothers and sisters are definitely there! For example:

1. My second great-grandmother Caterina Coppola's siblings, Giovanni and Concetta are there with their families.

2. My second great-grandmother, Maria Luigia Penta has two of her siblings in the book; Rosaria and Giovanni along with their families.

    That's just a small sampling of who's who. The book itself is separated into several chapters covering the various regions of Italy people came from like the North, Central, Naples and Southern regions. My family was from the south of Italy (Calabria and Campania). As a result, I've spent a great deal of time looking at that chapter. Inside you'll find pictures of the families, a story or two or an interesting fact. Like how the Desando family was with Giovanni Coppola's in the 1910 census or how he lost a daughter just before coming to America. Stuff like the pictures and the stories really make the bare facts come alive for me.

Always cite your sources. I know I do!

     The first time I ever read “Italians in Haverhill” was back when it first came out. My father had gotten it for my grandmother as a gift. The author had asked her or someone in the family to take part. Grandma Ollie  said "No". BUT! All wasn't lost. Her sister, My great-aunt Louise IS mentioned! Sort of.

    My great-uncle Arnold Villanucci and his family are there and in his caption it reads "Married Louise Carrabs". That's....better than nothing, right?

    Just before my grandmother passed away, she loaned her copy of “Italians in Haverhill” to a friend of hers and we never saw it again. That was a bummer. I loved looking at the pictures and everything. My grandmother and her sisters would point out who we were related to. Same with my dad.

    Thankfully, I found it online a few years later and used it as a guide to verify certain things that were said in the book. Did the Desandos really live with the Coppolas? Yes! In fact, one of the Desandos was a sponsor of my great-grandfather Vincenzo when he wanted to be naturalized. There actually is a connection with the Coppolas and the Desandos as they were in-laws of Giovanni's wife, Natalina. Her brother Domenico married Angelina Desando and I think her brother was Vincenzo's sponsor. It's like seven degrees of Kevin Bacon. I'll sort it out eventually!

    A few years later, I found a copy on Amazon and bought it for my father for his birthday. This time it won't get lost! I know what you're thinking. Yes, I really did buy it for him. He has looked at it from time to time and he does remember a few people in there.  

    "Italians in Haverhill" inspired me to create a category on WikiTree. You can check it out here. I wanted to create an online database with the people in the book because it is REALLY good cousin-bait. I started with my own family members and other people I am connected to on some level. Will I go beyond that? I'm not really sure. What I have so far is pretty good and I have done a lot of work on making sure everything is accurate. And it is!

    The book recently proved to be really helpful recently. Remember last week when I talked about how I got Caterina and Marco Ferraiolo's pictures? Well, I talked to a second cousin who found me thanks to Caterina and he descends from Concetta Coppola's son, Francesco! Francesco was the Papatola who was sent back to San Pietro, remember? Well, my cousin wanted to see pictures of Concetta and her family. I was happy to oblige and he absolutely loved them! This book, I think, is bringing people together across the miles and that's a very good thing.

    So, should you pick the book up if you don't have Italian blood? Definitely! The book talks about the Italian-American experience in a beautiful way. Italians struggled like any other ethnicity in America and it is touched on by the author. The pictures tell stories and it really adds to the story of America as corny as it sounds. “Italians in Haverhill” is well sourced and isn't that expensive on Amazon. If you're interested in a genealogy book that isn't billed as a genealogy book, I would check this one out.

    I'm lucky that I have so many cool connections there. It really puts pictures to the names I've heard all of my life and to the facts you type in on your favorite family tree maker. It makes history come to life and it's definitely one of the most cherished books in my small genealogy library.

See ya 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 6: Valentine

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 6's theme is "Valentine." Do you have any Valentines from any of your ancestors? Or maybe you have an ancestor named Valentine. (I remember when I was little being surprised to learn that Valentine was a "boy's name.") How about an ancestor that you wish you could exchange valentines with? Have fun with the theme!

You wouldn't believe the patience needed to draw three concentric hearts.

    I had initially planned to write a sweet blog about how my grandfather, Robert Hamel wrote love letters home to his then girlfriend Natalie Felker during the height of the second world war. Plans changed over the weekend and now I'm going to take this Valentine train off of the rails and take her in a different direction. The love letters can wait another time because I want to talk about the love my great-grandfather, Vincenzo had for his niece, Caterina.

Vincenzo

    Let's go back in time to the fall of 1969. Vincenzo was seventy-five years old and he was invited to his niece's wedding. Caterina was the daughter of his sister, Concetta and Giuseppe Aleardi and naturally she wanted her brother who lived across the Atlantic to attend. What was he going to do? Say "No"? OF COURSE NOT! This is "famiglia" we're talking about here!

        Vincenzo didn't go alone. Along for the ride were my grandparents, Marco Ferraiolo and Olympia Carrabs. My parents would have also gone with them as they were dating at the time. But, things didn't pan out. I believe they were still in college. Anyway, the Ferraiolos first made a stop at my great-grandfather's hometown of San Pietro a Maida. From there they went north to Rome to pick up his brother, Paolo and his family.

    The entire group ultimately ended up in Switzerland for Caterina Aleardi's wedding. It was a magical event and sadly would be the last time Vincenzo ever set foot on Italian soil as he took ill that winter and passed away in February of 1970. Visiting his family one last time proved to be an act of love.

    I'm pretty sure I've talked about this story before. I've heard it from my parents who told me grandma Ollie wasn't a fan of northern Italian cuisine. No surprise there. Her family was from Campania and that's in southern Italy. Northern Italy and the southern regions are like night and day. I've heard the story from my great-aunt who made several trips to Italy herself. Yes. All I had were stories.....Until February 6th, 2021!

You can see my grandparents on the far left! Vincenzo's in the middle.

    Last weekend, I was checking out MyHeritage and I noticed that someone had my 2nd great-grandparents, Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola in their tree thanks to the "Discoveries" tab. She also had their son, Vincenzo in there. I followed the user's tree down and noted that she was in Switzerland. I was like "Okay. That's cool.". Then, I saw that her last name was "Aleardi" and that her mother was Concetta. The bells in my head starting ringing and I started laughing because just before this happened my father asked me if I contacted any relatives in Switzerland. I told him "Not yet."

    After I calmed down, I decided to message the new cousin using Google Translate. I wasn't sure if she knew English and despite its many faults, Google Translate is decent when it comes to translating Italian even though some of the inflections are missed. I logged onto the site and in my inbox was a message from the lady herself! 

Marco and Caterina

    She said she was happy to contact me and I gave her my e-mail address. It wasn't long before we started exchanging pictures over the course of the weekend. One of the first things she did was give me the picture to the right of Marco, Caterina and one of her cousins. She also sent me pictures of Paolo and Vincenzo's other siblings!

    The biggest thing of all, of course, was how she confirmed the events of the wedding. I mean there was never any doubt that it happened. However, it's nice to have tangible proof to go with the story. I eventually friended her on Facebook and we've been talking almost every day since.

    This is not a bad end result to Vincenzo's devotion to his family all the way in Europe is it? The family didn't stop going to Italy, though as my great-aunt went a few times in the late 1970s and into the 1980s bringing back more stories for my brother and I. Still, I can't help but think of Vincenzo and that last trip he took to see his family before he passed away. He probably had no idea he'd be gone so soon after the wedding. He was going on with his life and in the end showed love for his family by making the trip to Italy. That's pretty cool in my book and now I'm in contact with the family!

   The moral of the story is that family is out there waiting to be found and connections are waiting to be reconnected. It doesn't matter how far away family is especially in this age of the Internet!

Wow. You can really see the family resemblance!

    

52 Ancestors Week 5: In the Kitchen

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 5's theme is "In the Kitchen." So many memories revolve around meals and cooking together. Do you have an ancestor who was a good cook (or maybe a notoriously bad cook!) What about a favorite recipe -- where did it come from or who always cooked it? If that doesn't spring any ideas, what about ancestors named Kitchen or Cook(e)?

With Dinah?

     

    Cooking for a lot of people, especially in an Italian-American house, takes three things: 1. Skill. 2. Time. And three a LOT of patience! Thankfully, my mother has always been up to the task. Even though she isn't Italian, she still learned from plenty Italians the art of preparing some pretty good meals. Caution: Some of the images show in the blog may make you hungry. We here at "All Roads Lead to Haverhill" cannot be held responsible for the damage done to your screen.

 

Chef Wilfred

     It should be noted that my mother DOES have an ancestor who was a cook. His name was Wilfred Felker and he worked in a restaurant in Haverhill. That's unfortunately all we do know about him. He passed away in 1951 when my mother was only two years old. I've always wondered what he cooked or where his restaurant was. City directories and the US census haven't been that informative and my grandmother never really talked about her grandfather much.

    My mother has said to me that her side of the family never really made anything French-Canadian and because of that she thoroughly embraced the art of creating Italian cuisine by learning from the best. After all, who else was going to teach her how to cook for two growing Italian boys? Well, aside from Grandma Ollie, I mean.  

    Olympia was the first person to teach her how to make really good sauce. That's the key ingredient for any pasta dish. You want the ripest tomatoes and other fresh ingredients. You also want to let it simmer on a stove for hours so that the house fills with a sweet, sweet smell. Naturally, Olympia learned this from her mother, Clementina. 

    I've never been completely sure if that was a recipe that was handed down from generation to generation. But, I can tell you that sometimes she puts in a spoonful of sugar in the sauce. It does more than just help the medicine go down. It serves to thicken it or else it's just warm tomato juice with bits of basil and garlic in the mix. And who wants that runny mess? NO ONE! Tomato paste also helps, too. For that we, unfortunately, need to go to the grocery store.

Look at that lasagna!

     If there's one thing my brother and I can agree on it's that our mother makes the best lasagna in the world. For as long as I can remember she made it for special occasions like Thanksgiving. You would think that my Grandma Ollie would critique her cooking such a very hard to master dish. She didn't. She loved it! I can remember times when my grandma would smile at her cooking and even cooked together if things got a little hectic in the kitchen. Or if...two Italian boys were trying to sneak a taste of something. FYI: Wooden spoons hurt.

  My grandmother wasn't the only person my mother learned how to cook from. My great-aunt Nicolina on my father's side also taught her a thing or two about how to best make pasta. So, my Italian cuisine at the table was usually a mix of Calabrian and Campanian treats. She loved cooking it and still does to this day. In fact, my mother has offered my sister-in-law tips on how to make lasagna. The legend continues!

Hungry?

    This isn't to say my father has never done any cooking. Oh, he has and he has offered to help my mother in the kitchen on many occasions. From his parents he has learned how to make things like fried calamari, stuffed calamari, seafood stew and recently he learned how to make mascarpone cannoli cheesecake. Hey. Every meal needs a great dessert. 

    Together, my parents always made the best food for my brother and I. They even cooked for a ton of people at our Christmas eve parties. Every Christmas eve, they would be talking to guests while cooking in the kitchen. There really is no rest for the weary. I always felt bad that they rarely got a chance to enjoy their creations fresh and warm. But, there was always leftovers. I think it just pleased them to know that their food always made everyone smile. They are pretty good chefs. You kind of have to be if you're juggling cooking and talking to a guest at the same time!

 They took what they learned from everyone in their lives and everyone would talk in the kitchen about how great the food was. There was never any complaints and I've even tried my hand at a few things.....with varying degrees of success of course. I can honestly say I've never burned down the house. Burned pizza in the microwave? Yes. But, not the house! That's an important distinction!

    Like the prompt this week said, I have had very good memories surrounding the kitchen. I can remember walking into the kitchen while my grandmother and my mother were cooking and grandma Ollie would talk to me about some recipe she learned from Clementina or how to properly prepare any cuisine. I learned a lot about cooking from her and my parents and I'm glad they taught me how to make things other than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

    My favorite recipe will always be my mother's lasagna. It's a rare treat nowadays. When I was growing up, it would always be served with turkey on Thanksgiving or as the main course on New Years Day. These days it's been relegated to Thanksgiving and that's okay by me. It's a bit filling! I've never been entirely sure where the recipe came from. My grandmother preferred making baked ziti for her big meals. So, there's a good chance my mother came up with it on her own. If that's the case then, that is AWESOME! 

    I guess you could say that my mother fully embraced the Italian art of cooking to the point where we would have a pasta meal every week. She and my father would make meatballs. She would even go to the deli and pick out the freshest ingredients and sausages. She embraced it all and my grandmother encouraged her. She wasn't about to say "no". Cooking should be appreciated by everyone who loves to cook. 

    Cooking meals for a bunch of people has a way of bringing everyone together and I'm glad I've learned so much from the good cooks in my life. I will say I've stopped burning things. Though, the less said about using meat loaf meat for tacos the better. I almost had a visit from Gordon Ramsay that day!!

Kitchen's closed, guys. See ya next time!