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.