52 Ancestors Week 47: Thankful

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 47 is "Thankful." Is there an ancestor you're especially thankful that you found or a story that you're thankful you discovered? What about all of the wonderful resources available to us now? What are you thankful for?

Eat your heart out, Hallmark.

     It's honestly hard to say what I'm thankful for this year. However, I will repeat what I said on Facebook. I'm thankful for my family all over the world from DNA matches to various cousins scattered around our small blue planet. That just about covers it! Maybe I should be a bit more specific, right? How about this? I'll highlight some of things that happened on the genealogical front this past year that I am REALLY thankful for! Sound good? Here we go!

    I am definitely thankful for my cousin, Caterina! She lives in Switzerland and has been very helpful all throughout 2021! I starting talking to her on Myheritage in February and found that she was a granddaughter of my 2nd great-grandparents, Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola. That was just the tip of the iceberg! 

    She remembered my grandparents, Marco and Olympia going to her wedding in 1969 along with Marco's father. The details are all in this blog from February. It's a pretty fun story and totally derailed what I originally planned on blogging about this week. It's probably for the best because that blog turned out pretty good!

    Once we got to know each other better and after I got a deluge of friend requests on Facebook from various members of the famiglia, she sent me many pictures of the Ferraiolo family including this picture of Marco, Caterina and their granddaughter, Adriana. 

    This surprise definitely set the tone of what 2021 was going to offer because I had never seen this picture before February and I am so incredibly thankful to Caterina and the family in Switzerland for sending me this photo, answering questions and more. She also had this picture that I LOVE.

My grandparents are on the far left.

    What's not to like about the above photograph. It's so great to see my grandpa Marco and grandma Ollie there with everyone. Vincenzo's near the center and I wonder who all is there aside from Caterina and her husband. I should ask her and find out. She has a colorized version too which I have seen and it's pretty amazing. So, to Caterina I say thank you for sharing many, many photos with me and filling in various plotholes in the family story. It's good to have family members fill in the blanks which brings me to a recent development on my genealogical adventure!

    On November 12th, I posted a blog about stormy weather the Legault family faced after the death of their patriarch, Antoine Legault. I showed it to a cousin who just so happened to descend from his son, Oliver. I asked for a bit of clarification of his life as I wanted to be sure it was all accurate. If it's one thing I like it's accuracy. I think we can all agree accuracy is important in genealogy! That and an uncanny amount of patience!

    So, while I didn't get any pictures of Antoine from her (Which would have been awesome), I did learn that I was right in assuming Oliver had a decent life. However, he sadly suffered from black lung as he was a miner in upstate New York. That explained why he died so young. My cousin told me a bit more about his life and in time I'll flesh out his profile. Who knows? Maybe she'll have pictures of the guy? I love seeing pictures! Genealogy is a lot better when you can put a face to the name and dates. I know I've said it before and I'll likely say it until I am blue in the face! Thanks for helping me fill in that part of Oliver's story, cousin! I do wonder if a picture of Antoine does exist. He died in 1901, right? Tin types were common in his lifetime. But, getting your picture taken was rare and expensive. It's hard to say. Would a pic of him even exist? I'd settle for a pic of Lucie. That definitely has potential for existing somewhere.

    I am also thankful for the users of Find a Grave who not only found the graves of my second great-grandmothers, Gertrude Stevens and Lucie Cadran. They also helped put my mind at ease during that time I thought something bad happened to Gertrude's grave at Pine Grove cemetery. Remember that vandalism story? Sheesh. I still say whoever did that was so haunted. And not by friendly ghosts or even Slimer from the "Ghostbusters". Nah. I'm thinking "Poltergeist" or "Amityville Horror"
 type ghosts. >=) Wow, that's evil. Just be glad I didn't sick the "bad ghosts" from "Ghost" on those people. Those spirits were freaky. However, like the song says "I ain't afraid of no ghosts".

    At least it was resolved and I now know where Gertrude's final resting place is. I also know where Lucie is. I suspected it was St. Joseph's in Haverhill as it is the French-Canadian cemetery in the city. It's a decent sized place. It was just a matter of finding where she was. I talked to the person who found Lucie's grave. She thinks Antoine might be nearby. Perhaps he is. Time will tell!

The clock's ticking!

         Going back to Italy for this one because I am thankful for the help I've been getting from the commune office in San Pietro a Maida. Last week, I got Antonio Tedesco's birth from them and on the document was a listing of his marriage to Domenica Gullo. This means I am one step closer to breaking the brick wall that is my second great-grandmother. She is a sturdy one and the wall is starting to buckle. All I need to do now is lift Thor's hammer and let gravity do its thing. 

    Okay. I got the birth confirmation. How could that help break Domenica's wall? Well, now that I know when they were married (18 November 1899), I can simply ask the commune office for her parents' names based on that date alone. From there I just had to go to the records and everything will fall. I think I'm getting close. The hammer is starting to wiggle. I might be worthy. The wall is in sight and I just need an epic battle cry to shout when I throw it. Suggestions are always welcome. I'm a bit partial to "HAVE AT THEE!" or "Avengers Assemble!" I will be sending the question in by the end of the week. I COULD get an answer by the end of the year. By that point, I am sure you will all hear the rejoicing screams.

    The last thing I am thankful for this year is of course everyone who has followed me on Twitter, read this blog and encouraged me on my genealogical adventure. I don't know what I would do without support from everyone/ It's a great community to be a part of and I thank every day you guys and gals put up with my jokes, comments, stories etc. I like having fun with this blog and interacting with everyone on social media. It's good and we could all use a sense of community every now and then, right? Of course! So, yeah. I am thankful for you all and many other things I haven't even begun to list. It's been a crazy 2021 and 2022 is looking to be an even wilder ride. What will I discover? Time will tell, true believers! Stay tuned and find out. We still got one more month left of 2021 to go through!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 46: Birthdays

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 46 is "Birthdays." Do you have any fun birthday memories with an ancestor? Do you share a birthday with an ancestor? 

Having a birthday in December can be a little annoying. Trust me. I know. I have a December birthday and when I was growing up I rarely had a birthday party. I still received presents from my friends and family. However, to this day I am convinced the presents I got from my parents I ended up getting was carefully selected from my Christmas list. According to my parents, the list was often extensive and complex with varying degrees of difficulty. Hey. I was selective! That and I wanted to make sure the Autobots had worthy foes to vanquish. Prime needed troops and Megatron needed cannon fodder.

 Yeah. I was one of those kids who needed everything Transformers related. When it came time to do genealogy, I wondered how many of my ancestors were blessed/cursed with a December birthday. Quite a few as it turns out! The closest ancestor was none other than my great-grandmother, Maria Tedesco! As fate would have it, I have a bit of an update I am going to share as I got an email from the commune office. How’s that for late breaking news? Let’s get the nitty gritty out of the way first! Maria was born on 
December 14th, 1900 to Antonio Tedesco and Domenica Gullo. 

 Getting that juicy tidbit of information was a bit of a challenge because my great-aunt Nicolina had a bit of trouble remembering the exact birthdate. Her stone in St. Patrick’s cemetery in Haverhill only listed her birth and death as 1900 and 1943. So, how did I solve it? Well, I do have connections in San Pietro a Maida and they flat out told me Maria was born on that day. I thought that was cool. Literally and figuratively. This meant that she was born seventy-eight years and fourteen days before I was! That was pretty exciting to think about because the stone didn’t have any details.

As you can see, there’s just basic information there. It’s helpful. Don’t get me wrong. But, in the end Italian clerks require exact dates for when you want them to look something up for you. I can’t say I blame them. I thank my cousins in San Pietro for finding the information for me because it might have been a while before I actually found the date.

 Alternatively, I could have just gone to the Haverhill library or the town hall to see if I could look at her death certificate. This way was a lot easier and let’s face it more personable because I got the chance to talk to a cousin or two in Italy and I love talking to them!

So, What does sharing a birth month with her mean to me? Well, it means other people in the family were also born in the same month I was. She is also the closest genealogically because even though Lucie Cadran was also born in December, she was a second great-grandmother. Don’t get me wrong. I love that I have two December births in the first thirty people in my tree. It’s just that Maria is closer and that family in Italy clearly remembered stories of their great-aunt in America. They descended from her sister, Caterina. Plus her birth was a bit closer to mine. Sorry, Lucie! you still rock, though!

 Right. Let’s now turn to some late breaking news about the Tedesco family. Today I received an email from the commune office in San Pietro a Maida. I am now a step closer to breaking stubborn the brick wall that is Domenica Gullo. How? Well, I asked for the marriage of Antonio Tedesco and Domenica Gullo. Get this. The day they got married was November 18th, 1899!

This blog was published on November 18th, 2021! This is exactly one hundred and twenty-one years to the day! Happy anniversary, Antonio and Domenica! The sad part is that I may have Antonio’s parents wrong again. They vex me so much considering there is ample Dna evidence and everything. I am beginning to suspect a non parental event. But, that’s a story for another time. In the mean time, I am one step closer to solving this brick wall! Next step is asking for Dominica’s birth and parents!  If I get that info on my birthday this year….

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 45: Stormy Weather

 The theme for Week 45 is "Stormy Weather." What storms did an ancestor have to weather? Take it literally or figuratively!

Was so tempted to use Storm of the X-Men as a banner.

    In every life a little rain must fall. Every decision you make could have consequences for you, your significant other and your entire family. One event in particular reminds of this quote from Doctor Who:

“Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge, rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences.” --7th Doctor, Sylvester McCoy in "Remembrance of the Daleks".

      Fans of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" might recognize the barista in that clip! =D Back on topic.

You missed so much, Antoine.

    The reason why the quote resonates with me is mainly because of my second great-grandfather, Antoine Legault. He was born in 1851 and died relatively young by today's standards at the age of forty-nine. I can't help but wonder if he knew how much of an impact his death would have had on his wife and many children.

    Let's be clear on one thing before I continue. I'm fairly certain he didn't plan on dying. No decision was made here. He died in 1901 from phthisis pubim aka tuberculosis. How he contracted it remains a mystery. However, in the 1900 census he was listed as a factory worker in a shoe factory. So, let's put two and two together. Inhalation of the fumes may have been a contributing factor. If he didn't work in the factory, he probably wouldn't have died and his family wouldn't have been split up. That's just conjecture on my part. However, I think by the end of this week's blog you're going to see just how much of an impact the death of one man can have on a family of twelve.

    The first thought on everyone's mind is probably what happened to Lucie after the death of her husband. She had just given birth to their last child Oliver a couple of months before Antoine passed away. As you can imagine, she was probably grief-stricken. She was a widow for seventeen years until she met and married a man named Paul Lahaye in 1917. Up until that point she raised Oliver all by herself with the help of her older children, of course.

    In the 1910 census, she was living on Lewis Street in Haverhill, Mass with her daughters: Henrietta, Clara, Blanche and her son Oliver. She was basically raising a bunch of teenagers and one eight year old all by herself. I don't think I need to tell anyone how crazy that is. In any century, that can be rough. Stormy weather, indeed!  Luckily she had two lodgers who more than likely helped with the children. At least I hope they did. You can't assume anything. For all I know they went to work and paid Mrs. Legault when the rent was due. The rest of the children had scattered all over the valley by this point as they had lives of their own.

Austin and Henrietta at their 50th anniversary in 1963!

  By 1920, my great-grandmother had already married my great-grandfather, Austin Felker. Lucie appeared in the census twice. I first found her with Paul, her daughter Blanche and her first husband, Frank Paradis. She appeared with just Paul the second time I found her.

    The last time she would be in the US census was in 1930 and again she was living with Paul. She passed away seven years later and three decades after Antoine passed away.

    The one silver lining from this is that she got to see her children get married and see quite a few grandchildren including my own grandmother born. That's always a good thing! I can't help but wonder if Lucie thought about Antoine during those weddings and births in the family. I suppose I'll never know.

    It should be noted that at the time of Antoine's death, several of their children were already married. Lucy married John Bourneuf in 1891. Malvina married Hector Lambert in 1897. Delphine married Ovila David in 1899. The last wedding he likely went to was for his namesake, Anthony Peter who married Mary Erwin in September of 1901. Antoine died less than a month later. The rest of the children unfortunately didn't have their father around to walk them down the aisle and so I would wager Lucie thought of him at every wedding from 1901 to 1936 and trust me there were a LOT!

Blanche in the late '70s/early '80s.

        I'm not about to focus on every child and list what happened to each of them. The blog would be incredibly long because of how many children there were. So, let's focus on the youngest Legault, Oliver. We last saw him living with his mother in the 1910 census. What happened to him afterward?

    Well, to be honest I only have bits and pieces to go on. Fear not, readers. I do have a story to tell. All isn't completely lost! I was able to find him in the 1930 census living with his sister, Matilda, her husband Clayton Rowell and their son, Hilliard. They were all living in Brooklyn! This isn't a surprise to me because my mother often told me about how Matilda and Blanche lived in Connecticut and New York while she was growing up. They saw each other often and when the sisters visited their sister in Haverhill they would talk to each other in French in front of my mother and her siblings! I honestly think that was what made her study French in school!

    Apparently Oliver didn't stay with his sisters for very long as he ventured to upstate New York where he spent the rest of his life. Over the course of his life, he had two wives. He married Myrtle Harding in 1920 and Agnes Germann in 1936. I have several DNA matches who descend from Oliver as he had quite a few children.  Oliver did okay for himself in upstate New York. After he passed away in 1950, his daughter Myrtle kept in contact with the family back in the Merrimack valley. In fact, she was one of the many Legaults who were invited to my parents' wedding! She didn't actually go. Matilda, Blanche and Henrietta were there, though as the rest of the siblings had all passed by 1971.

Lucie is buried with her daughter, Mary Adelaide.

    So, how is all of this stormy weather? Did the Legault children not get along with Paul? Was he good to the Legault kids? Were they okay with their new step-father? It's hard to say. That's a question that will also never really be answered. I don't really feel good about putting words in peoples' mouths--especially if they've been gone for so long. That's bad karma.

    According to my mother, Henrietta didn't really talk much about Paul. I'm not sure if he was a decent man or not. I honestly hope he was because he came in and took care of the family after Antoine passed away. Still, you have to wonder what the relationship was like since many of the children moved away and didn't really speak of him. It might be a good idea not to pull at that thread.

    Regardless of what may or may not have happened in the wake of Antoine's death, I think it is clear that it had a tremendous impact on his family. Oliver grew up never knowing his father and most of the daughters didn't have him walking down the aisle with them. It's very sad and I can't help but wonder what life would have been like had he not worked at the factory if that really was the cause of his tuberculosis. 

    One of the oddest things I have found is that Lucie wasn't buried with Paul. Lucie was instead buried with her daughter, Mary Adelaide and her husband, Oliver Gariepy. Paul passed away in 1932. Perhaps they didn't have the money to have them buried in the same plot? Draw your own conclusions there. We could theorize all day and still not come up with a satisfying answer!

    Still, it's clear that stormy weather was caused by Antoine's death. I would wager that if Antoine hadn't died when he did, Oliver would have known his father for sure. That's the only given I am willing to put forth. Who knows when he would have passed away had he not worked in the factory and thus didn't die at that point in time? If you subscribe to the theory of there being a multiverse out there, perhaps there is a reality where he lived a full life. And perhaps my hair is green in that reality. Or my eyes are just a slightly different color.

    Stormy weather can come in all forms and fate can change in an instant. Who knows what really would have happened. Life got a little stormy after the death of the Legault patriarch. The family went their separate ways and came back together every once in a while to celebrate various family events. While that's cool and all, I still can't help but ponder the question....

"What if....?"

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 44: Voting

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 44 is "Voting." Have you ever found your ancestor on a voter list? Any politicians in the family tree? How about someone involved with the women's suffrage movement?

Don't blame me. I voted for Kodos.

    Believe it or not I had a hard time trying to make an executive decision about what to write about this week as I haven't found anyone on a voting list. But, I do know for a fact that almost everyone in my family tree voted in every single election. Some, like the Italian immigrants, took voting very seriously for obvious reasons. They wanted to make the state they lived in and by extension the whole nation a better place for them and their descendants. The French-Canadians on my mother's side felt the same way. Take my grandfather Robert for example. When he started voting, America was a very different place.

Epic pipe is epic.

    Robert was born a few months before President Warren G. Harding passed away in 1923 and since then there have been seventeen men occupying the White House as Commander in Chief. To put that into perspective. I was born in 1978 and have seen eight men as Presidents. I didn't even become a registered voter until the tail end of the Clinton years!

  When Robert turned eighteen in June of 1941, America was just months away from entering World War II. Japan had yet to attack Pearl Harbor and the President at the time was Franklin D. Roosevelt. You can bet that the issues of Robert's day were incredibly different from when I started voting in 2000! I will say this. At least there were no hanging "chads" and no one blamed Florida. Yet.

    Of the issues, you can safely say that the war in Europe was on everyone's mind at the time. America even made immigration quotas in response to the flood of Jewish refugees entering Ellis Island. There were also quotas in place for immigrants of every nationality as well. These weren't the only hot topics of course since the country was just getting out of the Great Depression.

    In contrast, the major issues of the 2000 election involved issues such as the environment, gay rights and the rising issues of the Middle East among other issues. It seems some things never change. Still, they were important issues of the day. They all are!

Robert and Natalie Hamel, young
voters

    One of the other major differences between my grandfather and I was that during the war he filled out absentee ballots as he was serving overseas. While he was stationed in places like North Africa and Italy, the bases supplied troops with ballots and they would be shipped back to America. This practice is still used with the men and women who currently serve. However, I never served in the military. I do, however, know many people who have served and I'm pretty sure the absentee ballot system hasn't changed much since my grandfather's day.

    During the 2020 election, I did fill out a ballot at home and dropped it off at the polling place. While not exactly mailing it in, it was pretty similar to my grandfather's experience in one respect. We both didn't have to wait in line at an elementary school, church or any other polling place! 

    The way we vote has also changed dramatically since the 1940s. These days ballots are scanned by a machine after you fill in a circle next to your choice's name. You put them in a machine and walk away. In the 1940s, you wrote with a pen and someone would count the ballots by hand. Is it more efficient? Would you trust a machine to count a ballot? That's a discussion for another time and place. Not here!

    I'm sure there are other ways in which voting changed from when my grandfather started voting and when I started. The issues changed, of course and yet many have stayed the same over the years. The way we vote today has definitely changed. Thanks to social media, we now have greater access to the world around us thanks to 24 hour news and articles all over the Internet. We also have greater access to those running for office and more of a chance to hold them accountable. That can be a blessing and a curse at the same time.

Is the world a better place now than it was in the 1940s? That's debatable. For some, yes. For others there's still much work to be done and I'm not here to get into a debate about what should or shouldn't be done. Arguing politics on the Internet is never a good plan!

    However, I will say this. Voting gives you the ability to have a voice when you feel like you don't have any. It allows you to participate in something you believe in. It gives you, the average person, the ability to change the world for the better and have your voice be heard. That's why I've voted in every election since 2000. You want to be heard? Go out there and vote and hopefully make this world a better place.

I'm Chris Ferraiolo and I approve this message.