52 Ancestors Week 52: Future

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 52 is "Future." The end of the year has us looking back and looking forward. (Sounds like genealogy, doesn't it?!) Perhaps this week you write about an ancestor you hope to find in the coming year.

No one knows what the future holds. Still, we march forward.
Make it so.

        The past year brought me some very interesting finds on my genealogical adventure. I talked to new cousins in Europe who confirmed a story about how my great-grandfather, grandfather and grandmother went to Switzerland for a wedding. An act of senseless vandalism in a cemetery led me to find my 2nd great-grandmother Gertrude Stevens's grave. I took part in the WikiTree Year of Accuracy Challenge where we broke over 800 brick walls for many of the community's top genealogists. Yep. The last year was pretty impressive. As fun as it is to look back at past accomplishments, let's take a quick trip in the Tardis to see what exactly my future will hold and what I hope to find in the coming year! Be careful. The Tardis doesn't always take you to where you want to go. She takes you to where you're needed.

Soon.....

    While I didn't break through the brick wall that is my second great-grandmother, Domenica Gullo, I did chip away at it with laser-like precision. Sure I'd rather take a wrecking ball to it or the Kool-Aid Man. But, sometimes you need to work with what you got. Some things are better than nothing. And what exactly did I find that could help me break the brick wall? Well....

    1. I found that she married my second great-grandfather, Antonio Tedesco  on November 18th, 1899. Curiously, I got information about the marriage on November 18th, 2021. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!

    2. She was born Maria Domenica Gullo on January 25th, 1876 in the Italian town of San Pietro a Maida. It's interesting that everyone in her family called her Domenica and the name is even on her gravestone. And yet her name was Maria Domenica. Interesting, indeed.

    While I didn't find out the names of her parents, I am a little bit closer to finding their identities. Some time early next year, I intend to message the commune office in San Pietro with this complete list of facts and ask for  information on who her parents were. I will be concise and to the point. 

    

    Information on her parents may take a while to materialize. But, it's not like I don't have anything else going on.  While I am waiting for that info, I have asked several friends of mine from WikiTree's Italy Project to help me with another project of mine.

Getting ahead of the game!

    On WikiTree, I have a One Place Study where I focus on everyone who was ever born in San Pietro a Maida. It's not an easy task and I need a bit of help with it since my Italian isn't that great and it's a bit hard to read some of the documents as some text has faded with age. Don't get me wrong. I can make out some words. It just helps to have a second pair of eyes looking at a document and I am very appreciative of any and all help. Trust me! Plus we have a great time looking at the records!

    This week, I decided to go a bit more above and beyond the call of duty. My friends and I are basically cataloging everyone who was born in San Pietro from 1800 to 1861 on a spreadsheet. This will help me break through the brick wall! How? Well....

Domenico Gullo, huh? Interesting....

    By cataloging everyone who has ever lived in San Pietro a Maida, I can narrow down the list of potential parents for Domenica, build a tree on WikiTree and prepare myself for when that momentous e-mail finally arrives confirming who the parents are. All I would have to do is simply connect her parents to her and have a ready made tree ready to go. Efficient, yes? Also very time consuming. I'm not going to lie!

    I'm totally up to the task because WikiTree allows anyone to make an unconnected tree. It would just take time to get the floating branches to connect to the "main tree". I have a few floating branches on the website and this research will definitely speed up the process of breaking down the brick wall as I am building a tree downward. It's a good strategy and I don't know about you but I want to see this tree filled in:

I still see tumbleweeds. They'll be gone, soon!

    Researching everyone in San Pietro will also help me with another mission and that is to research the Ferraiolo, Coppola and Tedesco lines and hopefully connect people to DNA matches and even people in the Italians in Haverhill project I created in the past year. Yeah, I've been pretty busy haven't I? Keep in mind I've also been producing a webcomic at the same time! Many Italian immigrants in Haverhill came from that one small Italian town and it'd be interesting to see how they all connect because I've seen DNA matches for my great-aunt with names like "Serratore","Azzarito" and "Desando" in their trees. Where would they belong? By researching and connecting, I will be able to add more branches once I find that missing link. It's a lot of work. But, it'll be worth it.

    The Italians in Haverhill book and other sources can help build trees and interconnect everyone in there. I can use that and traditional genealogy to find the connections. So far several connections, dates and other sources correlate with things such as that funeral list for Maria Tedesco and other clues. As Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation said:

 "The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance."--Q, Star Trek: The Next Generation "Q Who" First broadcast on 8 May 1989

    Once the brick wall is broken and connections have been made, where do I go from here? That's a very good question. I'll still have my one place study. That's not going away any time soon.  What I might do is confirm a few post-1861 births in San Pietro. We have the births for Concetta and Caterina Coppola. What about their brothers' births? I could ask for them. Would it be a moot point since DNA confirmed the relationships? Not to mention family knowledge. My great-aunt and cousin in Switzerland remembers those people. I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask. There are still many people I could ask about once I solve Domenica's puzzle. For now I am focused on that goal!

    So, that's my plan for the next year. Is it a good one? Yeah, I'd say so! It's always good to have genealogical goals ready for the new year and a plan once you have everything set in motion. I am definitely ready to break the brick wall now. Granted it's an ambitious project. But, there's strength in numbers and I have faith in my friends in the Italy project. We'll get the job done and we'll do it with style. I have all the tools needed to bring the wall down and I am ready. Let's do this. 

See you next year! Let's make it a good one! Make it so!

P.S. Thanks go out to the Italy Project! You all rock!