52 Ancestors Week 38: New to You

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 38

The theme for Week 38 is "New to You." Sometimes when a person buys a used car, they say that it isn't new, but it's "new to me." Do you have something like that? What about a "new" favorite resource to use? Or even a "new" ancestor!

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     My genealogical adventure has seen many surprises in 2022. I've already discovered how a DNA match I've been trying to figure out connected with my family as I discussed in last week's blog. I dove into the 1950 census in April and came up with all kinds of information on the whereabouts of my family. I've even eventually found where my mom and her parents were living in that census! It turns out they were on Marjorie Street in Haverhill! It's always the last place you look isn't it? The only thing that's been missing this year has been photos and you all know how much I love photos. The drought, my friends, finally came to an end about a month ago!

    This dashing young man in the uniform is none other than my great-grandfather, Giuseppe Carrabs. He doesn't have the same amount of swagger Alfred Hamel has in various pictures in my collection. However, it's still pretty cool and so is the story of how I acquired the photo.

    I want to say that the first time I saw this photograph was when I was a little kid and I was visiting my great-aunt Louise at her house on Bartlett street in Haverhill. It was in her living room in an oval frame and hung over her fireplace along with a ton of other old photographs. I didn't think much of it at first. I knew the man in the photograph was my great-grandfather and everything.  However, when you're a kid you don't really think much about the photographs you're looking at until you're much older. I think with age you come to appreciate older photographs more. Then again, I was always captivated by his brother Rocco and his amazing moustache. Don't lie. You would be too! Everyone loves a thick handlebar moustache. It's a shame I can't grow one!

    I don't remember the last time I saw the photograph. It must have been in 2010 because that was when Aunt Louise passed away and it was STILL on her mantle! along with photos of Rocco and Pasquale. Who knew that in just twelve years I'd be seeing it again?

Just a kid from San Pietro
a Maida.

    I was having dinner with my parents and I asked my father if we had pictures of Giuseppe in his uniform from World War 1 or World War II. I asked because we have pictures of Vincenzo Ferraiolo and Alfred Hamel in their uniforms. I wanted a complete set of my great-grandfathers in their uniforms because it'd be cool to see them in high quality sepia tones. And I know. I should ask my mother about Austin Felker's uniform. One thing at a time!!! We can't rush these things!

    So, my father said that there was a photo of him in uniform at aunt Louise's house. I said I remembered it. He said to me that he wasn't sure what happened to it because it's been about twelve years since he last saw the photograph, too. He told me to ask his cousin Bob on Facebook. Bob was the son of my great-aunt Eleanor.

   You might recall me talking about Bob. He was the guy who went with me to Saint Patrick's cemetery for a cemetery run. We should probably do another one at some point and then we take on city hall! For documents. No other reason. It's just fun to say "Take on City Hall." =)

    Taking on city hall would have to wait for another day. I asked Bob and he said to ask Dennis. Dennis is a son of Louise. Surely he would have the photo, right? RIGHT?! I sent him an e-mail with the same question.

So much swagger. Wow.

    Dennis didn't know where the photograph was. At this point I didn't know what else to do. This wasn't a life or death question or anything. I just wanted to know where the picture was and if I could take a look at it. Dennis said to send a message on Facebook to his brother Joseph. 

    As you can imagine I was getting a bit tired of going around the entire Carrabs family looking for what happened to one picture I saw years ago. This was turning into a weird game of telephone! The only other people I could have asked were Josephine's grandchildren. That was going to be the last place to go! Thankfully, Joseph came through!

    Joseph had the picture and told me that it was still in its oval frame. The odd thing was that I didn't see the picture when I was at his house in June. I'm sure I would have seen it in a place of honor. After all Joseph was Giuseppe's namesake. Joseph is the anglicized version of the name "Giuseppe" like how "Giovanni" becomes "John" and "Vincenzo" becomes "James". Don't ask about the last one. I wrote an entire blog about how "Vincenzo" became "James". It's a long story!

Joe wisely took a picture off the photo with his phone and that's when I went to work.

    I looked at the photo with my parents and right away they noticed how much Joe looked like his grandfather. Makes sense, I guess. It's all in the genes! To date that's the youngest I've ever seen my great-grandfather. I asked people in a genealogy Facebook group if they could possibly date the photograph and even figure out what war the uniform was from. I got some.....interesting responses.

    One person said that it was a Civil War uniform. I raised an eyebrow. Giuseppe was born in 1882 in Italy. That wasn't a Civil War uniform! The only wars I know he was involved in were the first and second World Wars! Could it be from those conflicts?

    It's hard to say. Someone in the genealogy group suggested a possible alternative.

    A user on the page thought that perhaps the picture was from Giuseppe's time in the service during World War 1 because the uniform looked similar to those worn by soldiers in the Italian army during that conflict.

    It's an interesting idea in theory. But, there are a few problems.

1. When World War I broke out Giuseppe was already in America and living in Haverhill. In fact, Clementina was  a couple months pregnant with Josie when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated.

2. Giuseppe registered for the draft on September 18th, 1918. The conflict ended two months later.

3.There's no proof that he ever even went back to Italy. Unlike his daughter's father-in-law, Vincenzo, Giuseppe was not a "bird of passage".

    With all this in mind one has to wonder what conflict was that uniform from. I don't think my great-grandfather was into cosplay. So, the uniform had to have come from some conflict! The relatives all suspect it is a World War I uniform. I'm unsure. However, I'd like to find out more. My next mission, should I choose to accept it, is to look for clues as to the origin of the uniform! The picture is a priceless piece of history and I am determined to seek out where it came from. I'm glad I got the picture because it had been a drought the past year. However, the picture has led to more questions than ever. Will I find the answers? Stay tuned!

See ya next time!