52 Ancestors Week 20: Bearded

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 20 is "Bearded." This week, record something about a relative who sported a beard (or maybe someone who struggled in that department). Of course, feel free to interpret the theme however you'd like!

It's been three years since I last talked about beards and I
STILL can't grow a ZZ Top beard. Sigh....

    In the three years since I've last posted a blog about men with magnificent facial shrubbery, I have discovered one more ancestor who had a mighty beard and that brings my bearded man roster to a grand total of three! My paternal second great-grandfather, Marco Ferraiolo joins my third great-grandfather, Jeremiah Smart Felker and my fourth great-grandfather, John Sargent Fisher as the bearded few who dared to say "no" to the Norelco razor. Could there be more bearded men in my tree? I have no idea because cameras weren't invented until 1826 and even then getting your picture back then was very cost-prohibitive. You'd have been better off paying someone to paint your picture back in those days.

So dignified!

    Marco was born in the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida in 1868 and though his beard wasn't as long as Jeremiah's or John's, it still counts! If anything, that beard reminds me of Sigmund Freud's for some reason. It's a nice one, that's for sure! It's clean, short and commands respect and projects thoughtfulness and dignity. Yes, I quoted  Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Leave me alone!

    When my cousin Caterina gave me this photo of her grandparents, Marco and Caterina in February of 2021, I tried to figure out when the picture was taken. Marco passed away in 1958 and Caterina in 1962. So, clearly the picture had to have been taken before 1958. That narrows it down, doesn't it?

    The answer actually lies with the little girl standing in front of Marco and Caterina. Who is that? Well, that's actually my 1st cousin 2x removed, Adriana Serrao, daughter of my great-grandfather Vincenzo's sister, Rosa. I talked to her on Facebook about the picture and she said she was about three years old when the photo was taken. She was born in 1947. So, then this picture would have been taken some time in 1950.

   

    That was a quick and easy mystery to solve, wasn't it. I should have asked for more information like "Do you know if there are any more pictures of these two?" Or "What was the occasion?" I'm not sure if Adriana would have remembered the specifics. Give her a break. She was three! Do you remember anything that happened when YOU were three?!

Pasquale is in the middle.

    Marco probably would have bern pleased that at least one of his descendants is currently rocking a beard. Check out actor Pasquale Aleardi's awesome beard of awesomeness. My second cousin once removed descends from Vincenzo's sister, Concetta. For those of you keeping score at home, Concetta was my cousin Caterina's mother and that makes Pasquale her nephew. I think I need a scorecard or a bigger family tree....

    ANYWAY! To date he is the only relative on that side of the family who currently has a beard. Lord knows I can't grow a decent one. I can't even grow a moustache.

That doesn't stop anyone else in the family from trying....

Clean-shaven and an ad for Lenscrafters.

     When my brother got married in August of 2002, my father was sporting a beard of his own. I'm not sure why he decided to grow one. Back in the day he had a moustache and then he shaved that off. Then one day he decided to go with a full beard. It honestly did not last long AT ALL!

    Still, his beard is forever immortalized in all of Jim and Kathleen's wedding pictures. I bring this up with him from time to time and some days he says he wants to grow it back and some days he says it's better to be clean-shaven.  I guess it depends on his mood.

    Beards seem to be a rarity in my family. I can see why because growing them can be a bit itchy and caring for one can be a hassle. Some people can work wearing facial shrubbery. Me? I definitely can't. But, it is fun to see friends and family sporting beards and wondering if they've now become the "evil twin"since most "evil twins" have beards.

Hey, it worked in "Star Trek"....

See ya next time!