52 Ancestors Week 35: Disaster

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 35 is "Disaster." (I want to point out that this theme was chosen long before any of the catastrophic events that we've seen in the past few weeks.) Disasters come in may forms. They can be personal or they can affect an entire community. You can also have a disaster in your research.

That's great it starts with an earthquake...

    The last time I wrote about a disaster was back in February 2020 before the world shut down thanks to the human malware aka Covid. Oof. Talk about bad timing. That blog was about an error in my tree that I have since corrected. Let's now turn our attention to disasters of the natural sort. Since I live in New Hampshire we don't really have many earthquakes and when we do they're usually very minor. We typically have blizzards, the occasional hurricane and other storms here in New England. 

Lush and fertile lands come at a price.

    However, one part of the world is known for its many earthquakes and volcanos. It has been said that Italy's natural beauty comes at a price since the country sits near many fault lines and many volcanos dot the landscape. In fact, millions of people still live near Mount Vesuvius! I guess they didn't learn much from their experience with Pompeii.

      It's not like Vesuvius stopped erupting in 79 AD. The volcano erupted many times in the early 20th century and could very well be the one of the reasons why people left the country. Hey. Would you stick around if a volcano kept erupting? Is good pizza really worth your life at this point?!

    Seriously, there may be some truth to natural disasters being the reason why people leave one country for another. Sure economic factors played a role in people leaving. You can't forget that natural disasters also were contributing factors and Italy definitely didn't have an organization like FEMA around to help them out at the time.

    I don't know for certain if any of my ancestors in Italy left the country due to natural disasters running rampant at the time. However, I can say with certainty that some people in my family tree were directly impacted by those events and one in particular may have forced him to move clear across the planet.

La famiglia di Coppola

     In the Italians in Haverhill book, it was said that Giovanni Coppola's  unnamed daughter was lost in an earthquake. Could her death have been the reason why this Coppola family moved to Haverhill? When did it happen exactly? Well, if you look at Giovanni's page on WikiTree, you'll notice that there is a ten year gap between the births of his daughter Angelina and his son Frank.

    Angelina was born in San Pietro in 1898 and Frank was born in Haverhill in 1908. This means that somewhere in middle of those years a daughter could have been born to Giovanni Coppola and Natalina Marinaro. That's just conjecture at this point because Giovanni arrived in America in 1898. Though, he could have made the trip back to Italy after arriving.

    Let me pitch this scenario to you.  We know Giovanni and Natalina were married in San Pietro in 1898 thanks to information provided in the blurb below the picture. Angelina was born on September 16th of that year. Giovanni arrived in America on November 18th, 1898 with a Marinaro who was his brother-in-law. Would it be out of line to say that he stayed in America for a short time, went back to Italy for a couple years and had another daughter before coming back to America? I think this scenario works. 

    Between 1898 and 1908, Calabria was hit by three earthquakes with the strongest being a 7.2 magnitude quake on September 8th, 1905. Twenty-five villages were destroyed and 5,000 people lost their lives. San Pietro a Maida wasn't listed as one of the villages hit. However, you can bet that there were aftershocks. The next one to hit Calabria was on October 23rd, 1907 and registered a 5.9 on the richter scale. That quake was at the tip of the peninsula and the same area was hit again in January 1908.

 

      Frank was born on April 12th 1908. This meant that the Coppolas narrowly missed being involved in the great Messina earthquake. That one happened on December 28th, 1908 and caused unfathomable amounts of destruction since the cities of Reggio Calabria and Messina were almost completely destroyed. Between 75,000 and 82,000 people perished as well.

  Could this have been the earthquale mentioned in the book? I'm not sure. Maybe. The Coppolas were known to go back and forth many times and the earliest reference to them aside from Frank's birth was in the 1910 census in Haverhill. The only ship manifest I found for Natalina was in 1929 and I have a feeling that was just a visit.

    With all that said, is it possible that the constant earthquakes pushed the family to move clear across the planet? I would have to say "Yes." only because after everything that happened to his family Giovanni seemed to be quite eager to get family members out of southern Italy! I don't think anyone can blame him! So many families owe their passage to that man it's not even funny at this point. He may have thought "I want to get my friends and family out of Italy as soon as possible!!" The poor guy lost a young child to a natural disaster and I wish I knew her name so I could immortalize her on WikiTree. I doubt he wanted to lose any more friends and family.

    There is a solution of course. I could ask San Pietro if there were any Coppolas born to Giovanni and Natalina between 1898 and 1908. Her details would provide valuable insight into what prompted Giovanni and co to leave that town behind.

    The Coppola family's story is like many others Italians in that era had to face. It's easy to see why a natural disaster coupled with economic hardship forced them to move. I could be right about my theory. I could also be wrong. That's the fun thing about genealogy. You can make a theory and there may or may not be a right answer.

    At least we know that the Coppolas made a great home for themselves in Haverhill after the death of the daughter. The long lost daughter's documents may turn up in the future. Only time will tell. Many other Italians likely share the same story like I said. It's sad. But, in a way they managed to thrive in a new land despite whatever our small blue planet threw at them.

See ya next time!

P.S. This week's banner song was also the theme song for my high school graduating class's video yearbook. I wonder if that's a bad sign. Keep in mind I graduated in 1997.

52 Ancestors Week 34: Newest Discovery

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 34

The theme for Week 34 is "Newest Discovery." What is the newest discovery you've made in your family history? Mine was discovering that an ancestor's brother served in the Civil War.

Let's see what's out there. Engage!

     Genealogy takes you on all kinds of adventures and chances are you will discover many amazing things along the way. There's no doubt about that. You could find yourself walking through your nearest cemetery and discover a long-lost relative or you could be combing through various records in the comfort of your own home and find a new ancestor or two. However, there are some occasions where some discoveries may need to be scrutinized and placed under a microscope.

Did you know Andresano and Indresano are
interchangeable? Wild.

    Meet my fifrth great-grandmother, Rosaria Giuseppa Cappuccio. That name is clearly a mouthful, I know. She was born around 1775 in the Campanian town of Mirabella Eclano. She married a man named Giovanni Andresano in 1800 and they had at least three known children together. 

    This all seems pretty straight forward doesn't it? Nothing seems sketchy right now as this is pretty much a standard Italian profile with standard records being sourced. Just wait. Things are going to be a little bit complicated.

    The only sources I've found for Rosaria have been on Antenati, the Italian government's respository of births, marriages and deaths in Italy from 1809 to the early 20th century in most cases. On the site, I've found her in the following documents in Mirabella Eclano.

1. A reference to her on her husband's death banns from 1823.

2. She was mentioned on her daughter Maria's marriage record from 1830.

3. She was listed as the mother of Maria Antonia Andresano on her death banns from 1881.

Right. This woman clearly existed and she was definitely the mother of my 4th great-grandmother, Maria Antonia. There's no mistaking it. Rosaria was my 5th great-grandmother, alright. What seemed to be the problem? Glad you asked!!

I've got my eye on you, FS....

    A while back I discovered someone had added parents for Rosaria on FamilySearch. Their names were Giuseppe Cappuccio and Agnese Frascella. While someone might go right ahead and add these people to their family tree, I'm erring on the side of caution here because Agnese does not have any sources attached to her or even a note and while her husband does have a source, it's a bit confusing.

   My friend and fellow member of WikiTree's Italy Project found a source confirming Giuseppe's death on February 2nd, 1810.  The year 1809 was when Italian cities and towns started recording civil registrations and Mirabella Eclano was one of them. 

    What's interesting and ultimately confusing is that while most of Giuseppe's children were listed on the document one was not. Can you guess who that was?

    If you said "Rosaria", then you'd be correct. Now, these could just be the surviving children of Giuseppe because Rosaria supposedly passed away in 1807 which was two years before civil registration began. I say "supposedly" because I'm not really sure about the information that was given to me by a friend and fellow researcher.

    My friend informed me that she poured through the church records herself and that's how she was able to get Rosaria's death record and her marriage in 1800. Church records, after all, had been a thing long before Napoleon Bonaparte instituted civil registrations. I trust the information she provided me and put that information on the tree. However, I'm not too sure if the parents are accurate here.

    I'm not sure if my doubts are coming from the fact that there are no sources for Agnese or if it's because Rosaria wasn't mentioned on her father's death banns. It's a sticky situation, to be sure. Do I add them or not? That is the question.

    I could fudge it and say that the children listed on the document were the surviving children of Giuseppe. However, there's a chance that I could be wrong. I've been bitten by erroneous branches far too many times in the past. So, it might be a good idea to put a pin in it and come back to it later. 

    The only other option, I think, is to contact the user on FamilySearch and see where the information came from and if it's accurate.  Here's what I'm thinking of sending:

Hi,

 My name is Chris and I couldn't help but notice that you added parents to Rosaria Giuseppa Cappuccio in 2019. I was wondering if you could tell me where the information came from because civil registration in Italy did not begin until 1809. Please help me determine if the information is accurate or not as Rosaria was my 5th great-grandmother. Any help would be invaluable. Thanks for your time!

     Sometimes a short and sweet message is all it takes! I hope I get a response because I definitely would like to add more people to the tree! It's very rare for me to get Italian sixth and seventh great-grandparents because of civil registations. I'd have to go to Italy and pour through church records to see if  dates before 1809 are accurate. 

    Genealogy is a fun hobby and while it can be exciting when you find a new ancestor, sometimes you have to be cautious. You don't want to go barking up the wrong tree. Literally! Here's hoping I get a reply AND that I get to add Rosaria's parents and grandparents in the near future!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 33: Strength

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 33

The theme for Week 33 is "Strength." Strength comes in many forms: physical, emotional, spiritual, just to name a few. What ancestor do you think of when you think of strength?

Hulk smash puny banner! (That works on so many levels. If you 
know, you know.)

    The last time I wrote a blog about an ancestor who had a lot of strength of character was back in 2021 when I talked about Lucie Cadran and how she basically raised a bunch of kids by herself in the wake of her husband Antoine Legault's death. She turned a tragedy into a family story that stood the test of time as she managed to keep her many children relatively close by after his passing. You can read all about it here. Now, what do I have for you this week? Well, we haven't really discussed strong Italian women have we? I'd be remissed if I didn't write at least one blog about those nonnas who were ever ready with a soft hand and a rolling pin if one of yoots stepped out of line.

Olympia "Ollie" Carrabs

    Enter: Grandma Ollie. Sure she was a sweet tiny Italian lady who would welcome anyone into her house and serve you a ton of food. She was one tough cookie and everyone knew it. That isn't to say she was bitter or anything. Far from it. Grandma Ollie just knew when to smile and when to fight back.

    Case in point, When my father was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, she and my grandfather Marco would invite an African American man into their home on a regular basis for dinner. To say that were friends would be an understatement. I don't really remember the man's name and I'm sure my father told me. But, what stuck out to me was how much she was willing to go outside the social norms at the time and invite him into her home. Whether they knew it or not, she and Marco took part in the Civil Rights Movement.

   

     What a strong way to start this week's blog, huh? I dunno if anything can top that. Oh, wait. Many things can! Not only was my grandmother unknowningly taking part in the Civil Rights movement, she and many other ladies were employed at Western Electric at around the same time she and Marco were breaking bread with just about everyone in Haverhill.

    Looks like grandma Ollie is two for two in the strength department. Sure she was on the Philomathians in Haverhill High and everyone in school called her a "cheerful girl". But, she still fought the societal norms at the time since women were not expected to have jobs in the 1950s and 1960s. So, where did all this strength come from? To answer this, you'd have to look at her own mother.

Giuseppe and Clementina

    From what my father and his cousins have told me, Clementina Forgione was not someone you'd want to mess with. You know the expression "Don't go against the family"? That was her! My cousin Bob told me a few stories about her. 

    One time Giuseppe was thinking about going back to their native Gesualdo and nonna Clementina told him flat out:

"I am not getting on ship or a plane again, Joseph!!!"

    The context here is that she had been tired of traveling and wanted to just settled down. That's a fair point. She wanted to just relax and I can hardly blame her for that since they were raising six children at the time---ALL DAUGHTERS!

    So, now you see where Olympia got her steely resolve and determination to not go with the societal norms. I guess the moral of the story here is to know when to pick your battles. From what I understand Giuseppe was a reasonable guy. I guess he understood that traveling back and forth at that time would be a hassle. Besides, his brothers and sister were a few towns over. in Melrose and Everett. It's not like family was that far away!

I still think they're all waiting for a bus.

    Perhaps Grandma Ollie's strength of character came from the fact that she was the youngest in her family. She grew up with five siblings and trust me when I say that the lot of them were future fiesty little old Italian ladies™, too. 

   

    Watching her mother raise the girls while their father worked at the bank probably solidified her resolve. It could not have been easy. Bear in mind that was also during the Great Depression so you know times were tough. And when times were tough what did most people do? They did the best they could given the circumstances!

    I do have a feeling that her upbringing during the Depression played a pivotal role in how strong she was as a person. When people were having a tough time of things, she would always lend an ear, invite someone into her home and dispense with the sage advice. She simply didn't want people to suffer as she did being the daughter of two Italian immigrants and everything. That shows a lot of character does it not? Forget physical strength. Sometimes you just need strength of character. It works and sometimes it can be even better!

What you don't see is me facepalming off camera.

      Olympia's strength could be owed to her upbringing growing up in Haverhill during the Great Depression or being the daughter of a tough as nails Italian woman. In the end, it doesn't make a difference because my brother and I knew her as one tough nonna years before we heard anything about how strong Clementina was.

    She would never back down from any confrontation as long as the cause was just and would still be warm and caring at the same time. To my brother and I that was the definition of  "grandma". Not saying Natalie didn't have her moments, too! She totally did!

     I think grandmothers are inherently strong based on the kind of things they've had to put up with. Years of experience hardened them when they needed to get tough and let them be softer when the situation called for it. She may be nice one minute but the second you go against the family, you'd better watch out or else you will get that rolling pin across your wrist. I'm not saying that never happened to me. But, hey. Respect to all the grandmas out there! Especially the little old Italian ladies ™. 

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 32: Reunion

From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 32 is "Reunion." It's family reunion season, so it's the perfect time to write about a big family get-together. You could also highlight a reunion, such as someone returning from a long trip or from military service. As always, feel free to interpret the theme however you would like!

"Together again. Gee it's good to be together again"

    Reunions are great from what I've been told. I've never gone to a high school reunion since my graduating class has yet to have one and the closest thing to family reunions have always been occassions like birthday parties, Christmas eve parties, Christenings and of course weddings. With that said, let's talk about one of the more memorable events in my family history where we all had a great time and most of the family was present. I say "most" because getting everyone in the same room together is a lot like herding cats. For example, not everyone was there for my grandfather Robert's epic 90th birthday party in 2013. You can read all about the action that day in this blog!

Lookin' good in that enagement pic!

    We still made the most of it whenever someone was not able to make it to an event or two. Not everyone was able to attend my brother's wedding in 2002 and yet we still had a great time. Jim and Kathleen met in the 1990s while they were both attending college at the College of the Holy Cross and were engaged for about three years before they got married.

    Kathleen was like a cool older sister to me and still is to this day. Like me, she majored in political science and whenever some earth-shattering event happened in Washingon or around the world we would talk about it and other random topics here and there. Of course that wasn't the only thing we talked about! Though, she did offer guidance on various papers I wrote. 

    Their wedding was one of the major highlights of 2002 for me because I graduated college that May and their wedding was going to be in that August. When my grandmother Ollie passed away in February 2002, I kept thinking to myself that good times were coming and to focus on them and less on her passing.

     Before the big day arrived, I was tasked with being a groomsman since their friend Mike was going to be my brother's best man. That made sense since he introduced them and all that. I still managed to get a speech or two in, though! To give you a sense of how silly my brother can be, he asked me to do the infamous "Godfather wedding speech" at the rehersal dinner. Kathleen is also half-Italian and so the family really appreciated me saying "On this....the day of your daughter's wedding" during the speech. I even did a decent Marlon Brando impression! I'm just gonna say right now that that was totally Jim's idea!! (Yeah, right. You know the truth. That was all me.)

Gotta admit....I make this look good.

   Months before the actual ceremony we had a sort of "bachelor party" in Boston and no it wasn't what you think. We went to a sports bar/arcade called "Billiards" after a Red Sox game. I remember trying and failing to operate a driving game that night. But, what I remember most was what happened earlier that week at the rehersal.

    The wedding was at the college where they met, and the venue's coordinator was a very ummmm....shall we say STRICT nun?  I forget her name so for the sake of argument let's call her "Sister Mary Whatshername".

    The day of the rehersal she made sure that all participants in the wedding were up to speed on etiquette, posture and proper dress. Let's just say I'm glad we weren't all in tophats and coattails by the end of the experience.  

Grandparents and aunts!

    The day of the wedding finally arrived and the ceremony was very beautiful. My grandparents, Robert and Natalie, were there along with my aunts, great-aunts and cousins. A few family friends were also present on our side of the family as well and I got to meet the bride's family. I had met Kat's parents before the wedding. I'm not sure when, though.

   Michael Jackson's "Don’t Stop 'Til You Get Enough" played as the DJ introduced the bridal party and of course Jim and Kathleen. To say we had a great time was a bit of an understatement.

    In between dancing with my sister-in-law's friend, Dana, I talked with my aunts and my grandparents who were both having a great time. Though, I was never sure if my grandfather appreciated my brother's taste in music. He was always all about J. Philip Sousa and less about  pop music. He definitely never understood rap or any other style of music. But, he never let it bother him.

    I think my grandparents were just happy to be there watching their first grandchild get married and be with their family. You never know how much time you have and so it was a very precious moment for the both of them. I did tell them what happened with Sister Mary Whatshername earlier and believe it or not they actually got a good chuckle out of it.     

Now with little old Italian ladies (TM).

    By the end of the night everyone heard that story about Sister Mary Whatshername. I don't think she was even at the reception so it was definitely okay to talk about her. That lady was something else. At least she gave us an interesting story to tell. Let that be her legacy!

    All in all, I had a great time at the wedding and so did everyone attending the event. It was great seeing my grandma Ollie's sisters, my grandparents, cousins and everyone else. We still saw each other that Christmas. However, this was one of those special moments that won't come again unless you happen to have a Tardis. Memories of those no longer with us were shared and new memories were forged.

    Like I said before, you never really know how much time you have left and these events really become more precious to you as time goes on. Does a wedding count as a reunion? Absolutely! Why wouldn't 

it?

    Reunions can be anything you want it to be as long as you have a great time being with friends and family. Parties may not be meant to last, but, the memories you share at these events will certainly last a lifetime. Jim and Kat's wedding will forever be one of the greatest parties I've ever been to because I had the opportunity to be with friends and family and that's what reunions are really all about! Sure sometimes they can stink. But, it's really about the company you keep on those special occasions!

See ya next time! And don't stop til you get enough! 

52 Ancestors Week 31: Flew the Coop

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 31

The theme for Week 31 is "Flew the Coop." The phrase "flew the coop" means to have escaped or run away. It can also refer to someone when they leave their parents' home. Or it can be chickens. Take your pick.

Why is that eastern line so short? Oh, right...the ocean.

    Back in the day it seemed like once someone reached that coveted milestone of their eighteenth birthday, the person would invariably pick up their belongings and set out on their own out in the cold, cruel world. Man, was that ever a fantasy. I don't think I've ever seen that on my genealogical adventure. No one was ever kicked out of the house once they turned eighteen and everyone stayed within driving distance of each other. In fact, it often took a literal act of God to split a family up! How's that for a segue?!

    I may have talked about this on more than a few occasions in this blog. But, it bears repeating since I recently came into contact with another long-lost second cousin once removed. The death of  my 2nd great-grandfather Antoine Legault in 1901 rocked the Legault family to the core as not long afterward, his many children left the city of Haverhill to parts unknown.

    Wow. That makes it seem a lot more epic than it seems, right? I'm sure his wife Lucie kept tabs on everyone in the family. I've pretty much accounted for the whereabouts of their thirteen children as many of them stayed reasonably close to home with some exceptions like Oliver who ended up in upstate New York.

    Oliver is actually the only son I know the most about. He went from family member to family member as evidenced by the 1930 census where he was seen living with his sister Matilda and her family in Brooklyn, New York. Oliver married his second wife, Agnes in 1936 and they moved to Holland, New York. The rest as they say is history. I just wish the same could be said for his brothers, Philip and Anthony.

    Anthony was clearly named after his father and while I do have many sources which indicate where he went and everything, I'm missed a few crucial bits of information here because some hints on Ancestry for the brothers have just been flat out strange to me.

    Let's get the weird hint out of the way because this is really out there. According to Ancestry, Philip Legault was in the 1900 US Census living in an insitution in New York. In 1900, he was about sixteen years old at the time, too. I have yet to confirm that it was in fact him. However, his birthplace of Massachusetts was listed and so was his birth year of 1884.  Could that be the same Philip? I have no idea. I have asked my genealogist friends for help on this issue and sadly the institution's records are kind of sparse.

 Meanwhile, it's not all bad news for Anthony.  Eventually, he got married in September of 1901 and again in 1913. He passed away at the age of fifty-four in Salem, Mass. I honestly have no idea if he had children and I have yet to find any DNA matches who connect with him. Everyone seems to connect with the sisters and Oliver. Records for Anthony seem to have flown the coop. See what I did there? =D Sufficed it to say, I put that hint for Philip on the backburner and I might revisit it. Then again I might not because it seems like such a longshot to me because of all the questions I have about the logistics and everything.

   Why was he sent to that institution? Was the kid in the 1900 census really him? It seems odd that Antoine and Lucie would send their son all the way to New York like that. That's one question I'd like to have answered. Did Philip really fly the coop and end up in an institution?

     At least with Philip I have a somewhat relatively good idea of what happened to him after the trip to New York. He married Lea Lefebvre   in the 1910s and had at least one child with her. He was a veteran of both World Wars and seemingly lived in Haverhill all of his life. He had a ton of grandchildren as well. Not too bad, right? Well, yeah. I can't fault you all for wondering why I'd bring this up.

    The real issue for Philip is that while I have a ton of information on him and his descendants, I don't seem to have his exact date of death. I also don't have any DNA matches who descend from him that I know of. Information about this branch of the Legault tree seemed to have also flown the coop on a genetic genealogy level. While I do have the info, I don't have the contact with the descendants who could potentially give me more information and pictures. Would they know if Philip was sent to New York or not?

       Hopefully, one of the descendants of Philip contacts me in the near future and sheds some light on a few questions I have. I'm not sure even how to best ask that question about New York. No one has to take a DNA test if they don't want to or anything. I'm just curious about a few dates and if there are pictures of the family somewhere. Legault family photographs are pretty rare. Those are the things I want the most. I can only hope that someone from that  family line contacts me just as I was contacted by one of Mary Adelaide's descendants this week.

    It is interesting to me that the Legault sisters and their families all kept in touch and yet no one seems to know much about what happened to the brothers save for Oliver. Did everyone focus on him because the poor guy's father passed away while he was very young? That's a distinct possibility. He was the youngest after all.  Who can say? I just hope there's a reasonable explanation for why Philip seemingly appeared in the 1900 census in an institution in New York. It just doesn't seem to make sense and you guys know me. I like things to make sense!

    The answer is out there and sooner or later I'll find out more about what happened to the Legault brothers. I just need to be patient!

See ya next time!

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