52 Ancestors Week 48: Troublemaker

 From Chris Ferraiolo:

Lawbreakers. Ne'er-do-wells. No one's family tree is completely full of "goody two-shoes". Do you even have "ye Olde Florida Man" in your tree? A troublemaker could even refer to someone you've had trouble researching! Share their stories and be creative!

Yeah. We knew that was coming.

  If someone were to tell me that their family tree was perfect and filled with people who were flawless, I'd have my doubts. I'm sorry. The number one rule in genealogy for me is to never put people on high pedestals. Not even your ancestors. People often forget that our ancestors were human like you and me. They had their faults and foilbles. Some may have been pretty dastardly and that's putting it mildly. Some may have legit been awesome people. You never know. Sometimes you just have to let the records speak for themselves if you've never met the person or heard stories. In my case, I have one ancestor who was probably a both a troublemaker AND someone who was a bit hard to research.

    Meet Elias Felker, my 4th great-grandfather and man who does not have a clear paper trail. One look at his Wikitree page and you'll see that he was a bit of a troublemaker, too. He was married to a woman named Polly Brock as evidenced by records in the state of New Hampshire. However, while he was married to Polly he got a woman named Martha Smart pregnant with my 3rd great-grandfather, Jeremiah.

    If this sounds like one of those old daytime soap operas to you, you're not wrong because from that point on things take a sharp turn into crazy town. While researching Elias, the only things I was able to find on him was a court document where Martha's father, Jeremiah Smart, petitioned the court for custody of the baby. Oh and it turns out that my third great-grandfather was named after him. Something tells me that Elias probably wasn't a saint. Then again it's hard to say who was a saint because it takes two to tango. It's all hearsay because we weren't there and records are hard to come by. I feel like asking Reddit's "Am I the ***hole?" about this case! It'd be interesting for sure! I wonder if they'd even look at a case from the 1830s!

    Records for Elias are really hard to come by. I'm not joking. Over the years, I've managed to scrounge up bits and pieces of his life. I've even enlisted the aid of my friend and fellow Wikitreer Laura and we only found very few sources including:

* His marriage to Polly.

* His appearance in the 1840 census.

* Rockingham county probate file.

* His Find a Grave page.

That's about it. Though, if you dig a little deeper, you might find a War of 1812 pension file for the guy. It's hard to say if it was really him or not. I haven't added it to his WikiTree page because it's a little too suspect for me. The best I could do is mention it as a research note.

   Elias's death at the age of twenty-six was also mentioned in the pages of the New Hamphsire Gazette on Tuesday May 7th, 1844. If he was twenty-six in 1844, that means he was born around 1818. The War of 1812 was over by then. So, how could Elias have been involved? Was he secretly a Time Lord and he just regenerated in 1818 after being mortally wounded?! Doubtful. Very doubtful.

    The marriage to Polly took place in 1820. So, either the newspaper misprinted his age or some other craziness is going on here. It's hard to say at this point without concrete proof. For now I have Elias's birth year as around 1800 because of these timey wimey conflicts.

    I was only able to link Elias to Jeremiah due to the probate file. Laura was able to link Elias to his parents thanks to deductive reasoning and the fact that Jerrry's wife, Elizabeth put down his grandfather Joseph Felker as his father on his death certificate in 1918. Oof. Methinks they didn't have that good of a relationship. To add insult to injury, he wasn't even mentioned on their marriage certificate from 1863. Double oof.

   I wish I could say that there was DNA evidence linking me to directly to Elias. DNA on that front has unfortunately come up empty. No other direct descendants of his appear to have tested. However! All is not lost, true believers! 

Oh, so we're doing the DNA tango again?

    This is my mother's Thruline on Ancestry for Elias's father, Joseph Felker. Joseph also had a son named David. What I need to do here is follow the paper trail and see if it connects to that 5th cousin once removed. Thankfully, it's all on FamilySearch and it appears to be correct. Good thing records in Vermont are so thorough. Wow. A New Hampshire native says something nice about Vermont. Scary.

    Sadly, I don't match WS and that's to be expected because WS matches my mother at 14 cMs across 1 segment. It's still a decent amount to prove a connection and the paper trail to WS is made out of solid steel. No loopholes. David only has that dashed box because I haven't gotten around to adding him to my tree. Maybe I should remedy that, huh?

    I'm betting that if I were to have my great-aunt Elaine do a DNA test, WS here would show up as a match and would probably be a fourth cousin once removed. It's a gamble. Let's be honest. Thrulines are only as good as other peoples trees. But, the paper trail to WS is airtight thanks to records in Vermont. She may not have to test as 14 cMs is fine for me. Would I like her to? Oh, yes! In the end, it's up to her and I don't feel like pushing my ninteysomething great-aunt into something she doesn't want to do. That wouldn't be cool.

Who the heck is Mary Perkins?

    Elias seems to be a troublemaker in death as well as in life because there isn't much to find. He only left a few bits and pieces of information behind. Was he really involved in the War of 1812? I have no idea. I will keep an eye out for more information. Was he a scoundrel? Guys, he cheated on his wife in the 1830s. What do you think? Think I'm a bit harsh? Maybe. 

    At least I was able to prove my connection to him and his parents thanks to DNA evidence and good old fashioned traditional DNA. I just wish that there were more nuggets to find. All I have to go on are crumbs. You guys know I want more than just crumbs. I want the whole sub! I don't think I'm asking for much!

    Elias was a bit of a puzzle for me to solve and thankfully I had Laura's help in solving it. I also had help from a few other people and they too only found bits and pieces. Whatever else is out there is probably locked away in a secret vault waiting to be digitized. Here's hoping one of Elias's other descendants does a DNA test. That would be amazing. For now all I can do is play the waiting game and see what other records this troublemaker had out there in the world. At least we know one thing. Elias is definite proof that no one was ever perfect. 

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 47: This Ancestor Stayed Home

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 47

The theme for Week 47 is "This Ancestor Stayed Home." Like last week, there are numerous ways to interpret this theme! Homemakers, ancestors who lived their entire lives in one place, and someone who lived in a "home," are just a few possibilities.

  In the past I’ve talked about various ancestors of mine who have lived most of their lives in Haverhill or in other places around the world. No one ever really went west to seek out gold in “them thar hills”. I don’t think anyone was ever really interested in the Gold Rush and some people went to California well after it was over! To each their own, I guess. This week, I wanted to talk about the life of the only Coppola sibling who stayed home in San Pietro a Maida while her brother and sister lived in Haverhill. Her name was Caterina Coppola and this is her story.

Marco, Caterina and 
Adriana.

 Born on August 28th, 1870 to Paolo Coppola and Rosa Suverato.  She was probably one of the oldest of the siblings as Concetta was born in 1882 and Paolo in 1886. I say “probably” because I’m uncertain how many children my third great-grandparents had. However, her mother was around twenty-seven years old when Caterina was born. So, it’s possible that Caterina was probably one of the oldest if not THE oldest. Make of it what you will!

Anyway, unlike her siblings she opted to not go to America and instead stayed home. She married Marco Ferraiolo in the 1890s and they had at least seven children together including my great-grandfather Vincenzo. Most of their children ended up moving to all corners of the globe to places like Haverhill, Argentina and Switzerland.

You’d think that would have been the end of the story. While it is true that most immigrants in those days never returned home, this was definitely not the case here.

Everyone stayed in touch with their parents via phone calls, letters and visits. I imagine there would have been group texts and Zoom calls too if the technology was available to them! Those visits must have cost them a pretty penny! Vincenzo even went back home to marry Maria Tedesco in 1921 and she wouldn’t go to America herself until 1929.

Paolo and his first wife, Lena.

Keeping in touch was clearly important to Caterina as she often told her grandchildren about her brother Paolo the detective. She must have heard about his cases and the live he made for himself in the city. After all he had two wives and a very large family. That’s quite a bit of ground to cover! My cousin Caterina remembers hearing about those stories and stories about Concetta as well despite never meeting them. In the end, stories are better than nothing. I’m just glad they kept in touch. Family was important to her.

Interestingly, Concetta’s son Francesco ended up going back to San Pietro at some point in the 1930s. I’m fairly certain he shared news and information with his aunt if his mother was unavailable.  I still have no idea why he was sent back to Italy. But, the family did likely learn a lot about Haverhill from him and other people in the family.

I’d like to think that she stayed in touch with her daughter Caterina who lived in Argentina with here husband, Lorenzo Astorino. From what my cousin told me, they stayed in touch until the 1960s. Now that distances are shorter and we have the power of the Internet in our hands, I might have a chance to find the Astorino family. Knock on wood!!

In her later years Caterina lived with her daughter Rosa and husband, Giuseppe Serrao before they ended up moving to Rome to be near her brother, Paolo. Rosa cared for her mother as her eyesight began to fail. That had to have been rough for my 2nd great-grandmother because I am sure she loved to see her children and grandchildren all grow up. 

Thankfully, the entire family helped her out after her husband passed away in 1958. Contact with Haverhill likely continued via a phone call or two since she may have had trouble reading letters by that point. 

In December of 1962 at the age of ninety-two, Caterina passed away and yet that’s still not the end of the story!

In 1963, my great-grandfather Vincenzo asked the commune office in San Pietro for her birth record along with his aunt Concetta’s, my grandfather Marco’s  and a few more for unknown reasons. My father has no idea why he asked for them. The only thing I can think of is that he may have needed them for booking passage to San Pietro. He did go back several times with Marco and Nicolina. I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I’m glad we have the document!

Caterina’s story is a nice one and she probably didn’t let being so far away from her siblings bother her as she spoke highly of them and their lives in Haverhill. In fact, the stories may have piqued the interest of her grandchildren as they often ask me about the city! Caterina had a large family and she tried to maintain contact with everyone despite the vast distances between family members and that’s something to be admired.

She  made the best with the technology available at the time and I’m sure she would have loved the technology we have now since it makes vast distances so much shorter. Even by the time of her death, the world was starting to feel a lot smaller. While it is sad that she lost contact with several family members over the years, I’m doing what I can to reconnect with “lost” relatives  and hopefully bring the band back together.

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 46: This Ancestor Went to Market

 From Amy Johnson Crow:

The theme for Week 46 is "This Ancestor Went to Market." There are all kinds of way to interpret this theme! A few that come to mind are farmers (who had to take their crops and livestock to market), storekeepers, ancestors who liked to shop -- be creative!

After church the market is where everyone in an Italian community gathered to gossip and of course purchase all types of goodies. The odds of finding a friend or family member hanging around there are very high. If a marketplace is centralized, you can bet that everybody goes there. In Haverhill, there was been several of those places. Back in the day, you could find yourself at the market run by Giovanni Coppola or even at Benedetti’s Deli.

 My great-aunt Louise Carrabs-Villanucci once worked at Benedetti’s. I may have mentioned the place a few times in the blog. It’s the home of subs named after various Roman emperors like Nero and Caligula. Trust me. The “Caligula” lives up to the name of the emperor it is based on. Loads of cutlets, cold cuts, sausages and sauce crammed into a large loaf of Italian bread. It’s good. It’s just very filling. I recommend the Nero instead! You won’t feel like you were partying with Caligula afterwards!

 Anyway, the market was founded in 1961 by Joseph “Bobo” Benedetti and he ran it until his passing in 2009. Today, his children have taken over the business and it remains one of the best places to get an Italian sub in the Merrimack valley. I may be a little biased. But, the subs are so good! If you are ever in the area, I highly suggest picking up one of their subs. You won’t regret it!

  With the way I described Benedetti’s founding, you might think it was a family affair. While that’s true, they hired many other people to work in their shops. Wait. Did I say “shops”? That’s right. I did. Not only did the family have the famous sub shop. They had a clothing and shoe shop as well! Not bad! It’s not at all uncommon for multiple family members to open up shops, though. Talk about the “American dream”.

  Aunt Louise likely worked in the deli and the funny thing is her connections there may help sort out how a DNA match connects with my other geat-aunt, Nicolina. Get ready for some mental gymnastics!

A while back, I got an email from someone who descended from Santa Amelia Gullo and she saw her page on Wikitree. To make a long story short, the lady who emailed me and told me how she was connected with the Benedettis. Here’s how it all works. Be sure to take notes.

 Basically, Bobo’s mom, Mollie D’Agosto had a sister named Julia who was married to Joseph Francesco Medaglia. Joseph was one of Santa’s sons. That is pretty wild, right? If I could find my connection to Santa Gullo, I could be connected via marriage to the Benedetti family. I mean I do have Gullos in the tree starting with Domenica. 

I’ve been doing a lot of research on the Gullos and Medaglia families. If there’s a connection, I am sure I’ll find it. It will just take some time. I just need to be patient.

Still, you can imagine my surprise when I heard the story about how Santa was connected to Benedetti’s. There are a ton of other stories like that. Long before Benedetti’s even opened, Bobo’s uncle Nazarene was at my great-grandmother Maria Tedesco’s funeral in 1943.

That was an unexpected connection. But, it shouldn’t be at all surprising. The Italian community in Haverhill was tight back in the day. Everyone knew everyone and regardless of where they came from in Italy, they forged solid relationships with each other.

When the market opened in 1961, you can bet that those Italians all gathered there for food and to catch up on all the latest gossip in their community.

Benedetti’s deli was just one of the many markets in Haverhill where everyone gathered. It’d take a while to talk about them all. It’s just really cool how my great-aunt has a connection to the place. I’m not sure how long she worked there. Does it matter? The point is she was there and she took part in helping to make one of Haverhill’s many landmarks what it is today. People still go there to dine and have a good time. Do they still gossip? Probably.

It shouldn’t be surprising to me that I even have a connection or two to the place considering how tight the community was and still is today. Now, my mission is to see how I am connected to Santa Gullo and the Medaglias! Will I find it? Of course I will. In the meantime, go have yourself a Nero on me.

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 45: War and Peace

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 45

The theme for Week 45 is "War and Peace." With Veterans Day/Remembrance Day just around the corner, it seems appropriate to consider our ancestors who were affected by war.

Yet another header that doubles as an album cover.

     When popular culture depicts a soldier returning home from war, you often see them being greeted by their loved ones. Then the movie or television show ends with the soldier riding off into the sunset with their family and they end up being hailed a hero by millions of people. Granted, that's always been the case for any soldier in any conflict. However, there have been some instances where would stay in the service and perform his or her duty for as long as humanly possible.

Epic pipe is epic

        The birth of my mother in 1949 may have clipped my grandfather Air Force Staff Sargent Robert Hamel's wings in the 1940s. He still found a way to be useful in the post World War II era as the planet sought to rebuild itself from one of the deadliest conflicts the world had ever seen. In fact, I daresay that his travels ended up being the reason why he became so worldly in his old age. Travel will do that to a person.

    While serving in the U.S. Air Corps (Later known as the US Air Force), he worked on several planes for Uncle Sam and in his own way helped to make the world a better place. After the war, there was still much work to be done and my grandfather wanted to do what he could to help wherever he was needed.

    It often takes a special type of soldier to find a way to contribute in not just wartime. But, in peace as well and I think he did that pretty well. Maybe in his own way he really WAS Captain America. He always did smile when I called him "Cap" and saluted him. He knew what I meant. Of course he did.

    My grandfather did often regret not taking the advantage of the G.I. Bill, the law that provided an expansive range of benefits to veterans returning from the conflict overseas. These included everything from low-interest loans to being encouraged to settle in a rapidly growing suburban America with the wife and kids. Robert never settled for that. The "grey eagle" wanted to fly.

That's my mom being hugged by her
great-grandfather, Joseph.

    Uncle Sam was more than happy to have the continued services of a few good men. After all, a changing world needed to heal, right? One of the places the Hamel family went to was one of the countries hardest hit by the war. The Hamels went to the Land of the Rising Sun.

    Japan suffered tremendous losses during the war and not just from the two atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States effectively rewrote their Constitution and the country was not allowed to have a standing army ever again. Think that's harsh? Read up on post-war Germany.

    While in Japan, Robert worked in the personnel department paying the soldiers be they American or Japanese. My mother doesn't remember all of the details. However, being with the people there gave her father a keen insight to how they lived. After all civilians are really no one's "enemy".

    His travels around Japan were admittedly brief. I've often wondered what he made of their development from war-torn country in the 1950s to the ecnomic supergiant it became by the time I was growing up. I remember him telling me that he admired the country's resolve to make themselves better than they were before. Lessons were learned and now we reap the rewards that Japan has to offer from animé and super sentai shows to cars, toys and video games. Yeah, I'd say Japan did okay after the war. I hope they invested in Nintendo. I've heard good things about that playing card company. 

    Did you know America still has troops stationed in Japan? In fact, I once wrote a paper on the issue. But, that's a topic for another day.

My grandfather had so much swagger.

    Not only was Robert handling personnel in Japan. He also did the same thing on Saudi Arabia many years later. Once he was in the states, he still didn't stay still! My mom was an Air Force brat. So, she remembers going from base to base all across the continental United States from sea to shining sea.

    Eventually, he and the Hamel clan did settle down and all that traveling left my grandfather a changed man by the time he returned home to Newburyport. War does change a person. However, traveling the world AFTER a war can have a tremendous impact on a person, too!

    Think about it. Robert saw the horrors of war and documented it on his camera. I was never allowed to see those pictures until after he passed away.  He did let me see the post-war era pictures he took and he told me the stories behind every single one. After all, he much preferred to talk about the people and the lands he visited more than any conflict.

 A few years before his death, we looked at Google Earth on my Ipad and he showed me the various places he went to like Italy, Japan and Saudi Arabia.  He told me that it's a big world out there and that every culture should be respected. That, my fiends, goes without saying. What did I tell you? He was Captain America. 

    You can't say any good things about war. The conflict changed him and I honestly think traveling the world after seeing the horrors may have helped him deal with what he saw in the long run. As a young man Robert learned that there was more to people in other countries than just the soldiers asked to defend them. There are rich and sometimes even ancient cultures behind every nation on our small blue planet and those cultures have to be respected. It is a big world out there and war sadly gets in the way of allowing everyone to learn from each other. Once that happens, we can truly make the world a better place.

See ya next time!

WikiTree Day: Italy Project--Cracking the Code

 

52 Ancestors Week 44: Spirits

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 44

The theme for Week 44 is "Spirits." Spirits can be in keeping with Halloween, but don't limit yourself to ghost stories! Spirits could refer to beverages or even a mood ("he was in good spirits.") Speaking of good spirits, what about cheerleaders? Be creative!

It's no Chateau Picard. But....SALUD!

    If there's one thing that the French and the Italians have in common it's a love of wine. Southern Europe's warm climate allows for wine to be produced in vast quantities in large vineyards all around the countryside. It's a staple in the Italian dining experience and if you were ever offered some by an Italian you'd better take it or risk seriously offending the host. It's no joke. People take their wine very seriously! My family may not have had a vineyard in France (or Italy even) like some Starfleet captains I know. They still have taken it upon themselves to produce their own wine at home. Results, of course, may vary.

Vincenzo and Fortuna

       My great-grandfather Vincenzo made his own wine and by the time of his passing he had five huge barrels of fermented grape juice in his basement! That's a lot of wine! He made so much that his second wife, Fortuna, had plenty to drink after he passed away in 1970. According to my father she drank a lot of the stuff. She must have really loved him or the wine. You make the call! Most of the homemade wine I've sampled have been so strong that it could be used as a paint thinner! It could even give moonshine a run for its money.

    I've often wondered how he even got started making his own wine because it's not like he had a huge vineyard to work with at all of his houses he owned in Haverhill. I don't think he even needed a large vineyard to be honest. A few grapevines in the backyard would have been more than enough to give someone an ample supply of grapes. 

    I should also note that the grape leaves themselves made for some tasty stuffed grape leaves.  But, that's another story! =D

   Vincenzo's cousin Giovanni Coppola may have shown him the ropes as he was already an accomplished wine producer. Most Italians had their own grapevines in the backyard and those two gentlemen were no exception. Wow. I can almost see the wine tasting parties at their houses now. Anyone want a bottle of Chateau Ferraiolo? Anyone?! It's guaranteed to strip the paint off of any surface or your money back!

   

 I kid. I doubt the wine was actually used in wine tastings. Or if they even HAD them to begin with. The Merrimack valley isn't Napa valley after all! Although, you probably would have never known it considering how many people had their own supply. What's funny is that Giovanni likely started his wine production during the Prohibition! He had to be careful. VERY careful.  You don't want to get hassled by the cops just because Giovanni offered you a little bit of vino. I wonder how you got away with making wine in those days. It was probably no easy task.

 

Quick! Pour the wine before the cops get here!

    The wine they made was likely used for special occasions such as picnics, weddings, graduations and holidays. Then again they probably took any social gathering as an excuse to bring the barrels out! Why not? I just hope they drank responsibly! Know when to say when!

    Wine is a social drink and as such it's used in many social events. If you're at a party with some Italians, there's likely a bottle of Pino Noir somewhere. There's no escaping it. If you're at their house, there's a bottle of wine somewhere! Is it homemade? Is it store bought? Does it matter? If they offer you some, you take it!

    Vincenzo and Giovanni weren't the only Italians in my family known to produce wine. My grandma Ollie's uncle Rocco also had his own homemade spirits grown from his vines in Melrose. One of these days I'll have to ask my father whose wine was better. His grandfather's or Rocco's. Both men are long gone so I think the statute of limitations is up and he'd be willing to spill the beans. If I had to guess he'd say Vincenzo's wine was better. 

 

    Then again Vincenzo might have had some fierce competition because my father's other grandfather, Giuseppe, also made his own wine. This wine was cultivated from a special grape grown only on the vines in the backyard of 26 Bartlett Street in Haverhill. Its aroma was earthy with just a pinch of garlic. The flavor was sweet and....okay....I'll confess. I've never actually HAD Giuseppe's wine, either! I've heard it was pretty good, though. My father and his cousins said so!

    I do have to wonder something. Grapevines were growing all over different parts of Haverhill during the time those three were making their wine in the city. Did they each have different flavors? Was one sweeter than the other?  Did the location make any difference? I'm not sure. But, I'd love to go back in time to find out!

    
    Heh. That'd be a good reason to time travel. Forget the potential knowledge you'd gain from the experience. We have a real mission to complete! What's the difference between the Ferraiolo, Coppola and Carrabs wine? Inquiring minds want to know! I'm sure each man would say that their wine was good. 

    At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter whose wine was "better". If you were to go to their house, you'd take the wine and enjoy yourself because it was their own homemade blend. There would be nothing else like it on this planet. Sadly, their recipes have been long since lost to time. But, the spirits live on in those who have sampled it and raised a glass in their honor. SALUD!

See ya next time!

Picture of Giovanni Coppola is from O' Malley, Patricia Trainor "Italians in Haverhill", Arcadia Publishing 2001, pg. 99.

P.S. We here at "All Roads Lead to Haverhill" remind everyone to please drink responsibly. 

Update: I talked to my dad and he said Rocco's was the best as he let his wine ferment the longest. Pasquale also made his own wine.