52 Ancestors Week 30: Boats

 From  Me: 52 Ancestors Week 29: On the boats and on the planes, they were coming to America. And other places of course. What roles did boats play in your family history?

Admiral, there be whales here!

    When I first read the list of topics for this year's 52 Ancestors on Amy Johnson Crow's website and saw that "boats" were mentioned, I knew exactly what I was going to write about! As I've mentioned before in the blog, my family has had a long history of being out on the open ocean. From my Italian great-grandparents arriving at Ellis Island to my great-grandfather Austin's beach house on Plum Island, my family has long been associated with boats and the sea.

    In a blog I wrote a year ago, I talked about my parents being "ancient mariners" and how the marina we stayed at during the summer had huge parties. I also mentioned how I first wrote drafts of my "Starbolts" story there and how my friends and I often went across the Merrimack River to scenic downtown Newburyport.. I didn't really delve into the details of every ship we had that bore the name "Enterprise"....er...."Toothfairy" until today.

Just chilling on the back deck, Ma!

    That's right. A majority of our boats were named "Toothfairy" because my dad is a dentist and he wasn't about to name a boat "The Cavity". The Toothfairy you see in this picture isn't the first boat my parents had, though. That honor goes to a boat they called "The Articulator". That's...another dental reference. Google "Dental Articulators" and I think you might see why my father called his first boat that name.

    I honestly don't remember the first Toothfairy that much because I was so young when we had it. Then again I remember bonking my head a few times on the bunks, though. Maybe that's why I forgot.

    The Merrimack river is well known for being a bit rough even on a clear day. Going out on the ocean and docking safely upon your return is a team effort. You need to count on your crew and fellow boaters when you return from a successful boating trip. If no one's there to help you, you could be in big trouble if you didn't have a diligent crew on your ship! Note: I've often caught more fish than my brother on many boating excursions. Hehe!

Ship ahoy!

    The second Toothfairy we owned was a Silverton we had from the mid 1980s to 1989 and she was quite a beauty. While the boat in the picture isn't our boat, the shape is very similar.  Controls were on the bridge and while you were up there, you'd better hang on for dear life when she gets going!

    My brother and I would sleep in the v-berth at the bow of the ship. It was cozy and like all other boats at the marina it had all the comforts of home including a refrigerator, television and a couch that turned into a bed.  I can safely say she was a bit more comfortable than the Articulator. I actually remember a bit about this ship too.

    I remember one night someone left a "He-Man" figure near the heater at the stairs and when I woke up I saw that He-Man's left arm was a melted mass of plastic and his leg had burst a bit. Whoops. Sufficed it to say we made a quick trip to Toys R Us that week to get a new figure of the most powerful man in the universe. Who knew space heaters would be his one weakness? Skeletor should take notes.

    Side note: I probably shouldn't have brought my toys down to the marina. It would have been too easy to lose stuff. Did the incident with He-Man stop me? Nope. I still brought down select few "Transformers" from time to time. I just made sure to keep them away from the heater! 

We always had that view of the bridge. See
the first pic.

    Our third Toothfairy was built in 1989 and it's the one I remember the most since we've had it longer than any other vessel we've had. The boat was a lot sleeker than the Silverton and my father no longer had to climb a ladder to get to the controls. 

    This was the ship where I had the most of my maritime adventures on. It was also a lot more comfortable than even the Silverton because the heater and air conditioner units were built into the bulkhead. There was a small cabin near the stairs where my brother and I slept and this time my parents slept in the v-berth.

    Of all the stories I could tell about the third Toothfairy, this one is probably my favorite because it's just too funny for words. My father planned a trip out to the Isles of Shoals with some friends of ours. We packed a lunch and had every intention of spending the day at sea fishing and enjoying the scenery.

Good doggo.

    My mother had me take care of the dog while everyone got ready. I come back and we set off on our adventure. I hung out on the back deck with Tux as seen in this picture. He was completely fearless, by the way! Totally not scared of the engine!

    We finally arrived at the Isles of Shoals about an hour later. After we dropped anchor, we started getting ready to fish when suddenly my brother comes charging out of the cabin. He ran to the side of the boat and almost leapt off of it. We all yelled "JIM!" before he fell in.

   

    He turned around and he was a bit confused. I still don't understand how he didn't hear the roar of the engines and the rocking of the boat as we entered the open ocean. Jim must have been sleeping well. Naturally, as a younger brother I respected his choice to blindly jump into the water. Yeah, right. I teased him about it the rest of the trip. Are you kidding?  It's a story I definitely tell his kids about. Does he get embarrassed? Oh, yeah. 

    A lifetime of boating and adventures on the high seas allow so many great memories to be forged. You never forget the time you landed a big fish your father helped you reel in or trying to put elastics around a particularly frisky lobster.

    There are just so many stories I could tell and there's not enough room in the blog to talk about them all. I'm glad to have had the experience growing up on the water for lack of a better word. Does that mean I have sea legs? Probably not. My balance has never been that great. 

    I still enjoyed the memories of fishing and having a great time on the ocean with friends and of course going across the river to Newburyport. Every summer going to the marina brought new memories. I should definitely write them all down, huh? 

    Depending on the topic, you know I'll definitely share them. I definitely have quite a few good ones!

    As you can see, my family and I have had a long history with boats and with boating in general. There's just something about the salty air and being out on the ocean that captivates the imagination. I've always enjoyed looking out at the horizon and wondering what was out there. When you're out at sea, you really get an idea of just how huge our world really is. You can't help but stare in amazement and now that I do genealogy I wonder if my ancestors who came over from Italy felt the same way. You never know. They saw the same horizon I did.

See ya next time! And in the best maritime tradition, I wish you all clear horizons!

52 Ancestors Week 29: Automobiles

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 29

The theme for Week 29 is "Automobiles." My dad owned and operated two services stations for 40+ years. Cars definitely play a role in my family history! This week, celebrate the car buffs, mechanics, road-trippers, and backseat drivers in your family.

You might find yourself behind the wheel of a sleek lime green
automobile.

   Traveling anywhere by car can be an adventure in and of itself. I remember taking many road trips all around New England with my parents and they've taken many road trips together or with other people. My father often went with his fellow "grumpy old Italian men" on fishing trips to Lake Ontario. My mother traveled with her parents and all of her siblings from California to Haverhill just to attend my great-grandparents' wedding anniversary party. Sufficed it to say they are well-traveled people and while those trips were awesome, I don't think they can compare with the time we all went in a caravan to the Outer Banks.

Dr. Kathleen Grammatico-Ferraiolo!

    Just after my sister-in-law Kathleen graduated from the University of Virginia, we decided to go on a trip with her parents to the Outer Banks. Joining us on the adventure were Kathleen's parents Steve and Regina Grammatico and my older brother Jim. Jim and Kathleen had been married for a few years at that point and wanted to go on a few adventures before having children.

    My parents and I have taken many trips to Virginia ourselves and found the journey to be quite fun if a little long. In total it takes about twelve hours to get to Virginia from our house. Along the way you get to see amazing sights and ride the Tappan Zee Bridge where you might actually get a glimpse of New York City on a clear day!

    That's just the beginning of the adventure. There are just so many places to see out there on the road to your final destination. Though, if you do take the same route we did,  I would avoid going the "Subway" restaurants in Pennsylvania. Three pieces of salami do NOT qualify as an Italian sub! Sigh....That was a crime against sandwiches. It was 95% lettuce! I could rant for hours on that atrocity. That's not what you're all here for. Moving right along....

   

Cozy and crazy expensive!

     It was decided early on that we'd travel to North Carolina in two separate cars because we didn't want to rent one of those huge recreational vehicles. While those are nice and everything, we were already staying at one of those fancy houses you'd find in the Outer Banks. So, to save money and incidentally gallons of gas, we opted for the caravan option.

    The caravan was still a fun option. We met up at Jim and Kathleen's place and drove to Outer Banks from there. Along the way, I got a good look at the Appalachian Mountains and I really wish I took some pictures! They were just that amazing! Nature sure can be amazing sometimes and it was a good thing we went well before hurricane season. Mother Nature can be beautiful. However, her wrath is mighty. 

    Once we arrived at our luxurious beach house, we planned out the rest of our stay. Where were we going to go while we were here. There was really only one logical place to go if you're within driving distance of a very important historical site. That's right. We went to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the birthplace of modern aviation.

Hey, Leonardo! THIS is how you build a plane!
Those "bat" wings aren't gonna fly!

The Wright Brothers museum was one of the main highlights of the trip for me and not just because my grandfather worked on airplanes! Seeing a replica of the first airplane the Wright brothers created sparked the imagination. Think about it. We went from planes that looked like they were held together by duct tape to passenger jets in only a few decades. That's just unbelievable! 

   I know this week's blog is about cars and everything. But, it's just incredible how far we've come in such a short time. I'm really glad we saw the museum on the trip. It's definitely one of the places you need to see if you ever decide to visit North Carolina. Oh and I should point out that we went in the early 2000s and because of that, the museum had special 100th anniversary exhibits. Now that was 

cool!

    Of course visiting historical landmarks wasn't the only thing on the agenda. We checked out the local cuisine and dined at a place called "Dirty Dick's Crab House".  Please clean up after your spit takes, everyone. Yes. That is a real place and I have proof. Get your minds out of the gutter! This is literally a family blog! Sometimes. 

See! Told you! It exists! Check it out
on Yelp!

    Located in Nag's Head, North Carolina. Dirty Dick's menu offers succulent shrimp, tasty crab legs and even fried calamari.  If memory serves, the meal came in this big tin bucket and we were supposed to pick what we wanted out of it. Not bad. Though, I don't think that would fly in New England. Buckets would be thrown at people.

    I forget what I had to be honest. I think I might have had the crab cakes and they were pretty good. We were going to try the lobster. However, I think they tend to have a different taste than the ones we're used to in New England. It's not bad or anything. Just different.

    Speaking of crabs and other crustaceans, we also checked out the nearby aquarium and it was pretty awesome!

    While the New England Aquarium also has rays and all manner of sea life, I've always enjoyed seeing the exhibits in other aquariums. These rays at the North Carolina Aquarium were definitely fun to watch. 

    There was also this little tank where these fish were sort of picking on this other fish inside a cave. They were putting little pebbles in front of the opening and the trapped fish looked at his "friends" like "What the hell?!"

    I think we stumbled on fish drama at the aquarium that day!

    All in all the trip to the Outer Banks was an amazing adventure. The two families had a great time at Nag's Head and we all ended up returning to the Outer Banks in 2015. That was yet another multi-car caravan trip with an added bonus: Two nephews who were five and two years old at the time. That's a story for another time! My nephews have requested that we go there once again. Perhaps we will. You never know what the future will bring and I wouldn't mind going to the Outer Banks once again!

    Road trips are definitely fun and it's good to get out of your familiar surroundings every once in a while. It's a big world out there and there are so much to see and do. Every once in a while you should take a trip and see what the world has to offer. You might be surprised at what you might find out on the open road. Just....stay away from Subways in PA. And gas station sausages, too.....

See ya next time!

The grumpy old Italian men were telling me
to put my camera away....

52 Ancestors Week 28: Trains

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 28

The theme for Week 28 is "Trains." Trains opened up the world to more people than anything that had come before. Who is someone in your family tree with a connection to trains?

Time to ride the rail!

    Long before planes were used to get a person from point a to point b, trains were used to get people where they needed to go. My parents and I think this was how my great-grandmother Maria Tedesco and her children, Nicolina and Marco traveled once they arrived in New York and headed to Haverhill, Massachusetts to meet up with my great-grandfather Vincenzo. They weren't going to be driving the four hours to Massachusetts by car I can tell you that much! Not with two young children in the backseat and definitely not in 1929 when kids didn't have iPads or even portable Nintendo consoles!

    Speaking of Vincenzo. He was definitely no stranger to the rail. He, like many Italian immigrants, often used trains as laborers working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Shoutout to the poor Italian railworker named Giuseppe Barberio who unfortunately had his Naturalization papers stolen from him in Montana, by the way.  Poor guy. Check out his profile on WikiTree if you want to read his story.

Vincenzo and Maria

    Vincenzo didn't just use the rail for business ventures. Toward the end of his life, he used a train to get from Rome, Italy to Switzerland where his cousin Caterina Aleardi was going to marry her then boyfriend, Giuseppe Casarrubea.

    When I was growing up, I heard this story from my parents, my grandma Ollie, my great-aunt Nicolina and so many other family members. At the time I thought it was just one of those stories people told their kids when they asked about their grandparents. I never imagined that the story would turn out to not only be true, but, that I would  eventually get in touch with the person whose wedding Vincenzo and the others attended! That is pretty darn awesome if you ask me. The pictures she sent me are amazing!

    Now, hold on. I said Vincenzo went with other people, right? Yes, I did. In the September of 1969, Vincenzo went to Switzerland with my grandparents Marco and Ollie, my great-aunt, his brother Paolo, and his sister, Rosa. During this time, my parents were in college and dating and weren't invited to the wedding. However, they obviously heard about the happy occasion because the invitations arrived during the summer and of course the people involved were discussed as travel plans were made.

Vincenzo, Nicolina, Cathie and an adorable little 
doggo.

   Vincenzo and the other Ferraiolos left Boston for Italy by plane and naturally my great-grandfather
wanted to start the journey to Switzerland in his hometown of San Pietro a Maida. Nicolina's husband Walter rented a car in Rome and they drove to San Pietro before taking the train north to pick up relatives. It is a bit odd how they went to San Pietro from Rome by car and then BACK to Rome by train. Did they just leave the rental car behind?! It certainly looks that way to me and it makes sense because Italy is a large country and they'd be traveling more than twelve hours by car. That's a lot to deal with even today!

    The family took in the sights along the way and looking back I can only imagine what my grandmother thought of the trip. Along the way north, you can't help but notice the Apennine Mountains

that go down the Italian penninsula from the Alps like a spine. That had to have been a breathtaking sight for sure! 

    Ollie's parents, Giuseppe and Clementina, were from Gesualdo in Campania and it's quite far from San Pietro. In fact, it's 98 kilometers outside of Naples. I wonder if she wanted to visit family there. Then again most of her family was already in America and to this day I can't find any close relatives still in Gesualdo like my family in San Pietro, Switzerland and Argentina. I have found Carrabs cousins in Australia, though! Alas, there hasn't been anyone from Gesualdo knocking at my door. I think they all came to America to be honest.

The happy couple, Giuseppe and Caterina

    After seeing the sights, the family made their way to Rome to pick up Vincenzo's siblings Paolo and Rosa. They then stopped in Florence and continued northward to Switzerland where Caterina and her parents, Giuseppe Aleardi and Concetta Ferraiolo lived.

    As you can imagine, the wedding was a huge family event since everyone came from all over the world to celebrate the union of Giuseppe and Caterina. I have no idea if the family in Argentina made the trip as well. I suspect that they were invited and why wouldn't they be? They were family after all. Yes, I'm sure the Astorinos were invited. Note to self: Confirm this fact with Caterina! I'm sure she would remember!!

    When I first heard about the wedding, I naturally asked what they thought of Italy since I had never been there. I'm happy to report that my grandmother enjoyed herself. It must have been a treat to see where her family came from even if it wasn't Gesualdo. Italy is a beautiful country and I would definitely jump at the chance to visit where my ancestors came from. Yeah, I don't think I'd stay at the touristy spots very long!

     I can almost see Ollie telling her father and her sisters about the trip once she and the others returned home. I bet they were happy for her and maybe a little jealous. Nah. Her sisters were never jealous of Ollie. Nicolina had a fun time for sure as she got to visit with family she hadn't seen in a long time. After the wedding, though, Nicolina still made regular trips back to San Pietro throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

I can totally find my grandparents! Can you?
Here's a hint. Look at the left side of the picture!.

      I will say that the food wasn't what everyone expected. Since the wedding was in Switzerland, the food was a mix of Swiss and Northern Italian cuisine. My grandmother's family and Marco's came from the southern parts of the country. So, you can imagine there were dishes like polenta and other food that they weren't accustomed to.

    All in all I think it's safe to say they enjoyed themselves on their trip. They got to see a lot of the country and had an amazing trip without any tour guide telling them where they could and couldn't go! I don't think they would have gone over very well.

    As you can see trains play almost as big a part in my family story as planes did last week. I've been on a few trains myself. But, the sights my family saw in Italy pale in comparison to traveling from Virginia to Boston. Trains have been connecting people for a lot longer than plans have and it's important to remember that's how people got around before we took to the skies and road on the highway. They were actually the first step to making those vast distances between point  a and point b so much shorter. That's something to think about the next time you ride the rail.

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 27: Planes

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 27

The theme for Week 27 is "Planes." I sometimes think of my grandparents, going from childhoods where they often traveled by horse to adulthood where they could get on a plane and visit relatives on the other side of the country. What role do planes play in your family history?

What's our vector, Victor?

    There are so many things I can write about this week. As long time readers of my blog know my mother was an Air Force brat. Her father, Robert Hamel, was in the Air Force and that meant that she and her siblings often went from airbase to airbase growing up until the late 1960s. This week, I'm going to have to hijack this plane and talk about something I just couldn't wait to talk about any longer. Don't worry. It'll involve airplanes. Somehow. You'll see! =)

We bleed green here. =D

   On June 17th, 2024, my family and I were watching the Boston Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks in game four of the NBA Finals. Being the Celtics fans we were our eyes were naturally glued to the television. My brother Jim and one of his sons went into Boston that night to rectify a wrong that had transpired the last time they attended a game at the TD Garden. The Celtics had lost miserably when they went to see them in the summer of 2023.

   Good fortune smiled upon the Celtics that night as they ended up beating the Mavericks 106 to 88. The spirit of Celtics legend Bill Walton was clearly with his team that night! Just when the final buzzer hit.....I got an email. 

    I said to myself , "Who could be emailing me right now?!" It was late and I was so pumped from the Celtics' victory.  I checked my iPad and saw that someone had emailed me about my San Pietro a Maida one place study on WikiTree. I was thinking "Okay....It's probably some random person asking a random question". I checked the message and immediately my jaw hit the floor. The sender of the email was a woman named....Melina Astorino.  That last name caught my attention despite me being both very tired and pumped at the same time!

   Before I continue, let me explain just how huge of a deal this is. My second great-grandfather Marco Ferraiolo and his wife Caterina Coppola had six children including my great-grandfather, Vincenzo. Vincenzo's sister, Caterina married a man named Lorenzo Astorino and moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. In this blog, I've talked about how the family in Europe lost touch with relatives in South America shortly after the death of Vincenzo's sister, Concetta. After twenty years contact was finally reestablished. 

    Melina had emailed me wondering if I could help her with her Astorino connections and asked me if we were somehow connected. She said she was looking for information on her grandfather, Juan Julio Astorino. I was very tired from watching the game and so I emailed her back with as much information as I could since it was 11:30 pm and I try not to do genealogy after 11 pm! I sent my message and thought "I'd better message the family in Europe in the morning. They're not going to believe this!!".

Juan y Dora Astorino

    The next morning I sent messages to my cousins in Switzerland and in Rome and while I waited to hear back from them I got to know Melina a bit more on Google Chat. I found out that Melina works as an airline stewardess in Argentina. See. I told you I could somehow bring this topic back to being about airplanes!  Take that! Though that might have just been luck or I could be stretching it further than Marvel's Mister Fantastic. Who can say? 

    Melina told me more about her grandparents Juan and Dora and how she had been asking various family members for help in her quest. I did all I could by providing information, photos and a few other odds and ends. 

    It turned out that my cousin in Switzerland gave me a picture of Juan years ago and at the time I had no idea who he was. Caterina had told me he was a son of an Astorino and that was about it! I showed her the picture and Melina said that the man in the photo was her grandfather. She showed me more photos and in every one of them he had this pencil-thin Howard Hughes-style moustache on his face. It was the style at the time, I guess. Even Marvel artists Jack Kirby and Don Heck were drawing Marvel's "Iron Man" with that 'stache in the 1960s. 

    We talked almost every day since and every time we talked she had jucy bits of information her relatives gave her. She even managed to get several documents from the archives in Buenos Aires faster than I could have gotten information from San Pietro. I'm not jealous. Not at all! Okay. Maybe a little. One of the documents was Juan Julio's birth certificate. The information on the record proved the connection because not only did it say he was born on July 9th, 1934. The birth record, like current Italian records, listed the parents and grandparents. In this case it listed his parents as being Lorenzo Astorino, son of Gregorio Astorino and Maria Copola and Caterina Ferraiolo, daughter of Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola.

Caterina Ferraiolo

    At this point was thinking about how I never got a picture of Vincenzo's sister, Caterina. No one ever sent me one and I thought a picture of her was lost to time. Fortunately, Melina messaged me days later with this gem! A relative of hers found passports belonging to both Caterina and her son, Juan!

    That....was amazing. Not only did the passport provide me with Caterina's birthdate of November 29th, 1904, it showed me that she and her sons flew out of Argentina at least once. Though, I'm not sure when it occured.

    According to my cousin Adriana she went back to San Pietro a Maida to visit her mother and went to Rome to spend time with her family. Did they go by plane? I'm not really sure. It's possible!

    Adriana did tell me that she had more photos. I hope she finds them! Fingers crossed! If she does, you can be sure I'll share them with my third cousin, Melina. =D

    Clearly my family is well-traveled on both sides of the tree. We've been using airplanes since almost the dawn of aviation itself. I originally was going to write about the time my parents and I were stuck at Logan International for seventeen hours. That was not fun! I think this is a better blog and I somehow connected it to planes! Now that takes skill!

     Planes have made distances shorter and our world so much smaller. They've allowed families to reconnect and stay in touch when that was just a fantasy generations ago. The Internet shortens those distances even more. Times change and connections don't fade away as they once did.

    Even now my cousin plans on visiting San Pietro in the fall. I can only imagine what she'll find on her European vacation. She has already been to the United States and I would love to meet her. Perhaps one day that will happen. She went to Salem. Massachusetts on her last trip and it wouldn't be too much of a trip to visit the non-witchy Salem.

    Crossing the country by plane is one thing. Crossing an entire ocean is something else. The world of travel has changed since the day Caterina left San Pietro for Buenos Aires. Planes allow us to visit the lands our ancestors called home. Let's just hope the friendly skies stay friendly.

 This is your captain speaking. We are now descending toward the end of the blog. The temperature here is a balmy 83 degrees Farenheit. Thank you for flying Haverhill Air. I hope you have enjoyed your flight.

See ya next time!