52 Ancestors Week 4: Overlooked

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 4:

The theme for Week 4 is “Overlooked.” It’s close to impossible to research everyone equally. Who is someone in your family tree who you haven’t researched very much? You could also consider those ancestors for whom it feels like you are the only person in the world searching for them.

    Hmm. Now that I think about it sometimes it does feel like I'm the only person in the world actively researching the Calabrian town of San Pietro a Maida. Sure there are other people on Ancestry who have listed that town in Italy as a birthplace for various ancestors of theirs in their family tree. However, I still feel alone because a lot of that information comes from my main tree or from sources in America. Other people may have done their own research and yet I often feel like I'm alone working on my father's paternal side. In this week's blog, I'm going to talk about how I deal with that feeling.

La famiglia di Ferraiolo

 I think we need to start with why I feel this way before I can figure out ways to combat the loneliness I feel and believe me I've tried very hard to fight it! As a genealogist, you're supposed to put what you know in your family tree when you get started. Naturally, I did just that. I've added my grandfather Marco Ferraiolo and his parents Vincenzo Ferraiolo and Maria Tedesco. Most trees on Ancestry that have my grandfather in it tend to stop there and on rare occasions his grandparents would even be listed because that information came from my Ferraiolo-Hamel tree.

        His family tree is almost exclusively from San Pietro and so it took me ages to fill it all in. To do this, I created a one place study where I've cataloged every birth in San Pietro from 1809 to 1861 on a spreadsheet. Every once in a while, I put those people on WikiTree in the hopes of getting some attention. More on that later.

    I've even contacted the town itself in the hopes of gaining information and for the most part I've been successful. I doubt that would have been the case were it not for some very resourceful friends of mine who are far better at speaking Italian than I am!

    Before I turn this into a pity party, let me say that I have had help at various points. I've asked for help on something and someone would offer their two cents. It's not like I haven't had anyone to talk to about the tree. I have and they offered me great pointers on how I can proceed. In fact, a friend of mine just emailed San Pietro to see if they can find birth records for me. So, I don't think I'm TOTALLY alone. I'm just the only one actively researching the town and someone reminded me that my research is what I'm known for.

     I was able to create a pretty solid tree for my grandfather. I don't want to toot my own horn. But, I think I did a decent job. At least I hope I did!  Everything is pretty accurate as far as I know. I have several DNA confirmations as you can see.

    Of course that "Unknown" lady I have as his second great-grandmother sticks out like a sore thumb. I really need to figure out who that is and hopefully I find out who she is some day. 

    That unknown lady is probably a big part of why I feel like I'm the only one researching the town  because no one has Francesco Coppola or his wife in their tree. 

   

    Truthfully, she and Francesco may not even have been from San Pietro. All the information I have about him comes from various documents in San Pietro mentioning him as a grandfather to the children of Giovanni, Caterina and Paolo. I'm not sure how I can proceed from there. But, I'm not about to give up. After all, I did figure out Domenica Gullo's tree! And again I had some help on that front! However, it wasn't my friend's main arena of interest.

Marco and Caterina.

    I might be overlooking something about Francesco and the unknown lady that I hadn't considered. Maybe I need to ask for a specific marriage? That's a very good idea. The problem is I have no idea when people like my 2nd great-grandparents Marco Ferraiolo and Caterina Coppola were married. Those records as of January, 2025 are not online. I could theoretically ask about other marriages. But, this is all a topic for another day. 

    There is something else I need to consider. "Coppola" is a very, very common last name. It's the last name of a very famous director and I grew up with a Coppola family who hailed from somewhere in Sicily. So, researching that name in Italy is a lot like researching the name "Smith" here in America. Just food for though.

    Another reason why I feel alone in the San Pietro research department is because some people do not have the right town listed on Ancestry through no fault of their own. In many instances, I've seen "San Pietro a Maida" transcribed incorrectly on various documents and people have taken that as gospel. Some have even gone so far as to add other towns with "San Pietro" in them rather than the one I'm researching.

    I have to admit researching San Pietro is an uphill battle. However, it isn't all doom and gloom. I'm not really upset about being the only one researching the town. In a way it's cool because I'm charting a path forward so other people can see the work I did. I also do like to do more original stuff. The only problem is I don't have many people working with me.

Antonio and Domenica

    As I've mentioned before, I've had a ton of people have helped me along the way. There's too many people to list and if you're reading this blog then you know who you are. It just feels a bit overwhelming researching a town by myself. It can't be helped. That's why I'm extremely grateful whenever someone gives me a document or finds some other juicy nugget of information. Genealogy shouldn't be a solo gig no matter what certain people say. There's strength in numbers and having someone also researching San Pietro means having someone to bounce ideas off of. Granted, I could do that with everyone else. But, if someone was working with me on San Pietro who also knew the area, we could possibly get things done in half the time. That's why I was so happy when my third cousin Meli went to San Pietro. She was on the ground there and got a TON of information for me and for herself. Having help like that would do wonders and help me feel less lonely.

    So, how do I combat the loneliness? Well, the only thing I can think of is talk to other researchers (Especially Italian researchers) about certain issues and get much needed feedback from them. I can also help clean up documents on Ancestry and help others with their trees should the need arise.

That's really all I can do. I can count my blessings and try to set the standard brought forth by my own research. Sure it's lonely but I'm not going to complain about it!

     I like working with someone where we both have a vest interest in the town. I'm not going to sit here and say everyone who has San Pietro in their tree should research it. That's not what I'm all about. I don't like forcing people to do things they don't want to do. It just would be helpful to have someone around who also had vested interest in the town. Thankfully, some people do and it's only a matter of time before that information is revealed. I just need to keep the faith!

    

See ya next time!