52 Ancestors Week 20: Wheels

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 20:

The theme for Week 20 is “Wheels.” I have to admit that this prompt is dear to my heart, since my Dad owned and operated a service station for 50+ years. Anyone like that in your family? How about someone who took an epic road trip (or train trip – they have wheels, too!)

We now return to All Roads Lead to Haverhill

    I have a feeling my father would have gotten along very well with Amy's father because he wasn't just a dentist. Doctor James Ferraiolo liked to tinker with all kinds of engines be it boat, lawn mower and even cars. It's a trait he likely inherited from my grandfather Marco. Marco liked to work on cars and other things with wheels and when my dad was old enough he was promised a set of wheels of his very own. Think of it as one of those "rites of passage" deals. Fathers tended to give their sons their old cars back in the day. Things may not have panned out the way he expected because my father's fondest memories were behind the wheel of a 1968 AMX. 

Not my dad's old AMX. Actual pic coming soon.

      The reason why my father was so fond of the AMX is simply because it has a cool design. I have to agree. It does look pretty cool. Sure I grew up in an era with Lamborghini Transformers and cars that fought crime, I still appreciated the look of quite a few real life cars. What's not to like about a car that's built like a tank?

    My dad drove an AMX like the one in the picture mostly through medical school in the late 1960s. It survived four years in New Jersey and it served my parents quite well since they ran the wheels to the ground. Seriously, it took quite the beating in that era since they went everywhere with it!

    My parents recall taking the car to and from Haverhill, Mass on many occasions. One time they even drove on the Tappan Zee Bridge with a Christmas tree on the roof! That had to have been an interesting sight and likely caused several people to turn their heads. Let's be honest here. It was the early 1970s and a car with a tree on the roof was likely not the strangest thing people have seen on the highway. Nope. People would have done way weirder things for sure. It's a shame no cameras were around to capture everything like we do these days!

    Sadly, all good things have to come to an end. By the mid 1970s, they traded in the AMX for a family car. That made sense as they were starting a family and everything. AMXes weren't exactly known for their family-friendly reputation, you know. So, it had to go. It was the end of an era.....or so we thought.

    Over the years my father went through different types of cars from a Supra my 3rd grade teacher was infatuated with (Don't ask!!) to various Toyota sports cars. In his heart,  he was still a fan of the AMX. It got to the point where he had to buy and restore an AMX in the early 2010s.

Oh, yeah....

    We erected a car garage in the backyard around 2010 and my father went right to work on restoring an AMX with the help of his friend, Ron Abraham. Ron had a repair shop in Andover, Mass and had been a friend of my dad's for years and years.  In fact, he even had a boat behind ours for as long as I can remember. More on him some other time!

    My father and Ron worked on the car and  whatever parts they couldn't find, they found on eBay. 

    It took a while to finish and you can't argue with the results! The car runs very well despite the engine being over fifty years old. Some parts are missing, though, like a side view mirror and a few other odds and ends. It's all good. It works great and I took a ride with my dad once for a test drive.

Chikka chika chikaaaaaaaaaa

    The ride was a little bumpy to be honest. I was riding in a car that didn't have the advancements that modern cars have. It was still a nice trip around the block and my dad likely felt like he was back in time. Back to when cars didn't have access to satellite radio or seats that warmed you up on a cold night. There was no power steering or air conditioning, either. It was a strange experience for me! Bur, I bet I'd have felt the same  nostalgia if I rode in a car my parents drove in he '80s and '90s.  I do miss my mom's Toyota Camry.

 Our smooth ride was cut short when the brakes started acting a little weird. That's not a good thing to happen on a country road! We took it back home and put the AMX to bed. 

    We called up Ron and he and my father fixed the problem. I'm no car expert so I couldn't begin to tell you what was wrong with the thing. At least the engine worked and my dad was happy with the results. In the end, that's what really mattered. He has an affinity for old cars like the AMX and to this day he still tinkers with it every once in a while. It's a hobby of his and fixing an old car that he enjoyed in his youth is a great one to have!

    Cars have always played a big role in my family and even though I'm not much of a car guy like I said. I can still appreciate them. You just won't ever see me riding a motorcycle or anything. I'd rather have a steel cage around me than be exposed to high velocity with a helmet being the only thing protecting me! At least cars afford some level of protection and it's great to see my dad relive old memories with his AMX hobby. At least it isn't a motorcycle....

See ya next time.

52 Ancestors Week 19: At the Library

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 19:

The theme for Week 19 is “At the Library.” Any librarians in the family tree? What about a fantastic find you’ve made at the library? This is a good week to write about it.

Want to check a book out at the biggest library in the universe?

    Who doesn't love libraries? I've written about my adventures at the Haverhill Public Library in the blog many times and here's one of my favorite entries.  I'll admit I haven't been back there since the place was flooded last year. What's that? I never talked about that incident? Well, to make a long story short there was a bad snowstorm in January 2024 and some pipes burst following some heavy rain. Some reference materials did get some moisture. But, by and large everything worked out well and they opened up again a few months later. For details check out this link.

Not a bad place!

    The last time I was there was about maybe two months before the flood. My dad's cousin Bob took me there because he wanted to look stuff up and I wanted to use the reference room on the third floor. The reference room at the Haverhill library is where they keep all the reference material you could ever ask for about the city.

    In this case, I was looking for the burial plot of my second great-grandfather, Antoine Legault. Remember him? I still can't find his grave. More on that later.

    I knew he was buried in Saint James Cemetery in Haverhill. I just had no idea where. Unfortunately, finding his final resting place proved to be a monumental task.

    When I got there, I asked the nice lady behind the desk if she could bring out the archive of grave listings for Saint James. I swear the question sounded so much better in my head. I imagine they don't get many requests for that archive. At least she was nice about it. She went into the back and came out with four or five plastic cases. Each case had hundreds upon hundreds of loose computer paper. I umm....didn't expect that. I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe a book? Or a tablet with information? Something with a search bar? I resigned myself to my fate and started looking and prayed that I didn't get any paper cuts.

Welcome to the biggest cemetery in Haverhill.

    As I looked through the loose papers, it became apparent that Saint James Cemetery is probably the biggest cemetery in the city. Thousands upon thousands of souls were buried there. Thankfully, each folder had an index at the end and that cut my time looking through that mess considerably.

    Sadly, I was only able to find one or two Legaults by the time Bob came back from doing what he needed to research. None of the Legaults that I found were Antoine. I knew he was buried there! His death certificate in 1901 clearly stated he was buried in Saint James. Looking back, I really wished that the archives were organized a little bit better. Like by year of death. That would have made sense. Instead, I got envelopes full of papers with random dates.

    Let me just say that it's probably not the worst thing that could have happened during that expedition. It's good that the HPL has that all well documented. It's just not terribly efficient in how that information is presented. I think if they were to move the information to a digital platform, the task might not seem so arduous. Not to mention less messy. I dropped one of the folders by accident and the papers inside went everywhere. Whoops. Don't worry! I cleaned it up!  The librarian even got a laugh. I guess it wasn't the first time it happened. At least my visit was not uneventful for her.

    Now, she did offer to help me look through the folders. But, she had to help someone else. I don't think she knew what I was looking for or really the question. I had to explain that I was an amateur genealogist and that I was looking for the burial plot of an ancestor. Saying "I'm looking for a burial plot for someone" sounds weird no matter what your profession or hobby is. I think she finally understood that I was a genealogist and not some weirdo looking for someone. At least I hope so!

    I sadly left the library that day emptyhanded. I was planning to update Antoine's page on Find a Grave with more information as well update his page on Wikitree. It happens. You win some and you lose some.

    Fortunately, he does have a page on Find a Grave and I did request help from a volunteer to help find his grave. Hence the name of the site.
 
        As of May 2025, there are over 9,000 memorials at Saint James and so far no one has found Antoine's grave. I wasn't kidding when I said that Saint James was the biggest cemetery in the city if not one of the biggest. Finding his grave is proving to be a monumental task. However, I did find that his daughter Emma was buried there in 1896. Could he be buried with her? It's hard to say. I wasn't even able to find her information in the library.

    The Haverhill Public Library is still a great resource. It's reasonably close by and would have more information I need for my family history than the Kelley Library in Salem.  Don't get me wrong. I love the Kelley Library. Friends of mine have worked there. It's fantastic! They just ummm...don't have the droids I'm looking for. 

    Eventually, I probably will head back to the HPL at some point. I want to see if they've improved a few things here and there. If a disaster strikes, it's usually a good time to improve a few things once repairs are completed. I'm sure things look even better now. I'd just have to take a trip to Haverhill to check things out.

    Libraries are an important resource and it's good to have them up and running. I'm glad that despite the flooding, the HPL is back in action. It's been over a year since the flooding and there's still a ton of information I need to find there. I think if I go again, I'll poke around the newspapers section. Here's hoping I get a chance to go. Perhaps then I'll come back from the factfinding mission with some genealogical gold! Fingers crossed!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 18: Institutions

From Amy Johnson Crow:  Week 18:

The theme for Week 18 is “Institutions.” The word “institution” has both positive and negative connotations. Graduating from an institution of higher learning vs being institutionalized. Then there are people who are described as institutions in their community or organization because of their longevity and knowledge. How will you interpret this week’s prompt?

This could be the X-Mansion or the Luthor Mansion depending
on your fandom. Either way, that castle is awesome!

    Institutes for higher learning have always had a long and storied history of promoting excellence in their students and taught people much about the world.  They change people for the better and in turn they get to make the world a better place. That's what the promotional material would have you believe, anyway. Fine institutions such as Suffolk University and the College of the Holy Cross have also been known as places where the students would often meet the partner they'd end up spending the rest of their lives with. Who says school just has to be about learning? 

Married in 1972.

    In the late 1960s, my parents James Ferraiolo and Diane Hamel met at Suffolk University in Boston, Mass while they were studying medicine. My father was on the fast track to becoming a dentist and my mother was studying biology. They had a chemistry lab together and you might say they had.....great chemistry. Huh? HUH?! 

    Wow. I can actually hear your groans through the Internet. It's true! They had chemistry together. They worked on all kinds of chemical formulas that just made my head hurt when it came time for me to take chemistry in high school.

    What's interesting is how my parents grew up in neighboring cities in Massachusetts and ended up meeting each other in Boston. Not only that. My mom's cousin Nancy was in my father's homeroom in high school!

    There's a reason why this blog is called "All Roads Lead to Haverhill". No matter how far away someone is, there's always a connection to Haverhill, Mass. Anyway, back to the story.

    My parents got married in the summer of 1972 and shortly afterward, they headed to New Jersey where my father would continue his studies and get his doctorate. While in New Jersey, they didn't have much as they lived in a simple trailer. He went to school while my mother worked in the nearest hospital.

    Eventually, they made their way back to New Hampshire, built a house and started a family. It would take some years before their old medical journals were looked at once again by their youngest, precocious and ever so innocent son. Those images gave me nightmares. You don't need to know about the horrors of a neglected mouth. I've seen things....

    My father set up his dental practice in Salem, New Hampshire and would work non stop for fifty years until his retirement in 2025. My mother went on to become a lab supervisor at Merrimack Medical Laboratories where she studied blood cells for hospitals in Boston and elsewhere in Massachusetts.

    Anyway, it was very cool how the son of an Italian immigrant met the love of his life at school. The stars aligned and they didn't need anyone singing "Johnny B Good" at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. It's an amazing coincidence to be honest. Two people from neighboring cities in Essex county, Massachusetts meeting in Boston and building a future together sounds like the plot of a rom com. Some days it still feels that way!!

Smile!

    This year, my brother Jim and his wife Kathleen  celebrate their thirtieth anniversary.  They met in 1995 through one of their mutual friends at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. She was a political science major and my brother was heavy into information technology.  They met during their freshmen year and have been inseparable ever since.

    Having actually been to Holy Cross to visit my brother I can tell you a lot about the school from an outsider's perspective. Ready? There are just way too many hills! I mean....wow. I know I ran cross country and track and I should be used to the hills. However, one of my prerequisites for my college experience wasn't so much the academia as it was that it had to be FLAT. It's a good thing Merrimack College had only a few hills! Holy Cross made sure you didn't skip leg day.

    In 1996, Kathleen interned at the White House during the Clinton administration. She called it one of the best experiences of her life even though she never met then President Bill Clinton. Oh, that would have been cool.

    After they graduated, they moved to Charlottesville, Virginia where Kathleen worked on getting her doctorate in political science at the University of Virginia. By that time, I was struggling trying to think of a major at Merrimack and Kathleen suggested giving political science a try. I did and I did pretty well for myself. I don't want to toot my own horn or go into the gritty details. It was a lot easier doing that than going into medicine like my parents did. Plus, it's good to know that I can use my degree in stuff like genealogy! Sadly, that's never a major. Hey. It all worked out for the best! I was always interested in history and political stuff. Would I ever go into politics? Ummm....No. No, I would not.

    These days Kathleen is a professor at James Madison University. There, she teaches students the ins and outs of American politics. She's written several papers and has even been published a few times. Not bad, right? As for my brother? He's now one of the major IT guys at the University of Virginia. There, he puts his computer skills to good use and has even taught his kids a few things about computers.

    In the end, I guess you could say that institutions like Merrimack, Suffolk, Holy Cross and the University of Virginia really do change lives for the better. Who knows what kinds of people my parents, my brother or even I would have been had we not gone to on to attend institutes of higher learning.  Those schools may have been known as places where people learn about life. It's also places where lives change and get started. They really are where your future begins!

This message has been paid for by Starfleet Academy. EST. 2140.

See ya next time!