52 Ancestors Week 32: Wide Open Spaces

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 32:

The theme for Week 32 is "Wide Open Spaces." Who in your family tree makes you think of the great outdoors? Who took advantage of homesteading? Who kept moving when the neighbors felt a little too close?

So, how far are we from the nearest Target?

    Since the Merrimack Valley doesn't have much in the way of wide open spaces (unless you count the Atlantic ocean and the mountains up in the north country), there's not much for me to talk about in that regard. No one ever went west in order to take advantage of the Homestead act or anything.  Everyone tended to stay in either Haverhill or Newburyport. Sure some people left New England in search of other opportunities. However, I don't really know their full story about why they left and all of that stuff. So, that just leaves me with one option to talk about. There is one man in my family tree who kept moving at least every ten years. In every census in Haverhill from 1930 to 1950 (so far) he has been in a different house in the Queen Slipper city. I am of course talking about my great-grandfather, Vincenzo Ferraiolo. 

    Vincenzo was never a man who'd like to stay put, it seems. I say this because my other Italian great-grandparents moved into a house on Bartlett Street in Haverhill and it remained in the family for almost a century! Vincenzo on the other hand kept moving and to this day no one knows why. I do, however, have some theories. Join me as I track Vincenzo's movements through Haverhill like a certain dark knight.

La famiglia di Ferraiolo

    The first census Vincenzo appears in is the 1930 census and he's seen living with his wife Maria Tedesco and their two children Nicolina and Marco in a house on Pilling Street.  Today, the house is right around the corner from Benedetti's Deli and it was one of the many houses my father pointed out to me whenever we'd go pick up sandwiches there. He also rented the home.

    Sadly, the house is blurred out on Google Earth. So, I don't have a clear picture of it. I'm not sure why that is since you can clearly see the other houses on the street. There must be a privacy issue or something.

    Anyway, it's a nice house and it's right around the corner from a deli that's been in operation for ages. You can't really beat that. The neighborhood even looks nice. I wonder why the Ferraiolos would move. Vincenzo was working as a laborer at the time. Perhaps he made enough money to get another place to live? That's the only thing I can think of! 

    

     Haverhill in 1930 must have been a very different place. At the time of this blog's posting, it's been almost a century since my grandfather and his family lived there. It wasn't long before they moved to their next house and I swear the contrast with this next house is like night and day. It was also two miles away from their previous house.

    This house you won't find on any census. In fact, I almost missed it! I went through the city directory and found that the Ferraiolos were living on Marshall Street in 1936. How long were they living there? Not long, apparently. 

    Marshall Street isn't far from the Ferraiolos' first house. I get the feeling it was only a temporary home for them. It was close to the shops and everything.  This house was likely where grandpa Marco had his communion picture taken as some of the scenery looks the same.

    I could be wrong, though. It was this house or the one on Pilling Street. Only Aunt Nickie would know for sure.

    From the directories, I found that they were living on Marshall Street throughout the mid 1930s and at this point the Great Depression was in full swing. It wasn't long before the Ferraiolos had to move again. This time it could have been for economic reasons or perhaps Vincenzo got a better deal because by 1939 they had moved again!

Hmm. Quaint.

    At the time of the 1940 census, the Ferraiolos now lived on Irving Avenue in Haverhill. This house is clearly in the suburban area of the city and is about two miles from their first home. The neighborhood looks peaceful enough. Then again looks can always be deceiving.  Who knows if the neighbors were jerks or not.  He owned this home.

    According to Zillow, the house is pretty small. It has two bedrooms and one bathroom. It was also built around 1900. So, that house has a lot of history behind it.

    My father never pointed this house out to me in our travels through Haverhill and that was mostly because we never ventured to this part of town. We usually stayed on Washington Street where my grandma Ollie lived and in that general area. More on that in a bit.

    In the March of 1943, tragedy struck. My great-grandmother passed away and the Ferraiolos went their separate ways due to the war and other reasons. Nicolina moved to Tennessee and Marco was in the service. Vincenzo met and married a woman named Fortuna Grasso in the August of 1944 and remained with her until his passing in 1970. He didn't stay in that house long after Maria's passing as he moved once again. I'm not sure if he wanted to move because of memories of Maria in that house or not. I'd like to think that perhaps there was too much associated with that house. So, he had to move. 

    By the time of the 1950 census, Vincenzo and his wife Fortuna were living in a multi-family house on Shepherd Street. According to the city directory, he was living there as early as late 1944. Once again I can't get a good picture of it as Google Street view won't allow me to get a good look at the joint. 

    That's okay. We can at least talk about the area, right? Right. In 1950, Vincenzo was once again living around the corner from Benedetti's Deli. At this point you might be wondering if he really liked their subs. Well, the truth is that he knew the family. Their patriarch, Nazareno Benedetti, was actually at Maria's funeral in 1943. They were friends and I guess a house opened up and Vincenzo took it over with his new bride.

    I'm pretty sure the house was one of the other houses my father pointed out to me in our travels. It's relatively close to Vincenzo's first house and very close to Ollie's house. Alas, Vincenzo and Fortuna were not content to simply stay on Shepherd Street for the rest of their days. They soon moved to a place I would later know as "grandma's house".

    Keeping track of all these houses in Haverhill is no easy task. How did he afford to move to all these places around town? Well, the world was a different place back then. He worked as a laborer and he had some friends who more than likely helped him out. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it!  Throughout the 1950s, they lived on Shepherd Street until 1959.

Over the river and through the woods....

    Built by Vincenzo himself in 1959, this small house on Washington Street eventually became my grandma Ollie's house. Before that, it was the home of Vincenzo and Fortuna. My grandparents lived just down the street from them if I recall.

    Thankfully, Vincenzo stayed in that house until his passing.  I say "thankfully" because this trip around Haverhill has been a bit of a whirlwind. The funny thing is he didn't really live far away from his previous house. When he died in 1970, he left the house to my grandparents and the rest is history. Family history. =D

    Of all the places in this list of houses, I remember Ollie's the most for obvious reasons. I remember being in that house very frequently. After all, Salem isn't that far from Haverhill and we would visit her every chance we had. To this day I have many great memories of being in that house. It was where I first learned about the Italian side of my family tree. 

    Ollie lived there until she passed away in 2002. The house was sold and all of Vincenzo's possessions there ended up being stored at our house. Vincenzo's story of moving from house to house may have ended in 1970. At least his last house had a lasting impact on me. It was a great place full of love and great memories.

    I might never know the real reason why he moved around so much. I can only think that he might have had offers from various friends or saw an opportunity. He might have moved in the 1940s because of memories of Maria. I have no clue. At least his last house was a good one!

See ya next time!

You know I could probably jog this route. It's only five miles.

All maps and house pictures are courtesy of Google Earth.