52 Ancestors Week 34: Long-Lasting

From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 34:

The theme for Week 34 is “Long-lasting.” It could be a marriage, a career, a document, an heirloom – feel free to be creative with the theme!

Fully charged and ready for a trip!

    When I look around my house, I see a lot of items that have been around a long time or have been passed down to us by a family member or a family friend. These items range from simple things like a coffee table or a candle stick. Some items are so old that they might as well be considered heirlooms at this point. I don't know if having a launch era Sega Genesis could be considered "long-lasting" if I don't even know if it would work on a modern television. I'm not about to experiment on it!! Fortunately Nintendo has ported several Genesis games in various compilations over the years. Personal items side, I do know some people who have had long-lasting marriages. 

    I've already discussed my grandparents Bob and Natalie Hamel's 50th wedding anniversary in this blog from 2023. I've talked about my great-grandparents Austin and Henrietta's 50th wedding anniversary in 2024.  What do you say we go a little closer to home this week? My parents' wedding anniversary is coming up in a few days at the time of this blog's posting. So, let's talk about my parents' long-lasting marriage as they celebrate their fifty-fifth year of marriage.

    Being married to someone for over fifty years is no small feat and yet my parents Dr. James Ferraiolo and Diane Hamel made it work. They were married on August 28th, 1971 and by some amazing cosmic coincidence that was also my dad's great-grandmother Caterina Coppola's birthday. Did they know? Probably not. Then again I bet my grandfather Marco had a good chuckle when he saw the date on the invitation. He knew. He had to have known.

    To make a long story short, their wedding was held in Newburyport, Mass and the reception was held in Haverhill. All four grandparents made sure everyone was there from both sides of the family. I don't mean just a few people. EVERYONE!  To list them all would take forever and a day and yes I have that list on a spreadsheet somewhere just in case I need to tell a DNA match  their ancestor was at my parents' wedding. That HAS happened. I'm surprised it doesn't freak them out.

    I think I've discussed their wedding before. For the new readers out there:  I'm connected to almost everyone who attended their wedding via blood or marriage. My grandparents made a concerted effort to include everyone they could. Some people could make it and some couldn't. It is honestly very cool that I'm connected to a lot of people who were there or were invited and couldn't make it. Life happens and you just deal with it.

    My brother Jim was born the same year the house I grew up in was built and I was born two years later.  The rest of the story pretty much writes itself. However, the question is what is the secret to a long-lasting marriage like theirs? That's something a lot of people have asked them.

Don't let those innocent looks fool you.

    There has been much debate over what the secret to a long-lasting marriage is and their consensus has always been: communication and shared values. That makes sense. When I was little they always talked out whatever problem they were having and whenever my brother and I would have a problem, we'd talk things out. It was nothing like one of those '80s family sitcoms we saw on television or anything. We'd just discuss things and share our opinions.

    Of course the shenanigans my brother and I got into during that time probably didn't help matters. We were good kids! HONEST!

    In the end, I think that's all you really need for a successful marriage. If you communicate with your significant other what your problems are or any issue you have, then you can get anything accomplished. Failure to talk can lead to problems down the road. As for shared values? I think that goes without saying. If someone likes "X" and your significant other likes "y", there's going to be a problem if "x" and "y" are completely different from each other!

Happy 50th!! Put your masks on.....

    My parents had their 50th wedding anniversary during the height of Covid in 2021. It wasn't as glamourous as their wedding but we still had a great time at Tuscan Kitchen in Salem. My parents reminisced about their wedding, talked about old friends and even gave my brother and his wife some sage advice about long-lasting marriages. That was cool of them.

    Their fiftieth was still fine like I said. Was it ideal? No. Not at all. We still made the most of it and went home with plenty of leftovers. It's an Italian restaurant. You're going to leave with leftovers whether you like it or not!

    
    Next Friday will be their 55th anniversary and I know for a fact we're likely going to go out to one of my parents' favorite restaurants. My parents' advice for a long-lasting marriage is very sound. It's worked this long and there hasn't been any complaints. So, to my parents I say Happy 55th Anniversary! Here's to many more!! 'Nuff said!

See ya next time!

52 Ancestors Week 33: Multiples

 From Amy Johnson Crow: The theme for Week 33 is “Multiples.” There are lots of ways you could interpret this theme: multiple marriages, multiple children, twins (or more), or even someone who shows up in multiple records. Have fun with this prompt!

More people than you can shake a stick at!

    According to my archive I've talked about multiple children twice. I've discussed my 2nd great-grandmother Gertrude and her multiple husbands and children in 2021. I've talked about the Carrabs family just last year. These things come in threes and since I have a plethora of large families in my tree it's only fair to talk about one of them. I've already talked about the children of my 2nd great-grandparents Antoine Legault and Lucie Cadran. But! Did you know he had a brother named Felix? And did you know that one of Felix's descendants owned the marina my parents had their boat in for several decades. Before you can start singing "It's a Small World" let's dig into the life of Felix Legault!

Felix, Matilde and Evelyn in the middle.

    Felix Napoleon Legault was just four years younger than Antoine and like his brother he also lived in Haverhill. Also like his brother he too had a dozen children. I'm willing to bet that the cousins all knew each other only because they were in the same general area and if you have cousins in the same city you usually hang out with them unless there was a family feud or something.

    And yes his middle name was Napoleon. You see that a lot with French-Canadians. Some people name their kids after US presidents. French-Canadians name their kids after generals who slid down waterslides and traveled through time.

    We could be here all day naming every single child Felix and Matilde had. They had twelve of them between 1875 and 1900. Oh and to make things ever so slightly confusing Felix named one of his daughters after one of Antoine and Lucie's daughter, Delphine. This makes sense to me because Delphine was the name of Antonie and Felix's mother. Like in Italian families, the names repeat over and over in French-Canadian lines. You're going to come across many Jacques or Maries. You just need to be careful because one Jacques might not be the one you need. Oh and it doesn't help that Legault is a very common last name in Canada. Sacré bleu! 

    One of their daughters was a woman named Matilda Vina Legault. Not to be confused with her cousin WITH THE SAME NAME! That Matilda went to Connecticut the first chance she got and married a Rowell. This one in the picture was born in 1892 in Haverhill and spent all of her life there. She passed away in 1993 and was one of the first centenarians I ever discovered in my tree. All I can say is good for her. Give her a round of applause, everyone. She won at life. I wonder what her secret was. 

    She sadly outlived three of her children. Evelyn passed away in 1976 and is in the picture with her grandparents. Two others passed away in the 1960s and in the 1980s. It's very sad. But at least she looks happy in this photograph.  She seems like she was a nice lady. And for some reason I really want some of that cake.

    Moving on Felix and Mathilde had a son named Felix who was born in 1875 and no his middle name was NOT Napoleon. Nope. His middle name was Joseph. Hey. Let's give the Legaults a little bit a credit, huh? I think they realized the name "Napoleon" wasn't going to fly in America. Granted he was born in Quebec. Felix is the ancestor of the Corbins who owned Rings Island Marina.

Bowling? What?!

        Felix married a woman by the name of Albina Lefebvre. Lefebvre is another one of those last names you need to watch out for. It's extremely common and yes I have that one in my tree, too. Of course I do.

    According to this article I found on Felix junior, he and his brothers were into bowling. Keep in mind that the bowling in the Merrimack valley isn't the one people usually think of when they think of bowling. They probably bowled candlepin style.  I wonder how a a family that bowled went into boating. Actually, no. Wait. I take that back. I do know. My family did it. Everyone has hobbies!

    Felix and Alvina had a daughter Irene who married Phillip Corbin and they had a son named James. The rest as they say is history. Family history, that is. When I found that connection laughed so hard and told my mother about it. She smiled at me and said she already knew about the connection for years. I said to her "Why didn't you tell me?!" I mean....Jim Corbin was a nice guy. VERY nice. He bought coffee and donuts for everyone at the marina every Sunday morning. I guess I was on a need to know basis and I didn't need to know right away. Let's not forget I was the kid who asked a million questions. My parents probably figured I'd find out soon enough. And I did. It really is a small world after all.

    Jim Corbin unfortunately passed away in 2008 before I could talk to him about his family history. It was certainly surprising that I had that connection. Then again Felix's family was pretty large. It stood to reason that I'd be connected to other people in the valley like that. I expected it with my Italian side because everyone was in close vicinity with one another. I didn't really expect it with my French-Canadian side to be honest. I guess I really should. You never know when the French-Canadian cousins are going to pop out of the woodwork.

    Large families tend to create more connection possibilities. You fill in a tree and you end up finding cousins you either never heard of or cousins you knew about and never thought you had a connection with them. It's really exciting to think about when you're looking stuff up. Though, you still have to watch out for the common names out there. You'll have to research the family lines carefully because one Jacques may not be your Jacques. Keep that in mind!

Now I have this urge to go watch "Bill and Ted". Be excellent to each other. And party on, dudes!

52 Ancestors Week 32: Neighbors and Community

 From Amy Johnson Crow:Week 32:

The theme for Week 32 is “Neighbors and Community.” Our ancestors didn’t live in a vacuum. They were part of neighborhoods, congregations, social groups, and more. (Bonus: Those neighbors might be extended family!) This week, explore an ancestor’s neighbors or a group that they belonged to. What do they reveal about your ancestor?

This looks like a friendly neighborhood!

    I kind of like this week's header. I just wish I was able to find a free image of one of those Italian neighborhoods in New York or Boston to use that didn't have a watermark on them. Some of them were pure gold! When I saw those, I kept picturing there was some lady screaming for "Anthony Joseph Marco" in there!  Just thinking about it gives me 'Nam-like flashbacks. In my experience, you were dead meat if someone used your full name when they were calling for you and if your name is as long as mine is you had better pray whatever God you believe in has mercy on your soul.

    With that in mind, I think we all know where this blog is going to go. I've written about the Italian community in Haverhill, Massachusetts a million times and I'll write about it a million more times. Why? Because it's fun to talk about and this is my blog. I can do whatever I want! It's that and I don't really know much about the French-Canadian community in Newburyport except that it existed, they had a church and there were some festivities thrown in there. Moving on!

Makin' my way downtown....

    As readers of the blog are aware, the area around Washington Street in Haverhill was basically the Italian neighborhood in the city and was just as influential as Little Italy in places like Boston and New York. Why? Well, everyone and their brother lived either on Washington Street or on one of the side streets that came off that road. There were grocery stores nearby like the one owned by Giovanni Coppola, Loconte's and others in the area. Banks were close by as well. Churches, restaurants, tailors and schools were there, too! It was basically a community within a community and it was pretty special.

     My grandmother Ollie lived on Washington Street in a house that once belonged to my great-grandfather Vincenzo. She grew up just around the corner on Bartlett Street where her parents' house was. Her friends and family were always nearby and it was especially true for her parents and my grandfather Marco's parents. Everyone knew what everyone else was doing every minute of every day and from what my father tells me it was a little chaotic but in a fun way. 

    I can understand why. There'd be little to no privacy because everyone talked and everyone knew each other. In order to get a real understanding of what the Italian community was like, I suggest checking out the Italians in Haverhill book by the late, great Patricia Trainor O'Malley. I actually tried to contact her a few times since my family is in the book. I found out she passed away a couple years ago and that was pretty upsetting. I really wish I could have talked to her.

    However, the show must go on. Her book is a great starting point when it comes to understanding the Italian neighborhood in the city and this blog will serve as my take on everything! Okay, that's a bit much. Still, it's only fitting.

    Anyway, Trainor never really discussed all of the Italian families in Haverhill like the Ferraiolos or the Carrabs. She apparently reached out to my great-aunt Louise when she was working on the book and my great-aunt said she didn't want to take part in for some reason. I never knew why. She was still mentioned because her husband's family, the Villanuccis, are in the book! Talk about a loophole.

    I think I got a little sidetracked. Now that we know that there was an Italian neighborhood in Haverhill we can talk about the groups they belonged to. Many Italians in the area joined the Sons of Italy Victor Emmanuel II lodge. That was a fraternity of Italian men who looked after each other, played cards in smoke filled back rooms (Not joking. It was a thing.) and just socialized with their paisanos in a strange new land. 

   The Italian community tended to take care of one another whenever there was a problem. It didn't matter if your ancestors came from Sicily, Calabria or Campania. You needed help, they'd give you the shirt off their back. It is funny, though. Most of the Sicilian Italian immigrants in the Merrimack valley went to Lawrence rather than Haverhill. No idea why. Maybe the mills up the river paid them more? I'll have to ask my friends from Lawrence.

il famiglia di Ferraiolo

    I would have loved it if Vincenzo, Maria, my great-aunt and my grandfather were mentioned in the Italians in Haverhill book. We'd have sent in that picture and it would have wrapped up the San Pietro a Maida section of O'Malley's book with a neat little bow. Seriously, she spent at least a dozen pages talking about the people who came from San Pietro to Haverhill and several of those people I am related to! She should have looked up my father since there were no Ferraiolos in Haverhill when she published the book in 2001.

    It's all good. At least I know people are in the book and that I'm connected to them either genetically or through marriage. 

     Sadly, none of my ancestors were part of that Victor Emmanuel II lodge. My great-grandfather Giuseppe Carrabs was a president of the Italian American Credit Union and that was mentioned in the book and my family had family who were members of the lodge. I'm not sure why they never joined. Maybe they just never saw the need to join since the community was already well connected? Perhaps.

    Overall, I think the best part of the Italian community in Haverhill is how close they were to the North End of Boston. The North End is the Italian neighborhood in Boston and it's where a lot of people go to get authentic Italian food if the shops in Haverhill didn't carry it or if you can't afford a plane ticket to Italy. Haverhill is about a half an hour from the big city and it is considered to be a fringe suburb of Boston. This meant that people could go to the North End, get some food, bring it to Haverhill and no one would complain. After all, there were paisanos there.

    The Italian neighborhood in Haverhill was born from immigrants who worked in the mills along the Merrimack River. The community still thrives today with some notable changes, of course. The famous Saint Rita's Parish is now part of All Saints Church for example. Saint Rita's was were all the Italians worshiped and all the Catholic churches in Haverhill eventually became one church.  Despite its many changes, there is one thing that will forever be constant in Italian neighborhoods. It's that lady screaming for you to come home and if she uses your full name---RUN!

See you next time!!!!!!!

The map of Washington street is property of Google Earth.