52 Ancestors Week 22: Reunion

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 22:

The theme for Week 22 is “Reunion.” Whether it’s a family reunion, a class reunion, or some other commonality that brings people back together, it’s an opportunity for connection and context. What reunions can you think about in your family tree?

Keep smiling while grandpa takes the picture. Just keep smiling....

    In my experience, just about any family get-together can be a reunion. When your family is as large as mine, it sometimes takes an act of God to get everyone in the same room at the same time. Christmas parties, birthday parties, weddings and all those events can be considered a family reunion. What about graduations? Yeah, we can toss those into the mix. I remember one graduation/reunion VERY well. Let's go back in time to Friday June 13th, 1997.

    Why are we going back to that specific date you ask? Well, it was the day of the famous Merrimack Valley Lightning Storm, of course. It was also the day I graduated high school. It wasn't my idea to graduate in the pouring rain!  Before graduation our class huddled together in the gym and we could hear the thunder and lightning outside. It was almost daring us to go out there and get our diplomas. Our family and friends were gathered at the outdoor track and we put it to a vote. Do we go out there and get rained on or do we wait another day?

Want to give me a second to
change, Papa? No? Fine....

    Judging by this picture you clearly can see that the class decided to graduate that day despite the rain and despite it being Friday the 13th. We had a very, very rushed ceremony with very few speeches. We grabbed our diplomas and headed home after a few hugs and promises that we'd get together when it was less...ya know....rainy.

    On the ride home my parents told me that it was probably for the best that I graduated when I did. I said "Ma, I'm drenched.. The first thing I'm going to do is change out of these clothes." My dad said "You might want to wait a few minutes...."

    We pulled into the driveway and I see a ton of cars sitting there. It looked like a mall parking lot on the day of a sale.  I sat back and I was like "Oh, god...the party." I had almost forgotten because of all the hustle and bustle. We had planned a party for weeks and family members from all over the place were invited to attend.

    I go inside and who was the first to greet me? My grandfather Bob with his camera! He ushered me into the living room and I was still soaked to the bone.....

  I've explained many times how my grandfather took his photography hobby very seriously. He was the kind of man who'd make sure every shot was perfect and that everything came out exactly as he'd imagine it. The only problem was I was impatient and soaked while I was getting my picture taken. My parents took a picture with me and it wasn't very flattering as they were getting wet just standing next to me.

    Off to the side I could see my brother and my cousins laughing and that was why I was giving someone the side-eye as the picture was taken. I was not having a good time (At first.) After what seemed like ages, my grandfather finally finished taking pictures of me. I ran upstairs and changed before anyone could blink.

Can I has cake?

    After a few minutes, I went back downstairs and greeted everyone properly. My little cousins still made jokes about the rain and everything but it was all in good fun. I greeted my grandparents, aunts, my great-aunts, my dad's cousins, their significant others and everyone else who was at the party. See. All it took was a change of clothes to improve my disposition. I do not like being photographed soaking wet. 

    I did appreciate the hugs from various family members who were so happy that I graduated.  I got to hear family stories about their own graduations. All of them were much, much drier than my own. 

    Both of my grandmothers graduated Haverhill High at different times and told me how different it was graduating with the war on the horizon. I can only imagine. I think I touched upon that when I wrote about their yearbooks a few years ago.  It was still great hearing stories while waiting for dinner and everything. I was honestly just glad to be dry at that point. Still, it was fun catching up with everyone that day.

    We also talked about my plans for the future. Everyone knew I was going to Merrimack College in North Andover. But, they didn't know what I'd be studying. At that point I hadn't decided on a major. Naturally, everyone gave me some advice. It wasn't until I talked to my future sister-in-law Kathleen that I decided on something that I'd actually be good at. I'm not sure if she was at the party. I know she came by the house some time after my graduation since my brother and her were dating at the time.

My mom took this pic in three seconds
to prove a point.

        I also got to see cousins who I usually saw around Christmas. My cousins Kristyn and Ryan used to live in the apartment above my father's office and had moved to Nashua by the time I graduated. I saw them less despite them being relatively close by. It was good seeing them and the other cousins.

    My grandfather took the opportunity to take pictures of the whole motley crew while he could. And once again he took forever and a day to take the picture! Meanwhile, my mother used one of those disposable cameras and took a quick pic of him taking a picture of us. Imagine if she had an iPhone back then. That's something my grandfather NEVER figured out. I think he just preferred the old-style cameras. I wasn't gonna argue with him!

    After the final pictures were taken, my cousins and I went upstairs to play video games. I think we had enough of pictures for a while. After food and everything I just wanted to relax with my cousins  I do have a bit of a mystery, though. Since my grandfather was taking a picture of us in that shot, what happened to the picture? I haven't been able to find it in the photo albums my aunt Linda gave me in 2020. Perhaps someone in the family has it. Or it could be in the pile of photos in a box labeled "Pics from the '90s".

    As you can see reunions can happen even at graduation parties. We had a great time despite the torrential rain. I guess it's true what they say. You can make the best out of any situation despite the weather conditions outside. Sure it was wet and I had the mood of a wet cat when I came home. But, it didn't matter. I was with my family and the day was made even more memorable since I was with them. That's what reunions are all about. Making new memories and being together in any situation. They all came by to celebrate and that was all I wanted. I don't even care much that it was raining. We were inside and I probably wouldn't change anything if I could. 

    Though, I did have to make sure my college graduation was dry.  Thankfully, that ceremony was inside!

See ya next time!

The most Italian pic ever.*

*= Yes, I know some of those people aren't Italian. Work with me.

52 Ancestors Week 21: Military

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 21:

The theme for Week 21 is “Military.” Who is someone in your family tree who served in the military? Who was a civilian whose life was affected by the service of a family member? This is a great week to write about them.

I'd be remiss if I didn't continue the banner theme from last week.
Come on down, Autobrat!

   If you've been a regular reader of the blog, you'd quickly see that generations of people in my family served in almost every armed conflict America has been involved with since the American Revolution.  I have ancestors who've served in multiple capacities and have served in just about every branch of military there is from the US Army to the Navy, Marines and the Air Force. Sadly, there's no Starfleet officers in my family tree. Then again that's just exploration and defense and well....we  haven't invented the warp drive, yet. Now, with all that in mind you'd think that everyone in my family had a good idea of who served in what conflict. What if I told you that wasn't always the case? 

So much swagger.

        My great-grandfather Alfred Hamel was known to have served in the US army during World War I and in World War II. Records of him serving in those conflicts are easy enough to find on Ancestry and Familysearch. He had various medals awarded to him during his time in the service as well. It's pretty clear that he served in those wars. There's no doubt about that!

    Despite the mountain of evidence saying he served in those wars, people in my family have claimed that Alfred Hamel was also a rough-rider who served with none other than President Theodore Roosevelt during the Spanish-American War. I mean they were like "Yeah. Alfred charged up San Juan Hill with Teddy! Here are the pics to prove it"

    There's just one teeny, tiny problem with that. Alfred was born in 1896. The Spanish-American War took place in 1898 when Alfred was only two years old. The only "rough-riding" he did was a case of the terrible twos.

   Now, to be fair, maybe he played "horsey" with his father Eugene at the time. I have no idea. I also have no clue how this odd story got started. I didn't even hear about it growing up. I first learned about it well into my genealogical adventure and a few years after my grandfather Bob passed away. Mmm. Convenient, huh? I think my mother never told me because of how farfetched it sounded. The math wasn't there. My grandparents never told me about it because it never came up. It was just so random how some people assumed he was a rough-rider. Thankfully, quashing that story was quick and easy thanks to a box my aunt Linda gave me during the Covid lockdown.

    I'm pretty sure I've talked about the box before. Inside were various family albums and near the bottom of the box were photos from Alfred's tour of duty during the first World War and various other documents like the image on the right. This picture is a certificate commemorating Private Hamel for his service along the Mexican border during World War I. 

    Could this conflict have been confused with the Spanish-American War? I would say "most likely". Even his obituary in 1962 made references to serving on the Mexican border during the "Pancho Villa era". There was no reference to him being anywhere near Teddy Roosevelt or any of the rough-riders.

    The conflict was actually the Mexican Border War which lasted from 1910 to 1919. I get the feeling that event was quickly glossed over in history class because of the the much bigger crisis happening in the world at the time. I didn't even learn about it until later myself. I knew about Pancho Villa and everything. But, I had no idea the conflict he was involved in was called the Mexican Border War. You learn something new every day.

    I think this is probably why people in my family were confused about which conflicts Alfred actually served in. It's pretty easy to get the Spanish-American War and the Mexican Border War confused.  Both wars involved Mexico and that's where a lot of my family's confusion came from. I think I need to create a spreadsheet illustrating who fought in what war. At least I have a free space page on WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Chris_Ferraiolo%27s_Notable_Relations

We are NOT rough riders!!

    Figuring out Alfred wasn't a rough-rider was pretty simple since all the evidence was already inside the box my aunt gave me. I don't think any two year-olds were riding horses. Old Teddy wouldn't have allowed that for sure.

    Still, you have to wonder how the rumor got started in the first place. Maybe people in my family were confused since other conflicts were happening at the same time. Alfred did technically served in the US Army during the first world war. However, he went to Mexico rather than Europe.

    You really can't blame anyone for the confusion. World War I was over a century ago and over time stories are lost.  Not everyone is going to know who fought in what conflict and it's up to genealogists to solve the riddles. Sometimes the solution is really simple. I mean can a two year-old really carry a rifle and ride a horse? Hm....This actually sounds like a great idea for a comic character. No wait. That one already exists. Check out "Captain Underpants". Yes. That is a thing and that is his name. Have I ever told you all that comics are weird? Because they are.

    In any event, it's easy to see why Alfred's time in the US National Guard was distorted. So much was happening in the world at the time and it's easy to see some stories get lost or distorted. Stories aren't told and people assume pictures are from various events. This is probably why it's a good idea to keep various military records and put them in a place where the information could never be forgotten. Sites like WikiTree come to mind. I might be a little biased there. 

    At least I have a good idea of who served in which conflict and in which branch of the military. It's hard to talk about just one ancestor who served because I've got so many of them on both sides of the family tree. It's neat and I do my best to honor everyone who served regardless of rank, where they served and when. It's just a good idea to keep track of WHAT conflicts people served in. You don't want to accidentally picture a diaper clad upstart charging up a hill with a wooden sword. 

See ya next time!

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!

52 Ancestors Week 17: DNA

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 17:

The theme for Week 17 is "DNA." DNA has helped countless people make discoveries in their family history – some good and some not. Has DNA helped you solve a genealogical question? (Remember that if you post anything publicly, you should protect the identities of living people unless they have given you permission to share their story.)

Here we go again!

    It just wouldn't be a genealogy blog without an entry about mysterious DNA matches, would it? I've had so many mysteries over the years and thankfully some of them have been solved. You've all seen me figure out many puzzling DNA matches and I'm grateful for all the help I've had over the years solving puzzle after puzzle. However, there is one family out there that's been vexing me ever since they popped up on Ancestry as matches to me, my father and my great-aunt Nicolina. Follow along as I go through one of my greatest DNA related mysteries. This is definitely one for the books.

Hey, Franklin.

    Meet Franklin Richards. Frankie here is a DNA match to my great-aunt at 46 centimorgans across 1. He matches my dad at 52 cMs across 2 segments and myself at 52 cMs across 2 segments. 

    This seems pretty straight forward, right? The shared cM project puts him in a wide variety of positions in the family tree from half third cousin to as far back as 6th cousin.

    That really doesn't help much, does it? Franklin could be anywhere in the family tree. Naturally, I sent a message to the lady who manages Frank's kit to see if she knew anything about any possible connections I had with him. While I waited, I checked out the shared matches he and I had in the hopes that something interesting would show up.

    I checked out the shared matches and saw no names I recognized. I saw my father, my great-aunt and my dad's cousin Cathie. Below them were a bunch of matches that were a mystery to me.  I decided to check out one of them to see if I could find anything interesting. The matches name was Susan and she shared a mighty 46 across 1 segment with my great-aunt. And as an added bonus she actually had a tree!

    Franklin had a tree as well. However, the lady who managed the kit was working more on Franklin's maternal side and I didn't see any Italians on that side of the tree. She messaged me back saying that I probably connected on that side and to try emailing someone else in the family I did that and never got a reply. So, logically I must connect with Franklin and Susan on the paternal side of things.

    When I looked at Susan's tree, I saw a last name that rang a bell. The last name "Mazza" appears in various records in San Pietro a Maida. I found many Mazzas and put them on WikiTree. Surely the connection must be there, right? Uhh.... Nope.

    Apparently these Mazzas all came from San Pietro Apostolo, a town a good 38 kilometers northeast of San Pietro a Maida. Think I'd be frustrated? Yeah. You ain't seen nothing yet.

    If I wasn't connected to the Mazza family, the next logical step would be to check out his wife who was a Casale/Castelnova. The only thing is she was supposedly born in Brazil and I haven't been able to find much else about her.  At that point I just shook my head and labeled the two of them as unknown matches to figure out later. I wasn't about to spend time on this issue if I wasn't getting feedback from the matches themselves. No one responded and when that happens I get frustrated. I like bouncing ideas around with people. That's how I was able to solve so many puzzles! Genealogy isn't a solo gig! It takes a team and there's no "i" in team!    

    Over time I just let things simmer. It was clear to me that I wasn't going to solve this mystery overnight. I had other things to do and other puzzles to solve. That was when Jennifer showed up as a match to Nicole and as you can see she shares a mighty 79 cMs across 3 segments. This makes her one of the biggest DNA matches Aunt Nickie has in that family!
    
     Jennifer being the largest match of the bunch meant that there was something obviously going on here and the three of us had a clear connection with this family. I messaged her and unfortunately I never got a reply. At this point I realized I wasn't going to get any help from anyone in that family. It's a shame because I was hoping we could talk things over. We could find the connection and move on with our lives. The connection IS there despite the shared matches not going toward any family member I knew about. Frustration was building and I decided to take matters into my own hands.

    I compiled a list of all of the matches in that family group to see how they all match myself, my father and Nickie. As you can see Nicole matches everyone on the list and I only match a handful of them. That's to be expected as the older generation would match more people than I would.

    With that said, I used Ancestry's new comparison tool and my great-aunt as a guide to make a tree on DNApainter.com's "What are the Odds?" app. The results were pretty interesting.

Check it out!

    Yeah. This isn't very helpful, is it? I managed to cluster Franklin and his family together in a neat little package. Reed, Ben, Sue, Jennifer, Johnny and the rest of them all fit in quite well together. My great-aunt is likely one of those hypotheses and it's hard to say which one is accurate. Let's look at my great-aunt's tree and do a little comparison!

    Okay. As you can see here she's got a pretty ironclad tree thanks to years of research and help from the fine folks over at the commune office in San Pietro a Maida. Everything in her first thirty ancestors have been verified and I have yet to see any connection to the Mazza family or even the Casales. Nickie's DNA matches seem to hail from the Ferraiolo, Coppola and Tedesco branches for the most part and none of the "Richards" family match anyone from those three family groups. Could they come from the Gullos? It might explain why they don't match anyone else.

    I honestly have no idea. It's entirely possible that they descend from the Gullos or even that "Unknown Coppola" in her tree. The connection may even be farther back and I see big numbers because of endogamy. But, I see no evidence of endogamy at all here.

    DNA is very random and DNA doesn't lie. I doubt that these are false matches. Not when Nickie has that 70 cM match. I've asked for help on this issue many times and I've gotten nowhere. This is why this family vexes me so much. It isn't so much the lack of cooperation. It's more that I know there's a connection out there and I can't figure it out. There's also the possibility that their trees are wrong. I have no idea.  

I do have some theories. 

1. The connection is very far back and might be at the 4th cousin once removed level like Zelda is. Remember her? Or it might be greater.

2. I connect at the Casales and that might link to San Pietro.

3. Endogamy might be at play here. I haven't seen any endogamy in my great-aunt's tree. But, you never know!

    If anyone else has any theories, please share them in the comments. I'd love to read them! 

    In any case, I'll just have to keep the Richards family on the backburner for now. I suspect that they are on the Gullo side of things because they don't match anyone else. So, logic dictates that they must have a Gullo ancestor that's connected to me. In theory. I could be wrong. All I can do is watch and wait. 

    DNA testing has helped me make countless discoveries. I'm not denying that. More discoveries will be made I'm sure. Right now this family vexes me in both the DNA area and especially on the communication front. Or rather the lack thereof. DNA has solved questions. But, in this case communication might be more helpful. Here's hoping I get a breakthrough with this Richards family!

See ya next time!

P.S. Hope you caught the references with the names I've used this week to protect the innocent. Reed, Ben, Sue, Johnny, Franklin and others are related to characters appearing in the pages of Marvel's "Fantastic Four." See Marvel's first family return to the big screen this July. And as for this blog? Well, to quote the ever lovin' blue-eyed Thing...."What a revoltin' development dis is!"

52 Ancestors Week 16: Oldest Story

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 16:

The theme for Week 16 is “Oldest Story.” What is the oldest story that’s been passed down in your family? Have you figured out if any of it is true?

I can hear that John Williams score....

       My family has no shortage of old stories. In fact, I've told the one about my great-grandfather, my grandfather, my grandma Ollie and others taking a trip to Italy many times in this blog. I've talked about how Alfred Hamel may have helped bootleggers during the Prohibition. Every yarn I've come across has had its own kernel of truth. However, there's one story that's older than any other tale I've ever told in this blog. Is it true? Well, that's for you to decide and for me to find out! Get yourselves comfortable. This one is going to be good!

Nana, the storyteller.

    Around the time I first heard about the adventures in Switzerland, my grandmother Natalie decided to share a story she heard growing up with me.  I forget the details of how she brought it up. However, I have a feeling I might have asked her if she had any good stories from her family. I remember her smiling and telling me that I had an ancestor who fought in the American Civil War AND who was in the White House band under President Abraham Lincoln.

    When I first heard this story, I was like "What?" At the time I knew my dad's ancestors were fairly musically inclined. Imagine my surprise in finding out that my mother's side had musicians as well! And yet through some strange twist of fate the music gene skipped me. It's okay. I can still jam out on Rock Band.....on Easy mode anyway.

       

     Nana never really said which ancestor of hers actually played in the band. She and others in my family were quite adamant in saying that someone fought in the Civil War and was a member of the White House Band. I wasn't about to disagree with them at that point. I was a kid and everyone around me seemed to be sure that actually happened.

    By the time I got into genealogy, one of the first things I wanted to figure out was whether or not this story was true. After all, having a bunch of musicians in the tree sounded like a great idea to me. So, I researched and found three ancestors of mine who served the Union during the American Civil War. Their names were Jeremiah Felker, David Webster Stevens and John Sargent Fisher. Once I had that confirmed, it was time to find out who played in the band and why he didn't tell Honest Abe that the play got bad reviews. Eh, that's probably a fixed point in time.  I am so sorry.

So close with that beard. Sigh...

    Its been quite a while since we talked about my 3rd great-grandfather, Jeremiah hasn't it? I can't remember the last time I wrote about him. To sum up his life as quickly as possible I'll just say this:

    He was born out of wedlock to Elias Felker and Martha Smart in the 1830s. Martha's father Jeremiah sued to get custody of the boy and Martha ended up raising him along with several other half-siblings. 

    Jeremiah enlisted in the August of 1864 shortly after marrying Elizabeth Deborah Fellows. He served in the first New Hampshire Heavy Artillery Unit and by the end of the war decided to retire to Haverhill, Mass in order to raise a family.

    To date I haven't found anything that would indicate that he was ever a musician. He may have had an epic beard like many musicians had. But, I don't think Jerry was in a band. Sorry, Jerry. You're not the next American Idol. At least he had a pretty cool beard. Side note: I still need to see if I can digitally fix this picture somehow.

    One Civil War soldier was down and only two more remain. David Webster Stevens turned out to be an interesting guy. He wasn't a musician or anything. He was actually a minister. And though I would like to call him "The Rock Reverend", I don't think David ever set foot outside of New England. 

    David enlisted in the September of 1862 and served with Maine's 25th Infantry Regiment. He rose to the rank of Private and like Jerry it doesn't look like he was musically inclined. Dave was ordained as a Reverend in the 1870s and he was never called a Rock Reverend by anyone. It's a shame because I'm positive he'd have written a song about losing his first wife Sarah at the beginning of the war and marrying his second wife Huldah at the height of the conflict. There'd be sad violins playing and everything! His life story would then be narrated by Ken Burns or Morgan Freeman.

This article is full of errors. 

    Finally we've come to the last Civil War era ancestor I have in my tree. He definitely has to be a musician, right? I mean the other guys didn't turn out to be musicians  and I'd hate to call my grandmother a liar.  Well, when I dug into John Sargent Fisher's past I found that he enlisted in 1861 as a musician in the company band for Massachusetts' 2nd Infantry unit.

    Finally, I found my music guy! I don't think he was a drummer boy or anything. He enlisted as a thirty-one year old when he was actually closer to forty-one.

    Like the others I've talked about, he didn't stay in the service that long. Johnny here served from the May of 1861 to when he was injured in the June of 1862. He ended up being disabled for the rest of his life.

    Could he have been to Washington D.C. and been a member of the White House Band at any point? It's hard to say. While I do think it would have been awesome if he was a member of the band, I haven't found any evidence that put him as a member of that organization. Googling the White House band only led me to a British noise band called "Whitehouse" that was formed in 1980. 

    I uhh....don't think that was his band! I even checked the White House's website to see if any band members were listed. It looks like the identities of the band members are lost to time.

    At least my grandmother's story was half true. We did have a musician ancestor! The jury's still out on whether or not he actually in the White House band under Lincoln. It's not like I haven't tried to find a list of band members. I have! It's just impossible to know for sure. Could he have gone from Massachusetts to D.C.? Yes, of course. They had trains in those days. It might have taken Johnny a whole to get there. But, he'd be there! Was he ever at the White House? No idea. And I doubt they keep guestbooks from the 19th century hanging around.

    Either way at least we know that John Sargent Fisher was a musician. I'd like to know what instrument he played. It's pretty cool to have creative people in your family tree and Fisher seemed to be creative. It's a shame that after he traded his instrument for a rifle that he got injured. I wonder if that had impacted his music. Did he still play despite being injured? I'd like to think that he did. He seemed like a cool guy with great hobbies. Check out the obit for details. There is an error or two, though.

    Stories like this one are definitely worth checking out. Would I have liked it if my grandmother actually gave me his name? Yes. But, it's okay. I found my three Civil War soldiers and each one of them has a story worthy of a Ken Burns documentary. Did Nana misremember things? Maybe. In the end it doesn't matter. Just being a creative person rising above a disability or a Reverend or a man who raised his own grandson is more than enough for me.  They didn't have to prove themselves to anyone and are still rock stars to me. 

See ya next time!