Siblings on the Irish side of the family

Brothers and sisters.  I've been thinking about them (you) and thought you might enjoy seeing some variations on that theme:

 Thanksgiving 2010

 The Flynn boys (Francis, John and Charles "Dinty")with Mom and Aunt (Anna)

 Chris and I in Gloucester.  I think that's Nanny and Grampie's house behind us a little to the left.

 I see Breyen in there!

 I've always loved this one

 Epic night in Florida one year for Judy's birthday.  Judy's still in her chair for this shot (picture kind of shot)

 Three sisters

 Three brothers

 Unity on Dennison Road

 Three sisters a few years later

 Three other sisters.  This one is kind of scary.

 LOVE LOVE LOVE this one.  Absolute classic.

 Dad and Peter 1940. Snazzy cap there, Dad!

 Flynn sisters--Uncle 4-5's daughters

 The Lippman sisters:  Grammy Flynn and Anna Denning --the other Germans in the family

Nevins kids.  Looks just like our pictures.

It's a special bond and deserves some recognition.  Cheers to mine!

Close Calls for Peter Manzelli (1899 - ?) and James Coffarelli (1898-1934)

Random stuff as meteorological summer begins.


 I've been unable to close any doors on those open dates in the family tree recently but I have found a little tidbit I thought you might enjoy.  From the Brooklyn Daily Star April 1925 (or maybe 1926--it's a little blurry):

 Although it appears there was another Peter Manzelli nearby in the same time period, this "bad boy" is definitely your mother's uncle Peter, since the home address listed in this article matches the longtime Manzelli homestead.  I guess smart-mouthing authority is a long standing tradition for young squirts like Peter.  I'm afraid it's quite possible this relative may have been something of a criminal mind in his young adulthood. 

Your grandfather James Coffarelli was involved in an accident with a fire truck rushing into service.  Once again, I could determine this is "your" James Coffarelli from the address given.  Brooklyn Standard Union Oct 1922:

I'm not certain what an "automobile truck" is but this matches up pretty well with James' occupation as a chauffeur.  Good to know no one was hurt.

Kate Ryan Dow 1856 - 1923 From Boston to the Bronx

I've had a bit of Irish luck recently in my quest to round out the story of the Ryan siblings.  A man named Bob Dow contacted me recently as he was interested in Catherine/Katherine Ryan's life as John Dow's wife.  Together we worked to find evidence of her death and John's life after she died.  It's a lovely world!

Catherine is the third child of the original Irish immigrant Timothy Ryan and his wife Mary Squires Ryan.  The older two, Michael and Elizabeth, were born in Newfoundland.  Catherine was the first to be born in the United States.  I was very excited to find her Boston birth record for 1856, placing the young family in Boston at that time.  By the time the next child was born three years later, they were living in Gloucester.  The Ryan family spent many years in Gloucester before Timothy and Mary moved to New Hamphire apparently to be with one (or two) of the sons.  Thus our Gloucester roots took hold.

At the age of 25, Kate married John Dow of Scotland.  A few years later, she gave birth to her son Frank Eddy Dow.  As far as I am aware, she had no other surviving children.  I thank the genealogical stars that Frank Eddy had a rather unique name which makes searching for him a bit easier.  He ends up in Michigan later on which is where Bob and I found his father John.  Contrarily, John Dow is not so easy to search since the name not at all unique.  Bob did the heavy lifting on locating "our" John and I'm very appreciative of his efforts and willingness to share information. 

Though I haven't (yet) found our Kate in the 1920 census, she and John had been living in Massachusetts until at least 1910.  So no wonder it was a surprise to find that she appears in the New York Times in 1923 with her death notice.  It was only because she was "mother to Frank Eddy" that I was able to confirm that our Kate dies in the Bronx in 1923.  Bob shared her death certificate with me. Though some of the details don't quite match, Bob and I feel pretty certain this is our Kate.  It appears she was diabetic.

Twenty years later, her husband John dies in Michigan where Frank Eddy lives.  Someday I hope to track the migration of this family more clearly.  Most of our families stayed close by but this is an exception.  Kate Ryan/Kate Dow are not easy search items and when you realize they could be ANYWHERE it's pretty daunting.  So I'm grateful to have a partner in Bob Dow.  Cheers to Bob!

1928 Robert Dalpiaz and Regina Coffarelli

Bob Dalpiaz's 87th birthday would have been this week--and your mother would already have turned 87 !  I was doing a little research into the year and thought you might be interested to know that Mickey Mouse also made his first appearance in 1928 in Steamboat Willie".  Bubble gum, recliners and sliced packaged bread also became available for American consumers which tells  you just a little bit about the pop culture of the day, don't you think?  The House at Pooh Corner was published and the first yo you factory opened so it was certainly a brand new world for children lucky enough to be born that year.

 Being a child in 1928 was not like being a child in this century.  In fact, I believe many of us would find it hard to believe that parenting advice of the time admonished parents not to drop sentimental slop all over their children's heads--it suggested they be treated as small adults with handshakes for greetings and perhaps a very occasional kiss on the forehead if absolutely necessary.  This is the advice of James Watson who published Psychological Care of Infant and Child in 1928.  Here's an interesting section of that book.  When we ponder how our parents acted or reacted in ways that seem foreign to us, thinking about how their parents treated them might help ease that confusion.  I forget sometimes that parenting advice has evolved over time and that children are direct products of their home lives.  Parents sometimes might have tried to follow the best professional advice of the time; which, to us, seems as foreign as not having wifi available.

My research did uncover one very interesting fact.  There was a lunar eclipse June 3 1928 so don't you wonder if that had some affect on your father's birth?  There are still many many folk stories related to pregnancy and childbirth and a lunar eclipse and I have a feeling your grandmother believed most of them at the time.

Although we often study pictures very carefully for details, sometimes we forget to do the same with documents.  Here's a record of you father's birth.  The first thing I notice is that he's named "Bob".

 I don't believe it to be an official birth certificate if you read it carefully but it was cared for as carefully as if it was--and perhaps it could be used as such back in the day.

And some other favorites for a little trip down memory lane:

 1975 joint anniversary party (Thanks Kathleen!)

Easter 1993

 I've been told this is the Bellmore house.

 Christmas 1989--your dad looks bemused.

Mary Ryan Brotherton 1866 - 1943

I was tickled to find a picture to accompany this obituary for Mary (Ryan) Brotherton.  Mary was our immigrant Timothy Ryan's daughter--she was born in 1866 and died 1943.  She lived her whole life in Gloucester, Massachusetts (as did many of our ancestors). This Mary appears to have been named after a sister Mary who died when she was 2 a few years before this Mary was born.  It may also have been a tribute to her mother Mary Squires Ryan.  This picture was obviously from later in her life but I see a little resemblance here to her brother William (who is our direct Ryan ancestor).

I recently obtained some new information about Mary after one of those "dope-slap" moments that often occur in life.  The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was originally based in Boston after its founding in 1879 by Irish immigrants to provide life insurance for its members.  It soon spread to other cities, so Gloucester Irish were among its target demographic.  In the past, I have found a couple of our ancestor's files in this collection (now being housed at the University of Massachusetts).  Their applications for membership have been scanned and made available.  They are several pages long and provide intimate details of their lives at the time of the application.  They are especially helpful because applications were often made in a range of life span that often lacks detail in normal research.  Often, the applicants are heads of young families with living siblings and parents.  These details are extraordinarily helpful in pinning down the lives of the applicant as well as the life of their families.

And I made the CLASSIC mistake of only seeking the males in these files.  Since the files were recently transferred to UMass, more have become available and it finally dawned on me that I should look for some of the females (cue the dope-slap).  And Mary was my first discovery!

This is one page of the file showing the status of Mary's parents and siblings as of 1913 when this application was made.  This helps establish her life circumstance in a period that is sometimes hard to research: "mid" life.  These policies paid $1000 upon the death of the member.  Mary's Foresters file contains 16 pages all together and they are extraordinarily valuable and interesting.  You can bet I'll be looking for others.


***For some reason, this post did not publish in its full length the first time I hit the publish button.  It was only when I (conceitedly) went to read the post again that I discovered it was lacking the end I had originally written.  Another lesson learned.  The first ending was much better.

Home James!

I thought you might be interested in seeing the evolution of your grandfather's James Coffarelli's chauffeur licenses and getting an idea of his place in New York state history with these.  Recently, the New York Times published the Evolution of the New York Driver's License  and it's an interesting walk down memory lane, especially in light of the valuable collection of licenses left behind and cared for by your family all these years.

According to the article, 1918 was the first year that driver's licenses were issues (without photograph) but you can see this is a chauffeur's license.  I've never been clear on what he did that required a chauffeur's license.  On February 1, 1918, your grandfather was 19 years old and although I think our Ryan James looks pretty adult for his age, this picture seems to be of someone older than 19!  He had yet to go to Italy during his World War I term of service. 

A few years later after the War:

He was 24 years old by now and would be married by the time the license expired on June 30 (they were married June 23 1923).

Fifteen years later he weighs the same!  He certainly looks older now ten years later and was probably ill.  He died in February 1934 a few months after this license expired.  These licenses don't seem to have changed very much in this time period.  Updated New York state licenses are on the way:  (from the article) The newest licenses, made of polycarbonate materials, are laser engraved, not printed, and feature a pair of black-and-white portraits that help make the licenses more difficult to counterfeit.  I hope I look better in black and white ..........

William Gleason Jr. 1925-2015

We we saddened to learn of Bill Gleason's death recently.  Saddened, but not overly surprised since he lived to be 89 years old!  Bless him.  I thought of him frequently, fretting a bit that no one would think to let us know when he died as his children have no idea who we are.  He died March 31 and we were in Gloucester for Easter weekend, so we could have paid our respects in person but we didn't find out until a couple of weeks later after a phone call from cousin George Handran to our aunt Emmy Ryan.

I never got to know his wife very well, but Bill was very kind to us.  He graciously invited us to him home and fixed us lunch.  We brought our young children and he didn't seem the least bit fazed by that perhaps partly due to his own grandchildren.  He generously shared his sister Ann's family history notes for the Pierce side of the family.  I still refer to them regularly in my research.

 This is our dad, Paul Ryan on the right with his cousin Bill.  Just off Dad's shoulder you also see Dad's cousin George Handran.  This was in the summer of 2000.

Later the same day.  From left to right Bruce Pierce, Timothy Ryan, George Handran, Paul Ryan, Billy Pierce, Tom Foley and Peter Ryan.  All cousins of some degree through the Pierce side: truly Gathering The Cousins!

Cousin Bill Gleason's mother was Florence Pierce Gleason, sister to my grandmother Catherine Pierce Ryan of Gloucester Massachusetts.  You may remember a recent post that included some memories Bill shared after our father Paul Ryan died.  Bill's sister Ann was also very generous with her time and information.  I met up with her once or twice at Bill's and corresponded with her frequently.  I learned of her death when George Handran called me from Ireland to let me know.  I was very grateful for that call. 

Rest in peace Bill and Ann.  You are missed.