Facebook Schmapebook Manzellis on the Social Network of the Day

You could have knocked me over with a feather when I found my grandfather Francis Flynn on Facebook recently.  Really!  As I've mentioned one zillion times, occasionally I surf the internet somewhat aimlessly looking for family surnames or events.  I did so recently with my grandfather's name and there he was, right there on Facebook for everyone to find.  Can you imagine?

This got me thinking about what he would have thought of such a thing.  Facebook, social networking and seeing himself land there would probably be things about which he would shake his head ruefully.  "Social networking?  That's no big deal---we've been networking since the cave man."  Oh yeah? Well, actually....yes they have.

My husband James tells me the Dalpiaz family did not have a party line on the phone, but we did when I was young.  Now THAT'S a "social network" where all kinds of news got shared while others kind of lurked in the background soaking it up.  Another tool used by your ancestors was likely the local newspaper.  Articles and headlines appeared in those days that you would never, ever see today (that's if you ever actually have a newspaper in your hand anymore).  I found some interesting tidbits that I imagine kept the networking wires abuzz at your family's Sunday dinners back in the day.

 This one's a little hard to read, but your great grandfather Giuseppe (Joseph) Manzelli apparently inherited a fair amount of money from his brother--$7500 for Giuseppe and Pasquale!  You don't see these kinds of things in the paper today. Brooklyn Daily Star April 6 1928.

 You should take a look at this one which talks about your grandmother Marguerite Manzelli performing at St. Rita's --all the way at the end it mentions she had a solo.  Also included in this production was her brother Albert as well as Amelia (I'm thinking this might be Emily?).  Take note near the top of the article where it says "A large attendance is expected, notwithstanding that today Ravenswood is practically cut off from trolley communication with the outside world because of the snow blockade."  This is from Mon Feb 16 1920 when Marguerite was just shy of her 22nd birthday.

 From the Long Island Star Journal we have a picture of Andrew Manzelli March 4 1940 all decked out in "Western Regalia for Minstrel".  This would be something else our families had in common as my dad was a regular at the minstrel shows (usually in a dress singing Barbra Streisand, but that's another tale for another day)

This one begs for the rest of the story since there surely is more to tell.  I believe this to be your great uncle Peter.  Hmmmm.  The Gangster Squad??

I'm now quite certain that Facebook currently exists because this stuff no longer does. 

John "Jack" Ryan and his brother Everett

Another unfinished story rests with John Ryan (Uncle Jack).  It was an additional mission in Gloucester and I found him as well.  It's an interesting story.

Paul "Grampie" Ryan Sr. was one of 9 children.  One baby girl died at birth so Aunt Bud was the only girl among seven boys.  John "Jack" Ryan was the youngest and was the victim of an accidental shooting in November 1939.  I think I've shared that story before.  Our uncle Tim Ryan told me he thought that Jack had died as a result of his wounds, but I didn't find an obituary in the days immediately following the accident.  So I felt I needed to "find" him as well so that I could close his story also.

I had discovered he died sometime in 1939 so it was a tad easier to go day by day through the newspapers from the November shooting date to the end of the year to find his death.

More than 7 weeks elapsed between the accident and his death, and Tim was absolutely correct that his uncle had died as a result of the shooting.  I noted that Jack had a wife and two children.

Since I was on a hot streak, I decided to pick up the thread left behind by this gravestone:

John J. Bentley is Captain Bentley who was lost at sea, Mary Costello Bentley was his wife.  Catherine Bentley was their daughter, our ancestor who married this William H. Ryan.  They are buried in separate cemeteries.  Everett Sr. is one of Grampie's brothers and Everett Jr. obviously his son.  As tempted as I was to locate Everett Jr. who apparently died as a teenager, I began looking for Everett Sr. in 1934.

I did find a funeral notice for Everett Sr. in August of that year but couldn't find the traditional death notice so I looked in the main portion of the paper and stopped cold when I found this very sad story:

This left me feeling very melancholy at how sad and lonely it must have been for Everett and his family and I couldn't go any further that day.  I was able to close the door on 3 of the siblings and have 2 remaining (Chester and Arthur).  There was a great deal of tragedy in that Ryan household which provides insight for our grandfather and father.

First Communion Mystery Clarified

Cousin Jim Coffarelli  mentioned in a recent email that they had begun working on their father's (John Coffarelli's) house and had found some interesting things in the attic from your grandfather James Coffarelli.  Cousin Angela was very gracious in taking us over to the house (I'd never been there) and showing some of the treasures discovered in the attic.  This is amazing stuff!  It's a wonder it stayed hidden up in that attic for all these years unknown to those closest to Uncle Johnny.   I assume that since he was the oldest child, much of this was left in his care.  There is quite a bit there related to your grandfather including his chauffeur licenses; a journal he kept while in Italy during World War I, pictures and a letter he wrote to his young son John while he was hospitalized encouraging him to be brave but not shy.  Definitely a gold mine.  I appreciate Angela's willingness to take the time and to share.

This picture is one of the pictures in Uncle Johnny's house.  Seeing it there was the final link for me in solving the mystery of this photo.  It appears to be two children celebrating First Communion.  The first time I saw this picture, it was in a big box of pictures from  the Dalpiaz family that was in Robert's house.  That meant it could be Dalpiaz or Coffarelli related.

Then I met your Coffarelli cousin Mike Barra who is Louise Coffarelli Barra's grandson.  Louise was next oldest sibling to your grandfather James (who was the  youngest of 9).  And he has the same picture!  So that meant this was Coffarelli related.  Mike was certain the girl in the picture was his grandmother Louise.  I supposed it was possible the boy was James, her brother but I wasn't sure if siblings would have shared First Communion at that time.  We certainly aren't used to that in the Roman Catholic Church today and I just didn't know enough about Church tradition of the time.

When we saw this picture in Uncle Johnny's stuff, it pretty much confirms for me that the boy is most likely James.  So although I am still not certain, this picture went from being largely unknown to fairly confirmed through the (sort of) random visits and picture shuffling with relatives.  Deliberate work with random luck pretty well defines family history research.

Cookies Anyone?

I spent the afternoon baking cookies yesterday.  I realize most people do their cookie baking on a different schedule, but that's what I felt like doing yesterday.  I use my mother's old Betty Crocker Cookie Cookbook.  It is BEAT UP and RAGGED.  Its spine has been taped over but of course that's long since become ineffective.  There are stains and marks everywhere in in.  I don't remember how it happened that that cookbook found its way to my kitchen, but I take great comfort in it.  It sits right next to the Betty Crocker cookbook Mom gave me for Christmas in 1980.

In the back of the book, there are a series of "best cookies" from particular time periods and this is the one from the time period of Mom's birth in 1933.  I thought it was kind of interesting to note the special notice about molasses and that "Betty Crocker service responds to the needs of depression-hit homemakers with balanced low cost recipes and menus."  I've always been quite certain that the effects of the Depression era mightily impacted Mom's cooking and baking habits.  You can see how these pages are well worn even though they are way in the back and likely rarely consulted.

In the front of the book, Mom has noted her name with 11/64 indicating a date.  She has also taped a universal recipe to the front here--I've never tried this one but I have made many others in the book.  Yesterday it was chocolate crinkles.  To prepare to bake, I removed several sticks of margarine from the freezer so they could come to room temperature before I got ready to bake.  This chocolate crinkly cookie recipe didn't even call for margarine!  It uses vegetable oil instead.  Makes me wonder how these recipes have evolved over the years to accommodate current health concerns and economy. I didn't do that research so you are spared that much in this post.

Since she got the book in November of 1964, I figure she must have gotten it into her head that she was going to bake Christmas cookies that year.  What was she thinking?  5 small children at her feet every minute and she wanted to bake cookies?  Who knows, but this is a little view of how things looked on Dennison Road Silver Creek NY in 1964:

No Charlemagne -- No Wonder

 No Charlemagne family history connections for you---yet.  Apparently there are those that consider it "hot stuff" to brag descendancy from this leader of the Holy Roman Empire.  Although "He was temperate in eating and drinking, abominated drunkenness, and kept in good health despite every exposure and hardship.”, he was also brutal in his quest to spread Christianity.  But no connections for you yet.  
NPR blogger Robert Krulwich recently discussed the popularity of shared Charlemagne ancestry and brought to mind a very interesting mathematical reality.  Theoretically, you can calculate your ancestors by doubling the numbers for each generation back.  For example, 10 generations means 1024 ancestors (which isn't too far from the total number I currently have in the combined Dalpiaz/Ryan tree).  So, back to the time of Charlemagne (48 generations give or take) each person would have 281.5 TRILLION ancestors.  See the problem?  There weren't even a trillion people on earth in the year 800 AD.

So, now what?  Of course, even though you still have 281.5 Trillion grandparents of some level, each isn't a different individual.  Cousins marry, for example, and pretty soon you're tripping over the same people in more than one place in your tree.  
The good news is that genealogy is finite.  There comes a point where no records are available and you can put all the names you want to into those 281.5 trillion slots on the tree, but without records to document proof, it's like a hangman game--just filling in the blanks to win the game.  
This is described as "pedigree collapse", which is the phrase that came to mind since I read that cell phone providers are running out of airwaves to support all the SmartPhone data plans out there.  Called "spectrum crunch" (sounds like a breakfast cereal), this problem highlights that the wireless spectrum can't support promised services as it is a finite resource.  Apparently Smartphones are infinite or this problem wouldn't exist (suggesting a quick and sensible solution).  

Regardless, perhaps wireless providers will be forced to collapse and marry its cousin.  Verizon, meet T Mobile.  Or we could just send Charlemagne.

Happy Franksgiving One and All!

I am contemplating Thanksgiving and thankfulness, along with most of the rest of the nation this week.  I love Thanksgiving because -- for me -- it's one of the "easy" holidays.  All you really need to worry about is the meal.  No gifts, decorations, cards to write and so forth.  For the most part, it's pretty relaxing as traditional family events go.  This gives a person more time to reflect on what there is to be thankful for.

Reflecting on thankfulness is a valuable exercise.  It takes us outside ourselves to think about influences beyond the confines of our personal space.  And when you join families through marriage or relationships, these influences can spread to the following generation.  Such is the nature of my gratitude for your family's efforts to keep cousins connected.

My mother was an only child so I had no aunts, uncles or cousins from her side of the family.  My father was the oldest of 3 boys and he was 13 years older than his next youngest brother.  My dad settled and started his family several hundred miles from his own hometown of Gloucester Massachusetts.  His brothers stayed in Gloucester, married and started families.  We saw very little of our Gloucester aunts, uncles or cousins.  It was an unusual event indeed to see them.

But your family has always seemed to be able to maintain pretty close ties with their associated families.  Even as youngsters, your parents seemed to spend a great deal of time with their extended family--this, of course, was partly due to the close geography and culture of the day.  But as you grew to adulthood, you all have made amazing efforts to allow our children to spend time with their cousins.  As I've come to know my own cousin a little better in recent years, I've learned to understand the value of this family bond.  So, thank you for making it so!


Originally I had planned to research what Thanksgiving was like for Italian immigrants in Astoria in the 1940s. Oddly, I didn't find the kind of information I was seeking but I did find an interesting little factoid that perhaps you will find interesting.  Apparently in 1939, the fourth Thursday in November (the traditional date to celebrate Thanksgiving) was late in the month, as it is this year.  At the time, it wasn't considered  proper to begin Christmas prior to Thanksgiving (imagine such a world!) and retailers were worried about the bottom line in a shortened shopping season especially as the Depression effects lingered.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving back a week in order to allow the extra shopping week.  Did you know this?  Derisively, it was known as Franksgiving and resulted in certain and rapid response from our US Congress.  It's an interesting story.  Check it out here.  

Regardless of when you celebrate or with whom, please enjoy every minute of your time together.

Elizabeth Coffarelli 1886-1947

Another elusive Coffarelli has been found!  This is truly an example of serendipitous fortune.  As often happens, I was looking for someone else when this newspaper article kind of fell into my lap.

Elizabeth is the third daughter of John and Rose Coffarelli--your grandfather James' sister.  I wasn't certain what happened to her after her brother died in 1934--she was listed as a surviving sister at that time.   I believe she lived at home with her father after her mother Rose died.  Since her older sisters married and moved away, I picture that she acted as the female head of the house.  She held a variety of jobs including "Flower Maker" and factory operator.  

This obituary tells me she never married.  I do not know where "Christine" came from but I have an old note from your house (probably a funeral card) that listed her death date and name as C. Elizabeth.  I don't know if she was visiting her nephew (sister Louise's son) or if she lived there, but you will note she was buried in Catskill Jefferson Heights.  This obituary also tells me that her other sisters Louise, Margaret and Theresa (the nun) survived her along with her brother Joseph.  So I can continue to look for Margaret after 1947.  

Elizabeth died at a fairly young age, as did several of the other Coffarellis (her mother, her brothers James and Phillip; her sister Mary), but now she is found and properly noted in our family tree.  When such a discovery falls into my lap the way this did, I wear my sparkly Genealogy Gem pin so people ask me what the pin means.  Then I can tell the story, because not everyone reads this blog to keep up on such news!!!

Walter Brown 1849-1908

Walter Brown was bedeviling me in terms of "closing the door" on his life.  Walter was Grampie Brown's younger brother.  Unlike Grampie (William S. Brown), Walter was born in the United States.  Though an early census record indicates he was born in Albany County, a later census indicates he was born in Michigan (where his sisters settled).  I am more inclined to believe he was born in New York State since that earlier census record was recorded much closer to the actual event.  I have the family pretty well documented and I don't believe they were in Michigan in 1849, but I could be proven mistaken one day in the future.

Walter apparently worked with metal--his occupation was listed as tinsmith and metal laborer over the years.  He came from a long history of blacksmithing and tinsmithing seems not too far removed from that.  He married Sarah Armstrong and lived in the Buffalo NY area.  Sarah and Walter had two children William and Maria.  Again, not easy to locate yet another William Brown in Buffalo but the search will continue.

This case was cracked when I found Grampie Brown living with Sarah after Walter died.  I'd had this death notice but wasn't sure it was the right Walter until I found that little tidbit.

Further evidence was located in a gravestone picture located somewhat by accident while following Ancestry.com leads:

This picture wouldn't have made sense without knowing a little about Walter's wife Sarah.  It's in Holy Cross Cemetery (presumably Buffalo though I'm not sure).

This is a case where several small clues lead me to conclude that our Walter Brown died in 1908:  the gravestone combined with the newspaper obituary combined with the census record.  None of these, standing alone, would lead to such a conclusion but TOGETHER they paint another picture of one of our family members.  It brings me great satisfaction to hunt these clues down and try to match them up.  I'm embarrassed to admit how many of these clues have been right in my files all along but that's a different story for another day.

James Francis Coffarelli 1898-1934

I continue to sort through documents I've had for a long time to review them seeking new insights or information. This is James Francis Coffarelli's baptismal certificate.  I don't blame you if you're wondering "Is she SURE that's what this is?  I don't see his name listed anywhere."


This was one of the very first documents I used to study the Dalpiaz family history.  That was bad luck for me.  I did not know who Jacob Simeon Coffarelli was for many years until I figured out that this document was dated 1923 (just a few weeks before James was married) and therefore transcribed by someone many years after the actual baptism.  I suspect the baptismal record may have said Giacomo which could be Jacob OR James.  I haven't yet figured out the Simeon/Samuel references.  Perhaps if I keep pulling these threads, I will figure it out.  I was convinced it was James' baptismal certificate by the birthdate which I knew to be his.

Another problem created from using this information first was that I read James' mother's name as Rosa Pidous.  I put that information in all my records and searched using that name.  I've come to accept that her name was likely Rosa Pedano (which you can kind of see in that example above).  Searching for Pedano is a whole different ball game than Pidous--and not just for the difference in spelling--but that's another blog post for another day.

I was curious about his sponsors Frank Scaretta and Margherita Nigra but haven't found anything in particular about them--not long lost cousins as far as I know today.

This Certificate of Marriage is why James needed the baptismal certificate.  How nice that this is seasier to read and makes much more sense in the overall picture.  We see familiar names.  It has a raised stamp.  It fits perfectly.  Enough to make a family historian smile a little as she falls asleep.

"Weenie" Flynn's Hall of Fame Induction 1970

I found some articles about our grandfather Francis "Weenie" Flynn  that I don't remember.  I'm sure I must have seen these at some point since they are in my piles and piles of family history trivia, but I don't remember these and I thought you might like to see them too.

These are contained within a folder of St. Bonaventure University Hall of Fame induction programs for 1970 (Weenie's year) and 1969.  Inside the induction programs are programs for the game held that day.  On Feb 14 1970, St. Bonaventure played Providence College and it was the ECAC Game of the Week.  One of the captains of the team was senior Bob Lanier who went on to become a well respected NBA player for Detroit and Milwaukee.  I can remember Weenie talking about how big this kid's feet were (size 22).  Until I saw these articles, I had forgotten this game and the Hall of Fame ceremonies were broadcast on network TV.  

It tickles me to note he's described as "not beefy enough" (an understatement) and 40 years later his great grandson is described as BEEFY and chugging around the bases to win his league championship.

I love this drawing.  It's from the Hall of Fame program.

Bazinga! Fun with Flags for our Italians

Bazinga!" is the phrase popularized by Dr. Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory  to express "gotcha" so it seems an appropriate title for this blog post as a recent episode gave me the idea.  Sheldon and Amy Farrah Fowler were recording their new video "Fun with Flags" and one of the notes displayed on his chart said: Your Father's Grandfathers' Flags. And I thought that seemed like a great idea for a blog post.  Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

With apologies for historical inaccuracies and vague detail, here we go.  The father's grandfathers used for this post were Jacob Messa and Giuseppe Dalpiaz.  Jacob Messa was born in Bari Italy in 1880 and the Kingdom of Italy flag's reign was just coming to its end.

I am unclear as to why this flag became obsolete in 1880 (showing my historical lack of knowledge) but the Italian national flag for this time period looks different from the Italian flags seen today prominently displayed especially for Columbus Day.

This flag's life span was 1861-1943.  But a nice safe bet is the flag of Bari:

When Jacob died alone in that hospital in Ohio after falling from the railroad tracks into a freezing creek in 1936, the hospital was no doubt flying a 48 star US flag.

Things get a little murkier with Giuseppe Dalpiaz who was born in Tassullo on 1869 just as Italy was on the cusp of unification.  The 1869 Austria Hungary flag was brand new for its subjects and I believe the Dalpiaz family would have seen this flag

By 1942 when Giuseppe died, the flag of Italy above was coming to the end of its life as well.  It's interesting that his life span very nearly matches these great changes in Italian history.

This research was a great deal more interesting than I expected it would be especially as I did the Ryan flags as well with similar conclusions.  So I guess this is where the BAZINGA comes in.  I should have known the history of the flags would speak to the political and social history experienced by our ancestors, yet I found myself surprised and touched by their place in global history.  BAZINGA indeed.

Fun with Flags for the Irish side of the family

I was watching Big Bang Theory recently as Sheldon and Amy Farrah Fowler were recording his new Fun with Flags video series.  Yes, that speaks to the exciting life we have here now that our son has returned to college. Anyhow, a note on the chart behind his head said "Featuring your Father's Grandfathers' Flags".  What a great blog topic!  Don't click out of here just yet.

Our father Paul M. Ryan Jr.'s grandfathers were William H. Ryan and William Edward Pierce and somehow I never noticed they were both named William until this blog research.  William Ryan was born in 1862 in Gloucester.  At that time, the United States flag had 34 stars.  This flag only lasted a couple of years before new stars were added and therefore the only President to serve under this flag was Abraham Lincoln.

By the time he died in 1934, the flag had 48 stars.  That flag lasted 47 years until Alaska joined the Union followed a few months later by Hawaii.

William Edward Pierce was born in 1864 in Argyle Nova Scotia Canada.  Nova Scotia had not yet joined the Confederation of Canada, but did so only 3 years later along with the rest of the provinces. This flag was only 6 years old at the time William was born. 

William Pierce died in 1942 in Gloucester under a US flag of 48 stars.

Our ancestors lived through very interesting times and the flags of their time on this planet tell this story.  Both Williams were born into political turmoil as their homeland struggled to unify and to create the great democracies now in place.

BAZINGA--got you didn't I?  It's interesting, isn't it? - to think about the history they saw probably without even realizing the impact.

Phillip Coffarelli The Count of No Accounts?

A nice little reminder to always look at the back of the pictures--this is what I found on the backs of these pictures.  I'm pretty sure these are of Phillip Coffarelli (but I'm not certain) and I love his handwriting and humor.  I have no idea in the world what he's talking about so any insight would be appreciated.  I thought you would enjoy.

*****************************************************************************

What do you think? 

Violet Elizabeth Ryan 1902-1957

Aunt Bud was Viola Elizabeth Ryan, a sister to our grandfather Paul Ryan Senior and a favorite aunt of our dad Paul Ryan Junior.  Her date of death was a mystery that I decided to apply my finer detective skills to.

In this picture you see CatherinePierce Ryan, Paul Junior, Violet Ryan ("Aunt Bud") and our uncle Peter Ryan.  I believe this was taken at Paul Junior's college graduation 1955.  So I knew she was alive at least until the spring of 1955.  For a long time, I've been trying to track down some more details about Aunt Bud's life especially when she died and where she was buried.  Our uncle Peter told us once that he remembered that she was living on Haskell Street with our grandparents Paul Senior and Catherine Ryan because she was ill.  He came home from school one day and found her dead.  No one could really remember when that was but I figured 1955-1958 as a range because Peter would probably have graduated by about 1958 when he was 18.  That narrowed it down but that's still a pretty big range to search.  Both our uncles Tim and Peter thought it might be 1956 or 1957 so I started to search day by day through the Gloucester newspapers for an obituary. 

Just before we left for a recent trip to Gloucester Massachusetts, I prepped myself to research Aunt Bud and Uncle Jack (John Ryan), who supposedly had died of an accidental gunshot wound.  Lo and behold some new digital references had become available so I learned that Aunt Bud died in 1957 and Uncle Jack in 1939 (the year of the accident). So I began searching the Gloucester Daily Times at the Sawyer Library day by day through "only" 1957 without much luck the first time.  But the second time, I tried the roll of microfilm that held copies of the paper from Oct-Dec 1957 figuring that range might be a good bet because school is in session most of that time since Peter remembered he had some home from school to find her.  (Nancy Drew has nothing on my detecting skills!). And this is what I found from early December:

Peter was right again!  He's got great information.  I was quite pleased to find her.  You'll notice it says she was buried in the family plot at Calvary.  The only family plot I was aware of at Calvary in Gloucester is this one for our grandparents Paul Senior, Catherine Pierce Ryan and Paul's mother Kathryn Bentley Ryan:

We noticed her arrangements were made by the Greely Funeral Home and I remember our mother saying this is the place always used by the Ryans.  My husband Jim suggested we go there and ask.  I was a little reluctant, but off we went and BOY was it worth the attempt!! A very nice lady was wonderful enough to go up into the attic to locate their books from 1957 and show us the page in their records for Aunt Bud's services:

Perhaps you'll notice that the drawing of the plot seems to indicate the burial of mother Katherine Bentley Ryan AND Arthur 1955 from Florida!  Arthur is another "lost" Ryan so this was huge.  I was tickled to think I'd found Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur so we went back to Calvary to see if we could find Sect 15 Range 15 Lot 13.  No luck. I called the Archdiocese of Boston and they said she was in Sect 17 Range 1 Lot 13.  Back to the cemetery.  Still no luck.  Apparently there is some confusion with Calvary cemetery records prior to 1960.  The Archdiocese "cannot confirm or deny" that Aunt Bud is buried there so we cannot have her name added to the stone--which was my intention at first.

We feel Aunt Bud and her brother Arthur are also buried in this plot.  We don't know why their names do not appear but I can speculate that it was just too expensive.  The monument people told us it would be $410 plus a $20 fee to the Archdiocese to add Aunt Bud to the stone.  That was more than I was expecting so I suppose in 1955 or 1957 if you pro-rate that amount, it would still be kind of expensive to add those names, even if the other siblings helped out.  And perhaps it should just stay that way.

35-62 9th

 

Your grandparents James Coffarelli and Marguerite Manzelli married in June of 1923 at St. Rita's (the scene of many family events infamous and joyful as well). Marguerite was the oldest of 9 children and James was the youngest. That pairing must have made for an interesting relationship. Just about nine months later, your uncle John Coffarelli was born in Freeport. And four years later your mother Regina was born.

This is a picture of Marguerite in front of the house on Sagamore Street. Uncle Johnny vividly remembers the large front sun porch which you can see a bit of behind Marguerite in this picture. Looks like a pretty good size house to me! Sometime between James' death in 1934 and Marguerite's in 1938 the family left Freeport apparently to live at 35-62 9th Street Long Island City. .

13 Sagamore Street was quite a ways from New York Hospital (now NY Presbyterian Hospital) in Manhattan where James was being treated for his leukemia. Uncle Johnny says he could see the hospital across the river--must have been from 9th Street

He recalls that the mortgage for this house was held by a furniture dealer who called the loan forcing them to move. Circumstances suggest that James' death probably forced this. I do not know the situation but at first I wanted to "boo-hiss" the furniture dealer but it is likely that Marguerite struggled financially after her husband's death at the height of the Great Depression. Yet another example of how history repeats itself and today's economic difficulties in many ways echo that time.

Uncle Johnny also recalled playing stickball in the neighborhood. He had no idea what kinds of things your mother was doing for entertainment while he was hitting a tennis ball with a mop handle. When I asked what were some of his favorite foods, he said he ate whatever was put in front of him. Days of the week dictated the menu--Sundays were chicken. I have noticed that the women in the family usually recall more specific details about such things but Uncle Johnny did not lack in detail describing stickball or other ball-bouncing games.

One interesting tidbit I'd like to follow up on was that he identified Aunt Betty (perhaps Elizabeth Coffarelli) in a picture as someone who lived with them and carried him out of a house fire! I imagine this had to be while they were living in Freeport but I hope to hear more of that story!

I've learned time and time again that these stories weave themselves in and out of time and it brings great comfort. As I was looking at my papers to get ready to put this post together, I re-read Marilyn Sheerin's letters and noticed that Aunt Claire and Aunt Marie's address was 35-62 9th Street Long Island City. More than 50 years later and the same address for the Manzellis. Probably someone told me that a long time ago, but it jumped right out at me today.

As Uncle Johnny was describing his sun porch on Sagamore Street, I was remembering Kathleen telling us that she has always wanted a house with a porch. Echoes of the past such as this add such richness to the story of your lives that it's difficult to let it go.

Earl Holliday Dies

Doing research on family members often turns up some interesting connections with the past.  For example:

Earl married one of William S. Brown's granddaughters.  They apparently divorced and he died the very same day my husband Jim was born.  One door closes and another opens?  I don't know.....it was just interesting.

Also to note is that my youngest sister and her husband share an anniversary with our father's aunt and uncle Florence (Pierce) and William Gleason. Bill Gleason's parents were married on Aug 10 1924 in Gloucester.  Whenever I see matching dates, I smile a little bit to myself.  I wish I had a picture of them to share with you.

Another interesting piece of the family history is that there are more twins on the tree than you may have expected.  On the Bentley side (Gloucester sea captain), there are twin boys Philip and Charles born in 1907.  The Ameros are related through the Handran side (Catherine Pierce Ryan's mother was a Handran) and they had boy/girl twins Edna and Reedy in 1898.  Another set of Handran twins are the Butler girls Anastasia and Ann born in 1873 in Gloucester.  Somehow I did not expect to see so many sets of twins.
There are always surprises to find in this hunt. 

Sweet 16 for the Dalpiaz side

There's a thread running through recent genealogy blogs and discussions about the "great grands"-- your 16 great grandparents. Specifically, can we name our 16 great grandparents? Must be this is where people get stalled.

Now, in case this challenge is presented to you and for those of you who aren't sure allow me to assist: Fortunato and Carolina Parteli Dalpiaz; Francisco and Teresa Odorizzi; Luigi and Mary Cella Messa; Peter and Mary Chesternino Contenta; Giuseppe (and unknown) Coffarelli; Giovanni and Leonarda Dalami Pedano; Pietro and Margherita De Carlo Manzelli; Graziano and Antonia Isoldi. Well, there's 15 of them anyhow--not too bad!

One of the interesting things about this group I noticed when I put these names together is that only Giuseppe Coffarelli came to live in the United States (he was about 90 when he arrived to live with his son). All the others were in Italy. It was the next generation that were the primary immigrants and therefore how your family came to be Americans.

Patrick and Delia (Madden) Gleason of Massachusetts

I heard from our father's cousin Bill Gleason recently.  I had come across pictures of his Gleason grandparents during my research so I wanted to share them with him.  I wanted some verification they were actually his grandparents so I could add them to the family tree.  These are not blood relatives but I am interested regardless.  Bill and Anne's grandfather Gleason was named Patrick and there are some interesting coincidences there but that story will wait until another day.

Anyway, I wrote to him and was very happy to hear back from him.  His letter confirmed these were the right people and included some interesting stories about them.

Apparently they ran a dairy farm and these are pictures of his grandmother Delia. Bill says:  "The two showing my grandmother in the laboratory were the most interesting.  The laboratory was a relatively small room behind the kitchen at 78 Walnut ("the homestead").  I never heard my father or anyone else in the family talk about the lab or their mother being the technician.  I wonder how or where she got her training."  The Gleason family determined the picture on the right was probably taken in 1915, based on a study of the calendar on the wall in the picture compared to a perpetual calendar.  Now, that's the kind of research that makes me smile!

Bill is older than our dad, Paul M. Ryan Jr.,  by a couple of years (he's now 87) so I was particularly glad to hear from him and to know he's well enough to plan to travel to Maryland next month to celebrate his son's 50th birthday.  How lucky for them!

MESSA family in Bari Italy

A while back I was visiting the local history museum and the staff asked me to research a piece for them to see if I could figure out what it was.

It looked like it was probably a piece of farm equipment, but that's all I felt safe in guessing.  It's kind of hard to research "red farm equipment maybe" with any kind of efficiency or potential to hit it right on the mark.  So I let it go until I was recently reminded they were waiting for some magic from me so this item could be appropriately displayed.  This time I noticed it was called "The Clipper" and the manufacturer was also listed so off I went with my research feeling pretty confident.  Upon checking and rechecking the photos I had taken originally, I noticed for the first time that the machine TELLS us that it is a "grain and seed cleaner".

The answer was right there all along and I just hadn't seen it because I was concentrating on the whole piece instead of its parts.

So goes family history research.  Lots and lots of times the answers are sitting right there waiting for me to find them again.  In my MESSA family folder I recently found a ship manifest from 1920 listing Francesco and Onofrio Messa which I printed out because I thought they were probably Jake Messa's brothers.  Notice the record says they are from Castellano which matches what your Aunt Josie has told me.

This time I studied the record more carefully and noticed that it lists for "the name and complete address of the nearest relative or friend in country whence alien came" father Luigi Via Felice Cavalletti Castellano.  I believe Luigi to be the name of Jake's father and I believe he lived in Castellano.  This gives me Luigi's address which somehow makes him seem very real, especially when you look it up on Google Earth or a mapping program.  It also helps to verify that these are members of your family.  This piece of information had previously been overlooked but now seals the deal in my belief that these are relatives AND gives me a solid location for the MESSA family in Bari Italy.

It's right there just waiting to be discovered.  Seems like a pretty good motto to live by.  Or a travel jingle.

Old Time Minstrel Show Paul M. Ryan Jr.

This is a program that states: "We, the members of the Gloucester Service Chest welcome you to our entertainment, an Old Time Minstrel Show, which is given for the benefit of all our own boys in the Armed Forces."  It was held on January 20 1944.  I suspect you already know where this is going, but here's what I found inside:

Dad must have been only about 16 at this time and it's gratifying to see that his End Man experiences had a long history.  Edna Handran was on the ticket committee--she's Dad's first cousin.  So far, I don't recognize other names.  But it was a neat little find.

James Coffarelli 1898-1934

I was trying to decide what to share on this blog next and noticed these two documents in my collection. I find them very interesting for a couple of different reasons. They both concern  James Coffarelli, for whom I have already had to solve a fair number of mysteries!

The Certificate of Baptism from St. Mary's Long Island City is for a child named Jacob Simeon Coffarelli sone of John and Rosa Coffarelli. Definitely your family and the birth date of July 25 1898 matches all records I have for James. It has been a huge mystery to me why the name is Jacob Simeon. It is dated June 6 1923 so we can presume he requested it as a requirement of his upcoming Catholic wedding just a few weeks later.

The Certificate of Marriage from St. Rita's certifies that James Coffarelli and Marguerite Manzelli were married June 27 1923. The documents are strikingly similar -- indeed they are produced by the same company so I imagine area churches all used the same.

They reside back to back inside a sheet protector in my notebook and I just thought you might like to see them again and take notice of a few things. Other than the child's name, his baptismal sponsors were Frank Scaretta and Margherita Nigra. I don't know if these are relatives but since James was the last of 9 children, it seems likely they may have given this honor to family friends.

Off I went to bed thinking I knew just how I was going to write the blog today. Relaxing your mind allows little brainstorms in and I had such an experience last night just as I was drfiting off. That darn Jacob Simeon was really bugging me and I was thinking about how I was going to note that the baptism certificate was produced 25 years after the event to prepare for the wedding. That means someone had to copy over and transcribe the information in the original church records.

And that's when the light when on! I am guessing that  James may have been listed in the original church records with his Italian name Giacomo--which can also be translated as Jacob! Ta-da! A perfectly reasonable hypothesis for the name on the baptismal certificate. Perhaps Simon/Simeon really was his middle name. I don't think I have anything else to help me figure that out for sure, but I am very pleased with myself that there may be an answer to that little mystery.

I slept very well after that. Now all I have to do is come up with some reason for him to have been listed as Samuel in the census records......

Homeland for Our Irish

Our Irish ancestry runs deep.  Recent family celebrations allow me to consider our immigrants and their struggles.  I have nothing to prove or disprove that our ancestors came to this continent escaping famine but it seems logical that there were significant "push and pull factors" (remember that from US History?).  Irish immigrants everywhere faced severe discrimination and I have no doubt the same held true for ours.

Our Irish immigrants were largely farmers or fishermen; livelihoods that depend upon unpredictable Mother Nature and many other factors beyond control.  I imagine that Henry Nevins' father was beyond proud that he became an attorney -- the grandson / son  of an immigrant.

I think I've talked before about our Irish surnames, but haven't talked too much about their Irish homeland.  That's mostly because I don't know too much first hand (yet) but one day I hope to.

Here are your great-grands and what I know about where they came from.  Match 'em up on the map.
Patrick Flynn's mother Ellen:  County Clare
Patrick Flynn's mother Barbara came from Munich Germany (we aren't counting her right now)
Henry Nevins' grandfather Henry born Ireland:  his mother Julia born County Meath
Caroline Brown Nevins daughter of English immigrant

William H. Ryan's father Timothy born Ireland (maybe Tipperary)
Kate Bentley Ryan's mother and father born Galway
William Pierce was born in Canada latest in a long line of Canadians (Nova Scotia)
Edith Handran Pierce's mother was born in Sligo

Patrick Flynn worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Henry Nevins was a well known lawyer who spawned many more in the same line of work; William H. Ryan worked in various blue collar jobs such as lunch cart keeper; William Pierce was a fisherman.

So I guess the pictures in my head when I think about those that came before us look more like these than those pretty green shamrocks.