This
is the gravesite of Graziano and Antonia
Isoldi. Like the Manzelli masoleum, this is also located at the Calvary
Cemetery in Woodside. This picture was sent to me at my request by a volunteer cemetery
stomper. For which I am very grateful.
Graziano died in 1934 while in his 80s. Most of his life here in the US
he lived at the same address in Long Island City. His address changed
in later years but he had the same neighbors so I am inclined to believe
there was some sort of redistricting or some such that resulted in
street name and number changes. He listed himself as a junk dealer or
rag man. Perhaps today he'd be called a "picker"??
As far as I know, there were 4 children in this family. The oldest,
Giovanna (Anna), married Giuseppe (Joseph) Manzelli. Although three names appear on this monument,
cemetery records indicate 5 are buried here. Besides Antonia and
Graziano, you see Michael who also died in 1934 just a few months after
his father. I believe this to be Anna's brother. Also buried here are 5
year old George and 4 year old Vincent. I do not know who these
children are yet but I am supposing they may be nephews to Anna.
Another mystery to delve into someday! I don't know why they are not
listed on the monument but it looks sort of new to me (at least in terms
of the first death listed being in 1912) and perhaps these children
were unknown to whomever purchased the monument. I love the angel
though! It appears not to match the monument, lending some credence to
the theory that the monument is more recent.
The Isoldis remain an open book for me--lots of research potential
there. A letter from another member of the family promised the story of the Isoldis, but
she never got the chance to share it with me. If she knew their
story, perhaps someone else does as well so it remains an intriguing
remainder on my list of family history to-do items.
This blog is intended to share the stories of my ancestors. The stories reflect research over the years as well as some conjecture based on the history of the times. Family names include DALPIAZ, COFFARELLI, MANZELLI, RYAN, FLYNN and NEVINS
Monday, April 28, 2014
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
John Handran 1852-1885 Medal of Honor recipient
This is the story of a cousin lost at sea. Ho Hum you might think. We
have several ancestors who have been lost at sea, what's the big deal?
In every person's life there is a story and this is the story of a
hero.
Our grandmother Catherine (nee Pierce) Ryan's mother Edith was a Handran before she married William Pierce. This is how we are connected as cousins to John Handran (technically 1st cousins 4 times removed. First cousins are children of our aunts and uncles (not just strictly our parents siblings, but all the "great", "grand" and other aunts and uncles) Times removed refers to the number of generations difference between the two.
John Handran was lost at sea aboard the Schooner Cleopatra Dec 26, 1885. He left a wife and 3 very young children just a day after Christmas that year. I don't know how long the fishing trip had been at the time of the accident, but it is certain he and the rest of the crew were not home for Christmas that year.
This is a picture from Frederick Bodin of Good Morning Gloucester of that time period and I like to imagine it reflects what it must have looked like seaside in the 1880s in Gloucester
I suspect John understood the dangers of his livelihood all to well and he acted accordingly by taking out an insurance policy on himself from an organization called the Massachusetts Catholic Order of the Foresters. I ordered copies of their papers for families I thought might be ours and John's were among the papers I received. They are extensive in detail just like today's insurance companies use our habits to determine risk and calculate cost. The details provide a rich picture of this man and his family. One of the questions in the medical examination area of the papers asks: "Does the applicant use ardent spirits, beer or tobacco?" John's answer is difficult to decipher as it is smudged, but it is clearly not a simple "No". He was 5'3" and 132 lbs--not a big guy at all. This policy was only 5 months old when he died and paid the widow Sarah one thousand dollars.
These papers also indicate that John's father and two brothers were both "drowned at sea"--the fishing life took a devastating toll on this family. John's certificate of death from the Order of Foresters says "Handran was drowned at sea. He was washed from the deck of the vessal and sank after a few moments of struggle. This is the testimony of some of the crew who have come home." I found these words haunting.
You see, John died at sea as a recipient of a peacetime Medal of Honor awarded by President Ulysses S. Grant for heroism in rescuing a shipmate who was swept off the US Steamer Franklin near Lisbon Portugal in 1876. From the New York Herald: ""poor Henry O'Neil seemed about to pay with his life the penalty for having gone to sea without learning to swim" when two sailors "were soon in the water making for the spot. One of them, Edward Madden, held a rope's end. The rope proved too short, the icy waters chilled him, to let go the rope was to lose his own life, and he returned. The other, John Handran, seaman, kept on with vigorous strokes. This was not the first time he had risked his life to save a shipmate. As he approached the drowning man with admirable coolness he kept clear of his struggling efforts to clutch, swimming round until he could grasp him with his right hand just so as to keep his mouth above water".
It seems fated that John should drown at sea, leaving a very proud story for his children and their descendants. It brings to mind Tim's service in the Coast Guard, for which we are all grateful and proud-- as we are for all in the family who served. I'm sure John would not have thought his actions were heroic but it's a story that needs to be told after all these years gone by.
Our grandmother Catherine (nee Pierce) Ryan's mother Edith was a Handran before she married William Pierce. This is how we are connected as cousins to John Handran (technically 1st cousins 4 times removed. First cousins are children of our aunts and uncles (not just strictly our parents siblings, but all the "great", "grand" and other aunts and uncles) Times removed refers to the number of generations difference between the two.
John Handran was lost at sea aboard the Schooner Cleopatra Dec 26, 1885. He left a wife and 3 very young children just a day after Christmas that year. I don't know how long the fishing trip had been at the time of the accident, but it is certain he and the rest of the crew were not home for Christmas that year.
This is a picture from Frederick Bodin of Good Morning Gloucester of that time period and I like to imagine it reflects what it must have looked like seaside in the 1880s in Gloucester
He calls it "Return of the Fishing Fleet Circa 1800"
The Cleopatra story inspired an epic poem "The Ballad of the Cleopatra" available on Google Books from Cornhill Magazine
. I encourage you to read it when you have a chance as it gives an
interesting viewpoint from a fisherman's perspective. A storm came up
and swept 3 men into the ocean, John Handran was one of them. Another
crewman died on the deck. A distress flag was raised and seen by a
Brisith vessel, the Lord Gough. As they prepared to send a rescue boat,
the distress flag was taken down. The potential rescuers were confused
by this but continued their mission. Apparently the captain and crew
of the Cleopatra took down the distress flag so as not to put other
sailors in danger by attempting to rescue them. This seems a very brave
decision to me and speaks to the nature of Gloucester fishermen. The
remaining crewmen were rescued and delivered to the Philadelphia port. I suspect John understood the dangers of his livelihood all to well and he acted accordingly by taking out an insurance policy on himself from an organization called the Massachusetts Catholic Order of the Foresters. I ordered copies of their papers for families I thought might be ours and John's were among the papers I received. They are extensive in detail just like today's insurance companies use our habits to determine risk and calculate cost. The details provide a rich picture of this man and his family. One of the questions in the medical examination area of the papers asks: "Does the applicant use ardent spirits, beer or tobacco?" John's answer is difficult to decipher as it is smudged, but it is clearly not a simple "No". He was 5'3" and 132 lbs--not a big guy at all. This policy was only 5 months old when he died and paid the widow Sarah one thousand dollars.
These papers also indicate that John's father and two brothers were both "drowned at sea"--the fishing life took a devastating toll on this family. John's certificate of death from the Order of Foresters says "Handran was drowned at sea. He was washed from the deck of the vessal and sank after a few moments of struggle. This is the testimony of some of the crew who have come home." I found these words haunting.
You see, John died at sea as a recipient of a peacetime Medal of Honor awarded by President Ulysses S. Grant for heroism in rescuing a shipmate who was swept off the US Steamer Franklin near Lisbon Portugal in 1876. From the New York Herald: ""poor Henry O'Neil seemed about to pay with his life the penalty for having gone to sea without learning to swim" when two sailors "were soon in the water making for the spot. One of them, Edward Madden, held a rope's end. The rope proved too short, the icy waters chilled him, to let go the rope was to lose his own life, and he returned. The other, John Handran, seaman, kept on with vigorous strokes. This was not the first time he had risked his life to save a shipmate. As he approached the drowning man with admirable coolness he kept clear of his struggling efforts to clutch, swimming round until he could grasp him with his right hand just so as to keep his mouth above water".
It seems fated that John should drown at sea, leaving a very proud story for his children and their descendants. It brings to mind Tim's service in the Coast Guard, for which we are all grateful and proud-- as we are for all in the family who served. I'm sure John would not have thought his actions were heroic but it's a story that needs to be told after all these years gone by.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Joseph and Jenny Manzelli
This is a copy of the front and back of the marriage
certificate for Joseph and Jenny Manzelli who
were married November 19 1896 in (at?) Long Island City. One of the
reasons I love these is for the signatures. You can see your ancestors actual handwriting on the back side of this. Oh, by the
way you also see great Uncle Giacomo's signature as well (the one who
looks so much like the current generation in his passport photo).
Worth
noting is that they were married by Long Island City Mayor Patrick
Gleason. Oh, by the way, Paddy Gleason apparently had a reputation for
underhandedness. Definitely sounds like the "good ole boy" network was
alive and well then as now. Makes you wonder a little bit about why they
chose to be married by him. We can't tell the location of the ceremony
from this document, but I'd be guessing City Hall.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Capt. John Bentley 1847-1882 Lost at Sea
This
is a picture of the schooner Concord, owned and operated by Captain
John Duguo, an ancestor-in-law a couple of generations back who sailed
about the same time as our direct ancestor Captain John Bentley. This
picture puts in perspective for me the relative size of the ship to the
mean and to the sea. Yikes. Those guys sure look small there and it's a
wonder ANY of them ever came back from these fishing trips.
John Bentley was born in 1847 in County Galway Ireland. I have not yet found the siblings he surely must have had. To my knowledge, his parents Henry and Kate never came to America. He arrived in New York from Ireland before he was 18 years old, perhaps in 1863 when he would have been only 16! He married Mary Catherine Costello (Kate) Christmas Day 1864 (17 years old if we accept the dates on the various records). Our ancestor Catherine Bentley was born 4 years later, the third of six children.
Captain Bentley and his father in law, Martin Costello, died at sea in February 1882 when he was only 35 years old. His wife was left with 5 living children, the youngest only 8. Kate Bentley died just 3 years later of "natural causes". By this time, the children were older and probably taking care of each other, but I've often wondered what life was like for them after they lost their father and then their mother in such a short time. An article in the October 1886 The Century Magazine called Gloucester Fishers states "Few men who fish on the Banks live to be old, and the result is there are comparatively few old fishermen in Gloucester." And many fatherless children.
Captain Bentley is our great great grandfather -- the same generation as the old fisherman Timothy Ryan. When I read The Perfect Storm I immediately thought of Captain John Bentley and have always felt a strong bond with this story.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Evelyn Manzelli Born about 1922 Queens NY
A while back, I mentioned that Aunt Mary Sapienza Coffarelli told me that your Grand Uncle
Peter Manzelli was married and had a daughter and later lived with
another woman ("that Nervo girl") with whom he had no other children.
She didn't say what happened to his wife but she did say that this made your Uncle John Coffarelli the "first official gradnchild" of Joe and Jennie Manzelli. T
This haunted me for a long time. First of all, there was the mystery of this marriage and little girl. Then there's the intriguing sentiment that whatever happened with the marriage negated the child's status in some manner. So I tackled the "easier" of these two: the marriage and the little girl.
A random message that came to me through Ancestry.com (which you've all heard makes this job so EASY PEAZY) motivated me to take a few extra research steps. I was able to obtain Peter's 1921 marriage certificate.
Peter and Mildred appear in the 1930 census living in Queens. I learned that Peter was a chauffeur and that Mildred's parents were Swedish. Daughter Evelyn is 8 years old in 1930 so I believe she was born about 1922. My Ancestry.com message mate indicated that Evelyn married then divorced Jack Carman (or Carmen) and died in 1972 which would have made her only about 50 years old.
Evelyn was about 2 years older than Uncle Johnny. With apologies to Aunt Mary, genealogically speaking: Evelyn is the first official grandchild of Joe and Jennie Manzelli. Although I believe there were probably very good reasons for the social mores that dictated official status of the line of descendancy, I guess I'm glad those "rules" have relaxed a bit and we can kiss and hug all the babies equally.
There is still the mystery of their marriage and Evelyn's life, but perhaps one day we'll find some more cousins! Also take note on the marriage certificate that their witnesses were Eugene and Amelia Russo. Amelia was Peter's aunt (sister to Marguerite) and the Russo connection is another Ancestry.com message mate! He provided pictures such as this one
I am sure I've posted this before, but it seemed appropriate with the upcoming wedding events! See you all soon!
This haunted me for a long time. First of all, there was the mystery of this marriage and little girl. Then there's the intriguing sentiment that whatever happened with the marriage negated the child's status in some manner. So I tackled the "easier" of these two: the marriage and the little girl.
A random message that came to me through Ancestry.com (which you've all heard makes this job so EASY PEAZY) motivated me to take a few extra research steps. I was able to obtain Peter's 1921 marriage certificate.
Peter and Mildred appear in the 1930 census living in Queens. I learned that Peter was a chauffeur and that Mildred's parents were Swedish. Daughter Evelyn is 8 years old in 1930 so I believe she was born about 1922. My Ancestry.com message mate indicated that Evelyn married then divorced Jack Carman (or Carmen) and died in 1972 which would have made her only about 50 years old.
Evelyn was about 2 years older than Uncle Johnny. With apologies to Aunt Mary, genealogically speaking: Evelyn is the first official grandchild of Joe and Jennie Manzelli. Although I believe there were probably very good reasons for the social mores that dictated official status of the line of descendancy, I guess I'm glad those "rules" have relaxed a bit and we can kiss and hug all the babies equally.
There is still the mystery of their marriage and Evelyn's life, but perhaps one day we'll find some more cousins! Also take note on the marriage certificate that their witnesses were Eugene and Amelia Russo. Amelia was Peter's aunt (sister to Marguerite) and the Russo connection is another Ancestry.com message mate! He provided pictures such as this one
I am sure I've posted this before, but it seemed appropriate with the upcoming wedding events! See you all soon!
Anne Marie Flynn Ryan 1933-2002
Anyhow, here are some pictures I thought you might like even though I think you have seen them before.
The famous blue dress in black and white. I think this was before their own Toronto trip. Imagine how much they were looking forward to that! This was taken at the Dennison Road house in Silver Creek NY.
A day that was a LONG time coming
This was taken in the backyard at 42 Bruce St. Walton NY--I'm pretty sure that's Tim O'Brien there to the left.
Not the most flattering picture of Mom but they all look so happy.
Francis P. "Weenie Flynn, Anne Marie Flynn Ryan, C. Paula Nevins Flynn
in the Walton NY living room.
So they say "Rest in Peace" which
is a very comforting thought for those of us left behind, but how could
she possibly rest in peace rejoining her parents, her grandparents and
Mary Jane? She can meet grandparents she never knew (William S. Grampie Brown and Mary
Brown). How peaceful can it really be?
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