Margaret Coffarelli DiSabto

I've buried myself in Gloucester material recently.  It's time to pop my head up and look around like those daffodils you see blooming these days. 

Recently I've found myself in the vicinity of discussions about Ancestry.com.  I think the media hype about the growing popularity of the TV Show Who Do You Think You Are? in addition to heavy Ancestry.com marketing has brought this to the level of lunch table discussions around the country.  Ancestry.com is probably my best friend in the hunt for family history and has been growing in its importance to me in direct proportion to their adding records and information to their databases.  I've been a subscriber for several years and have made many new discoveries via the information provided there.

Having said that, it is a fairly significant expense.  For casual researchers, I would probably not recommend subscribing.  Similar databases are often available via local libraries--sometimes even accessible from home with the library card in hand.  Believe me, finding those connections 3-4-5 generations back like they show on the commercials and TV shows isn't as simple as entering the name and clicking search.  Amazingly wonderful information can be found that way but it depends on what your research priorities are. FamilySearch.org has really stepped up the game and provides a wondrous range of free records that seem to be unavailable elsewhere.

Some family researchers are mostly interested in adding names and dates directly up their lines as far back as they can go.  Some are more interested in the stories about the families and their time and place in history.  Some are fascinated with the documentation just for the amazement of its mere existence and availability.  A 14 day free trial to Ancestry would probably get you the names but maybe not the stories or the documentation.  I would never discourage anyone from the free trial (except to be sure to remember to "unsubscribe" at the end) but would caution you to remember it's not as easy as a click here and there working like magic to produce a centuries old document showing you're related to Charlemagne.  Check out your local libraries and see what's available through their services.  Also, check the libraries local to the region you are most interested in.  You may be able to get a card and use their services.  You might be surprised at what's available.

So that's the end of my pitch for libraries (it's National Library Month).  Allow me to show you the results of some very long and arduous digging into the Coffarelli family.  Perhaps you remember the oldest daughter Margaret, born 1880 in Italy prior to emigration?  She married Marco DiSabto and used the name Innocence rather than Margaret.  Census taker error resulted in her being listed as Hishats Innocenti.  A real bear to locate and track that family!  But hard work sometimes pays off with something blessedly easy.

I haven't done too much sideline 1940 census research yet --I've only concentrated on the direct lines I was most interested in.  But I needed to see if I could find Margaret in 1940 out of curiosity to see how she'd be listed.  And we are blessed with the following reward:

Nice and neatly written by the census taker and pretty easy to locate.  You'd probably get here in that one click search demonstrated on the Ancestry.com commercials!  I feel so much better having found her.