Reflections on 1996

 April and May are tough months for most of us. One whiff of lilacs takes me straight back to Mary Jane's worst days. It's been 25 years of a world without her. That's an entire generation. Maybe long enough to forget the pain, the confusion, the hopeful updates and the devastating truths.....but no....not yet.

Mary Jane's illness and death rocked our nuclear family to its core and is the most impactful event in its history. It continues to reverberate.  There's a sharp line dividing the before and the after. During her illness, my trust and faith in science and medicine grew at the same pace my loss of faith deepened. It remains so.

25 years in a world without Mary Jane isn't quite the case though. She lives on in her girls, in her grandchildren and in her siblings. When I find joy in some simple detail, I like to think it's because Mary Jane's outlook taught me to take that time. I didn't get to hang out with her as much as some of you did so you knew her differently. I thoroughly enjoyed her adult self especially after she returned to New York. She lived a big life in a short time. She also lives on in our hearts and memories. I see her influence in the girls still today. I cherish the time we had together especially during her illness and I know it affects my life today.

We have a great deal to celebrate on Mother's Day in 2021 and I hope the joy that we all take in the next generation helps heal the "before" and "after" divide just a teeny bit. I suspect she might kick our asses if she knew we got sentimental every April and May. Let's just try to smile and laugh and love on Mother's Day this year. Cheers, Mary Jane! Thank you for all you have taught us and keep teaching us!

 

Gloucester Hero John Handran Gets International Attention

I've told John Handran's story in previous posts ( https://gatheringthecousins.blogspot.com/2014/04/john-handran-1852-1885-medal-of-honor.html) but briefly, he was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1876 for rescuing a fellow Navy seaman from drowning. This honor hasn't previously received much recognition, perhaps partly because John died in the sinking of the Schooner Cleopatra just 9 years later.

About 5 years ago, I was contacted by the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States requesting "smoking gun" evidence that the John Handran in our family tree is the SAME John Handran that was awarded the Medal on Honor. I realized that, despite the excellently researched Handran family tree information provided by George Handran, I did not have adequate "smoking gun" evidence to prove this. A long search began. I was assisted by a Canadian group which specializes in Canadians (John was born in Newfoundland) who were awarded the US Medal of Honor.

In 2017, I found that evidence on the front page of the Cape Ann Advertiser Jan 1885 which I was able to review (the actual newspaper 130+ years old) at the Cape Ann Museum Library and Archives. This evidence satisfied the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States and they set about arranging for an "In Memory Of" memorial plaque to be laid at the sight of his wife Sarah's grave at Calvary Cemetery in Gloucester. Getting cemetery and military approval was no easy task but the plaque was laid in late winter this year and a ceremony was being planned. Then the virus stopped everyone's plans.

I told this story here on the blog, as well as on the Good Morning Gloucester blog ( https://goodmorninggloucester.com/2017/12/22/a-noble-record/). These blog posts are what brought John Handran's story to the attention of the Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States. I told the story to well known genealogist and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke who decided it warranted a segment on her Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast #183. I was delighted to share John's story as well as the steps taken to get some deserved recognition to him and to his family. You can listen to my interview here: https://lisalouisecooke.com/2020/06/01/new-view/

Genealogy Gems Premium is a paid subscription service (which I highly recommend for only $49.95/year) with a wide international following, but Lisa Louise has agreed to share a free version for you all to enjoy.  It's time for John to get the recognition he and his family deserve for his heroism and service to country.

Everything Will Take Care of Itself

I've been thinking a great deal about our grandfather Francis P. Flynn, who was universally known as "Weenie" long before such a nickname would create sniggers. Our current President indicated he had no idea how to compare the upcoming death rates in American history: "I don't know, World War II maybe?" and I wanted to scream "Does 1918 ring a bell?" 

The flu pandemic of 1918-19 resulted in more than 600,000 (six HUNDRED THOUSAND) deaths in the United States. Last estimate I heard for our current COVID-19 pandemic is an estimate of as many as 200,000 deaths. When numbers get that high, comparisons between 200,000 and 600,000 tend to lose meaning because we can't wrap our heads around losing so many lives. But Americans have suffered extreme death rates and the flu pandemic has a number of parallels to today's crisis.

Our grandfather was born in 1906, and therefore around 12 years old during most of the 1918 flu. One younger brother, Dinty, was only a toddler and therefore in an at-risk population. Also at risk were his parents, especially his mother Barbara who was in her mid 30s. This pandemic struck mostly younger adults and was vicious, however, the Flynn family escaped the worst of it. Barbara had some nursing training so perhaps that was a factor, but I am sure it was a time of high alert and cautious measures.

I expect a 12 year old was very conscious of what was going on around him in the small city of Olean NY and I also imagine this crisis impacted his views on life. He always used to say "Everything will take care of itself.".   I wonder where this phrase originated for him. As a mom, I like to imagine it was passed down by his mother but it seemed so like him that I was sure it was a motto he designed for himself.

Many times throughout my life, this phrase brought comfort. It remains so today.  Our at risk groups today are very different so I am especially thinking about my older friends and family as well as those with compromised health conditions. I'm not sure what life will look like on the other side of COVID-19, but I do believe that, in time, "everything will take care of itself." God Bless you, Weenie. Love you and miss you always.

Giuseppe Joseph Disabato War Hero 1920-1943

Giuseppe Joseph Disabato was just one of the many thousands of military personnel we are honoring this Memorial Day weekend. Killed in action at the age of only 22, his actions were rewarded with a Silver Star and Purple Heart. His young age at death is only one of the many heartbreaking facts of this short life. His father died when Joseph was a toddler and his mother Marguerite Innocencia Coffarelli never remarried. She had 9 children before her husband died the year the youngest was born. Single motherhood in the 1920s and 30s must have been brutal.

As you might notice, his mother received very little information regarding his death and two other sons were eager to go into battle to honor their brother. In fact, as this article states, "Don't worry" was the general military message back home to the survivors. I'd like to believe things have changed by now, but perhaps not.

And in a final blow, his body (and more than 2700 others) wasn't brought home until almost 5 years later. I am sure that renewed the pain for the entire family. This reflects just one experience among the many thousand others over the years of active military service to the United States. It will do us well to remember and honor them always.

New Aunts and Uncles for the Flynn kids

I am pretty sure this is a picture of Barbara Lippman Flynn and her sister Anna Lippman Denning. I have recently received some information about their family straight from Munich Germany and I am happy to announce that the Flynn kids have new aunts and uncles! Barbara and Anna had siblings!!!

It appears their father Thomas was a flour dealer in Munich and lived with his wife Ernestine (maiden name Worle) in the same vicinity of the city of Munich for a number of years. This Catholic family apparently included a number of older siblings, most of whom had "Ernestine" as part of their names: Franziska Ernestine, Konstantine Ernestine (1878-1958); Anna Erestine Babette (born 1880 presumably died as infant); Ernestine Josefa (1881-1896); Barbara (born 1883 and presumable died before our Barbara was born); Barbara Ernestine (ours); and Anna (also known to us).

I am asking my German researcher to continue the search on this family so stay tuned for any further developments.  It only took somewhere near 20 years to  get this far with them, so don't hold your breath!

Flynn Family Update

This re-post is in honor of the fact that I've met a new cousin (second cousin technically), Erin, granddaughter of John Flynn (4-5 to us) and his wife Margaret (Fat Aunt Marg as we knew her thanks to our grandfather).  Perhaps she will enjoy this and share it with others.

We took a trip to Boston with our children and niece Jessica in April 1995. I can't remember if Jessica's sisters were with us, but I remember specifically that our entire ride out there was dominated by the radio broadcast updates on the Oklahoma City bombing.  Upon hindsight, we probably shouldn't have had the kids listening to all these stories but you couldn't help yourself.  It was a little bit scary as there was quite a bit doom and gloom speculation as to larger forces at work in this act of terrorism. And we had no idea what terrors were lurking in the future......

One of the stops we made was to visit with Patty Flynn Donohue and her sister Sharon Flynn.  They had never met any of you so it was kind of cool to introduce them to you guys in person.

Patty and Sharon are Weenie's nieces.  Weenie had two brothers:  Charles (Dinty) and John (whom we called Four Five).  Patty and Sharon are Four Five's daughters.  I don't ever remember meeting Dinty but I do remember going over to Four Five's house--a particular treat was to play with the poker chips in their holder.  Poker is apparently how Four Five got his nickname.  One of us ( I think it might have been me) counted out cards emphasizing FOUR FIVE between three and six.  Then he was Four Five.

Weenie called his wife "Fat Aunt Marg".  Though I didn't realize it at the time, she was anything but "Fat" and I'm sure that's how she earned her nickname.  Classic Weenie.  I also think we were the only ones to ever call her that.  I remember a little bit about these girls.  They were older than us and rarely around when we were there but always present in the catching-up phase of the visit.

This is Chris and Uncle Four Five in their yard in Olean.  Those Flynn men were pretty handsome all around.

I think this is the Flynn family in Olean. The young child is probably my mother Anne Flynn. Her parents, Francis "Weenie" Flynn and Paula Nevins Flynn are pictured next to her. The woman behind her is Barbara Lippman Flynn, the Flynn matriarch. Behind her is her sister Anna (can't deny they are sisters!).  I believe the other men are John (Four Five) and Charles (Dinty). 

Pretty odd about the nicknames, don't you think?  One thing I think about a great deal is how we all called our grandfather Weenie--just like EVERYBODY else.  The entire city called him the same thing we did--a little bit different than most grandfathers (and great-grandfathers--which he was indeed!)

So we can bring this right back around to Jess! Francis and Paula Flynn godparents to Jessica.

August 1994

I thought it would be fun to dive back into the photo albums again and see what was going on 24 years ago this month.  Turns out there was quite a bit going on that month!

It was the summer that we got our new pole barn built after the old one caved in under heavy snow in a previous winter.  The clearing of the land for this new barn (we have always called it the bus garage since it was home to the marching band bus) created a large pile of debris which the fire company burned for us in spectacular fashion.  This is Amy and Brad watching that fire:

This is one of my all time favorite pictures and memories. 

The Hartman clan came for a visit that year!

Baseball Hall of Fame

Of course, we went to a Binghamton Mets game.  This is Jeff Barry with Amy and Brad.

I think this might be at Jean's for Mallory's birthday--Drew, Marisa and Amy.  Looks like Drew is showing Marisa the clutch.

Ryan having a catch with your Dad.

Your Dad playing volleyball in someone's back yard.

Sometime that summer, Angela hosted a reunion..what a crew!

James and I went to Chicago that summer and we took Amy and Ryan to stay on Long Island.

I think this is Pat's picture from that visit!

Good ole Harry the famed cat was still around.  We went to Sesame Place where James danced on stage with Burt and Ernie.  It's pretty tough when even Ernie is laughing at you.

 We even found time for a trip to the Syracuse Zoo.  Who knew then what the future held for this pensive little girl?

I guess we kept ourselves pretty busy but when the kids are young, you try to do all kinds of stuff.  It's pretty close to where Jake and Lindsay, Danielle and Ron, Lindsay and Jesse, Brad and Cheryl, and Brian are right now with the upcoming generation. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Be Kind to James Day on Aug 23??

It's a valuable exercise to review old documents for new information, especially when researching family history.  Sometimes you find new and interesting tidbits of information.  Sometimes you don't, but it's still fun to look.  This is one of those stories, except some of it may be news to you.

This is a copy of our grandfather Francis "Weenie" Flynn's birth certificate.  It can be considered an official document because it has a raised seal.  I think you already know he was born in Emporium PA and that his parents were Patrick Flynn and Barbara Lippman.  Though, take note here, that his mother is listed as "Barbetta Lypmann".  It's the only time I've seen her referred to as Barbetta but I need to remember to keep that in mind for future research.  Other than Barbara, I've seen her listed at Betty a couple of times.

One very important item to look at when reviewing such documents is the date it was issued.  In this case, this appears to have been issued June 7 1954, when he was 47.  It is not uncommon to have to round up new copies of vital records for a variety of reasons including marriage, passport application, establish identity to pursue estates and so forth.  Whatever the case, it usually indicates some significant life event and is therefore worth noting.  But I am not sure what was happening for Weenie in 1954 that would warrant the need for his birth record.  We may never know but it leaves a little crumb to follow someday.

More interesting to note is that this is a corrected certificate (see upper right corner).  The corrections are noted on the back as seen here:

Perhaps you already knew that Francis was originally named James Thomas but did you know his birth date was not originally listed at August 24?!?!?!?!  What if BKTF Day was BKTJ Day a day earlier????  What if what we have always known to be true and celebrated .....wasn't?

Traditionally, families would name the first son after his paternal grandfather--whose name was supposedly Timothy so I'm not really certain where James came from, but Thomas is Barbara's father's name.  That James sitting there is another tantalizing clue to follow someday.  Someday........

Peter Grover Ryan 1940-2018

Our uncle Peter died early this morning after a brief hospitalization.  He was our uncle, but of course he was also a father, husband, brother, Elk, golfer and friend.  I have learned a great deal about him during this time we've been able to spend here in Gloucester.  He certainly had his flaws, but as my uncle, he was top rate.  He was so happy to have Colleen and Petey with him in the hospital yesterday.  Witnessing that eases my sorrow immensely. 

He was born March 31 1940 in Gloucester.  He was one day old for the 1940 census! He said he lost his hearing in one ear sometime during the second grade which excused him from the military draft.  He has told stories about his dad getting him a job at the grocery store....unbeknownst to him! He gave his earnings to his mother. She returned the money to him when it was time for him to buy a car.  He hadn't known she was keeping it for him.  He thought he was contributing to the household and he was always emotional telling that story. 

I never could really get good stories about family from Dad, but Peter was full of them! Better yet, he was always right and gave me solid leads to follow.  One example is that I'd been seeking a death date for "Aunt Bud" (Viola Ryan) and Peter told me several stories about her that lead me to find the information I was seeking AND filled out Aunt Bud's life story in a lovely way.

My childhood memories of Peter are full of FUN.  We rarely saw either of our dad's brothers so when we did, it was a great treat for us.  There was a long stretch of time that the Gloucester family was absent from our lives, but that's no longer the case and we've built strong relationships over time. I will miss him sorely but knowing Dad has his brother with him again gives me some peace.

John H. Bentley 1870-1925 Finally Back in the Fold

My research time in Gloucester has been extraordinarily fruitful, but this particular find can only be credited to pure Irish luck.  This was so random it's almost scary.

John H. Bentley is the son of Captain Bentley who went down on the Schooner Paul Revere when young John was only about 12; his mother died a mere 3 years later leaving 4 young children including our great grandmother Catherine Bentley and John H. 

I don't know how the children managed after they became orphans, but I feel certain it was not an easy time for them. In 1892, John H. married and began having children--12 all told though some died as infants.  I have pretty good track of him from the time of his marriage to about 1922.  By 1930, his wife reports herself a widow in the census.

I had been able to track all of his siblings but lost John H. and hadn't been able to find him and bring him back into the fold.  I knew he died between 1922-1930 but even thorough Massachusetts records did not cough him up.  None of the many online Bentley family trees had any clues about his death and I finally came to a conclusion that perhaps he did not die in Massachusetts. I was at a loss as to how to proceed and just put him on a back burner again.

I was doing some work at the Sawyer Free Library looking at Gloucester Daily Times microfilm and had a little extra time to kill so I picked a random microfilm covering a 3 month period to review day by day to see if I saw anything interesting.  Happened to be the Jan-Mar 1925 reel.  Low and behold, on Jan 3 1925 (only a couple of days in)--I see this article on the front page and nearly fainted.

John H. had apparently abandoned his family, ending up in Illinois and dying there is some kind of accident.  I have sent away for his death record, which lists him as Jock or Jack (wouldn't have thought to check under anything except John....duh....).  It was pure serendipity that led me to this magical conclusion.  I don't know why he left his family but my imagination suggests that his difficult childhood probably contributed to these decisions later in his life.  For now, I'm happy to report he's back where he belongs in our little Gloucester family.  What a wild ride this is taking me on!  And there's even more to report soon!!

Happy Thanksgiving Mayflower Descendants!

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought this would be a good time to introduce the Pilgrims in our line--these are from the Ryan line.  I knew it was possible/likely that we had Mayflower connections, but a trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston confirmed it.  And you have to pay attention because it's Thanksgiving and it would be nearly un-American not to pay attention to Pilgrim stories at this time of year.

First of all, part of my hesitation in sharing this with you was kind of stuck in my lack of confirming documentation that we actually descend from Mayflower passengers.  Part of what I learned in Boston was that there's a certain point in family history research at which you can accept what you are given since it's been very well documented by others with much more knowledge, experience and history than you. I don't need to find Richard Warren's birth certificate--that fact is already well researched and accepted knowledge.  The very fact of its presence at this library proves its worthiness.  I don't need to re-prove what's already well proven.  I guess I hadn't really come to that realization yet, though I've had this Mayflower information for nearly 20 years now.

It appears we have (at least) three Mayflower passengers through whom we can claim this honor: Richard Warren, Stephen Hopkins and William Brewster.  This is 14 generations ago.

These are documents cousin Ann Gleason possessed and shared with me.  She was working with a couple of other researchers who (I now see) did their work very well.  The outlines above were done by one of them. At number/generation 12 we would have Catherine Pierce (Nanny Ryan) and Paul Ryan Sr.  Generation 13 would be Paul Ryan Jr and Anne Flynn.  Pretty cool, right?  I already had things pretty well sketched out back to generation 8 or so and my time in Boston opened the gates from generation 7 back to the passengers themselves.

There are many many stories about these passengers, their first brutal winter at Plymouth and the first Thanksgiving celebration and it's pretty awesome to think we carry those stories in our very genes.  If you are curious, a really neat Mayflower site is Caleb Johnson's site www.mayflowerhistory.com .

There you will find brief biographies of these people and one of the most intriguing is Stephen Hopkins, who apparently had previously traveled to this new land and spent time in Jamestown VA before coming to Plymouth.  He was quite the rogue it seems, so that fits in pretty nicely with the rest of our story. We actually have 2 connections through him.

Another nice summary can be found at the New England Historic Genealogical website: http://www.americanancestors.org/who-came-on-the-mayflower-pt2/ . I strongly encourage you to check these out.

It's the Pierce family that is our "Yankee" connection.  Who knew? It's interesting to note that our beginnings in Plymouth MA wind their way back through our own ancestry from Gloucester  to Nova Scotia (Nickersons) to Cape Cod and finally back to Plymouth. 

I hope you keep these Pilgrims in mind as you feast this year.  Special Thanksgiving wishes to you all.

James J. Ryan 1864-1937 and his wife Mary A. (Fields) Ryan 1871-1938

James J. Ryan and his fate have been a brickwall for many years.  A brickwall I was finally able to break through on one of my recent visits to the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. A little bit of Irish luck and perseverance helped.

James was our grandfather Grampie's (Paul Ryan Sr.) uncles, so here's our great grand uncle.  He was born in Gloucester, married in Gloucester and 3 of his children were born there.  In the 1900 census, he was listed as a bartender.  SURPRISE! 

Here's an odd little story from the Portsmouth Herald Mar 10 1903 possibly placing him there by then:  Note the "two chooses"

By 1910 he and his wife had added 2 additional children to the family and they were living in Portsmouth New Hampshire where he made a living as a saloon keeper.  I do not know what pushed him out of Gloucester to relocate to Portsmouth, but he was still there at the time of the 1920 census.  Then they drop off the earth, as far as I knew.  I could not locate them in either Gloucester or Portsmouth after the late 1920s.

Here's where the Irish luck and perseverance kicked in.  I made an educated guess as to when they might have died (1930s) and then started searching the Massachusetts Death Index looking for Mary listed with her maiden name Fields.  There were just too darn many James J. Ryans.  God Bless Massachusetts for making records available with extra hints!!!  I found two candidates who died in Boston in the late 1930s (yes, two Mary Fields Ryan!!).  I checked each of them out and found our Mary A. (Fields) Ryan!!!  She was a widow at the time of death so I cross checked James J. Ryan in Boston before her death and found 3 candidates.  One of them is our very own James.  I admit, tears welled up when I looked at the death record.  Finally found and no longer wandering out in there without acknowledgement.   

James' occupation was listed as X Ray orderly at the hospital.  Further inspection of the record showed they had lived in Boston for about 10 years as of 1937, which fit in nicely with my timeline.  My theory is that since their children were all grown and gone, nothing much kept them in Portsmouth and the Depression probably pushed them to Boston to be closer to their children and perhaps employment. 

I have since located James, Mary and one daughter Alice in Boston in the 1930 census, so I feel great relief to have gathered those two back into the fold and "finished" their story. 

Chester L. Ryan 1898-1975

During our time in Gloucester this fall, I've acquainted myself with the treasures available at the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics in Dorchester.  This facility allows access to birth, marriage, death,and divorce records from 1926-present day!!!  Yes!  Those of us who are researching vital records in a state like New York find this to be simply amazing.  A state that allows access to such materials is a friend indeed.

They are only open certain hours and they do charge $9 / hour BUT they give you full access to the records you request.  You must transcribe by hand (no photos) BUT they give you full access to the records you request.  Did I mention that?

Anyhow, this has allowed me to close some long open doors in the family tree.  One of these is for Chester Ryan, our grandfather Paul Ryan Sr's brother.  His death date and location were an uncertainty for many years.  He'd been labeled as mentally deficient for draft registration so he lived with family members for much of his life.  In 1929 he was living with his parents and siblings Viola (Aunt Bud) and John (Jack) on Eastern Ave in Gloucester.  It appears their address (if they haven't changed the numbers in the meanwhile) puts the residence across the street from (today's) Crow's Nest.

By 1940, he was a patient at the State Hospital in Danvers.  Then I lost track of him, but recently found his death record at the Registry from 1975 in a Westborough facility for adults.  I'm guessing there were limited places for impaired adults to live and Westborough provided the best choice, though it is 1.5 hours from Gloucester on today's highways.  It must have been a burden for his family members to visit him and I can't help but feel he was lonely. 

His mother died in 1945, his father died much earlier.  By the time Chester died in 1975, Grampie Paul Ryan Sr. was the only sibling left.  We know Paul's condition would not have allowed for visits.  I hope he was happy with other patients for as many years as he resided there.  He's also buried there and I hope to visit one day to pay my respects.

It's As Plain As The Nose On Your Face

I hope you are all enjoying your 4th of July celebrations!  I have just completed wading through the file of pictures shared by cousin Maurizio Dalpiaz and given to Kathleen and Robert during their most recent visit to Italy.  There are (blessedly) many of them but they got re-named and re-sorted when I loaded them into my computer so I had some extra work to do before I could share some with you.

Most exciting (to me) were the pictures of your great grandparents Giuseppe and Barbara Odorizzi Dalpiaz.  You share these great grandparent with Maurizio, and he was loaded with pictures!  This demonstrates the importance of finding those cousins out there so that such information and images can be shared.

Giuseppe looks a little forbidding to me here, but I think many of the Dalpiaz kids will easily recognize Barbara.  I find it interesting that Giuseppe appears to be lean and tall; Barbara appears rounder and definitely shorter.

Here's a group shot with Barbara and Giuseppe in the center.  I can't begin to name the others without further study....but the boy in the suit jacket on the far left in the front row reminds me a great deal of a picture of your dad Robert Dalpiaz that I've seen around.  It's interesting how looks pass down in families.

Recently I've had several discussions with people interested in the DNA reports for myself and for James.  A common thought might be that other siblings might not need to get their DNA tested as long as one sibling has done so, since you share parents.  This could not be further from truth.  A good example is demonstrated here now that I see what Giuseppe looked like.

Here's a picture of the "other" Costante Dalpiaz.  I'll call him Uncle Costante.  He was Giuseppe's brother (Maria Kussman's grandfather).  I think you can see a striking resemblance even though the image is poor (taken from their passport application).

In contrast, here's the well known picture of Grandfather Costante and his mother Barbara

Pretty plain to see that he resembles his mother more than his father.  Pio, Grandfather Costante's brother has the longer face of his father.  One brother resembles Mom, another resembles Dad.  It's all in the genes.  DNA, folks.  Though you share parents, your DNA is different for each of you.  Some of you may share more from your mother and some may share more from your dad.  I'll let you figure out which is which; but the important point here is that if you are interested in DNA for genealogical purposes, you should go ahead and have the test done.  Your results should resemble your siblings' results, but won't be exactly the same.  It's as plain as the nose on your face.

Unsolved Dalpiaz Mystery

A while back, one of your long lost cousins included some intriguing information about a great granduncle Ottilio Dalpiaz being murdered in Colorado after overhearing a Mafia murder plot. What self-respecting librarian/family historian wouldn't feel a great urge to research such a story??

Otillio (first name spelling varies greatly from source to source) probably immigrated from home in the late 1880's. Sal Romano's Trento website gives great information on some emigration patterns and I'm guessing Otillio followed this pattern. In 1900 he appears to have been a coal miner in Gray Creek Colorado. If you go to the Colorado Mines link on this website, you will see some Gray Creek mining pictures I think are very interesting. I haven't found him again until he was murdered in 1928.

I imagine it was a warm morning August 20 1928 in the Grand Hotel when Ottilio was shot to death after an apparent struggle in his room in the annex at the hotel. He'd been employed as their night dishwasher but had quit his job and collected his pay very shortly before he was attacked. Witnesses heard some discussion in his room, a struggle, crashing noise and shots. Seven bullet wounds from a .38 were found in his body. SEVEN!!

Otillio was probably around 54 years old when he died. It appears he had no friends or family in the area and was described as "a quiet fellow who did not talk much" . The reports from the coroner's inquest made no mention of any Mafia involvement and the murder was apparently never solved.

For me, this is a sad story of dying alone but perhaps sharing his story bring some justice to the great injustice of an unsolved murder.

Julia Fisher Nevins 1834 (ish) - 1907

For some reason, Julia has always fascinated me.  Lucky for me, I have a pretty full picture of her whereabouts for most of her life, but I'd really love to know more about her character and personality.
Julia is our great great grandmother on the Nevins side of the family.

She was baptized as Judy Fisher in Kells, County Meath August 1 1835 of parents Mathew Fisher and Ann Brien (maybe O'Brien).  Apparently Judith and Julia could be used somewhat interchangeably by the Irish.  Same as well with Ann and Nancy.  There are other examples, but they don't pertain to Julia's story.  We are unsure of her birth and baptisms could take place a couple of years after birth but, in this case, I feel 1834-35 time range is a fair guess as to Julia's birth.  Other children born of these parents were Christopher and Rose.  We meet Christopher later, but Rose is lost.  My theory is that she married and stayed in Ireland when the rest of the family left.

I feel pretty confident this is Julia's arrival in 1854 to Boston with Nancy (probably her mother) and Christopher (probably her brother).  Both Mathew and Christopher were blacksmiths so this is a big handy clue that these are the same people.

Shortly afterward, in the 1855 census, we find the family in Rochester New York rejoined with Mathew.  I try to imagine how they got from Boston to Rochester in 1854.  I don't have a clear picture of that yet.

Five years later, the family is in Ellicottville New York:  Mathew and Christopher are both listed as blacksmiths.  (***side note:  interestingly, Julia's future son Henry married the granddaughter of another blacksmith***)  The Fishers stay in Ellicottville area for several more years.  Julia's mother dies in 1861 and is buried in Ellicottville.  This grave marker was my biggest clue at the beginning of my search for information about this family. Isn't it magnificent?  It's probably the "biggest" clue I ever used!!!

By 1870, Julia has met and married John Nevins and they have 3 children together but are living (temporarily) in Oil City Pennsylvania and John is an oil worker.  One child is born here but all others were born in Cattaraugus County New York.  In 1873, our great grandfather Henry is born. A set of twins follows two years later making Julia the mother of 6 children.

The twins, Mattie and Christy (Mathew and Christopher) die tragically of diptheria when they are about 5 years old.  The remaining children, Frank,  John Jr., Mary and Henry grow to be adults with their own lives.  Julia lives until 1907 when "another good woman departed this life" at the homestead in on Bryant Hill in Ellicottville.  She would have known 3 grandchildren--each Nanny's (C. Paula Nevins') siblings: Margaret, Julia and Joseph.  John lived until 1913, also dying at the homestead. Presumably Nanny wouldn't remember her grandfather as she was only 3 or so when he died. 

This is probably a family who left Ireland due to the famine, Mathew leaving first.  Then Julia, her mother and her brother made their way from Boston to Rochester.  I'm certain they faced hardships we can't even imagine.  But Julia's children were successful:  Henry becoming a prominent lawyer for example.  Joseph also well known in the legal profession.  It's an American story, I guess.  I am very grateful this country allowed refugees such as Julia and her family to escape famine to come to the United States.  This won't be true for many other refugees today. 

Monica Looney Ryan 1907 - 1983 and her family

Let's take a look at the Looney family.  My siblings and I are not directly descended from the Looneys, but they can be confirmed as cousins.  Their story is muddled but intriguing.  I'll mention right now that they seem to have been pretty "loosy-goosey" with their first names which has made some of the research more difficult. 

You may remember Grampie's (Paul M. Ryan, Sr.) brother John "Jack" Ryan, who died of accidental gunshot wounds inflicted by a friend.  Jack died at the age of 32 with a wife and two young children.  His wife, Monica, was the daughter of John J. and Julia Looney.  She never remarried and lived a long life in Massachusetts.

John J. and Julia/Monica (Curtin) Looney probably came to the United States in 1914, quite a bit later than many of our other Irish ancestors.  Five children accompanied them on this trip, and I have found some evidence of four others.  Monica was among the children arriving in 1914 at the age of 7.  By 1920, census records indicate they were living in Cambridge, Massachusetts with 2 additional older children. 

By 1930, Monica was still living with her parents in Medford Mass and working as a stenographer for the telegraph company.  I don't yet know how Jack and Monica came to meet, but they married in Gloucester in 1934.  They quickly had 2 children, Patrick and Sheila.  Jack died in 1939 and Monica stayed in Gloucester for some time.  In the meanwhile, her parents John and Julia moved to Gloucester also.  Inf act, her father John died in her home in Gloucester in 1942.

Monica died in 1983 in Amesbury and she was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Gloucester (same place as our grandparents Paul Ryan Sr and Catherine Pierce Ryan). 

I am still tracking her siblings Julia/Sheila; Katherine; Mary C (perhaps could be same person as Katherine); Dennis (died in San Francisco); Eugene (died in Pennsylvania); Daniel; Nora Josephine; and Thomas.  The rich Irish history they left behind is what keeps bringing me back to them.  They apparently came from Cork City Ireland and I'm quite hopeful that someday I will find out more about them.  In the meantime, if anyone calls you Looney, well, they aren't wrong!

Revisiting May 2012 trip to Italy

Five years ago this month, Kathleen, Nick, Robert and Bobbie made their first trip to the homeland in Italy.  This May, they were able to visit again.  While we look forward to their pictures and stories, I thought it might be fun to see again some of what we learned from the previous visit.

From the May 2012 trip pics, I've been able to sort out some of your grandfather's (Costante DALPIAZ) siblings.  I thought you might like to "meet" them!  These would be aunts and uncles to your Dad Robert DALPIAZ.

An older sister Maria:  according to Trentini birth records, her full name is Maria Severina Carlotta Carolina Dalpiaz married a Menapace:

A younger sibling Edvige Rosa Dalpiaz married Pio Valentini

Pio, another younger sibling is in the same gravesite as his parents

How nice for us that photos seem to be standard additions to tombstones.  These guys generally lived long happy lives so you come from hardy stock.

Tullia DALPIAZ, Costante's youngest sister, died January 13 2017 at the age of 101!!!!  She was a nun and appeared to have lived a happy life.  In 2012, Kathleen, Nick, Robert and Bobbie were able to pay a visit.  We are grateful family members in Italy shared the news with us. 

This is another tombstone picture from Kathleen and Nick.  At the very bottom you can see Riccardo Dalpiaz who was an uncle to your grandfather Costante.  As you can see here, Riccardo died in war--in the Dolomites according to family legend.

We'll have to consult the historians in the family for better detail and perspective, but I believe Riccardo's death resulted from the Italian Campaign of WWI 1915-1918 between the Austria Hungary army and the Italian army for control of the Tyrol region (overly simplified for those that don't understand WWI military campaigns any better than I do--sorry, Thomas.).  In other words--I think this was the BIG one for your family testing their loyalties.  I do not know which army Riccardo belonged to.  I think military service was required of young men in this region and he may have found himself a solider by duty rather than by choice.  Regardless, he is deserving of recognition for his service to his country.  He was a 40 year old soldier fighting battles that probably were far too close to home.

I feel certain this May 2017 trip will be just as memorable for all involved.  What a blessing that the family can reconnect!

New Uncles!

Some random internet wandering today uncovered 2 new uncles on the Messa side of the family.  I should have known better than to assume Catherine Contento Messa's parents had more than two daughters! (Anna Contento Lessie being the other). 

Kate Messa is your great grandmother, who ended up in Queens after leaving Ohio.  Her husband, Jake was left behind and later died a tragic death as a result of an accident supposedly the night before he was to leave to come to New York.  It appears she largely raised her five children by herself, but with tremendous support from her sister Anna Lessie.

Catherine/Kate and Anna's parents are Pietro Contento and Maria Cisternino Contento of Bari Italy.  This is likely where the name Peter came from in both the Messa and Lessie families.  Thanks to FamilySearch.org, today I found that there are at least two other brothers:  Giuseppe and Tommaso.

Giuseppe (Joseph) apparently sailed to America in 1906 and stated he was a barber.  So many barbers!

He's near the bottom of this image (from Ancestry.com).  The clincher was that he stated we was heading to his brother in law's Luigi Lisi in Lafferty Ohio.  I am reasonably certain this Giuseppe Contento is brother to Kate and Anna.  I do find it a little odd that he was never mentioned by Aunt Josie or Aunt Rose so far as I remember.  So far, I have been unable to be certain where he went from there, but perhaps it is not a coincidence that there's a Joe Contento who settled right here in Broome County NY!  Wouldn't that be something?

William H. Ryan Jr. 1895 - 1933 A Man of Mystery

William Ryan Jr. is one of Grampie's (Paul M. Ryan's) older brothers.  I recently found a document placing him in San Francisco in 1919:

This is a Seaman's Protection Certificate which served as a kind of passport for seamen of the time.  Apparently William had never been to sea, but was heading out to the Bering Sea from San Francisco.  Go figure.  The huge bonus, of course, is that there is a photograph included there at the bottom!!!  Along with his signature.  So this was a hugely satisfying find for me, but it has only added to the mystery of William Junior's life.

What we know is that he was born in Gloucester in 1895 with two older brothers already.  It's interesting to me that it wasn't until their third son that William Senior and Catherine Bentley Ryan named a child "Junior".  Typically families would name the first born son after the paternal grandfather (in this case Timothy---and none of their sons were named Timothy) and the second son after the maternal grandfather (John was the youngest living child's name).  But William Senior and Catherine did not follow this pattern.

I have a note that William Junior married a Bertha Brooks, but I have found no further evidence of this.  We do know that he married Catherine Gilhooley in 1927 somewhere in New York.  They had two daughters, Catherine and Dorothy.  I believe Catherine never married but I don't yet know what Dorothy's future held. 

William Junior died in Bellevue Hospital in June 1933 .  At the time, he was employed by Ellis Island in their hospital.  The family lived on Madison Avenue, but I don't think they lived the "high life" of New York City.  I've not been able to locate William in each of the census years that I ought to -- perhaps he was at sea.  It surprised me a great deal to find that he'd been in San Francisco for a couple of years. 

Another odd note is that another marriage record appears for Catherine and William in 1933, very shortly before he died.  I can't help but believe those two things are related in some way.  Perhaps he was hospitalized and proof of marriage was needed and that was the only means of providing it.  For now, that is my theory. 

The Gloucester Daily Times for June 30 1933 states that William's mother and brothers John, Richard, Paul and Arthur and his niece Kathryn (I think this is Richard's daughter) attended the funeral in New York City.  He was buried in  Queens, coincidentally in the same cemetery as some of the Italians in my life.  It's also interesting to note that his father did not attend the funeral (he would die almost exactly a year later -- he and Catherine Bentley Ryan are buried in different cemeteries).  There's more to that story also!!! 

As much as I learn, there's more to be discovered.