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.

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What do you think?