Mary Ryan Brotherton 1866 - 1943

I was tickled to find a picture to accompany this obituary for Mary (Ryan) Brotherton.  Mary was our immigrant Timothy Ryan's daughter--she was born in 1866 and died 1943.  She lived her whole life in Gloucester, Massachusetts (as did many of our ancestors). This Mary appears to have been named after a sister Mary who died when she was 2 a few years before this Mary was born.  It may also have been a tribute to her mother Mary Squires Ryan.  This picture was obviously from later in her life but I see a little resemblance here to her brother William (who is our direct Ryan ancestor).

I recently obtained some new information about Mary after one of those "dope-slap" moments that often occur in life.  The Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters was originally based in Boston after its founding in 1879 by Irish immigrants to provide life insurance for its members.  It soon spread to other cities, so Gloucester Irish were among its target demographic.  In the past, I have found a couple of our ancestor's files in this collection (now being housed at the University of Massachusetts).  Their applications for membership have been scanned and made available.  They are several pages long and provide intimate details of their lives at the time of the application.  They are especially helpful because applications were often made in a range of life span that often lacks detail in normal research.  Often, the applicants are heads of young families with living siblings and parents.  These details are extraordinarily helpful in pinning down the lives of the applicant as well as the life of their families.

And I made the CLASSIC mistake of only seeking the males in these files.  Since the files were recently transferred to UMass, more have become available and it finally dawned on me that I should look for some of the females (cue the dope-slap).  And Mary was my first discovery!

This is one page of the file showing the status of Mary's parents and siblings as of 1913 when this application was made.  This helps establish her life circumstance in a period that is sometimes hard to research: "mid" life.  These policies paid $1000 upon the death of the member.  Mary's Foresters file contains 16 pages all together and they are extraordinarily valuable and interesting.  You can bet I'll be looking for others.


***For some reason, this post did not publish in its full length the first time I hit the publish button.  It was only when I (conceitedly) went to read the post again that I discovered it was lacking the end I had originally written.  Another lesson learned.  The first ending was much better.

Home James!

I thought you might be interested in seeing the evolution of your grandfather's James Coffarelli's chauffeur licenses and getting an idea of his place in New York state history with these.  Recently, the New York Times published the Evolution of the New York Driver's License  and it's an interesting walk down memory lane, especially in light of the valuable collection of licenses left behind and cared for by your family all these years.

According to the article, 1918 was the first year that driver's licenses were issues (without photograph) but you can see this is a chauffeur's license.  I've never been clear on what he did that required a chauffeur's license.  On February 1, 1918, your grandfather was 19 years old and although I think our Ryan James looks pretty adult for his age, this picture seems to be of someone older than 19!  He had yet to go to Italy during his World War I term of service. 

A few years later after the War:

He was 24 years old by now and would be married by the time the license expired on June 30 (they were married June 23 1923).

Fifteen years later he weighs the same!  He certainly looks older now ten years later and was probably ill.  He died in February 1934 a few months after this license expired.  These licenses don't seem to have changed very much in this time period.  Updated New York state licenses are on the way:  (from the article) The newest licenses, made of polycarbonate materials, are laser engraved, not printed, and feature a pair of black-and-white portraits that help make the licenses more difficult to counterfeit.  I hope I look better in black and white ..........

William Gleason Jr. 1925-2015

We we saddened to learn of Bill Gleason's death recently.  Saddened, but not overly surprised since he lived to be 89 years old!  Bless him.  I thought of him frequently, fretting a bit that no one would think to let us know when he died as his children have no idea who we are.  He died March 31 and we were in Gloucester for Easter weekend, so we could have paid our respects in person but we didn't find out until a couple of weeks later after a phone call from cousin George Handran to our aunt Emmy Ryan.

I never got to know his wife very well, but Bill was very kind to us.  He graciously invited us to him home and fixed us lunch.  We brought our young children and he didn't seem the least bit fazed by that perhaps partly due to his own grandchildren.  He generously shared his sister Ann's family history notes for the Pierce side of the family.  I still refer to them regularly in my research.

 This is our dad, Paul Ryan on the right with his cousin Bill.  Just off Dad's shoulder you also see Dad's cousin George Handran.  This was in the summer of 2000.

Later the same day.  From left to right Bruce Pierce, Timothy Ryan, George Handran, Paul Ryan, Billy Pierce, Tom Foley and Peter Ryan.  All cousins of some degree through the Pierce side: truly Gathering The Cousins!

Cousin Bill Gleason's mother was Florence Pierce Gleason, sister to my grandmother Catherine Pierce Ryan of Gloucester Massachusetts.  You may remember a recent post that included some memories Bill shared after our father Paul Ryan died.  Bill's sister Ann was also very generous with her time and information.  I met up with her once or twice at Bill's and corresponded with her frequently.  I learned of her death when George Handran called me from Ireland to let me know.  I was very grateful for that call. 

Rest in peace Bill and Ann.  You are missed.

Disabto Family Update

A while back, Margaret Coffarelli Disabto's great granddaughter contacted me offering some tidbits of information about this elusive family.  Remember that Margaret is your grandfather James oldest sibling.  She was born in Italy in 1880 shortly before emigrating to New York.  She married an older man who'd been married before:  Marco Disabto.  She also used the name Innocencia (these Italians seem pretty loosey-goosey with their first names) They had at least 9 children.  This new "cousin" of yours descends from Marie Disabto Cochrane.  Her name is also Marie.

This is what Marie has to say: "Talked to my mom today and she said that Mark came here through Ellis Island alone. His mother had died and father was remarried. He then was part of an arranged marriage with Margaret. I believe that they were a few years different in age. Margaret lived with my Grandmother Marie and my mom (when my mom was a child) in the upstiars of their house. Margaret told my mom about the arranged marriage and Margaret was told he was a good man. She told my mom you know what they were right he was a good man. Mark died from a possible cancer."

This gives me some valuable information as I pursue this family.  In a previous post about this family, I think I shared with you a newspaper article about Margaret's son Joseph who was killed in action at Guadalcanal in January 1943.  This is what Marie shares about that: 
"As far as Giuseppe/ Joseph death. The story I heard was that he was on duty that night and not sure if there was a party the night before, but everyone else was asleep. Joseph saw, heard the attack coming and single handedly killed/delayed the enemy until help arrived/woke up. He was killed saving and alerting a lot of men to the enemy sneak attack.
My grandma mare had a picture of Grandma Disabato dressed all in black sitting down holding all Joseph's medals. Silver star, purple heart and I thought the Congressional Medal of Honor. After my grandma died we think our uncle Jerry took it....but really don't know."

Celebrating Uncle Lou and Aunt Rose

Yesterday we all celebrated Uncle Louis Albertini's 90th birthday!  90!  It was a very nice family gathering.  We also celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary.  I never noticed that they were married on Lou's birthday.  (I wonder if I have that right?)  68 years married represents a lot of hard work with a smattering of good luck thrown in once in a while.  That's a true testament to them.  Congratulations.

So nice to get together for happy occasions.  We learned that Diana and John will become grandparents of twins soon!  Congratulations Valerie and Dan.  What fun that will be to add to the tree.

A nice memory from yesterday:

Aunt Rose (Dalpiaz) and Louis Albertini with their children Diana Hall and Louis Albertini.

(the guys on the mural behind them are not family members :)  )

I was fiddling around trying to find something interesting to share with everyone for this event and came across this gem.  Take the time to watch the interview for the Veterans History Project done a couple of years ago.  How precious to have Uncle Lou and some of his memories documented in this way.  It's very moving.  He does tell a great story! 

Prom Season Through the Years

This great picture greeted me one Sunday morning a couple of years ago and it brought prom season to mind.

I noticed he was surrounded by two cute girls with tiaras but our sister Judy talked about getting his picture taken with all the girls from his class at the prom and I thought that's what this was.  Until I saw the crown.  Way to go King Matthew!  This is a GREAT picture and will bring warm wonderful memories for many years to come.  Proof positive of that right here in this post.

Poor Mom and Dad with 5 girls and all those proms!  They weren't quite the EVENTS they sometimes are today with limos or after-prom all night parties, but they have always held a special place in high school memories.

I had one prom experience in high school during my senior year in Walton.  My grandmother made my dress for me, bless her.  I thought the green/yellow paisley pattern would be different enough from the typical prom dress that........I don't even know.  I just wanted it to be different.  I think it was.  Looking at it today, I don't know WHAT kind of impression it must have made.  What I do know is that my parents did not like my date Glenn one bit.  I think they were somewhat relieved when my sister Kathy got asked to go with Jim Grotevant, a classmate of ours.  If I recall, Kathy had to make her arrangements late in the game.

 Ruffled shirts were quite the style at the time.  Look how long my hair is!  This was taken outside the school.  Dad attended the prom, supposedly as part of his duties in his job but I know 100% that he needed to check the whole thing out (mostly Glenn).  About an hour after we sent Amy off on her first prom, I sat bolt upright panicked and wondering "How could I send my daughter off with some guy we don't even know?"  I'll give Dad the benefit of the doubt and assume his concerns were similar.  Consider it an early Father's Day gift to him.

This is a classic from 1976.  These are my sisters Paula, Mary Jane and Kathy. Of course, I don't have any personal memories of this but isn't this a great picture?  I think that dress Mary Jane is wearing made the rounds for various events.  I think I wore it to a wedding once.

Prom season 60+ (yes, more than 60) years ago.  I think you've seen this before. This is our mother Anne Flynn Ryan.  This was probably taken in Olean NY. No ashtrays these days. Proms were a great deal more formal at the time--there are several dance cards left over from her dancing days.    I don't even know how kids today would fill out a dance card with those group "dances" out in the middle of the floor during today's dances.  Can you imagine? 

I've arranged several proms for Harpursville students and it's a big night for everyone--a tradition I hope lasts for many more generations of students.  Picturing our grand nieces Delaney, Tessa and Tylee right now......(see 1976 picture above!)

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.