Cathy's Genealogy Blog

Amanuensis Monday - The Will of John Dewey

2012-03-04T23:22:00.000-08:00

I love wills! Most people think I am crazy when I say that but anyone who does genealogy understands. Wills and probate records can tell you everything I began genealogy for. They can offer an insight into the character of it's author and the family relationships. I have broken more than 1 brick wall with wills and probate records. About a year ago, I ordered probate records for Lewis County, New York. I scoured that film for John Dewey my 4th great grandfather. I could not find him then, however, thanks to Family Search, his will is now on their website. It was 4 pages. I learned much about this man from his will. In retrospect, I guess I already knew this man was an ancestor to be very proud of. After all, he volunteered to serve in the Revolutionary War twice...and he supplied his own gun and ammunition. He documented his service in a diary that highlights some of the defining moments of the war. That diary can be read on my website here. I will transcribe portions of his will below. I hope to have it up in it's entirety on my website soon. You can view page 1 in his own handwriting(!!!!) on this page.

"In the name of God Amen. I John Dewey of the Town of Leyden, County of Lewis & State of New York, considering the uncertainty of this mortal life & being in a low state of health, yet helped by God, enjoying a sound mind & memory, do make & ordain this my last will & testament in the following form & manner - After committing my body to dust in the hopes of a future resurrection & my soul thru Jesus Christ to the mercy of God who gave it. Item 1st I give & bequeath unto my beloved wife Achsa Dewey one carriage, one horse, ten sheep & two swine; also one half of all my household furniture to be taken out in such articles as will be for her comfort and convenience to keep herewith & to be equal in value to one half to her use & disposal forever; Also I give & bequeath to my said wife for her use and benefit & support during her life one half of all my buildings & use of fifty acres of land lying on the north side of my farm to run parallel across the farm."The body of the 4 page will has told me John was a man of strong religious faith, who was very successful in life, leaving over 300 acres of land and many animals and buildings. He loved his wife and children very much and he probably knew he was dying when he wrote this will. Best of all his legacy gave me the best mother who ever lived.

Carlton Kent

2012-03-01T14:46:00.000-08:00

Working on my mother's grandmother's family, the Kents has been challenging to say the least. After working with my father's Italians I became accustomed to be able to trace family utilizing an abundance of records. Not so with the Kents. There are very few records available for Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania in part because the Kents were the first settlers there before anyone thought to record births and deaths. To make matters worse, many of the records were lost in a big flood in the area so I have been left to seek alternative sources for information. I have written a little about the life of my great grandmother Etta Kent Dewey here previously. This post is about her grandfather Carlton Kent. The family of Carlton has been the most difficult to learn anything about. His father and grandfather were among the earliest settlers in the area so even though few records exist for them, there was much information found about them in books and newspapers. I had to dig deeper and really scrutinize the information and records I did have for Carlton. I am so glad I did. What I found was an amazing man of great moral fortitude and a strong sense of family and responsibility. It seems Carlton did not have an easy life, although he did live longer than his father Abel, Jr. who died at 44 and his son Abel who died at 52. Carlton was born in 1791 in New Ashford, Massachusetts to Abel and Diadema (Horton) Kent. In 1792 his family moved to a remote area of Susquehanna County that was just beginning to be settled. Several of Carlton's aunt, uncles and their families as well as some neighbors in New Ashford followed soon after. Carlton undoubtedly helped his father on the farm and grew up learning how to be a farmer. Carlton married Sally Griggs around the same time his father died. His father, Abel Kent, Jr. died in February, 1813 when Carlton was 20 years old. Abel's passing left his wife Diadema a widow with a baby and several young children to care for alone. Although only 20 when his father died he and his mother were executors of his estate. In this remote township of Clifford (now Herrick), Carlton could not leave his mother alone with a new baby and so many small children so Carlton brought his mother and all his young siblings into his home with his young bride. Carlton and Sally began having children of their own and by 1820 Carlton was living in Gibson with his wife, his 3 young children Mary, Abel and Orpha as well as his mother and siblings John, Rufus, Harlie Ann, Eliza, Harriet, plus 3 other sisters who may have been named Mary, Mehitable and Sally (I have found no solid proof these names are correct although Carlton did have 3 sisters besides those proven). Carlton was supporting a family of 12 before the age of 28! He supported his younger sisters who lived with them until they married and he supported and provided a home for his handicapped sister Harriet until her death. In 1847 at the age of 56 Carlton and Sarah's daughter Orpha Amelia became a widow after her husband Elisha died. Carlton took his daughter and grandson William Harris Harding into his home after the death of her husband Elisha Harding. Carlton was an administrator of his will and took care of his estate by selling his property and taking care of all the legalities. In 1853 Carlton, living in Herrick now built a Methodist Church with his friends and neighbors Walter and Wheeler Lyon, and Andrew Giddings. The church structure still exists today. The church records showed the family remained close even after Carlton's children married and had families of their own. They continued to attend church together at the same time. On February 4, 1855 Carlton's wife died suddenly. By 1860 Carlton, aged 68, was living with his son Abel and Abel's family. Although it is unknown when he died, he died before 1870. I am very proud of Carlton, a man who clearly took very good care of his family, and was not only a good son, brother, father, husband and provider but a good man as well. Congratulations, Carlton, on a life well led and a good example of how I should lead my own life.

The granddaughter of Carlton Kent, Etta Kent Dewey. This photograph was taken in Herrick on Etta's last trip back home shortly before her death.

Tombstone Tuesday - Lt. Daniel Bagg 1776

2012-02-28T07:56:00.001-08:00

Lieutenant Daniel Bagg

This is the exquisite headstone of Lieutenant Daniel Bagg who died on December 21,1776 at the age of 44. He is buried in Westfield, Massachusetts at the Old Burying Ground also called The Mechanic Street Cemetery. Although he was not my family, I photographed his grave because of it's beauty and uniqueness. As I was sorting through the photographs the date he died, 1776 and the fact he was a lieutenant, peaked my curiosity. A quick search revealed he was listed among the dead listed in the book "Known Military Dead During the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783" written by Clarence Stewart Peterson. However, he is listed as "died" not killed. Exactly how he died is unknown, however, he did die while in service to the revolution. So for this blog post, I decided to look for the names of his parents. This is what I found.Daniel Bagg was born on 24 February 1696/97 in Westfield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Daniel Bagg and Hannah Phelps. He married, Abigail Dewey, daughter of Thomas Dewey and Abigail Dewey, on 12 December 1734 in Westfield. I knew if he married a Dewey during this time frame she was somehow related to my family. After all, this is the cemetery my early Dewey settlers are buried in. Further checking revealed that Thomas Dewey was the son of Jedidiah and Sarah Orton and his mother Abigail Dewey was the daughter of Thomas Dewey II and Constant Hawes. So Daniel Bagg was not related to me directly, however, his wife was. Had I not written this blog post, I never would have known that.

Tombstone Tuesday - Jonathan and Thankful Hunt

2012-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

From the Bridge Street Cemetery in Northampton, Massachusetts

Buried here ye bodies of Jonathan & Thankful Hunt children of Deacon Jonathan Hunt who were killed by lightening July 5 1799 in ye 13 year of his age & ye 7 year of her age.

Surname Saturday - Griggs

2012-02-18T14:01:00.000-08:00

My most difficult quest has been my finding my family in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Many of the records I needed were lost in a local flood, to time or because they did not exist yet when my family arrived there in the early days of the county. When they arrived Susquehanna County did not exist yet. Pictured here is my 2nd great grandfather Abel Kent and on the back of this picture is a notation my grandfather wrote "Etta's father, Abel, son of Carlton and Sally taken before Etta's marriage". Indeed! Her father died when she was only 7 years old. Abel Kent died on 15 September 1868 so the picture must predate that. Aside from the name Sally, I did not know anything when I began looking into the Kent family. I found references that her surname was Griggs but those references also included parents that could not possibly be hers due to their ages. So I put Sally off to the side...until this week I discovered Ancestry had put church records for Susquehanna County online which included Methodist Churches. I knew Etta Kent married Charles Dewey who was a Methodist so I had high hopes. I searched each and every record for Susquehanna County and I found a baptism record for Sally! Not only that but the record dated August 20, 1797 stated "Polley Griggs wife of Noah Griggs and children Lucina, Salley and Susie". So, now I finally have verification of her parents and know they arrived in the very early days of the county from Connecticut. I already knew they came from Connecticut and her father was probably Noah so I went to my Griggs notes and was able to trace her Griggs line back to Salem, Massachusetts. Sally's 3rd great grandfather was Dr. William Griggs who began his life in the colonies in the same place as the Kent's, Gloucester, Massachusetts. He removed to Salem as the town doctor where he got caught up in the infamous witch trials. Sadly he "diagnosed" people as witches during this time. There is an abundance of information on him so I will be busy researching her family for some time. One thing is clear...his sons left Salem shortly after the witch trials for Connecticut. I am certain the participation of their father in the witch trials had everything to do with that but I am hoping I will be able to find documents that prove this. Doctor William Griggs died 4 months after the conclusion of the witch trials. Which leads me to wonder if there is a story behind that as well. In the meantime, I am so grateful to have access to so many new records becoming available online. I have found so much this week, my head is spinning! I even found newly released records for my mother this week so it pays to never give up and keep checking.

The farm of Abel Kent, Jr. and Diadema Horton in Herrick, Susquehanna County

Wordless Wednesday - Nonno at Work

2012-02-15T09:51:00.000-08:00

My grandfather, Joe Napolitano, at his job as chef at The Chicago Club, Michigan Avenue, Chicago

Shopping Saturday - Ebay and Genealogy?!

2012-02-04T08:43:00.000-08:00

For years I have used Ebay as a resource for genealogy. Besides the obvious - books, it can be used for so much more. In the days before Google Earth it provided a great resource for vintage pictures of my Italian ancestral home towns. I learned early to check both the American Ebay and Ebay Italia for rare books and found many old postcards in these searches. On Ebay Italia I even found a postcard of a small country store run by the Zingone family in Montalto Uffugo. I knew exactly who this family was! I also found a historical document from the neighboring town of Rende that would have been posted in the town and throughout the area as well as mailed to other officials throughout Italy. The letter was a plea for help after an earthquake to outsiders and a notice of comfort to the citizens that help would be coming soon. This original historical document described the destruction and even gave a precise time the earthquake stuck. I was able to purchase it for a very modest fee and put it on my website to share with anyone with roots in the area. This letter gave me a insight into the suffering of my ancestors.

I have also been able to use Ebay for my American roots as well. For those with early American roots it is possible to read about our direct line ancestors in a multitude of books as well as the early days of the towns they settled. These books are (naturally) available for sale on Ebay but so much more can be found. Early post cards offer images of places our grandparents and great grandparents lived as it looked in their lifetimes. I have even found postcards of ancestors homes. Since most of these postcards (if they are truly vintage) are copyright free, they can be used on your websites and scrapbooks. Artwork can also offer views of towns that go even further back in time and if you are very lucky, you may find vintage portraits or photographs of family members. Vintage letters and envelopes can also be found that were addressed to or written by someone's ancestors. Perhaps it was yours?

Tombstone Tuesday

2012-01-31T06:43:00.000-08:00

I have been totally renovating my website for my Early American family so I have been going through my pictures from my genealogy trip in May. So today I have decided to combine Tombstone Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday. I will offer no commentary, I will be posting just captions of the location and names of the cemeteries tombstone pictures . The pictures will tell all I want to say. There really are no words that can describe what I want to say better than the pictures can.

Riverside Cemetery, Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut

Resting Place of some of the founders of Middletown and Hartford, Connecticut

Old Center Cemetery, Suffield, Hartford County, Connecticut

Detail of the same grave to show the several broken headstones lying flat around the base of the Remington monument.

In this picture: Many crushed headstones line the side of the church.

Old North Burying Grounds, Middlefield, Middlesex County, Connecticut

Notice the other broken stones surrounding these fallen, broken stones.

Surname Saturday - Scrugli

2012-01-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

The mother of my grandmother was Natalina Scrugli. Not a common surname either here or in Italy. This week I had a major breakthrough with her family that got me 3 more generations of her family. This made me think about her...her life, her struggles and what an amazing woman she was. I am so proud of her. So today I would like to share her story. Natalina Scrugli was born about 1866 probably in Tropea, Italy. I still have not found her birth act, however, her other siblings were born there. Her father was a lawyer around the time of her birth and she grew up in a life of privilege. She was very close with her sisters Carmela and Maria and her brother Gaetano. According to the family story her family moved from Tropea to Cortale when her father was assigned a political post by the Italian government there. They lived in "Upper Cortale" in an area known as "Donnafiore" and had servants and dress makers on staff to attend to their needs. Her older sister Carmela was the first to marry and she married the Italian Ambassador to Egypt. Natalina married Giuseppe Maiuolo and had 4 children with him. Natalina's second child, a daughter named Caterina was outside the house playing on summer day when she was 4 years old. When Natalina went to check on her she found the lifeless body of her daughter. Caterina ate some poisonous berries according to the family story. Her older sister Maria told us the screams of Natalina when she found her daughter could be heard throughout the town. When my grandmother was born, she was named after this sister. It is unknown when Natalina's husband died, however, Giuseppe Maiuolo died leaving Natalina with 4 children to care for alone. Around the same time her sister Carmela became a widow after her husband contracted malaria on one of his trips to Egypt. Her younger sister Maria also became widowed around the same time. Natalina's brother who was living in Chicago arranged a marriage between his youngest sister Maria and a friend in Chicago who was also from Cortale. In April, 1904 Natalina had to say goodbye to her sisters Carmela and Maria and her niece Francesca as they left Cortale permanently for Chicago. This must have broke Natalina's heart. On the 8th of September 1905 an huge earthquake rocked Cortale. It's epicenter was in the nearby town of Nicastro (now Lamezia Terme) which buried the town and a large portion of it's population. This must have been the last straw for Natalina because in November of the same year she packed a steamer trunk and brought her 3 children to Chicago. Natalina bought a 3 flat on Loomis Street in the heart of Chicago's "Little Italy". Today that building is gone and in it's place is a statue of Christopher Columbus. Soon after, she joined the organization Societa Italiano. She opened a butcher shop in the lower level of the building and she began sponsoring Italians to come to Chicago from Italy.

She used the upper floors of her apartment building as a boarding house for recent Italian immigrants, many of whom she sponsored to come here. She would rent space for them to live until they could find jobs and homes of their own. She helped so many families come to Chicago and begin their new lives. Unfortunately her ledgers of the boarders names was destroyed in a local flood. To honor Natalina and all the work she did for Societa Italiano, they purchased her headstone which identifies her as a member. I am proud of my great grandmother and her choices which led her to more difficult journey in life to help others.Her ancestry is:
Antonino Scrugli and Caterina Cipollini
Antonino Scrugli and Caterina Morano
Antonino Scrugli and Natalina Merotta
Girolamo Scrugli and Carmela LaTorre

Relatives of the Day - Gaetano and Antonio Cipollini

2012-01-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

The mother of my grandmother was Natalina Scrugli. She was the daughter if Antonino Scrugli and Caterina Cipollini. On 18 March 1850 at Santa Caterina Church in Tropea, Antonino and Caterina were married in a double wedding ceremony. Also married that day in the same church at the same time was Antonino's sister Natalina Scrugli and Caterina's brother Ferdinando Cipollini. This story is about the son's of Ferdinando and Natalina. The first child of Ferdinando and Natalina they named Gaetano in honor of his paternal grandfather as was Italian tradition. He was born on 18 February 1851 in Tropea. Sometime before February, 1857 Ferdinando and Natalina moved to Monteleone Calabro (today this town is the City of Vibo Valentia) because on 15 February 1857 a second son named Antonio was born. These two children would go forth to write beautiful music which included an opera that takes place in Monteleone Calabro.

Gaetano showed an amazing aptitude for music at an early age and was sent to a music conservatory in Napoli for further training and instruction. In the late 1800's in Italy, if you wanted to see your opera performed, Milano was the place to be. Gaetano left for Milano to pursue his dream. While in Milano he wrote an opera and called it Simeta. The story called for very opulent sets and costumes. Although this ambitious opera was well received by the press when the libretto was printed, and even compared to Puccini's La Scala, poor business transactions, the costs to produce expensive costumes and sets and long negotiations lasting over 7 years prevented this work from premiering onstage. This failure would haunt Gaetano to the end of his life. He wrote many others both with and without his brother Antonio, including "La Calabria". At the age of 80 Gaetano entered a home that was set up in Milano for aging musicians called Casa Verdi named for Giuseppe Verdi. Gaetano died at Casa Verdi, on 2 October 1935.

Antonio began his career as a teacher of Latin and Greek languages which he taught for a time in Monteleone Calabro schools. Antonio possessed a gift with words and began writing poetry, novels and short stories. He also translated and published works from Latin and Greek and became an esteemed critic of literature. In 1884 he collaborated with Pietro Mascagni and together they wrote the romantic opera "Alla Luna" (The Moon). He joined his brother Gaetano in Milano and wrote several opera with his brother Gaetano including Il Piccolo Haydn, Simeta, Gennarello, and Ninon De Lenclos. Antonio Cipollini died in 1920 in Milano. When I think of Calabrian culture, I think of the 2 brothers who spent their lives doing what they loved and promoting the Calabrese culture in the process.

San Francesco Di Paola Statue Missing

2012-01-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

San (Saint) Francesco di Paola, is well known to the Calabrese people. San Francesco is the patron saint of the Calabrese people. Saint Francesco is also the patron saint of boatmen, naval officers, mariners, sailors, against plagues, epidemics, against fire, travelers and sterility. He was born Francesco Martolilla on 27 March 1416 in Paola, Cosenza, Calabria to Giacomo Martolilla and Vienna d'Alessio (who was born in Fuscaldo, Cosenza) and died April 2, 1507 in Plessis, France. His parents were devout Catholics. Paola is located in Cosenza Province between mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The other side of the Mountains in Paola is San Vincenzo La Costa and my grandfather's birthplace Montalto Uffugo. My grandfather was devoted to this saint and one of the few family stories regarding his life in the area involves a miracle attributed to this saint. He is very popular in Calabria, particularly to the Cosentina (people in Cosenza). Most towns have a church named after him in his home province.

In November, 2007, for the occasion of the 500th anniversary of San Francesco's death, a bronze statue of the saint was immersed in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 23 meters deep off the shores of Paola. The statue provides protection to fishermen and recreational boaters in the area for whom he is the Patron Saint and is often viewed by divers in the area. Local octopus made the base of the statue it's home as well. The eight foot tall bronze statue, crafted by Zappino recently turned up missing. Divers have searched the area in the event the statue was dragged in error by boats or t rollers, but their searches turned up nothing. It is unknown if the statue was stolen from the sea and searches continue. I certainly wish them well in their searches and hope they find it soon. With or without the statue, I am sure San Francesco continues his protection of the Calabrese people as well as the "gente di mare" (people of the sea) and all seafarers.

Google Earth As a Genealogy Tool

2011-12-30T14:38:00.000-08:00

For many years I have been using Google Earth and other map sites to see images of my ancestral home towns in Italy. I have been to New England many times and saw first hand the places my mother's ancestors lived as well as their burial sights. Many of the buildings and landmarks my New England ancestors saw are now gone, although in some areas, much has been preserved. Google Earth has proven very useful in my research into my Italian family. Unlike New England, many of the buildings and structures like Churches and monasteries have been preserved. New buildings and homes have been erected as well, but much of the town of Montalto Uffugo looks as my grandfather and his grandparents saw it.
Google Earth allows you to travel down the streets and view the landscapes and buildings. You can point and click in any direction and view the streets almost as if you were there. I have traveled the streets virtually via Google Earth so many times, I feel as if ,when I do finally go there, I will know exactly where I am going.
A long time ago before I knew the name of the town my grandfather, Giuseppe Napolitano was born in, I found the name of a street in Montalto Uffugo that was quite interesting to me. The name of the street was Via Luigi Napolitano. At that time Google Earth did not have street views of Calabria.
As I was virtually traveling the streets of Montalto Uffugo recently on Google Earth, I found that street again. Not only can I travel the street and see it, but now I can see the streets that intersect it. I often have wondered who that street was named after. The names of some of the intersecting streets may hold clues. Names I know like Via Enrico Chimenti and Via Francesco LoFeudo. There were 8 men named Luigi Napolitano in the town between the 1700's and 1910. All of them were related to me and one of them I descend directly from. I am sure I will find a way to discover which Luigi the street is named after. For now I will have fun guessing by searching the records for names of neighbors of all the Luigi Napolitano men and my files and records on the Chimenti and LoFeudo families.
If you know location names, or addresses you can view the ancestral homes of your family and see the views they saw from the comfort of your own home. You can see for yourself where they lived, which churches were the closest to their homes, how far they had to travel to town, work or other locations they may have gone. The local foliage and fauna can even offer clues into what they grew and ate. The vast fields of olive trees, chestnuts and fig trees explained to me how many of our family customs were rooted in the mountains of this Calabrese town. As a child, every big meal included olives, figs and roasted chestnuts!
For now I am enjoying the images of the town my grandfather and his ancestors lived in for at least 6 generations.
All the pictures on this page are of Via Luigi Napolitano in Montalto Uffugo, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy.

Memories of Christmas Past

2011-12-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

As I prepare for the upcoming Christmas holiday, I cannot help but think of (and miss) memories of Christmas past. The Calabrese heritage of my family was never so obvious as it was at Christmas. I don't think I fully appreciated it until it was gone.
Every Christmas brings a flood of memories. By December 22 the house will filled with dozens of presents for family. Mom always hid presents for my brother and I and there was never enough space under the Christmas tree for all the presents but somehow mom managed to stack and arrange all the presents there for cousins, aunts and uncles. The full finished bar in our basement was lined with bottles of various alcoholic beverages to bring to each place visited during the holiday season. The day before Christmas Eve always involved a trip to Fannie Mae so Dad could purchase boxes of chocolates for his cousins. We never went anywhere without a box of Fannie Maes and a bottle of the hosts favorite alcoholic beverage in hand.
Christmas Eve dinner was fish and while I realize others of Italian ancestry celebrated with a feast of 7 fishes, we did not. Dad hated cod so Bakala was never on the menu. What always was on the menu was an assortment of scallops, shrimp, clams and our family favorite pasta acciughe. As a family project we all participated in making pignolatta, a tasty treat make with boiling hot honey (pictured on the right).

Christmas day always came in 2 parts. The first part of Christmas was the gathering of our immediate family with my dad's brothers, sisters and their spouses and children. When I was very young, we would alternate who hosted the event. When the last family arrived my cousins and I grew impatient to receive our presents and when we finally received approval to open them the wrapping paper would fly! So many presents! After the opening of the presents we would sit down for Christmas dinner. Our typical Christmas dinner included Turkey and stuffing, a baked pasta, sausages, meatballs, a beef roast, a ham, at least 5 different vegetables, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, ricotta pie (made with ricotta cheese, sausage, mozzarella and egg), various jello molds, and lots of different kinds of bread. My dad would lecture everyone about the evils of eating bread before the meal. After the meal was finished the women would clear the table and the men would take a break by having after dinner cigars. Then came time for coffee. Coffee meant dessert. The table would be filled with baskets of fruits and nuts and always included figs and roasted chestnuts. Trays of Italian cookies and pastries would fill the table along with various cakes and pies. Italian pastries and chocolate eclairs would fill the table to such excess that another table had to be set up. Somewhere in the mix was coffee, anisette, brandy and other beverages. After all this food, the men would sit down for a rousing game of pinochle and the woman would sit down for poker. The pinochle game was more fun to watch. The men were so passionate and animated playing the game and shouts and screams could be heard throughout with an occasional wife calling her husbands name in reprimand to remind them the children were present. Then everyone would leave (but not without a bag of leftovers) and we would all go to Zitzy's (Calabrese dialect for Aunt) house. Zitzy was the sister of my grandmother and the matriarch of the family. Once at Zitzy's, more eating and sweets and card games would go on. It still amazes me how many people fit in her house. I would see people I did not remember and ask my dad who they were. He would tell me their names and I would ask if they were family. Many times my dad would say no, they are paesani. I have learned since then, most of them were, in fact family. Zitzy's son in law, Uncle Frank would make dancing ladies out of white cloth napkins and make them dance to a song he would sing. At the end of the dance their "skirts" would fly up. The children would all laugh. I always saw such joy in his sweet face when he did this. The evening was filled with great food, heavy cigar smoke, thick Italian accents (with a few Greek and Scottish thrown in) great food, laughter, love, music, and did I mention, great food. . It was always loud. Every time I smell cigars or think of Christmas, I remember the Christmases past filled with so much love and joy, it makes me cry.
Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad.

Achsah Clapp Dewey

2011-10-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

I have read every book I could find on the Clapp and Dewey families during my research into the family of my mother. They were both huge early New England families so there were many written. Of all the many people written about in these family genealogies, I have only noticed one person with no date of death - my 4th great grandmother, Achsah Clap(p) Dewey. I always found this so sad, as if she had been forgotten and lost. As if no one cared enough to look. It always bothered me, probably more than it should have. I tried to find something on her death every way I could think of and always came up with nothing. The wills and probates of Lewis County, New York never mentioned her.
What is known about Achsah is she was born on 31 January 1758 to Aaron Clap(p) and his wife Jemima (Bartlett) Clap(p) in Southampton, Massachusetts. Their grave is pictured left - I visited and photographed it 5 months ago. John Dewey was born and raised in Westfield, Massachusetts. He left Westfield to serve in the war of the revolution and his service took him though New York among other places and he kept a diary during his service. He fought major battles of the revolution which included crossing the Delaware with General Washington's troops to fight in the Battle of Trenton.
On 16 September 1780 Achsah Clapp married John Dewey. They had 8 children together, all born in Westfield between 1781 and 1798. In the spring of 1802 John brought 2 of his sons, John and Chester to Lewis County, New York to begin clearing land to build a new home for the family. They returned for the rest of the family and left Westfield permanently later that year.
John Dewey died on 31 December 1821.

Fast forward 190 years to 2009. While looking for Achsah's date of death I came across a website that listed residents of cemeteries in New York State. It listed my John Dewey's grave in the same cemetery as a few of his children. The cemetery list seemed complete. Achsah's name was not there. This deepened the mystery for me - where was Achsah buried? Did she remarry? Perhaps she returned to Westfield or Southampton for a visit and died there? Why was she not buried with her husband? What happened to Achsah? I looked for each of her siblings and children to see where they were buried in an attempt to find her final resting place. Each time I came up with nothing for her.
During my many visits to Find A Grave about a year later, I found a new entry for the son of John and Achsah Dewey, Chester Dewey who was my 3rd great grandfather. Also there was his wife Phebe (Wetmore) Dewey. I contacted the man who created the memorial which included pictures of their headstones and asked him to link Chester to his father. He had many Dewey graves he wanted to add to Find A Grave so we began corresponding and I helped him identify the parents and children so he could link them correctly. Last week he went to Leyden Hill Cemetery and found and photographed the headstone of John Dewey and his daughter Sally. I was thrilled. I explained to him the wife of John was a mystery and no one knew her date of death or burial place. I mentioned I knew his daughter Sally Dewey Lord was buried there with her husband Gurdon. After further correspondance he realized that grave, located next to John, was not Sally, it was Achsah! The grave was in very poor condition and had fallen down flat. It was covered with moss and aged. He went back to the cemetery, cleaned up the stone a bit which revealed Achsah's date of death. I am so happy to announce Ashsah Capp Dewey died on July 28, 1833 at the age of 75. She had outlived her husband by 12 years as well as 2 of her children. Her grave is located next to her husband (on the ground) in Leyden Hill Cemetery located in Port Leyden, Lewis County, New York. She is no longer lost and forgotten.

Tombstone Tuesday - Mount Carmel Cemetery

2011-10-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

Mount Carmel Cemetery is located in the near west suburbs of Chicago and is probably most famous for being the burial spot of the notorious gangster Al Capone among many other notorious gangsters. To me, it is simply "the family cemetery". As a child my parents brought me to the cemetery frequently to visit my father's parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My father taught me how to care for the graves and in doing so, those who were no longer physically with us were always with us. As more of the family died and moved out of state this became more important to him and my father told me that one day it would be up to me alone to visit the family and care for their graves. He always told me stories about the family we went to visit. The poor little orphan boy, his father, the story of the 3 sisters (one of which was his grandmother) who came here long before I was born. As I grew older, I remembered these stories of my little Italian family and their hardships and struggles and their perilous, sad journey to this country. Leaving behind all they loved and treasured for the mysterious unknown. On occasion my father would host a "cemetery party". He would gather the family together and go grave by grave with all of us - my cousins and aunts and uncles and tell stories about each person. In doing so, his wish was for their stories and their lives to never be forgotten. He wanted their sacrifices to be understood, acknowledged and appreciated. Most of all he did not want them forgotten. We visited every Sunday after church.

After my trips to New England, I have a new perspective on my family cemetery. Although many of the graves of New England from the 1600's and 1700's were very impressive and beautiful, they cannot compare to the more modern graves of Mount Carmel Cemetery. Although quite modern in comparison, they are are ornate and beautiful. They are also aging now.
Mount Carmel is a predominately Italian cemetery. The Italians brought their burial customs with them to this country and can be seen here. Photographs on headstones are common here. Many of the artisans who made the various statues and headstones were of Italian ancestry also. Many of the graves here stand from 5 to 10 feet tall and 5 to 10 feet wide as well. One of the graves must be the most unique grave ever produced as I cannot imagine it has been done elsewhere. The unique grave of the DiSalvo family is an ornately carved image of the family that actually turns 360 degrees from it's base. Pictured left, this family monument stands about 6 and a half feet tall. The detail in each flower and feature is incredible. The back of the monument is just as detailed as the front which includes a small round table with a fashionable hat on top. Under the photographs of the husband and wife, is where the base turns. You can see the detail pictured above, right.

There are over 400 small family mausoleums here, many of which contain pictures as well as a small alter with stained glass windows behind the small alters. On the left you will see a typical example of these family mausoleums, which happens to be the resting place of my best friend, Mary Covelli and her father, brother, uncles and grandparents. The large brass doors lock. Sadly, many of these mausoleums have been boarded up.
As I visit other cemeteries, I have a new appreciation for my "family cemetery". Filled with trees and flowers, winding roads, angels and saints it is the most beautiful cemetery I have visited this far in my life. But then, maybe I am biased.

This headstone is located near my great grandmother. The woman figure is larger than me. The monument is about 7 1/2 feet tall and wide.
The grave was probably made for the baby, Dominic Giunta.

The statue at the right rests on top of a headstone taller than I - probably 6 and a half feet tall and the statue is about 5 feet high. There are also statues on either side of the headstone.

Cosenza Province Archives Records

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

The descendants of Cosenza Province, the northern most province in Calabria have been truly blessed. The Archives in Cosenza have been working for a few years now to digitize and make available of the Stato Civile (State Civil) records of birth, marriage, death and the military Lista di Leva records available online. As if that was not enough, they most recently have put the Catasti records for the majority of the entire province online. These records will allow the descendants of the province to trace their lineage back though the 1700's if they are lucky, from the confort of their home. The catasto records available from the mid 1700's can provide a little information that is useful. I have myself found the names of the parents and siblings of some of my ancestors as well as details regarding the property they lived on. Since the civil records begin in 1809, the Catasto records may be the only resource for people with roots in Cosenza to go back any further in their ancestry. With no church records available through the LDS microfilm collections for Cosenza Province these records are the oldest available with the exception of the church records I have put online for Montalto Uffugo.
Using Arcangelo Napolitano as an example, I will demonstrate what you may be able to find. Before the archives put the Catasto online, I was given all the images for the Catasto of Montalto and it's frasione of Vaccarizzo. In the Montalto Catasto, I found Arcangelo and his wife, Rosa Scarlato in the "Forastieri abitanti" section. Forastieri means stranger - someone not born in the town and abitanti indicates that they are living there. Viewing this record, I learned he was born in Belsito and was 30 years old which allowed me to verify his birth year. Living with Arcangelo in his household was his wife Rosa Scarlato, aged 22, his 2 year old son Bruno, his 1 year old daughter Teresa and his sister Marianna, aged 18. Other information listed in his record stated he had olive trees on his property and the property was called "Li Crocchi". Since the catasto is a record done for tax purposes, I also learned what he was taxed on and how much. The catasto for Montalto was documented from October 1748 through March of 1749. When the archive put the catasti up for the province I saw the Catasto from Arcangelo's place of birth, Belsito, was done in 1742. I looked at each page until I found him. This record provided me with his mother's name, Teresa Ortale, and her age as well as her father's name (Arcangelo's grandfather), Giovanni Ortale since they were living on his property. It also provided the names of 2 more sisters. Although I knew the name of his father already from other records, the absence of his father shows his father was already deceased in 1742. Searching for the father of his mother, Giovanni Ortale I also learned the names of a few of his other children and their ages and gave me a birth year of 1642 for Giovanni. Because of these records, I was able to obtain names and approximate birth years for 3 generations as well as a place of birth for Arcangelo. Unless church records still exist prior to this date this is as far back as descendants will be able to go, however, thanks to the vision of the Archives of Cosenza, these precious records are now forever preserved for future generations. It is a shame that more churches have not yet taken steps to do the same.

Tombstone Tuesday - Headstone Artisans of the 18th century

2011-05-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

This tombstone Tuesday, I find it appropriate (since I just returned from a genealogy trip to New England) to talk about the craftsmen of many of the tombstones of my ancestors from the 1700's.
Pictured here is a tombstone from Suffield, Connecticut. This is a stone carved by the Stebbins workshops in nearby Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Since many of these headstones still exist, it is clear the craftmanship was amazing as was the artwork on the stones. Stebbins is one of my surnames which is how I came across this information during my research of that line. Ezra Stebbins was the first of the Stebbins master crafters. He would go to the Longmeadow sandstone quaries and choose sandstone large enough to carve his ornate headstones. The business was passed down to his son Ezra, Jr., presumably Ezra taught his son the trade. No one knows for sure if others were employed as artisians, however, there are several known styles so one can presume The Stebbins family employed apprentices to help keep up with their orders. The Stebbins were most known for their winged faces and elaborate ornamentation using nature - often vines on the headstones. The majority of eyes on the faces on the headstones were larger (and more realistic) than most. As I traversed the graveyards through the mud in the rain, it certainly made photographing my ancestors graves more interesting as I tried to guess which headstones could be Stebbins' creations. I still am not sure how Ezra was related, but his beautiful masterpieces are a sight to behold.
Besides the Stebbins worshop, Elijah Sikes, and 3 generations of Johnson's in Middletown, Connecticut were master craftsmen of 18th century headstones in The Connecticut Valley (which includes Southwest Massachusetts). Joseph Williston of Springfield and Nataniel Phelps of Northampton were also master crafters of beautiful headstones.
Nathaniel Phelps of Northampton still has many headstones that survive in Northampton, Deerfield and many other towns. I had photographed several of his headstones without realizing it at the time. Pictured here is the headstone of a relative of mine Mehetable Clap. Nathaniel's style is clearly more simple than the elaborate Stebbins graves but beautiful, nonetheless.
Thomas, Joseph and John Johnson of Middletown were 3 generations of headstone artisans. Thomas was of the first generation whose creations from the 1720 through about 1739 also still exist throughout Connecticut. His son Joseph extended the business into Massachusetts and his career spanned from late 1720's well into the 1750's. Joseph's son John crafted headstones from the mid 1770's until the end of the 1700's. Each of the 3 generations got more detailed and more elaborate. Pictured here is John Johnson's work from Middletown which is deteriorating, however you can still see the fine craftmanship on this stone. So next time you look at a headstone you may want to do some research into who made that stone. You never know, it could be a family member!

New England Genealogy Trip - Part 2 Cemeteries of New England

2011-05-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

I am a Catholic living in Chicago. Catholic Cemeteries here are very organized and most of the Catholic cemeteries have an office you can go to with a free computerized kiosk where you can enter a full name or a surname and find the exact location of the person you are looking for. If you print out your entry you even get a map with the exact location of the grave. Simple! Not so in the old cemeteries in New England. During my 10 days there, there was only 1 day it did not rain. All the rain must have caused the bug and mosquito population to grow because several of my cemetery visits were hampered by swarms of flying insects and I have returned home covered in mosquito bites, battle scars of the fruits of my labor. Although I did not complete anywhere near what I had expected, I have come home with thousands of pictures.
Pictured to the left is the twin headstones of 13 year old Jonathan Hunt and his sister Thankful age 7 of Northampton, Massachusetts. According to the headstone they were killed by lightening. I have found many headstones that listed a cause of death like this one although most do not. Northampton is a charming community nestled in the hills an mountains of the area and the road to Northampton is stunning in it's beauty. The only cemetery I visited there was The Bridge Street Cemetery. This cemetery is well taken care of and appears to still be accepting burials. The older graves are in surprisingly good condition, however, time is taking it's toll. I doubt 100 years from now most will be readable. Many are difficult at best to read now. I found my ancestors there neatly along 2 rows of older graves, one row directly behind the other. By the time I found them I had searched the cemetery for 2 hours. I was pleased their headstones were readable and still existed, though I could not read some completely. Some of the headstones were beautiful works of art. The cemetery at Northampton was much larger than the others I visited.
I had been to The Mechanic Street Cemetery (Old Burying Grounds) in Westfield before. This time I knew exactly who I was going for. The cemetery is locked so I got the key and went there with my list. It is a beautiful old cemetery that has graves as far back as 1683 (Elizabeth Noble's stone). There is much open space in this cemetery and many missing headstones. The town has done a great job documenting who is there, whose is missing headstones, etc. As you walk in the gate, there is a Revolutionary War monument that bears the name of my John Dewey and all other veterans of that war born in Westfield. Well manicured lawns make it easy to move through the cemetery to find the graves. It is easy to spot the older graves because of their color. The older stones are brownish or black. White stones seemed popular in the 1800's.
In Connecticut, I began with the ancestral home of the Kent's in the town of Suffield. Suffield is the most beautiful of all the towns I visited. The main street was lined with huge sprawling well manicured lawns dotted with beautiful flowering trees that were all in full bloom when I visited. The First Congregational Church was there with a burial ground in the back. The church has been added onto several times and I learned later all my Kent's graves are now under the church foundation. The graveyard is stretched out over rolling hills some of which are quite steep which made getting to the lowest spot a real challenge in the mud. Suffield has always been a wealthy town and it's graves show that. Many of it's monuments are huge and elaborate. Many of the older headstones from the 1700's are works of art. Although obviously well cared for this cemetery also has many monuments and headstones lying in ruins on the ground. This is true in most of the cemeteries I visited. These treasures of history, both family and national are deteriorating and crumbling and being lost forever. Some have been ruined beyond repair but I found so many with a little loving care that could be saved now and preserved for a hundred years or more longer. It broke my heart to see so many in such peril. It seems to me since most of these towns have historical societies this would be a perfect project for them. The broken headstones could be repaired and the headstones that have fallen over could be returned to their rightful place. Many covered in moss and lichens could be easily cleaned so the writing on the stones can be seen as well as protected from the damage the plant life would incur.
In Plymouth I found they took preservation of the Old Burying Ground there a step further. Not only is the beautiful old cemetery well taken care of, but they have preserved the old headstones in a dramatic manner that I have never seen before.
As can be seen on the image to the left, this grave of John Bartlett has been encased in concrete to preserve it. Although it changes the look of the headstone, it will preserve it for future generations to view. I am still not sure of what I think of this method but it is effective for preservation. It is clear Plymouth takes these treasures seriously as I am sure tourism is a huge portion of their income in this quaint town made famous by the pilgrims that landed on Plymouth rock. I saw no moss growing on the stones here, no broken stones as they are all well taken care of. The cemetery is high on a hilltop and offers a sweeping breathtaking view.
In Middlefield, Connecticut a small hilltop cemetery called Old North Burying Grounds was remote and difficult to find. What I saw as I opened the gate shocked me. The grass was high - past my knees and it was clear no one has taken care of this cemetery. Most of the graves were hidden by overgrown weeds and thick with moss. The cemetery looked fairly bare as far as headstones went until I realized so many were laying on the ground. Chunks of headstones were strewn about everywhere. This cemetery made me the saddest of all. Established in 1735 I knew this cemetery at one time bore the headstones of many of the children who were founders of Middletown as well as Hartford. It seemed a shame that no one seemed to care. I did find a few of my ancestors buried there, however, several were either missing or the headstones were unreadable. If I had the time and money, I would return to New England to preserve these unique treasures for future generations.

New England Genealogy Trip Part 1

2011-05-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

I had decided last winter to make a trip last summer to New England to try to complete the ancestry of my mother's family - the Dewey family tree. My mother's family had deep roots in Massachusetts and Connecticut and I decided the easiest and quickest way to complete her family story was to make this journey and walk in the footsteps of my ancestors. The goal at the time was to each each line back to England and learn their stories as well as their names. The last months of my mother's life I would tell her different stories of her various ancestors as I used to read to my daughter before bedtime. She loved the stories I told her. I admit I embellished a few of them to fill in the unknown and make the story flow better. The childlike joy and anticipation in my mother's face encouraged that. Unfortunately, life threw a few mishaps my way and the trip had to be postponed twice.

Eight months after my mother's death, the trip has finally begun. Yesterday as the pilot announced we would be arriving in Hartford in 20 minutes, I looked out the window. Although I had come here before, the view took my breath away. I was viewing this beautiful virgin landscape with fresh new eyes. It was not simply beautiful countryside,His journey it was the land my ancestors cleared and settled. After obtaining a rental car once we landed, I programmed my GPS for the location of my hotel. As I followed the instructions to follow the exit right, I saw a sign. The sign read, "Windsor, Established 1633". Among others, the first Dewey here helped to establish Windsor. What a wonderful start to my trip! The sign made me think of how easy my trip was. I listen to what the GPS tells me and I arrive at my destination miles away, minutes later. And my journey there is effortless and comfortable. Thomas Dewey's journey would have been quite different, filled with danger and exposure to the elements. So I begin my quest to learn all I can, solve the mysteries and enjoy myself in the process. Although the weather has lots of rain and unfavorable temperatures forecasted, I will not let that stop me. More to come....

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Italian Vs. Early American Genealogy

2011-03-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

After years of working on my Dad's Italian family, I have been focusing more on Mom's family over the past year. Researching the 2 different branches of my family are so different! The only chance at learning more about my Italian family was very labor intensive and time consuming. I had to drive an hour to my local family history center, order microfilms, wait for them to come in and sift through the hundreds of Napolitano's in the Montalto Uffugo records to figure out which were mine. To do this, I had to find the only other name I knew in the records, Domenico Garrafa. I knew if I found his first wife, Emilia Napolitano, I could trace my own family. I had to learn enough Italian to be able to read those records. Once I learned enough Italian, all I could hope to find was names, dates and places. But I wanted to know their stories. What made our family dynamic what it was. What their lives in Italy were like. Through my websites, and all that work, I was finally able to obtain many stories, although I had to piece them together from emails I received from other families connected to my own. As I got further back, I was able to extract more stories by reading every document I could find. Very brief stories with little detail. As I searched the records of Tropea, I found much less. Missing documents, family documents that had mold and water damage so bad, it made them virtually unreadable. I was extremely happy to find a website called Tropea Magazine which gave me stories about my Tropean family. Because of their accomplishments in art, music and politics I was able to find information on this website about my great grandmother's first cousins and even information about the marriage of her parents. I thought I would never get this lucky again. I was wrong.
When I finally got to my mom's family, I was astounded! So much information! Then I discovered The Newberry Library in Chicago. So many books on each of my family lines it astounded me. Details on each ancestor and so many stories, I simply could not believe it. I am still sifting through books and stories about her ancestors. Detailed stories that include plots of land they owned, places they had been, posts they held in the town and details of military service and most importantly details about their lives. It seems the number of stories on how they lived and died was endless. Much of this information is from the 1600 and 1700's! To know such detailed information on the lives of my ancestors who lived almost 400 years ago amazed me. I could never hope for this much information on my Italians. In Italy, the records of death (atti di morte) give you the dates and place of death, age of the deceased and the names of his or her parents and last spouse. But my early New England families often offered me a detailed cause or description of their deaths. Several of my ancestors died in attacks by the Indians in the French Indian wars. Detailed accounts of their deaths could be found in many different books. I have found photographs of my great great grandparents, artwork of many of my direct line ancestors homes, photographs of their graves and homes and so much more.

But the flow of information on my mom's family did slow up in the 1800's and finding information on her more recent family generations became more difficult. Her father's family, the Dewey's moved to a remote part of New York state. Their are no microfilms of records for the towns they lived in. Mom grew up with her grandmother Etta Kent Dewey and the Kent's came from a remote area of Pennsylvania in Susquehanna County where there are no records available to me online or though the microfilms held by the LDS Family History Libraries. It is here it the mid 1800's that my Italian research and my American research become similar as I search for any bits of information to piece together to find the stories and the ancestry of my families. And so my search continues for both my Italian and American families. As I move forward in time, I cannot help but wonder what future generations will find on us.

Surname Saturday - Kent

2011-02-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

The family of my mother's grandmother, the Kent's have had me stumped for years. I have ignored them for years hoping records would be made available to assist me. There are no records available for the area the Kent's lived outside of Pennsylvania, however there are several books regarding the history of the area. My mother's grandmother was Etta Kent Dewey. A number of years after the death of her husband, Charles Marion Dewey, Etta came to live with her son, Dix Dewey and his young family. Mom often talked about her 2 "Victorian" grandmother's that she grew up with living in her home. Etta Kent Dewey, according to my mom, was proud and very proper. Her ancestry went back to the early days of this country and she was well aware of this and very proud of it. She established herself in the household as the dominate female. It was always clear Etta's final years must have been difficult and she was destitute after the death of her husband and had to live with her son and his family in her final 30 years of life. The things I have uncovered this week are heartbreaking and explain much about Etta Kent Dewey and the woman she was. I only wish my mother were here to hear her grandmother's heartbreaking early years. To uncover the full story of this family and their ancestry, I will have to travel to Pennsylvania to obtain records. But for now, this is what I know.
I will begin the story of Etta Kent with her father, Abel Kent.
Abel Kent (pictured here) was born on October 16, 1816 to Carlton Kent and Sally (Griggs) Kent in Bradford Township, Susquehanna, Pennsylvania (formerly part of Luzerne County). How long the Kent family spent in Bradford is unclear. What is clear is, it could not have been too long. Carlton Kent was born in Massachusetts according to the censuses he appears in for 1850 and 1860. Unfortunately, it does not say where in Massachusetts.
Abel Kent married Maryetta Snedeker in the late 1840's. Maryetta was the daughter of James Snedeker and Elizabeth White. Maryetta Snedeker's Dutch and German roots go back to the early days of the new colony called "New Amsterdam", presently called New York City. Together Abel Kent and Maryetta had 7 children. Able was a farmer in Herrick, located in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. On September 16, 1868 Abel Kent died leaving his children fatherless and his wife a 41 year old widow. One year later, on October 8, 1869 Abel's wife Maryetta Snedeker Kent died leaving their 7 children orphans. The youngest child Adella was only 3 years old. My great grandmother Etta was only 4 years older. What happened to their home is unknown. The next record of the family is the 1870 census which has all the children living together with an "Abram Kent" in Great Bend, Pennsylvania. Who Abram Kent was, I do not know, however, he did take all the 7 Kent children into his home. I cannot find other records for an Abram Kent and at the time, he was not married.
By 1880 all the Kent children were scattered throughout Pennsylvania and nearby Broome County, New York. The 1880 census shows the 19 year old Etta Kent with the Leet family in Binghamton, New York working as their maid. Her older sister Helen was also in Binghamton at the time, listed as a servant of the Harris family. Both sisters married men from Binghamton. Later in 1880 Helen Kent married Andrew Crandall. On New Year's Day, 1884 Etta married Charles Marion Dewey in Binghamton, New York. Charles' father, Milton Dewey was a resident of Binghamton. In October 1884, Etta gave birth to her first child, a son they named Dee Darius Dewey. However, on Christmas Eve the following year her young son died. This must have broken her heart. Several months later in April 1886 Etta gave birth to her second child, also a son she named Don Durand Dewey. On June 1 1887 her last child, Dix Darius Dewey was born. Don and Dix were born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Over the next few years the couple moved to Ames, Iowa and St Louis, Missouri. I can only assume the many moves the family made were the result of Charles' searches for employment. This could have been a result of the depression Charles suffered from. On May 25, 1904 Etta sent her 2 teen sons out to look for their missing father. Each day for a week the boys went looking for him. On May 31st, my grandfather found his father dead in a pasture. He had died by his own hand having taken a fatal dose of carbolic acid. At the age of 43 my great grandmother was a widow in a strange city far from family or friends with no income and 2 teenage sons to feed. What happened to Etta and her 2 sons after this, I am not sure. I do know Don Dewey was in Seattle, Washington by 1910 where he lived out the remainder of his life. In 1910 Etta Dewey shows up in the census living with her late husband's sister Francis and her husband James Guernsey in Binghamton, New York. By 1918 she was living with her son, my grandfather, Dix Dewey and his wife Myrtle. From that point forward my grandfather supported his mother. There is a happy ending to this story though. Etta Kent Dewey lived the last 30 years of her life with her son and grandchildren as an integral member of the family. She died in Elgin, Illinois at the age of 86. Although the first half of her life was filled with uncertainty, insecurity and tragedy, the last 30 years were filled with home, family and security.
Dix D. Dewey, Dix Dewey Jr., Dorothy Dewey, Myrtle (Schmitt) Dewey
and Etta (Kent) Dewey in 1919.

Calabrian Records

2010-12-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

I own several websites including Cosenza Exchange. I began working on getting the records online for my grandfather's home town, Montalto Uffugo and also put some records for other Cosenza towns there several years ago. Since the Cosenza Archive is doing the same, I will probably not be adding further stato civile records on Cosenza Exchange as soon as I get all the available years of marriages for Montalto Uffugo online. I will not take the site down, I just will not be adding further stato civile records.
Plans for Cosenza Exchange
I am looking at other records the archive has available to see what I may be able to add that will not mirror what the archive is doing. The Catasti of Montalto Uffugo, San Fili and San Vincenzo La Costa were generously donated by Francesco Fullone. I had spent several months extracting the Catasto of Montalto and alphabetizing it and adding the html code. A recent virus to my computer has wiped out most of this work so I have been working on that again along with adding missing years of marriages. I hope to be adding that shortly after the holidays. I will not be extracting the catasti of San Fili or San Vincenzo anytime soon. I will be adding to the extractions of the baptisms of Santa Maria La Castagna also generously donated by Francesco Fullone. I am planning a trip there this year and am hoping my life will not obstruct these plans. If I can go, I am hoping to visit the churches and obtain permission to copy the church registers.
Catanzaro Exchange
With my impending trip to Italy planned, and once the final year of marriages from Montalto Uffugo have been added to the Cosenza Exchange, my focus will return to my grandmother's town of Cortale and her mother's town of Tropea. I need to complete my work on my families in those towns before I go to Italy. So, I will be adding marriage records, birth and death indexes to those towns very soon. At some point, I will be adding the comune di Filadelfia, where my great, great grandmother Caterina Cipollina was born. But that project will probably not begin until later in 2010 or 2011.

Strange names through time

2010-12-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

When I first began reading the records from my Grandfather's town I had a difficult time with some of the Italian names. Giuseppe, Concetta and Raffaele were not strange to me as I had heard these names as early as I can remember. My father often called me "Caterina" which is my name in Italian. However, there were many names totally unheard of by me that I had to try to look up because they seemed so strange, I could not tell if I was deciphering the old handwriting correctly. I have worked on transcribing the records of several Italian towns but these names were so rare I thought I must be wrong. Here are some of the rare and more unusual first names I found:
Dorosilla, Remigio, Massimina, Columba, Pampilio, Fiorigga, Florindo, Conazioni, Delfino (and the female version Delfina), Dorina, Egisto, Erterina, Ettori and Stanislao.
Working on my mom's family, I found even stranger names, mostly in the 1600's used by the Puritans. Many of them I could not even figure out if they were male or female names. Here are some of these names:
Achsah, Supply, Preserved, Benoni, Experience, Hopestill, Wait, Waitstill, Unite, Return, Thanks and Mindwell.
The one thing I found in common in both Italy and the United States was these unusual names seemed to run in families. There were just a few couples on both sides of the ocean who seemed to prefer different names for their children. Perhaps it was a way of giving them a unique identity or expressing themselves in a unique way.

An Italian American Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T21:51:00.000-08:00

My early American ancestry on my mother's side should be what I am writing about on this Thanksgiving day. One of her family lines came into this country to Plymouth, Massachusetts and brought supplies and food to the pilgrim colony before going on to other parts of Massachusetts. This is my first Thanksgiving without my Mom and words cannot express how much I miss her now. For that reason, I prefer to write about my Dad's mother's first Thanksgiving in America. It is one that she never forgot.
My grandmother lived in Cortale in Catanzaro Province with her mother Natalina Scrugli, her brother Francesco and her sister Maria. At some point when she was a child, her father Giuseppe Maiuolo died. Life for them in Cortale was pretty good. The family owned properties in Upper Cortale, employed dress makers to make their clothes and owned a shop among other things.
Natalina was very close with her sisters Carmela and Maria. The three sisters and their brother Gaetano were all born in Tropea to the noble Scugli family. Their father was a lawyer and held political posts which brought the family to Cortale. Since their life in Cortale was good, they did not have to come to America to seek a better life. On the contrary, I believe their life here was much more difficult.
In April, 1904 Natalina said her goodbyes to her sisters Carmela and Maria as they left Cortale for Chicago where their brother Gaetano had moved previously. Gaetano had negotiated the marriage of his youngest sister Maria to Teodoro Bertuca in Chicago. It must have been so painful to say goodbye to the sisters she loved so much.
On September 8, 1905 a horrible earthquake rocked Calabria and Cortale. The largest town near Cortale was Nicastro which was totally destroyed by the powerful quake. A little more than one month later Natalina packed up her children bound for the Port of Napoli to leave Italy forever. We will never know if the earthquake was a deciding factor.
In 1905 the journey to Napoli would have been long, difficult and treacherous. The jouney would have spanned over 245 miles. Their ship The Sicilia left the Port of Napoli on November 16, 1905 and arrived at Ellis Island in New York on November 30, 1905. It was Thanksgiving Day. After 14 days on the ship in confined quarters, the family was anxious to get off and make their way to Chicago. Especially Maria my grandmother's sister who spent the entire 14 day journey with a horrible case of sea sickness. But Ellis Island was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday so everyone on the ship had to spend one more day in the port on the ship. My great aunt could not understand why they had a national holiday for a chicken! So the family spent their first Thanksgiving in the United States on a ship looking at Ellis Island and Lady Liberty! How very appropriate.
From that point to this day, Thanksgiving dinners have included Turkey with Italian style stuffing, Italian fried meatballs, "basta in the oven" (bow ties baked in the oven with hard boiled eggs sliced thin, sausage, meatballs and plenty of mozzarella and imported Romano cheeses, an Italian style roast, several vegetable dishes which always included fresh cooked green beans and Yams cooked in Grand Marnier Liquor. As if all that was not enough, next came the fruits and nuts which always included roasted chestnuts. Then came coffee and all the Italian cookies and pastries, a ricotta pie along with other pies and goodies. Ah, it's good to be Italian during the holidays!
Happy Thanksgiving.

Surname Saturday - Clapp

2010-10-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

My ancestor Roger Clapp was born on 6 April 1609 in Salcombe Regis, Devonshire, England to William Clap and Johanna Channon. He was a devout puritan. In 1629 he landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts on the ship named "John and Mary" just after the harvest. His autobiography titled "Memiors" described briefly his short time in Plymouth with the remnants of the original pilgrims. From there he journeyed to Dorchester, Massachusetts via Boston in pursuit of religious freedom. He married Joanna Ford in Dorchester on 6 November, 1633 and together they had 14 children.
In 2010 we would look at the names of their children and think how strange the names were, however many of them are typical Puritan names like Thanks, Preserved and Experience.
I descend from Roger at least twice and from his father three times. I believe it may be much more since I descend from several of Roger's cousins whose Clapp connections are still unknown to me.
As I followed this family through the lines of my descent, it was like reading a book on American history. Roger Clapp was an original settler of Dorchester, Massachusetts along with his mentor Reverend John Warham. Roger Clapp did many things but his primary profession was that of Captain in the military and he spent his later years as Captain of "the Castle" (later called Fort Independence) which was the first military installation on colony soil located in what now is South Boston. Captain Roger Clapp's son, Preserved Clapp was married to Sarah Newberry. Preserved left Dorchester for Northampton, Massachusetts where he lived out the rest of his life. Preserved was, like his father before him, a Captain in the local militia, the representative of Northampton in the general court and a ruling elder of the church.

My direct line Clapp was Achsah Clapp who married John Dewey in September of 1780. The Clapp Memorial lists her husband as John Devoy (of course that is incorrect). I have searched every possible book and online source, however, I have been unable to find a place or date of death for Achsah Clapp Dewey. John Dewey died in Leyden, New York and is buried there in the Locust Grove Lord Cemetery. He is buried alone. Achsah is not buried there. I cannot find her burial anywhere in New York. John Dewey died December 31, 1821 in Leyden, New York. The last 2 records I found for him were census records for 1810 and 1820. Unfortunately, during this time the census only mentioned the head of household by name, however, both censuses listed a woman in his household age 45 or older. Although the woman could have been a housekeeper for John and the minor children, I believe it was Achsah. If she is not buried in the same cemetery as her husband, where can she be? I have a theory. I believe she returned to Westfield either to live or for a visit and died there. I believe she is buried in the Mechanic Street Cemetery near the Clapps or the Dewey's in an unmarked grave in an unknown location. When I visited the cemetery there they provided me with a list of all burials there. On the list was "Askaah" Dewey. Her location and all information about her is missing. It is my belief that is her in that unknown grave. I need the records of Westfield to confirm this but until I can search them her date and place of death will remain a mystery.

My Mother, Dorothy Kent Dewey

2010-09-18T21:00:00.001-07:00

Exactly one week after the death of my mother, I thought I would write this blog post about her.
What can you say about an angel? My mother's virtues were many, her friends were many and her enemies were none!
Dorothy Kent Dewey began her life in Chicago on April 5, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois. She was born to Dix Darius Dewey and Myrtle Schmitt Dewey (another angel!). She had a older brother Dix who was less than 2 years older than her that she remained close to until his death in 1948. She never got over his death. A few years later came brother Charles "Chuck" M. Dewey and sister Sue.
By my own mother's words, she grew up in a "very Victorian" household. Their homes were Victorian homes, but it was her grandmother's living there with them that gave her a "Victorian" upbringingg. Etta Kent Dewey and Katherine "Katie" Brodner Schmitt both widows, came to live in the Dewey household. My mother said she never saw her parent's embrace or kiss and they referred to each other as Mr. Dewey and Mrs. Dewey, very rarely by first name. In an era when women did not have careers, Mom went to Sherman Hospital Nursing School in Elgin, Illinois. She worked as a neuro nurse, a nurse to prominent Chicago dermatologists and was a private duty nurse for the famous Wrigley family.
In 1948 she met my father. His background was totally different from hers. The son of Italian immigrants, the family was openly very affectionate, loving and close. Mom loved it! She and my father married on May 7, 1949. Thus began a loving 62 year love affair that never ended. Right up until her last day, my father sang her beautiful love songs he wrote for her.
Mom was a great woman who will be remember for her love, great insights, philosophy, kindness, and beautiful soul. She was a very spiritual woman who held a great gift in writing. She wrote letters almost every day to many different people and everyone who received one loved them. She read one book a day, created beautiful gardens herself and every day and swam 100 laps in the swimming pool during the winter months right up until she turned 80 years old.
A perfect soul, such as my mother just cannot be described. My mother was an amazing woman and with her death I have lost my greatest advocate, mentor and friend!

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Independence Day 2010 John Dewey

2010-07-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

I know it is surname Saturday but this Independence Day I have to think about all the family ancestors that served on the side of the rebels in our war for independence. When you think of the birth of our nation, many believe we became an official nation on July 4, 1776. It is true that is the date we declared our independence, however, the war was far from over on that date. The American Revolution began in 1775 but did not end until 1783. Today I will tell the story of John Dewey, my 5th great grandfather. A great American Patriot whom I am very proud of.
According to his diary, John Dewey left his home in Westfield, Massachusetts to join the fight for independence on April 4, 1776. His journey began in the nearby town of Roxbury and from there he left for several place before ending up in New London, Connecticut. These men marched - there were no cars, trains or horses to ease their journey. From New London, John was lucky enough to have caught a ship to sail to New York. He was clearly impressed with New York City and the rest of the state. One day he would move his family and made his home there.
But during the war he was still unmarried. After marching hundreds of miles and surviving numerous battles, winter came early. His diary does mention cold and snow. What it does not mention is what history has. The towns in New York he was in suffered a early and severe winter. No less than 12 snowstorms 5 of which were severe blizzards occurred during December of 1776 in the exact towns where John Dewey was. Supplies and food were in severe shortage for the troops in New York and New Jersey. New York was lost to the British. The soldiers knew defeat after defeat. The revolution had barely begun and yet their total defeat seemed imminent. General Washington decided a bold move was necessary. In one of the Revolution's defining moments he decided they would cross the Delaware River under the cover of night and attack the British at Trenton. The soldiers were suffering tremendously. There were reports of soldiers eating shoes because of the lack of food. Many of the soldiers marched through the snow with only rags on their feet. Instead of spending Christmas Day warm in front of the hearth fire with the love of family and friends feasting on a Christmas meal, John Dewey and hundreds of other militia men and soldiers crossed the Delaware River during a brutally cold evening in a snowstorm. While his family were warm in their beds sleeping soundly, he was preparing for a huge battle in Trenton after marching for many miles in a snowstorm while his stomach grumbled from hunger and his body ached from lack of sleep and the many miles walked in deep snow. I cannot even imagine what was going through his mind. The surprise attack was the first major success of the Revolution and the battle lasted less than an hour. The morale boost it gave the Continental Army was priceless.
Thanks to John Dewey, and all the soldiers of the revolution and every war and conflict since, I will never have to know. I know this weekend we are celebrating our independence but don't forget to thank any soldiers you may know who keep us independent and free.

Happy Father's Day 2010

2010-06-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

On this father's day, I began thinking about all the father's that preceded my own. I wondered who had the most children. That would definitely be my great, great, great grandfather Vincenzo Napolitano. So I have chosen him to write about today.
Vincenzo Napolitano was born about 1799 in Montalto Uffugo. He was the son of Arcangelo Napolitano and Chiara Crivaro. He was a farmer, a miller and a property owner by profession. In 1818 he married Maria Stella Nicastro. Their first child was born in 1822. Stella died in November of 1839 after giving birth to their 7th child, Maria Concetta Napolitano. Vincenzo did not wait long to find a new wife. By December he had begun posting his marriage banns for the required 3 week period with his intended Caterina Giovanna Filippo. On January 12, 1840 Vincenzo and Caterina married. Caterina was the widow of Francesco Mele and brought her 2 year old daughter Carolina Mele with her when she married Vincenzo. Vincenzo and Caterina had 9 children together bringing the grand total of children that Vincenzo raised to 17.
Pictured here is my own father. I will be taking him to dinner tonight to celebrate his 55th father's day. Happy Father's day to all the father's out there.

Surname Saturday - Napolitano

2010-06-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

In a few days I will meet some Napolitano cousins from Toronto so I thought it would be appropriate to write about the Napolitano's today.
For years I have been chasing the Napolitano's throughout Cosenza Province in Calabria. The surname in Italy is fairly common, however, in Calabria it is not. During the time period I have been researching, the only Napolitano's in all of Calabria lived in Cosenza Province. The majority of those were in Montalto Uffugo where my grandfather was born. When I began I was overwhelmed by the huge number of Napolitano's in the town and one by one placed them in family groups until I had all of them in 3 different families.
Thanks to a young man who found me, Francesco, I have been able to view records even further back than the civil records. So now I know the first Napolitano in Montalto was Arcangelo, son of Giacomo. In 1749 my Raffaele (son of Paolo) should have been living in Vaccarizzo. So where was he? Then I was told Vaccarizzo is missing from the Catasto of Montalto! Arcangelo was born in Belsito. But who was this Arcangelo and is he related to me? And why were there no Napolitano's living in Belsito by 1809? More questions, do they ever end? I have found so many incorrect names of parents listed on death acts, I have to wonder if Paolo was truly the father of Raffaele. Raffaele was 98 when he died so I have to wonder if anyone really knew who his father was. I do know Raffaele was living in Montalto just a few years after the Catasto in the Vaccarizzo frazione.
Raffaele and his wife Diana Corno were listed as Godparents on a baptism just prior to Diana's death in 1777. The baptism said they lived in Vaccarizzo. The Catasto could answer where Raffaele was born and who his father was. Perhaps I could even find his father there and the name of his mother.
What is clear is all the Napolitano's from San Fili, San Vincenzo La Costa, San Benedetto Ullano and San Sisto descended from Raffaele Napolitano or Arcangelo Napolitano who lived and died in Montalto. By 1910 they had hundreds of descendants each.

It would appear my access to records any further back has been exhausted so no one will probably ever know. The mystery of the origins of the Napolitano in Cosenza will forever remain unknown.

Memorial Day 2010

2010-05-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Since it is Memorial Day, I have decided to highlight some of the family members who have served our country.
The Italians
From my father, who was a part of World War II, along with his brother who served the Navy, to the first generation here, my grandfather who served in World War I, I am grateful.
Dad's service was a little unconventional. Although he was not a soldier in the traditional sense, he was part of several top secret (at the time) intelligence. Part of his service was working on radar technology and monitoring the east coast for potential invaders.
Part of his service was spent in Florida working on a new technology - microwaves. During this time the military was researching microwave technology and it's potential as a weapon.
My father also spent time in Canada during the war teaching military staff to use the new radar technology and working on improvements to this new technology.
Although my Dad did not fight on a battlefield or get shipped out of the country, he did voluntarily choose to serve his country in the best way he knew how. He offered his knowledge in new technologies that the military knew little about and make improvements on this technology which helped those serving in battles and on the sea be safer as a result.
My grandfather, Giuseppe Napolitano served during World War I at Camp Gordon, Georgia, near Atlanta. Shortly after his arrival there the Camp was quarantined due to an outbreak of the great influenza that was an epidemic worldwide that year.
The Americans - My Mom's Family
My mother's family has roots in this country from it's earliest days, as far back as 1630. From the beginning, her earliest ancestors on this land served to keep it safe. Back that far, it was not an army but a militia. Her earliest Dewey was a Cornet in the militia. Roger Clapp whom she descends from twice was a Captain and a key player in opening the first military base in this country in Boston. Her ancestors not only served during the French Indian wars in the early days of this country, but many of them gave their lives during this conflict, including the women. I have found 5 of her ancestors who died in this conflict and many who were kidnapped by the Indians (woman and children included) and brought to Quebec before the French officials. Many were rescued by Massachusetts militia that included more of my ancestors. My mother's great, great great grandfather, John Dewey served in the Revolutionary War and crossed the Delaware with General Washington's troops in one of the defining moments of this country's birth. I am fortunate enough to be able to read his journal he kept during this war. You can read it on my new website here.
I am proud of our military and so grateful to their toils and sacrifices to keep all those who cannot serve safe and protected. Past and present.

Surname Saturday Dewey

2010-04-10T05:58:00.000-07:00

My mother's father, Dix Darius Dewey spent his entire life working on the Dewey family genealogy. He was a Certified Public Accountant whose work brought him to many different states and during these trips he would visit the local libraries and call everyone in the local phone book with his surnames. By the time of his death he had stacks of legal sized accounting books filled with names and dates from his children all the way back to the hundreds. Yes, the hundreds! When my grandfather died, my mother was given much of his work and the "Dewey photographs". I remember a large oval shaped photograph of a Dewey taken during the civil war and several tin type photographs. My hope is to one day source his life's work so it can be turned over to a genealogy library completely authenticated. It would make an amazing resource for anyone with New England ancestry. I no longer have access to his work - my mother gave it all to her brother, however, I have begun my own work into the Dewey family. It is like a who's who of the men and women who founded this country. Some of the surnames include Hawes, Noble, Clapp, Bartlett, Root, Stebbins, Spencer and Graves.
Pictured in the top left of this page is Charles Marion Dewey, the father of my grandfather. On the back of this photograph is a brief overview of the family tree typed onto paper that is taped on the back. It says Charles died in Ames, Iowa. Of all the Dewey information on the internet, there is nothing about Charles Marion Dewey. He is listed in many trees, but his wife's name and children are not found anywhere. So, I will write something about them here.
Charles Marion Dewey (pictured top left) was born on August 6, 1856 to Milton Dewey (1818-1897) and Pamelia Riggs (1818-1888) in Martinsburg, New York. He married Etta Kent on January 1, 1884. Charles and Etta had 3 children; Darius Dee (1884-1885), Don Duane (1886) and my grandfather, Dix Darius (1887). Charles and Etta must have moved around because they were married in New York, had their son Dix in Jersey City, New Jersey and Charles died in Newton, Iowa
My mother told me that her grandfather, Charles Marion Dewey, had committed suicide in Iowa. I do not know if this is true. I cannot find anything on his death yet, not even a date but I hope to find something soon.
My grandfather Dix married Myrtle Schmitt who was the daughter of Joseph Schmitt and Katherine "Kate" Bronter. The mother's of both my grandparents lived with them after their husbands died. In contrast to Dix's early American, New England roots on all sides of his family, Myrtle's father immigrated from the Alsace region of France. But that is the subject for a different post.
The Dewey ancestry of my mother
Dix Darius Dewey & Myrtle Schmitt
Charles Marion Dewey & Etta Kent
Milton Dewey & Pamelia Riggs
Chester Dewey & Phebe Wettmore
John Dewey & Achsah Clapp
Aaron Dewey & Sarah Noble
Israel Dewey & Sarah Root
Thomas Dewey & Constant Hawes
Thomas Dewey & Francis Randall

My family

2010-03-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today I will be writing a little bit about my family and where their roots began. My father's father was Giuseppe Napolitano who was born in the Parantoro section of Montalto Uffugo in 1892. The family of Joe in Chicago was very small. He only had 4 cousins here that we knew of. His wife, my grandmother, Caterina Maiuolo had a lot of family in Chicago.
Caterina Maiuolo Napolitano

The family called her Kate. She was born in Cortale, Italy, located in Catanzaro Province in Calabria. Her father was Giuseppe Maiuolo who was an official of some sort with the town of Cortale. The family story says he was a tax collector. He died some time before his family came to America. Kate's mother was Natalina Scrugli who was born in Tropea around 1866. Giuseppe and Natalina lived in "Donnafiore" also referred to as "Upper Cortale".
My grandmother arrived in this country on Thanksgiving Day in 1905 on the ship Sicilia with her mother, Natalina Scrugli, her brother, Domenico Francesco and her sister Maria. She was 8 years old. You can see her ship manifest here . The family came to the home of Natalina's brother Gaetano. Soon after Natalina purchased an apartment building located on Loomis Street in the heart of Chicago's "Little Italy" neighborhood. Since a large portion of the family from Cortale and a huge portion of the population of Cortale came to Chicago, my grandmother was always surrounded by familiar family and friends from Italy. Her family was very close.
Natalina's apartment building provided the family with a steady income and all of the residents were from Italy. Natalina sponsored many Italians which enabled them to come to this country. Among the tenants in her apartment building was Rocco Napolitano the cousin of my grandfather, who recommended a flat there to my grandfather. That is how my grandfather and grandmother met. In the lower level of the apartment building Natalina had a butcher shop. A very different life than the life she had in Cortale! In Cortale they owned properties and employed servants and dress makers to clothe them. In Chicago they had to do the work themselves or purchase their clothes. When my grandmother was a teenager she began a nut shelling business and employed her nieces and nephews to help shell the nuts. She sold the shelled nuts to local bakeries and candy companies.
Giueseppe Napolitano
I am not sure when my grandfather came to this country. A ship manifest has never been found for him. He was living in Paola, Italy in 1912 when he took, and passed his physical for the Italian Army. My best guess is he came here shortly after that. The family story was he followed his cousin Concetta Garrafa here. After Giuseppe's mother died in 1907, he was taken in by Concetta's father and step mother to live with them. Concetta and my grandfather were very close. She was the closest family he had in this country. In 1917 Giuseppe joined the United States Army and served in Camp Gordon near Atlanta, Georgia. During his stay there the base suffered an outbreak of influenza that was plaguing the world that year. He was honorably discharged in late December, 1918. The following April he married my grandmother in Chicago.

In my childhood we were surrounded by so much family it was unclear to me exactly who all these people were and how they fit in to our family. I would ask my dad, my aunts and uncles and no one knew. A cousin would always be the response but no one know who or how they were related to. My grandfather's family on the other side was small and mostly unknown to us. We knew so much about my grandmother's family and where they came from. But my grandfather's family was a complete mystery. A little orphan boy whose parents died when he was young, a cousin (we knew) named Concetta whose father took him in and a sister he left his farm to when he came to this country. That is all we knew. I always thought that was so sad. And it left a big hole in my family. It also left my father with regret. So many questions with no answers. That is why my heart has always been in Montalto with the family of my grandfather. A family I now know so much about!

What I have planned for this blog

2010-03-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

I began this blog as a way of sharing information. I have some pretty interesting ancestors. I will write about them here. I have found saints and sinners, artists and musicians, farmers and nobility. And that is just the Italian side!
I will also talk about recent or upcoming projects, give updates to my websites and talk about genealogy in general. I am beginning this blog with my Italian roots but this blog will also include my early American settlers of my mother's family. If there is something you would like to see here let me know.
Current Projects

Right now, I am too busy with Cosenza Exchange to do much with my other websites so I will be focusing on that for the next month or more. Right now I am working on completing the extractions of the Baptism records of Santa Maria La Castagna. Once that is finished, I will begin the Catasto of Montalto. I have already begun work on the templates, layout and presentation for the Catasto. Perhaps I will have enough to share on my next blog entry.

Featured Relative of the day

2010-03-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

Giuseppe Naso was born in Tropea, Italy in 1836. His mother was a Scrugli and he was a cousin of my Great grandmother Natalina Scrugli's father Antonino. He was a great artist who died tragically young.
Giuseppe was born a deaf mute, but despite this, he left the comfort of his home in Tropea at the age of 15 to study art in Naples in 1851. During this time, Naples was teeming with struggling artists. Giuseppe's maternal uncle, Napoleone Scrugli supported the young artist and probably brought him to Naples. Due to Napoleone's military post as Admiral in the Southern Italian Army he had a home in Naples.
Young Giuseppe began his studies as an artist with an unknown instructor and showed great promise immediately. This instructor introduced him to another instructor and artist named Cavalier DeVivo. By 1852 he gained an apprenticeship under Cavalier De Vivo who had a relationship with King Ferdinand II of the house of Bourbon. From the King, DeVivo and Giuseppe Naso received many commissions of their artwork, many of which were from the Vatican. DeVivo was given the auspicious title of Inspector General of all the art galleries of Southern Italy.
At the age of 18 in 1855 Giuseppe painted a magnificent painting of Saint Francis and even carved a beautiful frame for it intending it as a gift to the Crown Prince.
This began the brief career of this wonderful artist whose magnificent works of art are still displayed today in art galleries and churches throughout Italy. His career was cut short by his premature death in 1862 at the age of 26.
His artwork lives on almost 150 years after his untimely death.