That's No Mystery Part 2

Well, that's Uncle Frenchie! Of course it is, I thought to myself. This picture was taken in Paris according to the photographer's mark on the front and what little of the Italian I could read on the back. Also on the back were the names Carolina and Rene. So of course I should have figured out this was your great aunt Carolina Dalpiaz and her husband Rene Valentini (Uncle Frenchie), as verified by Aunt Josie recently.

Carolina and Rene met in the same valley in Italy. It appears that even though Uncle Frenchie's native tongue was Italian he was born in France and they lived there for a while as well. By 1930, they had recently married and were living in the neighborhood along with Victor and Elizabeth Dalpiaz; your grandparents (with your great grandmother Kate Messa); Frank and Beatrice Abatangelo; the Lessies; the Pintos; and the Recchia family (related on the Messa side).

On Saturday nights the families would gather at your grandparents' house because the kitchen was the largest. The men would play cards and the women would knit or crochet. Aunt Bea would deep fry vegetables like asparagus, broccoli and mushrooms. Your grandmother Mary made red sauce and calzones with dough from the bakery. Leezia (Elizabeth Dalpiaz) made desserts and brought candy from the factory. Costante and Uncle Frenchie would put on puppet shows for the kids.

Aunt Josie reports that Carolina was a real "pepper pot", a phrase I had never heard before that visit but since then have seen it in print. Carolina apparently wasn't too worldly and sewed up all the unfortunate slits in her husband's underwear. Richard reports remembering Uncle Frenchie hollering out from the bathroom when he discovered Carolina's repairs. I don't think "pepper pot" means naive, though! You have to wonder what she was thinking when she saw all these openings in the front part of the underwear. Well, maybe it's not such a good idea to think it through too far.

Inauguration Day Jan 20 2009

I hope everyone took the opportunity to witness history today for the inauguration ceremonies. No matter your political view, there can be no question that today will be one of those days you will remember. We were lucky enough to be able to gather all our high school students together in our auditorium to view the broadcast on our big screen and help them understand the history that was being made. I hope Ryan remembers this day--of course, he isn't old enough yet to see it in its historical context but someday he certainly will. His view was more along the lines of "Don't they do this for every inauguration?" Well, yes, but.......



I couldn't help but notice how many times our ancestors came up today both in speech and in imagery. President Obama called upon the efforts our ancestors made to come to this country and to build a life for themselves. Some of those efforts, he noted, were to make this country a better place so that we could get to a point such as we did today.



Honestly, I don't think our ancestors had such broad national goals in mind when they boarded those ships and found their way to other relatives or community members who had immigrated previously. Thomas asked me this weekend what I knew about the occupations of our grandparents and their parents and so forth. The Manzelli patriarch Joseph was a barber. Your grandfather James Coffarelli was a weigh master (I have no idea yet and it sounds a little scary and official). The Isoldis called themselves Junkmen. Jake Messa was a coal miner. You are well familiar with Costante's various jobs. There are other chauffeurs in the mix among the uncles and cousins. The religious orders are pretty well represented among your predecessors (good thing after Scott's party! Some of us need the extra help).



I think Thomas might have been wondering more about musical talent. You can see from the occupations that these seemed to be practical, serious, physical jobs--no one much made a living with music. But it's pretty obvious that your ancestors knew how to have a good time. So in that regard you come from very good stock. And you all are holding up your end of the deal very nicely in your family celebrations and events.



I believe our ancestors were mostly concerned with many of the same things we are thinking about today. We hope the world is better for our children than for us. It's just about that simple. And that's not such a bad national call to attention. Let's work for her.

Another branch on the Coffarelli tree

Get ready to welcome another Italian family into the fold! I just received Rose Coffarelli's death certificate. You might remember that Rose was your Grandfather James' mother who died when he was only 9.

Rose's death certificate lists her father Giovanni Pedano (one of the spelling variations I had for her maiden name) and her mother as Leonarda Dalami. It is always a big break to get the female surname so I am very happy to meet Leonarda, as I hope you are as well.

Rose died of organic heart disease and exhaustion when she was only 49. While you may be thinking, like James did: "all I seem to keep hearing is about ancestors dying young"--keep in mind that several (such as Rose's father-in-law Giuseppe Nicholas) lived a long long time. Nevertheless, I beg you all to take good care of yourselves and make yourselves easy to find someday by a future descendant!

Coffarelli Cousins

I don't think I actually had a chance to speak to everyone too much regarding your new Coffarelli cousins when I saw you all at Christmas. But indeed, there are living Coffarelli family members you should know about! I guess I had the impression Coffarellis were few and far between--since your Mom and her brother were the only children of James and Marguerite. But since James had EIGHT brothers and sisters, it is only natural that there must be other family members resulting from these 8 other families. And indeed, there are.

James' sister Louise married Michael Barra in June 1919. They had 3 children Teresa (now deceased); Anthony and John. Anthony is now 86 years old and living in an assisted living facility in Catskill. I had written to Anthony asking for confirmation that he is a Coffarelli and I received the confirmation from his son Michael along with most of this information you see here. Michael Barra is the oldest of Anthony's four children (also Patricia, Anthony Jr and Joseph). I believe this family lived mostly in Catskill New York. These children are just a little bit older than most of you (born mid to late 1940s). Sister Teresa had 3 children and brother John 6 so there are many many cousins out there for you all! Isn't it a big world right in our backyards sometimes?

Michael lives in Middletown and says: "I remember Aunt Tessie (Louise's sister) from my childhood. She was a nun and stayed with my grandparents during her summer vacations in Kiskatom in the town of Catskill (on Rt. 23A).My grandparents owned and operated a boarding house called Hickory Lodge when their children were growing up in Kiskstom, NY."

He also confirms this picture is of Phillip Coffarelli and his sister Theresa (Sister Magdalene) probably at this Hickory Lodge.

Wow, all these newly found family members should be enough interesting news for you BUT there's more news on the Coffarelli front. James' mother Rose died when her children were quite young and I believe I have discovered her death and burial. Rose died in May 1908 when her youngest, James, was only 9 years old. She is buried at the Calvary Cemetery (same as the Manzellis) in a plot with 3 others. Naturally I had to go find out who these other 3 were.

I assumed I'd find Rose, her husband John, then either Mary or Margaret (one of whom apparently died before James did) and father-in-law Giuseppe Nicholas Coffarelli. I was wrong. Goes to show once again. Rose and Giuseppe Nicholas (Joseph in the cemetery records) are buried in this plot along with Mary Orabel (died age 27 1914) and infant Julia Oreball (died 1908 only a few hours after birth).

If I could shout, I would: Does anybody know the Orabells????? It appears Mary was born in Italy around 1887. This does not match up nicely with anything else I know so far but it might not be impossible that this is still Mary the missing sister whom I have listed as born in New York around 1885. It also could possibly be missing sister Margaret born in Italy around 1880, although that doesn't really feel right to me.

These long sought answers very often simply generate more questions--"not that there's anything wrong with that"! So think think think. Who are these Orabells?

Happy New Year. It was great to hear that Robert and Bobbie has such a great trip and found the beautiful ancient Caffarelli chapel in Rome!

That's No Mystery! Part One

We visited Aunt Josie, Uncle Tom and Richard this week in their home. They very nicely allowed James and I to land on them with very short notice so that I could figure out some of the pictures that Robert allowed me to borrow. I had pre-selected some of those I was most curious about and only brought those with me for Aunt Josie to look at. For me, these were the biggest mysteries. But for Aunt Josie, "That's no mystery! That's ......(fill in the blank)". It made me laugh and say "Well, that's why we are here".

So here's the first That's No Mystery Post. This wedding picture intrigued me for a couple of reasons. This same wedding dress appears in another wedding picture and the female attendant is especially beautiful. I could pretty much tell the groom is Walter Jozwicki making the bride Rose Messa, your grandmother's sister.

Aunt Josie clarified for me that the female attendant is her cousin Mary Lessie and the male attendant is Walter's brother Henry. I did some research and found Rose Messa's wedding listed in Queens County to Ladislaw Jozwickie on Sept 17 1933. I believe this is probably the same wedding as portrayed in the picture. Perhaps Ladislaw is Walter from the Polish language? Seems likely.

A little further research in the census records shows Walter with his siblings Henry, John and Genevieve and parents Anthony and Helen in Brooklyn in 1920. Walter was apparently born in New York around 1915 making him a bit younger than his wife Rose.

In 1930, just a few years prior to this wedding, Mary Lessie is living with her family in Queens County and she was working as a saleslady in a department store. I have found a Mary Lessie marrying Joseph Campilonga in 1935--any idea if this might be the cousin Mary you see here?