DellaVecchia

52 Ancestors – Week 8 – Prosperity

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According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

prosperity

pros·​per·​i·​ty | \ prä-ˈsper-ə-tē  \

Definition of prosperity

: the condition of being successful or thriving especially : economic well-being
As I thought of this topic, the person who kept coming to mind was my grandfather Antonio DellaVecchia.
Antonio DellaVecchia was born 24 January 1903 in Vasto, Chieti, Italy. He left home at the age of 17 to travel to America. He arrived in New York City in 1920 on a ship that sailed from LeHarve, France with his cousin Paulo Florio.
My grandfather did not spend much time in NYC as he settled in Clifton Heights Pennsylvania, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1926. He then went back and married my grandmother in 1929 in Lentella, Italy.
He came back to the United States and was a very successful contractor and investor in real estate.
This is a list of the properties that my grandmother had after my grandfather died in 1976.
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My own Dad and brother have continued with the construction company.
My grandfather lived the American Dream.

Elusive Ancestors…

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That final ProGen assignment is done. I am taking a day or so before I jump into something new and I am procrastinating my final critiques of my peers. If you have been reading for a while you have probably learned that I like to procrastinate and I like rabbit holes.

While procrastinating that final ProGen assignment I did a deep dive into my Italian Ancestors (that right there should tell you how  much procrastination there was). I have been looking for the elusive last name of my 2X Great Grandmother on my Moro line.

If you read this Learned something new… post and you will see how I arrived to this place. I am not sure of the search terms I used to come up with this record but look what I found.

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My 2X Great Grandmother, Chiara DiLudovico and Concenzio Moro, my great uncle.

I need to do a bit more research as I know very little about when Aliens were held for special inquiry and I am hoping there are records. One thing that I love about European women is that they traveled under their maiden names.

I am searching for a class or an institute on Italian Genealogy because I think that is what I need to get further into the process, but I finally did it I found the maiden name.

My 2X great grandmother’s name was Chiara DiLudovico Moro and it explains how my grandmother got her name.

Learned something new…

/ Chiara / 3 Comments

Today, I watched a webinar entitled Long Distance Italian Genealogy from Shellee A. Morehead, PhD, CG that was on Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

My Dad and I had been talking about his family line and we know so little of anyone who was not in the United States. So after watching the webinar where I was introduced to a new website Antenati-Ancestors. It provides access to the Civil Records or Italy.

I have had a mystery of my 2X Great-Grandmother on my paternal-grandmother’s side (clear as mud I know). All I had was this passenger list where you could read the first name but What the heck was the last name and to top it off she is listed as a servant.

passenger list Moro

Well thanks to today’s webinar and the Antenati website. I have begun to unravel the mystery of this line. The first thing I found was a birth record for Teresa Moro. teresamorob1876k===lentella

I will need to translate it so I understand everything but according to the passenger list I knew Teresa was born sometime around 1876 as she is 4 on the ship manifest. I also know this branch of my family is from Lentella, Chieti, Italy. Made the records a bit easier to go through. That and the index in the beginning of the book. I spotted Michelangelo Moro’s name right away. I also see reverence to a Chiara Lodosrio(possibly).

I could not find a birth record for Domenico Moro my Great Grandfather as that book did not have an index in the front of it so it will be the task of reading page by page. I did find marriage record for Domenico Moro and Teresa Tracchia, my great grandparents.

domenicomoro.teresa tracchiamarriage

They were married in 1886 and it again lists a Chiara Livordosio (again wonky spelling).

I figured let me see if I could find a marriage record for Michelangelo Moro and Chiara. This is what I found.

michelangelomorochiaraluvorio

10yearindex

They were married in 1872. I have to figure out how to get real copies as I could not figure out about ordering them and most Italian Records on Family Search require being at a Family History Center,

So if anyone can figure out the last name I would greatly appreciate it. I am just so excited to have found something new and I can see a lot of rabbit holes being gone down because of this.

Seriously comment below if you have a clue as to the last name.

52 Ancestors – Week 43 – Transportation

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Transportation is an interesting topic when we think of our Ancestors. I am often amazed how far they traveled and the modes of transportation they used.

I have ancestors who by horse and buggy, train and ship. Today, I am moving to my dad’s side of the family. Our earliest Italian ancestor in New York is Michelangelo Moro. He arrived 20 December 1880 according to this ships manifest. He arrived on the SS Italia. passenger list Moro

He arrived with what appears to be a Servant Chiara Dilodevia? and 2 children Domenico and Teresa. Domenico is my great grandfather and he named his daughter Chiara.

I am amazed that he journeyed to America with 2 small children. I have never found record of him here in America. One day I will do a deep dive into Italian Research, I need to gather courage and get familiar with my local Family History Center.

52 Ancestors – Week 25 – Earliest

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This one is an interesting one as I know there are branches that came a little after the Mayflower. (I am still looking for that elusive Mayflower ancestor.)

Then I have my Witherwax line that came in 1710 from Germany with approximately 700 families.

But for the sake it f this prompt I am going to talk about my Dad’s family. My earliest relative is his great- grandfather who came in 1878 from Italy. His name was Michelangelo Moro and he came with 2 children Domenico Moro, my Dad’s grandfather and a daughter Teresa. There was a woman with them on the ship’s manifest but’s am not sure who she is. Her name is listed as Chiara Dito——-a.

We didn’t think the family came to much later but we were pleasantly surprised. I need put together a research plan for this line along with some research questions.

Italian research intimidates me so I want to expand my horizons and become more proficient in it.

52 Ancestors – Week 13 – In the Paper

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I absolutely love old newspapers. I spend hours upon hours searching papers for hints and clues about my family.

I have told you in the past about my favorite site NYS Historic Newspapers. I have also had great success on other newspaper sites. I am not generally a huge fan of Fulton History. When I was doing research on my dad’s uncle Berlendo Moro I did find them useful.

berlendo

Courtesy of newspapers.com and the NY Daily News.

I am trying to gather all the information on this case because I find it fascinating. Berlendo seemed to have died as a result of a gunshot wound because he was helping a friend who was a police officer.

berlendo2

Courtesy of newspapers.com and The Courier-News.

In the end his killer did admit to killing him and I believe served 8 years.

It is taking me a while with this story as it was a big case and it was reported in several papers each with a slightly different version.

So like I have said in the past I love newspapers.

 

 

52 Ancestors – Week 9 – At the Courthouse

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For me this prompt was tough. I haven’t been to a courthouse or a town hall in ages, that isn’t saying that I haven’t found legal documents anywhere.

Right now I have a super long list of things I would like to find at a courthouse and I even have plans to visit the Surrogate’s Court in Clinton County when I visit in May because I want to look at the probate record of David Weatherwax with my own eyes. So for this prompt I decided to share all the records I really want to look at.

  • Probate/Guardianship for Beverly Beardsley (d. 1815) – location Essex Co, NY.
  • Probate of David Weatherwax (d.1841) – location Clinton Co, NY.
  • Murder trial transcript for the man who killed Berlindo Moro (d. 1927/8) – location Queens Co, NY. (also need to find all the Long Island Star Journal articles).
  • Court Records for Henry Bass aka William Kirk (from 1913) I have records of him at Sing Sing trying to determine if this is my Henry Bass.
  • Annulment proceedings of Patricia Moran and Robert Bass. I have the final decree but I tend to be nosy.

I am sure there are more but I think these ought to be a good start and realistically I know we will probably never see the annulment proceedings everything else should be fair game though and it will satisfy my curiosity.

Until next time.

52 Ancestors – Week 4 – I’d like to meet

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This prompt always makes me want to smile. I spend a lot of time working on my family tree and when I do that I generally let myself listen to my gut and let it guide me because I feel that is my predecessors speaking to me.

I would love to meet the following people as I have a lot of brick walls to breakdown.

  1. My 3X great grandmother – Mary Shafer (Shaver) Weatherwax my question for her would be when did you die and where are you buried?  I know you died post 1880.
  2. My 3X great grandfather – Jacob Weatherwax (Mary’s Husband) and I would ask him when did he die and where is he buried?
  3. My 4X great grandmother – Ada Curtiss Beardsley – Did you get married after your husband died in 1815? Did you stay in Clinton County or did you move west?
  4. Ambrose Shumway my 3X Great Grandfather – Where in Canada did you reside? Why are you so hard to find? Is Nathaniel really your father?
  5. Domenico Moro my Great Grandfather why did you leave the United States and return to Italy and renounce your citizenship?

and to any of my predecessors who lived in Jay, NY in Essex County – Why are there no deeds or wills filed prior to 1845?

See lots of questions to ask. Hopefully one day I will get one or two of these questions answered and this is why I am planning those research trips.

 

 

52 Ancestors – Week 3 – Unusual Name

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Last year for 52 ancestors there was a post about unusual or Favorite names and I wrote about Bezaleel Wood.

When looking at my family and the names none of them seem particularly unusual. Maybe that is because my first name is Chiara. It is a family name, as I am named after my grandmother, who in turn as per family stories was named after a princess.

As I look at my family tree the thing that draws me is the use of maiden names or surnames as middle names. My great uncle was named Leslie Winchester Witherwax. Winchester was his grandfather’s (Leslie Winchester Beardsley) middle name and it  was his mother’s, (Minerva Winchester),  maiden name from what I have found. I have not been able to garner much information about Minerva but am hopeful.

Dorcas Winchell Coolidge, my 2X Great Grandmother was the daughter of Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge who was the son of Obadiah Coolidge and Sarah Knowlton and grandson of Benjamin Knowlton. I do not know where Winchell came from but it will be fun to unravel that one eventually.

My dad’s family has a couple of fun stories about his Mom and her siblings. I just told you, I am named after my grandma and she was named after a princess, supposedly there was a European Princess named Chiara Doralda. Haven’t researched that yet but it will probably be fun to go down that rabbit hole. Her siblings were also supposed to be named after various European leaders. I haven’t proved or disproved that story but I have to shake my head a bit with that one. Maybe I will send away for all the birth certificates of those born in NY in the early 20th century. I feel a project coming on.