Weeks 5-8: 52 Weeks of Genealogy

Week 5: Challenge

My husband's family is Italian, with his grandparents being immigrants and his parents as first-generation Americans. I'm well-acquainted with his paternal side, as they were a large family, and many of his father's siblings were still alive when we met. However, his maternal side is a different matter and my challenge. His mother was an only child, and she and her parents died when he was a teenager. I've managed to trace his maternal grandfather's siblings, who emigrated to the US in the early 1910s and 1920s. The difficulty lies with my husband's maternal grandmother, where I've encountered a dead end.

I have the essentials. I know she was born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy, as indicated on the ship's manifest from Genoa, Italy, to New York. I also know that she and her husband were married in Arezzo. Interestingly, she returned to Italy on the Andrea Doria a year before it sank! However, I am unaware of her parents' names or if she had any siblings. I have investigated her maiden name in the region where they settled in Northern Illinois but haven't found any relatives.

She will continue to be my challenge, but I know I will prevail and unravel the mystery.

Week 6: Surprise Uncle Dick's first wife and family

Any genealogist, whether expert or amateur, will tell you how valuable a census record can be. While updating my family tree with census records on Ancestry, I came across the 1940 census record for my maternal great-grandparents and discovered a huge surprise! My great-uncle, his wife, and two children were living with my great-grandparents. Here is the surprise, I didn't recognize the wife nor the children's names. I had never heard about this family. Since my mom was close to her cousins from what I now understand to be his second wife, I called her to ask if she knew who these people were. She was just as surprised as I was!

One of the benefits of Ancestry is you can connect with members that are researching the same families. I had connected with the wife of one of my mom's cousins, who was a child of my great Uncle. She and I stubbled on the record at the same time and she messaged me -- did I know who these family members were? She had asked her husband and his siblings, no one had an idea.

Ancestry DNA has further connected me to this part of the family. I haven't reached out to this part of the family yet; I would love to hear their story and how much they know about our family.

Week 7: Letters & Diaries

When my uncle, my mother's brother, passed away, I received a box of photos and memorabilia from my maternal grandfather. In his later years, my grandfather lived with my uncle and his wife. The box contained pictures, Stars and Stripes from World War II, and various papers. As I went through the box, I discovered one of my most cherished genealogical keepsakes. I found a telegram my great-grandmother sent to my grandfather while he was in World War II in Italy, announcing my mother's birth. I'm amazed that he kept it.

Week 8: Migration

When individuals marry, their family trees merge and expand. When I began constructing my family tree, I included my husband, his parents, and his siblings. As my fascination with genealogy deepened, so did my interest in his family. While my ancestors migrated from Prussia, Poland, and Germany, his family came to the United States from Italy. My family tree extended into areas of Europe that were not originally part of it. An entirely new region of the world to discover! 

My husband’s family is Italian, with his paternal grandparents being Sicilian immigrants and his father being first generation. On his mother's side, his maternal grandparents are Tuscan, and his mother is first generation. 

A few years back, my husband and I embarked on a Mediterranean cruise. We docked in Livorno and took a day trip to Florence. Unbeknownst to us, we were just a few kilometers away from where his maternal grandparents were born. We discovered this during a visit to Salt Lake City. At the Family History Center, the docents assisted us in finding records in Tuscany related to my husband's grandparents. Not only does his family have Italian roots, but there's also a new branch on the tree. His father's second wife was born in Norway. Together, she and I have pieced together a significant portion of her family tree. Another new place to explore.