My Godmother, Great Aunt Mary

 Everyone should have a godmother like my great aunt Mary! She was indeed a great person, but the “great aunt” is actually referring to the fact that my godmother was my grandfather’s sister, thus “great aunt”. She also happened to be my father’s godmother and in fact she was a godmother to many many children and they were all lucky to have her.

Mary Grace Mazziotti was born in 1920 in Elmsford, NY, the youngest child of 7 and only daughter. I get the impression that her 6 older brothers protected her but also didn’t make her life easy which in turn made her a strong woman. Thinking of my Aunt Mary makes me smile. She wasn’t pushy as a godmother, but she did plant and sow the seeds with care and did take the opportunity to challenge me in my thinking about religion. During those difficult times in life, I can hear her calm wise words of assurance. Thank you, Aunt Mary!

She's the little girl hold her Pop's hand.

Of course, I only remember her as an “older” woman (I hesitate saying “older” because she was younger than I am now when she became my godmother!). When I knew her, she always had a bright smile and usually a cigarette in her brightly polished and manicured hand. She spent half her year in Ft. Lauderdale with my Uncle Walter and I remember her fondly with her bronzed skin, blond-ish curly hair with a colorful cloth muffin cap, snazzy sandals with multicolored stones, and a bright flowered one piece swim suit.

Aunt Marion and Aunt Mary

She and Uncle Walter lived in NY in the winter months with her brother Uncle Dotto and his wife Aunt Marion Winkelman. Uncle Dotto was the youngest son and I have come to learn that they actually were in the same grade in school and graduated together, along with Marion. The two couples came to visit us in Michigan most summers and my mother, the amazing hostess, would make them feel so comfortable whether we were at our house or at the cottage. Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter were at many of the major events in my life, like dance recitals, birthdays, and of course my wedding. I was so very lucky to have all four of my grandparents into my 20s and feel extra blessed that I had their siblings too!

Recently, I have been consulting with a 3rd cousin and “foster cousins” to my great-grandparents Emanuel and Concetta Mortelliti Mazziotti trying to identify people in group photos and hoping that our collective knowledge would help. Two of these photos were wedding photos, one in 1926 and one in 1949 and in both Aunt Mary showed up! 

In 1926, she was the flower girl in the wedding of the foster brother (Rocco Bellantoni 1903-1994) of her father Emanuel Mazziotti. (Side note: Rocco’s father (Rocco) was the foster father with his first wife Grazia Bova to Emanuel in Scilla in 1876. Emanuel came to the US in 1900 so he had never met his foster brother,Rocco, born with 2nd wife Grazia Pirrotta, until he emigrated in 1921 naming Emanuel as his contact in the US. He might very well have lived with the Mazziotti’s when he first arrived and Aunt Mary would have been a very little girl, probably capturing his heart).

In 1949, she was the matron of honor and is in a bonnet directly behind the bride, Santa (Sarah) Farfalla, her 1st Cousin. I’m not surprised that Aunt Mary was asked to be in weddings, she was just one of those kinds of people you wanted to be around. This was only my impression, so I decided to do a little deep dive into my Godmother Aunt Mary’s life prior to me coming along and thought the newspapers would help!

The earliest mention that I found in various newspaper repositories Newspapers.com, Oldnews.com, Fultonhistory.org (great collection of NY newspapers), Newsachive.com was as a 9 year old, she played a “fairy” in the school play (with Marion Winkelman). In the next 10 years, I found (although it could be more!) her name shows up 26 times usually in The Daily News (Tarrytown, NY). The topics were varied from attending a birthday party for a friend or relative, a Junior Choir Production, hosting a wedding shower, graduating junior and senior high, perfect attendance in school, placing 2nd in an Amateur Night singing competition, hosting or participating in the High School Italian Club, Chi Beta bridge events, Tally Ho Club, Hiking Club, Skating Party, senior play, Delta Phi Sigma chapter creator, to eventually her wedding announcement. 

Although these brief mentions are just snapshots into her life, it painted for me a richer picture of just how much of a social butterfly Aunt Mary was! After reading these, it reinforced my impression that Aunt Mary was a joy to be around and everyone wanted her there, I know I did!

And I wish everyone had a godmother like my Aunt Mary!

Aunt Mary and Uncle Walter c. 1986

Long Ago Friends!

Today’s story is not about long lost dead relatives, okay maybe there’s a little bit of that, but they aren’t mine (or my husband’s!). This blog is about using genealogical research skills to connect two long lost living friends, my dad and his elementary school best friend, Randy.

Dad and His Friends

My dad in front of his elementary school a few years ago on a trip with my sister back to Ridgewood, NJ

Dad visiting his childhood home

Anyone who has ever talked with my dad knows that he absolutely LOVED the years of his youth spent in Ridgewood, NJ. He loved everything about it. He loved his house. He loved dinner every Sunday with his Italian Nana and Pop and his cousins in Elmsford. He loved his Willard Elementary school, and his friends! My grandfather’s job relocated the family to the midwest when my dad was around 10 years old and he lost connection with all of his playmates and elementary school chums. (Not quite like now where it would be easy to stay connected, if you wanted to.)

My dad's Italian family in Elmsford, NY
My dad is the oldest boy in the front row.

He’s still connected with his first cousins who were about his age. But for years, dad has talked (and wondered) about “what ever happened to X friend?” He asked “Couldn’t the computer be used to help find my friends?” He would also wonder if THEY would even remember him or if they wondered about him. (Chances are that people would have a hard time tracking down my dad because around the same time that they moved, my grandfather changed their last name to a less Italian sounding one.) He was the kid that moved away and his friends' lives went on without him. Except one, who moved away before him…Randy Butler.

Finding a Friend

Just over a year ago, one of my daughters was visiting my dad when he asked, “I wonder whatever happened to Randy Butler? He was my best friend in elementary school and his family moved away to Alabama the year before my family moved. I think Randy’s dad was a lawyer.” Okay, what are the chances that you find a Randy Butler in the US? Pretty good, it’s a common name. What are the chances that you find THE Randy Butler? Hmm…not so much. And how do you know it is actually the one?

Being the dutiful granddaughter, she took him up on the challenge. Within minutes, my daughter Googled and came up with Charles R. Butler (the R stands for Randolph) in Alabama and a photograph. Okay, really? Could this be him? My daughter showed the photo to my dad and he said, “Yeah, that looks like him.” My daughter texted me and asked if I could help track down Randy’s address so my dad could reach out. Ooh, hold your horses. Let’s slow down.

My dad gets excited by things and I thought before we get too far down this path of reaching out to him that we might just want to verify that this Charles R. Butler is the Randy Butler of my dad’s youth. 

I noticed the birthdate of this man was the same as my dad’s.

         “Dad, did you know that you two had the same birthdate?” 

          “No.”

          “Dad, don’t you think you would have known if you and Randy had the same birthdate?”

          Shrug. 

Now, I think if my “best” friend had the same birthdate that I would know about it! Maybe elementary school boys didn’t care about things like matching birthdays?

So I hopped on to Ancestry.com and searched for a Randy Butler in Ridgewood, NJ with a birthdate around my dad’s. Whoop, up pops the 1940 Census in Ridgewood, NJ complete with Charles R. Butler Sr. (lawyer) and newborn Charles R. Butler, Jr. I asked Dad if this was the street that Randy lived on but he wasn’t sure. He knew how to get to Randy’s house, but didn’t really remember the street name.

Okay, but let’s do a little more research. Why Alabama? Did this Butler family really move to Alabama? In the 1950 Census they are still living in Ridgewood and the 1960 Census isn’t available yet. A little more searching of marriage certificates and other things available through Ancestry.com indicated that this man’s maternal grandmother was originally from Alabama and in 1962 (according to the Social Security Death Index) his mother was living in Alabama. 

Connecting Long-Lost Friends

I did lots more searching, but I was already convinced that Randy Butler, my dad’s friend, was this same man my daughter found. But how good of friends were they? Would Randy even remember my dad?

My dad said he has a photo of Randy. He shows me the photo and I am convinced of two things. One, given the pose Randy has in the photo with his arm draped around my dad, he did at least like my dad at the time, not sure if he’ll remember him 70 years later (!!) though, and two, Randy is DEFINITELY the same man in the Google photo. You know how some people are recognizable in photos throughout their entire lives?!

My dad is pretty old fashioned when it comes to communication. He doesn’t have a cell phone (unless you count the flip phone he keeps in the car for emergencies but doesn’t always remember how to use it), nor does he have an email address. He wants to write a letter, of course. So we need a US mailing address. Well, Ancestry.com comes through again with an address from 1995. Might be a little outdated, but a Googlesearch confirms we have the right address.

My dad sends a lovely letter “Dear Randy….” signed “Donny” and encloses a copy of the photo. Within one week (through US mail!), my dad has a letter back from Randy, saying “Dear Donny…of course I remember you!....Randy” (although no one else calls me Randy!) 

Amazing! 

Through birthday greetings, letters, email (Randy sends them to my mom's email!), and the phone, these two friends who haven’t seen or heard from one another in over 70 years have reconnected! Although they haven’t made an in person visit, they have caught each other up on their families and lives since 1950. It’s truly a beautiful thing. And it was all because of research skills developed from genealogy.

Fast Forward to Today

So why does this come to mind today? Well, when I was doing research on Randy’s family to verify he was really my dad’s friend, I learned a lot about his family. He had some knowledge and background but he didn’t know much about his grandmother’s family. I spent one evening searching and found that his grandmother was a member of the social organization, Daughters of the Revolution. So while I was on my family history road trip, I stopped in to the DAR Library.

DAR vs. D of R 

I knew at the DAR Library that while you are on their premises you can look up (free of charge) anyone’s DAR Application and look through their lineage. Since I was already going to be at the library, I put looking up Randy's grandmother's application on my list of things to do.

Her application wasn’t there. I couldn’t find it. I couldn’t even find reference to that DAR Chapter in Ridgewood, NJ!  I needed help.

After a concerted effort on the part of both me and the DAR Librarian, she offered a possible solution. Are you sure that this was a DAR Chapter and not in the Daughters of the Revolution of 1776 Organization? What? There’s a different one? Yep. Now defunct.

I looked to the newspaper article that I had about his grandmother and sure enough it said “Daughters of the Revolution”, but my mind had jumped straight to assuming it was DAR! Well, what do you know, there is another whole other organization that might be useful in research! FamilySearch knows all about it and have links to where you can look up members/applications. 

So, in a matter of seconds (once I made it to the right page), I had the Application/Membership number along with which patriot she was related to. The Suffolk County Historical Society Museum is the keeper of these records, so you can just fill out their application along with the copying/look up fee and a self addressed stamped envelope and they will send you the application. This was several weeks ago. 

Today was the reward! Four 8.5” x 14” copied sheets of paper that look much like a DAR application complete with names and dates back to the Revolutionary War Patriot! This application actually included two more generations beyond the Patriot.

I just love family history and the hours of fun it provides me! And the joy it brings to others, like Dad and Randy connecting again after 70 years!

Molly and Me--Ready for an Adventure

And we're off! 

Molly is my car. She's a Malibu and she is all set and ready to go. She's all packed up, ready for our morning adventure. 

Our first stop is the Allen County Public Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Some people find it odd that some county library in the midwest would have incredible holdings of genealogy. There was a generous benefactor who was a genealogist and cared deeply about it. His legacy is this amazing free resource. I have an appointment with a genealogy librarian at 10am on Monday, who I have prepared with a research question and as much information I have on this person and what I hope to find. I will spend 2 days (10am-8pm) in the library and I'm excited!!

The Practice Run

My practice run to the Westchester County Archives last Wednesday went well and I learned some things.

And also *think* that I found the Naturalization Records to my great-grandfather, Emanuel Anthony Mazziotti. The reason that I say *think* is that there is some conflicting information that raises more questions!! (I'm learning that this may be a theme).

If this is him, he was naturalized on August 3, 1901. It didn't provide a street address for where he was living, just "North Tarrytown", which is likely to be Pocantico Hills, where Kykuit (Rockefeller's Estate) is where I believe he was working at the time. It was amazing to be holding the actual original paperwork that my great-grandfather held in his hands and signed his name! It's hard to tell from the photos but the naturalization paperwork is folded in half and then folded into fourths. I almost missed that it had been folded in half and that there was an inside to it!! The length of the paper when folded in half was approximately 8.5" x 14".

The Outside of the Naturalization Petition

 I learned also that this is a "Minor Alien" petition. These were issued for anyone under the age of 21 when they first arrived to the country. (Naturalization Act of 1906 changed rules and also the forms. They became more specific and included the ship name and other family members.) 

One of the reasons that I am doubting if this is my Emanuel Mazziotti (beside the name of Mazziotta) is that he had to have been in the country continuously five years from the time of first arrival before this petition.

The "Back" side of the Naturalization Paperwork

We have "evidence" that suggests that he was in the Italian Calvary from 1894-1897. And I know that he arrived in 1900 on the Tartar Prince.

So there are 3 possibilities:

The "Inside" Top

1. This is not my Emanuel Mazziotti
2. Our evidence is wrong and the time frame must have been different about when he was in the Italian Calvary
3. He mis-identified when he arrived.

While it is possible that this is not my Emanuel, his witness was an Antonio/Antonino Farfalla. In 1910, there was an Antonio Farfalla living with my great-grandfather and he was his brother-in-law.

In talking with the archivist and sharing my conundrum, she said that it was not unheard of at the time that if they had a "sponsor" that that person would help along the naturalization process. In those cases, sometimes people would lie about the date they arrived to move along the process.

Both my daughter and I searched and search the ship's manifests for the date he said he arrived and we didn't find a Mazziotti (or any permutation of the name) who arrived that day or in the following week. 

At this point, my hypothesis is that this is my great-grandfather and lied (gasp) about the date he arrived. But, I have more to investigate and will withhold complete judgment until I do.

Meanwhile, I'm happy with what I learned about archival research at the archives (mechanical pencils are NOT okay!) and also with a second page to his marriage record. (Note the spelling of his name and I *know* this is my great-grandparents' marriage record.)

The "Inside" Bottom

What's Next?

My first brick wall! I'm going to do a thorough search at the ACPL on Henry Edward Leach. Looking forward to seeing what I learn and what paths it may take me on!

Names and Naturalization

 

Top: Mary Anne, Florence Mary
Bottom: Mary, Mary Grace

Names and calling people by their preferred name is important to me. Maybe it is because my given name and what I prefer to be called are different. I was born Mary Lynn Massey. I like(d) my name and am happy with “Mary”. I come from a long line of “Mary’s”, there’s my mom, Mary Anne, my great-grandmother Florence Mary, my great-great-grandmother Mary, and my godmother, Mary Grace Mazziotti Sippel.  And as proud as I am of Mary, that’s not what I liked to be called. I prefer to be called “Lynn”, I suspect it’s because it’s what my parents always called me, except, of course, when my mother was unhappy with me and then she called “Mary Lynn!” But it was always important to me that people call me “Lynn”, so every year on the first day of school we went through the routine as the teacher was calling names on the attendance list.

   Teacher: “Mary Massey?” (chuckles from knowing classmates)

   Me: “Here, but actually I prefer to be called ‘Lynn”.” 

   Teacher:  “Lynn?” 

    Me: “Yes, that’s my middle name.” 

   Teacher: “Oh, Okay.” (Thank you.)

  It’s actually quite a great screening mechanism and useful when telemarketers call. “Is Mary there?” “Nope, no one goes by that name here! Goodbye.” click.

Calling people by the name they asked to be called, I think, is a sign of respect, caring, and honor. As a teacher/professor, I want to get the students’ names correct and always ask them to share their preferred name and correct me on the pronunciation. I also really appreciate doctors' offices and other places where my legal name appears but they care enough to call me, Lynn.

But while I respect calling people by their preferred name, it sometimes makes researching the family records difficult!! I know that when I’ve performed a search on myself, there are over half a dozen different names recorded–Mary Massey, Lynn Massey, Mary Lynn Massey, Mary Breyfogle, Mary Lynn Breyfogle, Lynn Breyfogle, and even M. Lynn Breyfogle! I will just apologize now to my descendants who might be interested in researching me! Sorry!

Naming Traditions and Conventions

Names continue to fascinate me. Naming traditions and conventions and how that has changed over the generations and differs by cultures is interesting, especially in genealogy work. When you learn some of the naming conventions it CAN be helpful for family history work. 

For example, in Italy (and many early Italian immigrants), there is a methodical way of naming children. The first male and female children are named after the paternal father and mother, respectively. The second male and female children are named after the maternal father and mother. After that, it is the parents (although if the father was a first-born, that name was already taken) or  it could be aunts/uncles/cousins/friends. Since mortality rates of children were high, if the first child named after a particular grandparent died, the next child born would have that same name (this is called necronymics). So, you could imagine that the order of the named adult children will not be “perfect” and you have to watch assumptions that you make…but the naming order is a general rule you can use in Italian families. This explains why there are so very many Rocco Bellantoni’s! (For more read June 2005 Family Tree Magazine).

For German family trees, I recently learned, the reason that I find so many Johannes (John) is that German boys were almost always baptized with the first name of Johannes! They rarely used their first name and always had a second name, so they were called by their second name. The same held true for girls, except they were usually baptized with Maria (Mary) and then called by their second name. I guess my name fits well in a German family tree! (For more read the September 2012 article in Family Tree Magazine).

I love to hear the stories around peoples' names. Who were they named for, or even If they were named after someone. I often ask students about their names and love hearing their stories. This past fall, I met a student whose family immigrated from Ghana. Her surname was Appiah-Padi and I know someone with that same last name from Ghana, so I asked her about her name, wondering if there might be a connection. She was happy to share with me that in her culture last names are also given to the baby in honor of other people chosen by the parents. She doesn’t share a surname with either of her parents or grandparents! Neat tradition, but wow…that might make the genealogical research much harder. I will stop complaining about how many Giuseppe Mortelliti’s there are in my tree!

Naturalizations

Well, speaking of Giuseppe Mortelliti, that brings me back to my finding this week! This Giuseppe is my great-great grandfather and he immigrated to the US from Scilla, Italy and is the father-in-law of Emanuel Anthony Mazziotti (aka. “Mystery orphan baby”). One of my research goals for the year is to find the naturalization records for Emanuel Anthony Mazziotti (and Giuseppe). I have been searching on and off for YEARS to find Emanuel’s naturalization records. 

His name is part of the problem. I learned two summers ago that his name was just made up by the Recording Clerk in the commune where he was found as a baby. He has no known siblings, no one else that shares his last name or first name, until you get to his children and grandchildren. My dad called him “Pop” but said that he was called Tony or Anthony by family or friends. Emanuel is spelled many different ways in different documents and sometimes paired with Antonio or Anthony. Sometimes he appears to be recorded as just Antonio/Anthony and his last name is Mazziotta or Mazziotti and in the 1910 census, which took me decades to find, he is listed as Antone Martin!! (Yep, absolutely positive this is him!).

My husband has asked me this week why I care about the Naturalization Records? What did I hope to find that I didn’t already know? I stood dumbfounded and couldn’t find words. He said, “Well?” Oh, there are so many reasons..but you are reading this blog so YOU probably understand.

Naturalization records are complicated to find because there are so many factors. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website sums it up: 

“Immigration and nationality records changed over time. For this reason there is no one set of instructions to guide family history research. What records exist and how to find them depend entirely on when the immigrant arrived and if, when, or how they became a United States citizen.” (bold added by me)

One thing that the Naturalization records help to find is the immigration date. I actually already know that for Emanuel. I found the ship manifest and records of his entrance (and a travel companion, his future father-in-law Giuseppe Mortelliti) into Ellis Island years ago, but his path to becoming a naturalized citizen has eluded me. Some facts I “know” about Emanuel:

• He arrived May 28, 1900 to New York from Scilla (via Naples) and reported that he was going to live with his “father, Rocco” at 168 Elizabeth Street in New York City. (If you have any Italian relatives or are just interested in immigration stories, Laurie Fabiano’s 2006 book Elizabeth Street: A Novel Based on True Events is a must read!) 

• 

• 

  Emanuel & Concetta Mazziotti
  February 9, 1908

  In 1903, he married Maria Mortelliti (Giuseppe’s daughter) at Church of the Magdalene in Pocantico Hills. (Note: Maria died after giving birth to Rocco Mazziotti, who also died as a baby. Emanuel ends up marrying Concetta Mortelliti, the younger sister in 1908 and they end up celebrating 55 years of marriage and 7 children who all lived fruitful long lives.)

  

  This was taken at their 50th Wedding Anniversary
  1958

• The 1905 New York Census is missing pages and I have searched but can’t locate Emanuel there. I see a neighbor from the 1910 census on the last page before a break…I’m guessing he’s on the next (lost) page!

• The 1910 US Census identifies Emanuel (and Giuseppe) as “Aliens” working on the Rockefeller Estate (Kykuit) in Pocantico Hills, a hamlet of Mt. Pleasant in Westchester County, NY. 

• The 1915 NY Census identifies both as  “Citizens” with Emanuel (a mason) and growing family living on Saw Mill River Road and Giuseppe (called Antonio Martello) on Hartzdale Rd. both in Greenburgh (Elmsford) in Westchester County, NY.

• The 1920 US Census identifies that Emanuel  is “Naturalized” and the date given was 1902! Giuseppe had passed away, but his widow Santa Morabito Mortelliti is listed as Naturalized also with the date of 1902.

If you were reading closely to the facts, you see a big conflict. If, according to the 1920 census he was naturalized in 1902 then why did the 1910 census say he was an alien? Well, anyone who knows about self-reported data and the Census takers, knows that while everyone tries to give accurate information we are all humans and errors are made (and sometimes white lies). Especially when the information is provided by a person with a thick accent who may not be understood by the census taker or who may not have understood the question! 

Ancestry.com and FamilySearch both have indices for finding naturalization records. I’ve looked and I can’t find any permutation of his name. This past week, I decided to focus on really searching. If I take my dad at his word (who told me the family lore is that he became a citizen in 1902) and the 1920 Census as accurate, then I should focus on pre-1906 Naturalization record finding techniques. Which is …for New York, go to the county records. Again, I made an assumption that he was in Westchester County, rather than looking to New York City.

Long story short… I have found the index through the Westchester County Archive page and among the listings (after painstakingly going through year by year), I have found the index Petitions for Naturalization for BOTH Giuseppe Mortelliti and Emanuel Mazziotti. I’m not quite sure why there are two files for each of them, but what were the names?

• Emanuel Mazziotta

• Manuele Mazziotti

• Giuseppe Mortellite

They don’t have the records available for viewing on line, so Wednesday (tomorrow!), I have an appointment with the archives and will be driving the 3 hours there and back to view the actual documents!

Fingers crossed that the Emanuel and Giuseppe in the index are actually them….and they tell me some tidbit of information that I didn’t already know. But if it is them and I don’t learn anything new, that’s okay, the search was worth it and I can check off that box and move on to the next research goal for the year! Stay tuned…I might have something to say later this week. 🙂