"A family tree can wither if nobody tends its roots."

Jul12th2015

Pescasseroli’s Infiorata

by  Phyllis Zeck

A few weeks ago my cousin, Joe Del Principe, emailed me a link to a you tube video that we’d like to share.  Joe wrote “I thought you might like to have a copy of this Youtube video. It is from Pescasseroli this year during the Infiorata.” Infiorata means decorated with flowers. The whole community takes part in the tradition. The elderly collect flowers and the children and young people implement the designs. Flower petals are used to create amazing works of art in the streets for Pescasseroli’s annual flower art festival.  

Pescasseroli Italy

 

Joe explained “At about the 2 minute mark in the video the local priest is talking, and in the background, on the building behind him, there is a sign “B&B”. That is Salvatore Toscano’s B&B della via piazza where we stayed while we were visiting there.” Salvatore’s great, great grandmother Ester and my great grandmother Elvira were sisters.  I inquired about the church in the background and Joe explained, “it is the Chiesa Del SS Apostoli Pietro e Paolo, which is where many of our family had been baptized and married.”  

I love listening to the church bells chime. One day I hope to dig through those church records! Thanks for sharing Joe. Click here to watch the video.

 

 
 

Feb25th2013

Giuseppe Donato Del Principe’s Descendants

by  Phyllis Zeck

My great grandfather Pietro and Vincenzo Del Principe were brothers.  Vincenzo had at least two sons who immigrated to the United States.  Giuseppe Donato and Leonardo.  I wrote a blog post last August about a letter that Leonardo mailed to the Del Principe  brothers upon hearing of grandpa’s brother Antonio’s death.  I have since become acquainted with a descendant of Giuseppe Donato (Daniel).  Her name is Catherin Shafer and she is Giuseppe Donato’s great great great granddaughter.  Catherin is my 3rd cousin, three times removed.  Click here to see a relationship chart between myself and Catherin’s grandmother (Patricia Mary Mucci). 

Giuseppe Donato was born 01 Apr 1863 in Pescasseroli, Italy.  He arrived in the United States aboard the ship Hindoustan on 14 Nov 1891.  He applied to become a US citizen on 11 Aug 1902 at the age of 36.  In the 1910 census he was living in Clearfield county in Pennsylvania and his occupation was a coal minor.  Daniel died on 22 Feb 1924 at the age of 60.  The cause of death was Tuberculosis of the lungs.  He is buried at St Catherine Cemetery in Sandy, Pennsylvania.  Click here to see his death certificate.  

Liboria Laura Del principe Mucci

Liboria Laura Del Principe Mucci with Patricia who is the bride.

Giuseppe married Marie Concetta DiAddezio and they had the following children: Nocola Vincenzo Loreto (James), Liboria (Laura), Vittorio (Victor), Leonardo (he died in 1929) and Angelo.  

Liboria is Catherin’s great great  grandmother.  She is pictured in the photo on the left and is in the dark dress.  Liboria married Carmino Mucci.  They had the following children: Nicholas, Michael, Carmen E., Pasquale, Anna Marie, Adeleo Edward (Skip), William, and Ethel.  

Carmino Mucci was also a coal miner.  He died on 23 Nov 1917 at the age of 34.  His widow Liboria was left to raise their 8 children.  Carmino was killed in a coal mining accident at the Cascade Mine and Coke Works in Sykesville, Pennsylvania.  Click here to see his death certificate.  The cause of death is hard to read but it looks like he died from “shock following ?? blow chest with internal injuries.  Accidental ?? ?? of coal”.  I can’t even imagine the conditions an employee endures working at coal mines, especially at the turn of the century.

Cascase Mine

From “The Old Miner” web sites, Raymond A. Washlaski, Editor

Click on this link to see a map of the area, some historic photographs of the mine and details of the history of the mine.  Click on this link and scroll to the “M’s” for a memorial to Carmino Mucci.  Liboria would eventually move with her children, her mother Marie Concetta DiAddezio and her 3 brothers James, Leonard, and Angelo to Buffalo, New York.  She married Phillip Ventura and had two more children Angeline and Olga. 

Adeleo and Patricia Mucci

Adeleo and daughter Patricia Mucci

Liboria’s son Adeleo Edward (Skip) Mucci married Gladys Louise Scheu.  They had three children, Ronald, Barbara and Patricia Mary.  Patricia is Catherin’s grandmother. The photo on the left is of Catherin’s great grandfather Adeleo Edward (Skip) Mucci with his daughter and bride Patricia.

Thank you Catherin for sharing this valuable family history, documents, and photos.   We had many family members who worked in the coal mines, a hard and dangerous way to make a living.  I am in awe when I learn about our ancestors who lost their lives at such young ages.  Their struggles helped to make life easier for future generations.  They are our guiding stars!

 
 

Feb16th2013

Send A Card

by  Phyllis Zeck

W1a_Send A Card-001

 

My cousin Toni sent me a copy of a letter that our grandfather wrote to her in 1980.  Click here to read it Letter from Grandpa 1980.  Thank you Toni for sharing this. 

 

W2a_Send A Card-002 copy

 
 

Jul28th2012

Breaking Through The Brickwalls

by  Phyllis Zeck

Roy and Elvira Weber

There is a saying in the genealogy world when we have searched and searched for an item or a family member and can’t find what or who we are looking for; we have hit a brick wall.

This is what happened to me as I searched for any trace of Antonio Del Principe’s descendants.  Antonio was the oldest of the Del Principe brothers.  I am now in contact with the descendants of Giuseppe, Amelio, Serafino (John), Octavio, Paulo, and Francesco.  I just had to find the descendants of Antonio!

In May of 2011 I went to Chicago to visit my family and friends.  In between activities (when I was supposed to be relaxing), I drove my sister Lori crazy by dragging box after box out of the basement and went through them in an effort to find some of my “missing” relatives.  I was particularly driven to find a descendant of Antonio’s.  He had two daughters but I could find no trace of them.  My quest was to find Elvira and Eileen’s married names.  I looked through grandpa’s address books and through the obituaries grandpa had cut and saved.  I looked on the back of photographs for clues.  No luck!

Imagine my complete delight when one day in mid July I received an email from Mary, the granddaughter of Elvira!  Antonio had two daughters.  Elvira (Snookie) Antoinette was born in 1920 and Eileen (Turk) Lucille was born in 1921.  I thought Elvira had only one child but Mary informed me that Elvira and her husband Roy had four children: Margaret, Antoinette, Greg, and Madeleine.  Mary is the daughter of Greg.  Eileen married and had one son named Ron.

Mary and I have sent many emails flying back and forth and she has generously shared some stories and photos which I will share in future blog posts.  In the mean time, I hope you enjoy this beautiful photograph of Elvira and Roy Weber on their wedding day.

 
 

Jul24th2012

Family Heirlooms

by  Phyllis Zeck

I have added a new page to my geneaology website that is devoted to our family heirlooms; a very important part of genealogy.  Family treasures help connect us all in a personal way.  Whether you’re sharing or viewing an item, photos and stories help link us all together.  When my grandparents were young they were able to share their heirlooms in person by running across the street to visit with family.  New generations have spread out across the world so we need to share via photos and stories.

Family heirlooms past and current belong in this website.  We have to think about the generations yet to be born.  An item doesn’t have to be “old” to be a family heirloom.  For example, if you are a collector send me a photo of an item in your collection so that your great grandchildren will know a little about you.  If you have a photo of an heirloom that you would like to display, please  email it to me (along with a comment) and help this new page grow!