I'm breaking from our regularly scheduled programming to introduce my readers to my talented cousin, Gina Cimmelli, whose band, Gina's Picture Show, has just come out with a fantastic new song.
You can listen to it here, or head to http://ginacimmellimusic.bandcamp.com/ to download it for free! It's my understanding that the free download is a limited time offer, so you'd better get it now!
Showing posts with label cousins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cousins. Show all posts
Monday, May 21, 2012
Friday, November 18, 2011
Serendipity: A visit to the old homestead
I never imagined just how far "cousin bait" would take me. Several months ago, I got a blog comment from a heretofore unknown - to me - second cousin once removed. We corresponded over e-mail for a while about the Mulcahy family, our history, and the story that my great-great-great-grandfather had built the house where our family had lived for 3 generations, before it passed out of the family. My new cousin Patty headed out to the Brooklyn Historical Society to do some research, and here's where the real serendipity comes in.
Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from Patty saying that she hadn't found much in the records . . . but that the person who signed in above her at the front desk had given her address as exactly the house we were researching.
Patty went ahead and copied down the e-mail address she had provided, got in touch with her, and two weekends ago, on a Sunday, we went down to the home where my great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother were both born, and got a private tour of the entire building, given by a current resident!
Our family lived in that building from at least 1876 until at least 1930. In 2011, we were able to see, in one of the apartments, that there have since been substantial renovations. There were moldings on the ceiling that didn't follow the walls, and decorative ceiling medallions that were bisected by walls that hadn't been there when they were installed. We saw the laundry poles in the backyard, though we weren't sure what they were. (We guessed correctly, as it turns out.)
The people who live there now were incredibly gracious, and let us see multiple apartments. The resident we who was acting as our tour guide took us around and knocked on the neighbors' doors, and they were all unbelievably nice, and interrupted their Sunday afternoon to let us poke around in their homes. I couldn't believe how lucky we were! It was one of the most exciting moments in my genealogical journey, and I still can't get over the serendipity that brought it about!
Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from Patty saying that she hadn't found much in the records . . . but that the person who signed in above her at the front desk had given her address as exactly the house we were researching.
Patty went ahead and copied down the e-mail address she had provided, got in touch with her, and two weekends ago, on a Sunday, we went down to the home where my great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother were both born, and got a private tour of the entire building, given by a current resident!
Our family lived in that building from at least 1876 until at least 1930. In 2011, we were able to see, in one of the apartments, that there have since been substantial renovations. There were moldings on the ceiling that didn't follow the walls, and decorative ceiling medallions that were bisected by walls that hadn't been there when they were installed. We saw the laundry poles in the backyard, though we weren't sure what they were. (We guessed correctly, as it turns out.)
The people who live there now were incredibly gracious, and let us see multiple apartments. The resident we who was acting as our tour guide took us around and knocked on the neighbors' doors, and they were all unbelievably nice, and interrupted their Sunday afternoon to let us poke around in their homes. I couldn't believe how lucky we were! It was one of the most exciting moments in my genealogical journey, and I still can't get over the serendipity that brought it about!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Runs in the Family
There's a funny thing about connecting with cousins over the internet - it happens in lots of different ways, but I've begun to notice patterns. Family tendencies, maybe.
The O'Haras and the Gattos appear to have no internet presence at all - they're the branches of my family who I haven't encountered in my research.
The Lanzillottos do genealogy, too, and I've encountered a couple of them through Ancestry.
(As I write this post, though, I think I might be creating some of these tendencies instead of just witnessing them. Have I visited message boards for all my surnames? And I realize that I have one or two posts where I list all the Mulcahys and their spouses - of course their grandkids can find them by Googling their names! I guess I need to get on that with the rest of my lines - too bad there's no big family picture like the one that was the catalyst for the Mulcahy posts.)
The O'Haras and the Gattos appear to have no internet presence at all - they're the branches of my family who I haven't encountered in my research.
The Gillans I've met primarily on surname message boards, though one also landed here after a Google search.
The Mulcahys are extremely fond of Googling their grandparents' names. Several have found my blog by doing so.
The Mulvaneys, on the other hand, are prone to doing genealogy. I've connected with a number of them through Ancestry family trees, and we have a nice little group of people to share research with as we find it.
The Lanzillottos do genealogy, too, and I've encountered a couple of them through Ancestry.
(As I write this post, though, I think I might be creating some of these tendencies instead of just witnessing them. Have I visited message boards for all my surnames? And I realize that I have one or two posts where I list all the Mulcahys and their spouses - of course their grandkids can find them by Googling their names! I guess I need to get on that with the rest of my lines - too bad there's no big family picture like the one that was the catalyst for the Mulcahy posts.)
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