My cousin Lin may have seen this.....
I just signed up for 14-day trial on ancestry.com because I wanted to learn more about my maternal grandfather, Jim Mahon, born in County Galway, Ireland.
But as I filled out the family tree, I found my paternal grandfather’s draft registration card....place of birth, Genoa, Italy. Occupation says stenographer--though our family history knows him as a piano tuner--maybe something was lost in translation?
It says “single,” as he had not yet married my grandmother. Birth date: November 15, 1888.
To see his signature, Charles E.? Garbarini, was moving. I never met him. I wish I had. A signature is a very real connection to a person. He held that pen, he signed that card.
To see the census records for my Italian grandparents, one where Aldo Hugo Garbarini (Lin’s Dad) is listed under children, one where my Dad is.....you can just picture that those were the sons who filled it out that year....or maybe someone came to the door, as they did this year if you didn’t fill it out and mail it in....and those were the sons who answered it....my grandparents didn’t speak much English back then...?
Wow, this should be fun....
Good night.
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Oh boy! I know this thrill! Have a lot of fun with it. I’m putting off going there until I’ve made a bit more progress on my physical archives. But I dove into this back in the 90s, in the infancy of the internet. The resources are so much richer now. Have fun with it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nan. xo
DeleteI remember that our grandfather was an elevator operator and, according to my dad, he never brushed his teeth. Supposedly he ate a hard, crisp apple every night and that kept his teeth clean and healthy. Every time my father told that story, my mother scoffed and said he had bad teeth!
ReplyDeleteI have to tell you that also I also did 23 and Me and got much different ancestry results than from Ancestry. I'll call and tell you about our Italian side discrepancy.
Thanks, Lin!
DeleteAnd my dad talked about our grandfather peeling crisp pears after dinner but I didn’t know it had to do with teeth. Love Al