Part of the way I went about finding family still in Italy originally (before facebook) was to write letters to everyone with the same last name. It’s a really small town, so it wasn’t too difficult. I included a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope to make it easier. I sent the letter in Italian – not knowing if they would speak English. Of course I don’t speak Italian, so Google Translate came in very handy.
I sent:
Ciao,
Il mio nome e’ Karla Andrew. Abito a Bowling Green, Kentucky STATI UNITI. Mio bisnonne si chiamavano Caterina Maria Negi, e’ nato a Locana ed emigrato negli Stati Uniti nel 1905. Vorrei mettermi in contatto con qualche mio parente ancora residente a Locana.
Non saprei dire se sono imparentato con qualcuno che port ail cognomen Negri residente a Locana. Mi rivolgo a chiunque porti il cognomen Negri ed abbia lo stesso nome di battesimo di mio bisnonne. Mio bisnonne e’ nato il 17 Nov 1874.
Qualora Lei ritenga che possiamo essere imparentati, Le sarei grato se vorra rispondere a questa lettera. Nel caso, invece, che fosse dell’avviso che non fossimo imparentati ma dovesse conoscere qualcuno che si chiama Negri che possa essere imparentato con me Le sarei grato se vorra’ consegnare questa lettera a quella persona.
Voglia gradire I miei sinceri saluti.
I included a list of people and dates that I did know at the bottom. I was excited to receive a couple responses! Of course they weren’t in english though, so one of the things I learned is that translating script in another language is really tough.
The responses were pretty exciting though!
Locana Italy is a small comune (City) in the north part of the country. Locana is located in the moutains. This sign shows distances to nearby towns as well as you can see a Welcome to Locana sign in the background. The second picture is a picture of the town of Locana. There is a group on facebook dedicated to ancestors of families from Locana. I was pretty excited when I found it!
My grandmother didn’t remember many stories about Locana but my Aunt Kate told a couple… of course it was many years ago and I wasn’t even a teenager yet. My g-grandfather passed away when my grandmother was three so my g-grandmother had no one to share stories with and reminisce about Locana. Life was tough and my mother thought my g-grandmother was always afraid she would be made to go back to Italy if she was found out. My g-grandfather was in the process of applying for citizenship when he died of the flu in 1918. My g-grandmother didn’t go on to get citizenship until the early 60s I think.
My Aunt Kate always said that my g-grandmother’s family lived above a cow barn. The cows were used to keep the home warm as heat rises. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to grow up above a herd of cows, but I assume you get used to it over time.
Another story I remember is about a beggar that showed up to their door each day. My Aunt said that my G-g- grandmother would give scraps to the beggar each day when he would come begging at the door. One day a dog came to the door instead of the beggar and my ancestor through leftover hot coffee instead out and burnt the face of the dog. The next day the beggar was back but with a burn on his face.
Finally there was a story about a chick in the cemetery next to their home. The chick was on a grave, and when they returned there were several chicks (that story I’m much more hazy on.) I wish at the time I had used a tape recorder to capture the stories. Now I’m relying on my faulty memory.
This bridge was immediately recognizable to me. It’s no longer in existence – at least not at this location. My kids used to call it the dangerous bridge. The road was moved over so that the road could be straight – here the bridge was in the middle of a sharp S Curve. Both sides were slopes up to the bridge – and it would flood every time the river rose. This was our favorite spot to put in a canoe though.
I once was coming to my parents and got my van stuck on the incline (side ways) . Talk about scary. I had my oldest with, who was a baby at the time and luckily one of the neighbors took pity and finessed the van around and got it across the bridge. It was VERY icy at the time. I had slid all the way down the hill (which must be a mile down, or at least felt like it) to get to that point.
Funnily enough that isn’t why my kids called it the dangerous bridge. It was because you could walk out on the bridge and look down through spots that had broken away in the floor and see the river floating by.
This bridge has now been replaced by a new straight bridge that can be rushed across at 50 MPH. It has low sides, is concrete, and is down river a little ways. My parents were happy when it was put in even though it involved them losing some of their field since it eliminated the need for them to drive an extra 5 miles or so with a combine to get to the field since they would have to go around through Oakwood and take the singing bridge road then cut around to get to the field less than a mile from their house.
It’s funny how much this bridge though sticks in your memory. I would recognize it anywhere. I remember spending hours at this bridge playing while my parents put canoes in the river – took canoes out, or just worked in a nearby field.
I do wonder how old that bridge was.
When my grandmother passed away my mother passed me a few things to look through and for the boys. Most were Sunday Missals for church and bibles. My boys were attending the local Catholic School so she thought they might be interested. I put them to the side and finally found time to look at one. The one I happened to pick was a bible that had initials on the front. I was surprised to find out it was my mother’s brother and sister’s mother’s family bible. I’ve since given it back to my mother to pass on to my cousins, but I took pictures of the family pages before passing it on.
The bible is from the early 1900s and late 1800s and is full of information. It has a W.G. on the front which is my Aunt and Uncles grandmother. There was even a T. Wakeland listed which took me a while to realize wasn’t my Grandmother, but my Grandfather Wakeland’s brother. (Actually my mother figured that one out) These bibles are full of information! Many times they include not only Births, Deaths, and Marriages, but also major family events in history.
My aunt recently told me about finding the Corbly Family bible. She has passed it onto another aunt and I can’t wait to see it.
Bibles are full of great information! Births, deaths and marriages in many cases are recorded. In this case the information goes back to 1862. I find interesting the first death recorded is Edwin and Ella Corbly that passed away the same day. I am curious about what happened and will have to do some more research on that one. I also see recorded later two children that passed away including my dad’s sister Cleta Fern. The bible records that she passed away at St. E hospital. I hadn’t known that before so that’s another interesting piece of information. As I get more time I’m going to have to record all this info in my family tree and do some more research!
Ancestry has some bible records too. I have had one bookmarked for a while that seemed like it should fit. A John McArdle that was killed at age 50 while blasting rocks at Little Falls NY. November 29, 1820. I’ve kept it just in case but can’t find a person to match in my files. I do have John McArdles in my file, but the death date and age range don’t match. It’s always so exciting to find something with so much information that seems to be such a great find, and then so discouraging to not find a match.
I’m sure this came from Karin also. It’s a telegram from the early 1900s showing the death of Collins McArdle in Tonganoxie Kansas. It says he died ‘this PM.’ and I’d swear it says ‘Come Answer’ It’s signed Henry Gieb. Reading documents like this is never easy. As time goes on they have yellowed or darkened with age making them difficult to ready.
Looking at my records Henry Geib was the husband of Lulu McArdle – Henry Geib was the son in law to Collins McArdle and Collins is listed as passing away in 1909 matching up with the telegram. I have been trying to figure out the to on the telegram though. It looks like it’s a Clarinda Keltner – I did find a Claude Keltner so that most likely is the person. Claude is the husband to Jennie Mae McArdle (also a daughter of Collins McArdle). Jennie Mae moved from Kansas to Oklahoma.
From all this I think this telegram was the method that one daughter (and Son in law) used to tell the other that their father had passed away….
After arriving in the US – Francis Moretto passed away. I’m not sure what she passed away from, but child mortality was fairly high during that time period. The receipt shows that Pearl Pearch was paid $4 for a grave and opening the grave. Francis died December 29, 1906. My great grandparents also lost another daughter Theresa while a child. (Yes same name as my grandmother) The story was that my Great Grandmother had a sister with the same name, so when she lost her daughter Theresa she reused the name for my grandmother.
I also remember my mother mentioning that they went to find the grave in Clinton IN and the grave had washed away. I think it was Francis’ grave that is now missing since I remember my mother also telling a story about visiting Theresa’s grave.
This is a letter showing that after an investigation showing that my great grandmother arrived on or before June of 1905 – they allowed her to file for citizenship without a certificate of arrival. It’s funny how now those papers are pretty easy to find, but the original paper copies were not easily accessible- even knowing date, ship, and so on. It does make me wonder about my aunts that arrived with my great grandmother. How did they get citizenship? Did they get citizenship? One, Francis, died shortly after arriving… but my great Aunts Mary and Maggie survived until the 80s. I wish I had thought to ask them at the time. I remember a visit to the hospital to visit one while I was in school….
Here’s another of the photos that I really wish I had documentation showing source. I have it labeled with a date and name – so I suspect it’s another from Karin McArdle. 
When I search my records I find a John McArdle and Nancy Alice McArdle that are children of Collins Tint McArdle. I suspect these are the correct people. My file shows Nancy Alice being born in 1904 and John in 1905. The picture is listed as 1908 so that would make Nancy Alice 4 and John 3. From the pictures that looks about right.
