Italian & Lithuanian Maternal & Paternal Grandparents

Liz’s Italian maternal grandmother, Elisabetha (nee Sciamarelli) Albano, lovingly called Nana, left Calbria, Italy in 1902 with one child and her cousin with her children. They survived the agonizing Atlantic crossing, the rigorous examinations on Ellis Island, and rejoined their husbands in Chicago, where they worked for the railroad. Nana had nothing more then what she could fit in a trunk. She was a strong woman who was able to raise her large family of six children by owning and running a neighborhood Italian grocery store.

There is one endearing photograph of Nana standing proudly behind the store’s counter. Her stout rounded shoulders bear the weight of responsibility. Her thick dark hair pulled back in a tight bun made a formidable persona. Yet her starched white apron and her prideful smile welcomed all, even those who had no money. Not one soul ever left the store empty‑handed. All that remains of hers beside the few pictures is a meat grinder and a receipt for candy and a page from the stores’ account book. Unfortunately there is only one photograph of Elisabetha’s husband, Thomas. There is much research waiting to be done and perhaps then, other papers will be found along with family history within.  But what there is of my Italian grandparents, I will treasure forever and display my proud Italian heritage in the Family Museum.

Liz’s paternal & maternal grandparents were from Lithuania. Grandpa Anthony Yuknavich was born in 1888 in Uzubalici, Lithuania (at the time of his birth the area was part of Russia). Anthony had a high school education. His father did not want Anthony to go into the Russian Army so he bought him a ticket to America. Anthony arrived in New York on the ship Pisau from Hamburg Germany in June 1907. He lived in Portage, PA where he met Anna who lived in Wilkes Barre, PA. They married Sept. 17, 1917. Anna (nee Vaicuilionis) Yuknavich was born in 1887 in Vilkoviskis, Lithuania. She had no schooling but was artistically talented. She made carpets on a loom that was in the attic of their home. Anna got her citizenship papers in 1945.

Anthony & Anna, known by friends and family as Tony and Annie, lived in Bakerton, PA for 62 years. Grandpa was a quiet man who could speak several languages and liked to read. He was a dedicated husband and father, a good farmer raising produce and animals. He was also a coal miner and after years of dangerous work and unhealthy conditions, he was a frail man as he aged. Fortunately, he had three strong sons who took over supporting the family. The eldest son was my father, William.

Every summer when Liz was a child, her family  would go Pennsylvania to visit her  father's parents. Their house and farm was situated in a valley in the Allegheny Mountains. She loved the quiet mountains, especially because life in South Chicago was noisy and crowded. After her grandparents passed away and the house was sold, it is unfortunate that there was absolutely nothing of her grandparents handed down. No heirlooms or antiques. Just photographs. But they shall cherish always.  

Though there are no physical heirlooms, there was one thing handed down from Liz’s father’s parents – the desire to save. Be it that what they owned was cherished, and when financial times were hard, many times what was saved was used again and again. Liz’s father taught her to save and it is from that lesson that the Family Museum exists.
 


   

Wednesday Wishes

I wish I would have kept __________ (fill in the blank). I wonder where __________ (fill in the blank). If only I had kept __________ (fill in the blank). I wish I knew . . . you get the picture.

How many times have you asked yourself questions like these? Or how about this scenario: you are perusing an antique store. You spot something you recall your aunt had, or maybe your grandmother used. Suddenly, you are in the room with your aunt watching her try on a new hat she just bought. Or you are in the kitchen with your grandmother and she hands you that heavy rolling pin and instructs you to roll out the pie dough.  Should of, would of, could of.  

These are the wishes I am purporting today. The fill-in-the-blank examples are here to give you the model for setting up an outline that will help you create a list of items you may want to buy to start or add to your museum.

For example: my father loved to thumb through the 971 page (1966 issue) or more of both the Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward catalogs. I can remember him sitting at the kitchen table, the radio playing softly in the background, and a cup of coffee getting cold as he got engrossed in the catalog, particularly the tools. Dad couldn’t have enough tools! And if it wasn’t for my perspicacious and astute daughter, who at the young age of 12, spotted these musty, rag-tagged catalogs in my parents’ attic and saved them. I certainly was not as perceptive as she was at that age. Probably because there were so many of these humongous catalogs around the house, I could care less about preserving them. But as time went by and these behemoth tomes eventually became obsolete, whatever remains of these once cherished books is all there is now and forever. So when I find one, I thumb through it and wish I was back at the kitchen table watching my father dream.  .  . of tools.   

 

I wish I had even just one more picture of my nana and nonno. But this is the only one I have. Elisabetha and Anthony immigrated from Italy in the 1890s’, traveling in steerage on one of the hundreds of ships that set sail from ports of Italy, arriving at Ellis Island and other ports-of-call in the United States. Settling in Chicago, nonno work on the railroad and nana ran a grocery       store. They raised 13 children, several went to college and became teachers, one served in WWI, and one was a big-band leader. Not bad for coming to America with a few bags and trunks. So I cherish this picture and a few more found through the years that I will share with you when I post about our Grandparents Museum.

So what are your Wednesday wishes? As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Feature

How are you doing on going through those boxes stored in all sorts of places that hold the clues to your identity that was discussed in the previous 4/4/2014 post on genealogical research? I hope at least you are giving it as much time as you can.

And what a great time to be reminded of that project and quest to find out your heritage than on this day that gave birth to our nation, The 4^th of July, 1776. Take a moment and ponder how many people became free from tyranny, free to have a voice in what they believed in and how they practiced their faith.

While we celebrate this day, let’s take a moment to reflect on how our ancestors arrived on this great land we call America. Mine like yours came from many different countries. My father’s parents came from Lithuania. My mother’s came from Italy. Before organizations like Ancestry.com and National Geographic came on the scene to help us create family trees and do DNA research, all we had were what records, papers, pictures, keepsakes, stories, both written and verbally handed down, that gave us a clue to our heritage.

When I stated our family museum, I tried my best to display as much of what I could that was saved, but I was not doing justice to it all. So eventually the museum expanded into another part of the hall, located under a windowless slanted eave, about 8 feet deep by 8 feet wide. That became the Grandparents Museum. I will blog in full about the collections there at a later date. But for now, I want to encourage you to gather as much as you and other family members have saved and bring them together at whoever’s home has the space to give your family’s heritage is due respect.    

I also want to promote this websites to further your knowledge of what is out there that can be of great assistance to you to investigate from whence you came. I hope it inspires and even raises your spirits if at any time you doubt your legacy, family traditions, customs and culture. http://www.ancestry.com/, https://familysearch.org/, http://usgenweb.org/, http://www.ellisisland.org/, http://www.statueofliberty.org/,

I also want to share these images and information on Ellis Island. If you have not visited this valued place that honors the courage of those immigrants that wanted a new world for their families, do so.

Many years ago, my daughter Tiffeni and I went to Ellis Island. We had little knowledge of my nana’s experience when she came to America. It is very unfortunate that little was saved other than verbal stories, some photographs and much misinformation. When we visited Ellis Island, its was just beginning to restore the buildings and create the data bases they have today. So we wandered through this massive building, many places closed off due to construction and restoration. When we entered the Great Hall on the mezzanine level, the expanse was breathtaking. Just at that moment, a choral group on the other end of the hall started to sing “God Bless America.” I started to cry as I envisioned my nana with her sister, clutching their small children and everything they owned as they filed through inspections lines along with thousands of other immigrants waiting for their turn to be either accepted into America or sent back to the country they left.

Before we got back on the ferry to return to New York City, we stopped at the American Immigrant Wall of Honor. As the day got colder and the misty air wetter, we encouraged each other to locate any of the names of our relatives that passed through Ellis Island. We could find only one, that of my mother’s oldest brother, Michael Albano. We were thrilled. We took pictures of his name, often wiping off the rain from the camera lens.

As we stood on the ferry, our eyes focused on the Statue of Liberty. We tried to imagine how our ancestors felt when they first saw the statue, her majestic figure holding up the light of freedom they must of have felt in their souls. Though her stoic expression may have casted some fear and doubt, her patient stance told the immigrants to feel proud of themselves for they endured rough crossings, unpleasant conditions, yet still strong and capable of starting a new life.  

So thank you, nana and the rest of my ancestors, along with my hubby’s Keith’s family who came from Norway and Germany, for if it were not for their bravery and courage, we would not be here today. So celebrate your freedom and feel proud of our America, for we are and will always be the best and strongest nation in the world. Have a wonderful 4^th.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

FYI: A word about National Geographic’s Genographic Project. Since 2005, their cutting-edge technology and use of advanced DNA analysis and working with indigenous communities to help answer fundamental questions about where humans originated and how we came to populate the Earth, is enabling us to shine a powerful new light on our collective past. By participating in the latest phase of this real-time scientific project, you can learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible. You will also help support the Genographic Legacy Fund, which works to conserve and revitalize indigenous cultures around the world. Visit: http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/