Ciampanella/Champanella/Champnella

This part of the family tree gets crazy. Currently I am running 4 separate trees on ancestry.com because I lack the connecting dot to each tree. All refer to the same area in Italy - Arquata del Tronto. All refer to being cousins on the information coming from Ellis Island. 1st group - Minnie(Domenica), Domenic, Lucia and Santee - children of Carmine Ciampanella and Beatrice DeSantis. From Arquata and settled in Preston County, WV
2nd group - Silvestro(Joseph), Augusso, Ubaldo, Antonio - I have info on Silvestro's family. But, I do have a Margaret Champanella - their relative somehow based on newpaper clippings, etc and I have her related to me but in a different way. Her second husband was a Beeman and the Beeman family married into the Clark family which in turn had one Clark John marry my great aunt Mae Florence Dawson - the other side of my mom's family. From Arquato. Don't know who their parents are. Silvestro settled in Preston County, nothing else currently known on the three other brothers. Working on trying to get Margaret's living daughter-in-law to answer phone calls and letters to maybe give some information on her. 3rd Group - Edward(Edoard), Annibale, Antonio and Loreto - children of Ferdinand Ciampanella and Annie? From....yep, you got - Arquata del Tronto. Edward did a name change from Ciampanella to Champnella some time between the 1920 and 1930 census. One son Fredrick is still living in the Detroit, MI area and is over 90 years old - dementia and limited recollection of family history. Have made contact with several of his granddaughters through Facebook. 4th Group - I call them the McDowell County, WV Ciampanella- They include: Benedetto and Arturo(Agostino) and a half brother Antonio. Parents of the first two is Massimino Ciampanella and Guitatta Santolini. Antonio's mother is unknown at this time. From, where else, Arquata del Tronto. My living connection here is a grandaughter to Benedetto and, she is a Mormon and works part time for Family Search. But, she knows about as much as I do. Mormon researchers have been restricted to certain areas of Italy to pull records from. Being that Arquato is so close to Rome and this area has been off limits to the Mormon researchers. Rumor has it that the Ladder Day Saints are planning to build a temple in Rome. Should prove for some interesting conversation!!
........to be continued. Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

Birth Certificates from Italy

Received birth certificates from Italy. Found out the name of my great-grandfather's first wife. Guess what? She's a Santolini but not related to the second wife who was a Santolini and married a Santolini after my great-grandfather died.

Five Generations of parents/grandparents Established.

1st Generation:
Corine
Doug 1956-1989

2nd Generation:
Eleanor Louise Soccorsi (Hardman/Pawlak)
Douglas Wm Hardman Sr.

3rd Generation:

Tressa Stella Pegley Preston County, WV
Guido Soccorsi Colle, Ascioli Piceno, Marche, Italy

Ethelyn Mildred "Midge" Fortney - Preston, WV
Alfred Tomas Hardman - Gilmer, WV

4th Generatio:

Minnie Dawson - Tucker County, WV*
John Pegley (Giovanni Pagliari) - Italy

David Soccorsi - Arquata del Tronto, Ascioli Piceno, Marche, Italy
Luisa Santolini - Colle, Ascioli Picenco, Marche, Italy

Isa "Icy" Sigley -Preston County, WV
Draper Fortney - Preston County, WV

Willa E Knight - Calhoun County, WV
William L Hardman - Gilmer County, WV

Soccorsi parents unknown at this time

Hannah Jane Helmick - Pendleton County, WV
Abraham Dawson - Tucker County, WV

Cassandra Trickett - Monongalia County, WV
George "Snuff Billy" Sigley - VA

Mary Samantha Fortney Preston County, WV* never married Albert
Albert Pell - Preston County, WV

Alcinda Blackshire(Blackshere)Gilmer County, WV
James P Knight - Gilmer County, WV

Drusilla KelleyCalhoun County, WV
Thomas Hardman - Ritchie County, WV

The Clarks - Elk Garden, Mineral County, WV

This has been an intersting week of searching through the Clark Family.

It did help me find a great aunt of Mae Florence Dawson Clark. I can trace all of her sons but none of her daughters as of yet. With the great help of two guys over on Find A Grave - the missing pieces are starting to fall into place. Only problem is, John transferred all (17) of the Clarks he found at R D Dean Memorial IOOF Cemetery in Elk Garden, Mineral County, WV and I have to sort through my Clarks and connect the remainder of the people.

But, now I have found Robert, Lettie, Minnie and Mae Dawson. This leaves me Charlotte - who first married Levi Moore, had two children - Wilbert and Delphia, then married Charles Griffith. And, I still need to find the parents - Abraham Dawson and Hannah Jane Helmick Dawson.

.....again, to be continued.


Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

Soccorsi Genealogy

Now the real mystery begins on the Soccorsi side of the family.

My grandfather Guido (yes I said Guido) was born in an area of Italy called Arquata del Tronto, Ascioli Piceno, Marche, Italy. There are references to Colle and Trisungo all right there on the same side of the mountain close to 100 miles from Rome.

The story and records so far show he was born to David Soccorsi and Luisa(Louise) Santolini. He had one sister Helen(Elena)and two known brothers - Luigi and Gianesco(not sure of the proper spelling) along with at least one step-brother Sabatino. We do know there are two other children - Enrico and Maria Antoinette - but I am currently unsure who their mother was as David was married twice and no absolutely nothing about his first wife or his immediate family.

I am currently working with a researcher trying to find more information on David Soccorsi.

....to be continued

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

Hardman Genealogy

I need to start doing this on a regular basis. So, where do I start.

Solved the Alfred Tomas Hardman mystery. Apparently he was married 4 times and my grandmother was wife number 3. His fourth wife Virginia Margaret or Margaret Virginia Weatherford bore three children. Two sons and a daughter. The youngest son Alfred Jr has since passed away - married once and no children. But the other son, married twice with two children and the daughter married once with no children.

Guess that means I have a new aunt and uncle. Have since talked to both of them and the daughter has sent me photos of their family along with several other photos she had no idea who they were.

The pictures turned out to be their aunt - my great aunt Ruth Hardman Stone along with her mother Willa Knight Hardman.

In researching the Hardman's I have found more new cousins - thanks to Facebook and Ancestry.com

All I can say it that there are lots and lots of Hardmans and so far, I have found them in 15 different states. I am grateful to the people who have added the Hardmans to the findagrave.com website. Getting photos of the headstones is a work in progress. More FAG volunteers working out west.


Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)

Trying My Hand At Genealogy

I have gotten the genealogy bug thanks to a 2nd cousin who merely asked for information about my father's family - Hardmans.



I was clueless since my grandmother divorced Alfred back in 1946 and he was never mentioned.

Since my father passed away in December, 2007, I was given a box of photographs. Some have names, others have locations and date.

With what little information and pictures I had, off I went over to Ancestry.com for a free 30 day trial. Amazing what information can be found - all except Italian info. Must be the Mormons and the Cathlolics of Italy do not share information so freely.

I was fortunate to find out that someone had researched the Hardman/Hartman/Hartmann lineage but to about 1646 - Gallius Hartman in Austria. From the looks of things, I would say that 95% of all Hardmans/Hartmans and any other variation of the last name are related. I see two distinct different lines - Austria and England, with a short line in Australia. Humm, wonder how they got there?

Apparently I have several relatives - Captain John Hardman and Major Henry Hardman who served during the American Revolutionary War. Captain John died while being held a prisoner of war during the Camden squirmish. Major Henry was a prisoner of war but was freed during a prisoner exchange .

Once Hardman was involved in building the first City Hall in Frederick, MD and several others owned grist mills in MD. Add a few lay ministers within the Methodist church.

The big mystery to date is about my grandfather Alfred. All I know is he died in 1972 and is buried in a National Cemetary in Chicago, IL. It appears he had one possibly two sons - John and Alfred, Jr. John's information is unknown. Jr. was a FBI agent in the Chicago area. Several online articles making reference to him in a child killing case he worked on. He, too has passed away, in 2005? Significant other and children unknown at this time. Could family info be hidden because of his profession? I have both father and son's social security numbers, maybe I will check with Social Security on getting a copy of Jr's application for a social security number, maybe then I can find out who his mother is.

I was equally lucky in having found someone had researched the Fortney lineage. There are so many variations to the spelling of this name, it's unbelievable. What is even funnier, in Preston County WV there are two totally different lines of Fortneys - no relation whatsoever. The non-relatives meet one Sunday in July every year. I forget which week it is, for some reason I think it is the third week-end in July.

The real fun begins on my mother's side. Her father was born in Italy. His father was murdered and his mother remarried. But, her second husband - Paolo Antonio, takes on HER last name. No one has a clue what his real last name was. Some mention of the possibilty of him belonging to the "Black Hands". Who was he hiding from or who was he after, either way, just who really was Paolo Antonio.

Now, mom's mom was born in WV. Her parents - John Pegley ( of course, his name was changed from Giovanni Pagliari) and Minnie Dawson (AKA Minnie Gooch). Minnie's family - dad's line goes back to England as does her mother (Helmick). The family told stories of Minnie's mother being an American Indian. That doesn't fly. But, if you trace back several generations of Dawson's - poof an Indian - but she was born in England. I guess the British soldiers brought some of the female American Indians back to England.

Information in Italy is hard to come by via normal ways - Ancestry, Footnote, Archives, Genealogy, etc. These all lead back to the Mormons in Utah. A trip to Italy???? Need to learn Italian before I go.

To be continued.....

Prayers to God from a Dog

Dear God,
Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God
When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? Or is it the same old story?

Dear God,
Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit, but not ONE named for a dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We dogs love a nice ride!Would it be so hard to rename the 'Chrysler Eagle' the 'Chrysler Beagle'?

Dear God,
If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God,
We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID's, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God,
More meatballs, less spaghetti, please.

Dear God,
When we get to the Pearly Gates, do we have to shake hands to get in?

Dear God,
May I have my testicles back?

Dear God,
Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?

Dear God,
Let me give you a list of just some of the things I'd like you to help me remember so I can be a good dog:

a.. I will not eat the cats' food before they eat it.
b.. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc, just because I like the way they smell.
c.. The sofa is not a face towel; neither are Mom and Dad's laps.
d.. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
e.. My head does not belong in the refrigerator.
f.. I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's driver's license and registration.
g.. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
h.. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is not an acceptable way of saying 'hello.
i.. I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table
j.. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house.
k.. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.
l.. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch when company is over.
m.. The cat is not a squeaky toy; so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.

Corine







Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.
Mahatma Gandhi
Indian ascetic & nationalist leader (1869 - 1948)