Chasing History

  Week 43: The theme for Week 43 is “Urban.” What ancestors lived in town? Any memorable trips to the big city? How about an ancestor named Urban? This is their week. Bernardino James Napoleone Born: 11 May 1904   Assergi, L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy  Died:   31 Oct 1968   Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA great-granduncle On May 31, 1916, Bernardino James Napoleone arrived in New York via the ship Giuseppe Verdi. The Giuseppe Verdi was a historical passenger steamship that sailed between Italy and New York from 1914 to 1943. It was built in 1914 by Societa Esercizio Bacini in Riva Trigoso, Italy. It sailed the Transatlantica Italiana Line, primarily on the Italy-New York route. The ship was 9,757 gross tons and could carry 2,185 passengers. The Giuseppe Verdi was sold to the Japanes and later renamed the Yamato Maru before being sunk during WWII.  After arriving in New York, Bernardino settled in the Pittsburgh area. Many Italians immigrated to Pittsb...

  Week 42: The theme for Week 42 is “Fire.” Whether as a source of warmth, power, or destruction, everyone’s life has been impacted by fire. This week, consider an ancestor who worked with fire or whose life (or records!) was impacted by it.  Panzie Marie Gross   Born:  21 Jul 1913 Newberry, York, Pennsylvania Died:  23 Feb 1997 Etters, York, Pennsylvania Grandaunt  I was born in 1994 and my Aunt Panzie died in 1997, so I don't have many memories of her. I remember her sitting in her designated easy chair (I've discovered that most elderly people have a designated chair at some point) in my grandpa's house. She and my grandpa, Clair Gross, were siblings. They were both single and shared their childhood home.  Panzie never married or had children. In her last years of life, she suffered from  Alzheimer's Disease, and my grandpa was her caretaker.  Panzie attended Lewisberry High School as a teenager and was a member of the track team, literary...

Week 41: The theme for Week 41 is “Water.” They say that water is life, so it’s no surprise that water features prominently in our family trees. Whether it's because of occupation, transportation, or recreation, it’s hard to find an ancestor who wasn’t somehow impacted by water. Hans Michael Sphar   Birth:18 October 1703 Ostalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Death: 23 May 1778 Dover, York County, Pennsylvania, United States of America 7th great-grandfather  Ostalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany Located in the eastern Swabian Jura mountains, with rivers like the Rems, Jagst, and Kocher. Hans Michael Sphar and his wife Maria Barbara traveled to America by sea. They arrived on the ship Robert and Alice. Their official date of arrival in the New World is September 24, 1742. Take a moment to think about the journey that they were on. Today you can fly to Germany from in as little as eleven hours.  Distance by flying:  The distance from Pennsylvania to Ostalbkreis, Ba...

Week 40: The theme for Week 40 is “Cemetery.” (Honestly, this is one of my favorite themes!) Any memorable trips to an ancestral cemetery?  I knew that my great-grandparents and great-aunt were buried in Hershey, but I had never visited the cemetery. In 2023, two of my paternal aunts visited, and we made the trip to the cemetery.  We knew which cemetery they were located in and which section, but we didn't know which row. My Aunt Kathy and I spent about thirty minutes wandering up and down the different rows until we found the headstone.  My great-grandparents passed away before I was born, but I remember my great-aunt, Clare. She lived on Chocolate Avenue in Hershey my entire life. I remember going to her rent-controlled apartment and how scary the rickety elevator was. I also remember the smell of chocolate (which wasn't good because I was still allergic to chocolate at the time).  Being able to visit my great-grandparents' final resting place helped me to feel mor...

  The 'Banned' List I Grew Up On The conversation around the Most Banned Books of the 2024-2025 School Year is deeply personal. I read many titles on this list—some required, most self-selected—from middle school all the way through graduate school. My reading list included (this is by no means ALL of the banned books that I've read): A Clockwork Orange A Court of Mist and Fury Crank Forever... The Perks of Being a Wallflower A Court of Thorns and Roses A Clash of Kings The Handmaid's Tale Looking for Alaska Water for Elephants Clockwork Angel City of Ashes City of Bones Laughing at My Nightmare Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Pride and Prejudice and Zombies  The Lost Symbol  Sideways Stories from Wayside School Wait Til Helen Comes Eleanor and Park  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Flowers for Algernon Flowers in the Attic  Outlander Slaughterhouse-Five Speak The shocking twist? I emerged as a fully functioning member of society who can differentiat...

Week 39: The theme for Week 39 is “Disappeared.” All of us have someone on our family tree who seems to have just disappeared. This is a good week to write about them. (Who knows – maybe writing about them will help you spot some gaps in your research and give you ideas on new places to look!) Martin Stanley Taylor Born: 24 Jul 1874 • Newberry, York, Pennsylvania, USA Death: ?? Arizona??  2nd great-grandfather Martin Stanley Taylor, my 2nd great-grandfather is the brick wall that I can't seem to break through. I know when and where he was born. I know that he abandoned my 2nd great-grandmother and their daughter. I know he moved to Ohio, remarried, and then settled in Arizona. I know that he outlived his second wife... but that is where the trail ends.  He disappears completely off the records.  I can't find a death certificate or a grave listing.  His first wife, Minnie, is buried at Paddletown Cemetery in Newberry Township. His second wife, Anna, is buried in her f...

  Week 38: The theme for Week 38 is “Animals.” Pet lovers, farmers, birdwatchers, fishermen – this is their week. Who will you write about this week? The Unwritten Stories: My Ancestor, May Yinger May Yinger Birth:  19 Oct 1895  •  York County, Pennsylvania Marriage:   30 Jun 1920  •  Washington, District of Columbia Death:   26 Jan 1981  •  District of Columbia , 1st cousin 4x removed Sometimes, the most intriguing parts of our family history are the details we can only guess at. While I have the basic facts about my first cousin 4x removed, May Yinger, one photograph has me asking more questions than I can answer. This picture, showing May with a boat and a string of fish, is a mystery. I know the key milestones of her life: she was born in York County in 1895, married George William Mason in 1920, and worked as a clerk in Washington D.C. She was a woman who raised a family and, with her husband, found her life's calling in faith. She ...