The 1817 Typhus Outbreak and Famine of Abruzzo and My Family Tree – Part 4 ~ Antonio Chiarella, Age 71

My sixth great grandfather Antonio Chiarella was born around 1746 in Penne, Abruzzo to Michele Chiarella and Anna Chiara Colangeli* and died in early May of 1817 in Farindola, likely from typhus.

I know very little about him.  He is considered “new” to my tree, because I have only recently found him.  He is the only smith I have found to date on my paternal side.  His address is listed as Fonte Marotta in Farindola on at least two records.

His wife was from Farindola and was named Laura Marzola.  Her death record implies she was significantly older than Antonio, close to 20 years older.  It makes you wonder if Antonio’s age or Laura’s age was incorrect on civil records.  Laura passed in 1813 and her husband was the first person listed on the record giving testimony about the death.

Antonio had at least two children.  (There may be more I have not yet located.) So far I have found son Bernardo, and daughter Maria, who was my 5th great grandmother.  Antonio’s children were already starting their own families when he passed on May 9, 1817.

Bernardo was a smith like his father and married Beatrice Falconetti.

Maria was born around 1776 in Penne according to her death record.  She is also one of the midwives in my tree.  She married Sabatino Di Massimo.  One of their sons, named Serafino Vincenzo, married a lacemaker from Montebello di Bertona named Angela Maria Cecilia Colangeli*, making them the great grandparents of my great grandmother Luigia Maria Massei.

* I have many Colangelis in my tree.  They don’t seem to be closely related to each other.

Are you a Massei?  Are you related to anyone else I mentioned?  I would love to hear from you!  -cinziarosagenealogy@comcast.net.

 

 

 

 

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #50: Serafina’s Chicken Stew

This 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks theme is Tradition.  For this theme I choose to share my bisnonna’s traditional Abruzzese stew recipe.  She was from Farindola, Italy.  I am stingy with personal family recipes and do not like to share them!  But there is an online project in progress for genealogy addicts like me, where we can submit family recipes for a group cookbook, and will have the opportunity to purchase a copy after it is printed.  This is one of the recipes I will be sharing there.

If you are interested in checking out the details of this recipe project, you must be a member of the Genealogy Addicts Anonymous Family Recipes group on Facebook.  They are found by clicking here.

Now here is the delicious recipe I grew up with –

Serafina’s Stew

Saute about 1 pound or more of chicken and brown it.

Add one onion (cut julienne style) and three cloves of chopped garlic and cook until they are soft.

Add 2 cups of crushed tomatoes and about 1/4 cup of water.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add a generous amount of either fresh basil or dried basil.  (The amount of your liking.  I usually eyeball my spice amounts and taste it while it is cooking to see if it needs more of something.)

Cube three Idaho potatoes, add to stew and cook until the potatoes are tender.

You may add chopped mushrooms if you desire.

Enjoy!