The DeCarlo side of the family — from the 1920 census report.
When I first started Snapshot Saturday a year or two back, my goal was to find some older funny photos and post them on a weekly basis. I figured that would give the family and, occasionally, friends, something to chuckle at.
Over the span of that feature, I’ve posted some fun photos. In turn, I’ve received a bunch of photos from other family members, which are going to a project I’ve been working on at the same time. That being a massive book with all these family photos.
But, I want to make sure the photos line up with other family members. I’m hoping, too, that more photos come from the family — past and present. My goal with this book is to have a several-hundred page book that encompasses so much of the family history in photos.
See, when I do this, I’m working on both sides of the family. So that means my father’s line (Harmer, Keoghs), as well as my mother’s (DeCarlo, Lattanzio). Not to mention my mother also had a step-grandfather (Amindo) that branches out a little as well.
Older family photos have gotten me interested in learning more about the history of my family.
A cousin has already worked on the family tree on the Keogh side. So from my grandmother back and forward, things have been or are being worked on. I’ve reached out to another family member about my mother’s side, though I’ve done a little research on my own as well. And there’s not much on my father’s father — beyond him. For now, anyway.
So I’ve been peeking around.
Even when speaking to my mother, she didn’t know much about her grandparents (full names etc.) because they were old Italian people and some of the dates/names etc., always seemed to be different. And, her maternal grandfather died when her mother was just 14, so that’s even harder.
But I’m sure you’ve all seen the commercials for online places, such as Ancestry.com. People have found links to royalty and all sorts of other things.
I’m not worried about royalty, I just want to see where it leads.
One beauty about family history is it takes time to dig. I hope to find some interesting things along the way. But most of all, I just hope to be able to connect things. It’s pretty neat to do so and it’s even better when you get on a path that shows a bigger picture of your family.
The photos help connect, for sure. As do stories and everything else. As generations pass and technology becomes better and better, it will become easier to do this. But, for those who already passed, in generations where things like the radio and car were modern technology, the records, headstones and everything else fade away slowly. So it’s up to us to help prepare future generations to know about their past family.
And it also helps connect us to the past and, likely, to the future.
My grandmother’s side of the family in the 1930 census. My grandmother — Annie — was 12 at the time.
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Guess I know where I got my ears from!
From the family genes?
Hi PJ, there is another picture just like this one but your Aunts Catherine (in habit) and Mary are in it as well. Not sure what the occasion was, but I think someone had just come home from the service.
I’ve connected with a gggrandson of James Keogh in Dublin who is writing a book on the Keogh’s of Dublin. He is the brother of your ggg-grandfather John Keogh who came over and fought in the Civil War. We can go back to their parents now. He saw your picture of the Keogh/Harmers you posted on this site; the one taken in 1940 with the whole family, where Phil, Jim and I were all babies sitting on our Mother’s lap. He wanted to know if you were any relation. He’s sent me some parts of his book. I’ll try to make a disc and send it to you. K
Kathleen — I sent you an e-mail to the e-mail address you used for this comment. I’ll try to touch base with another.