Who's Who -- The Family of Anthony and Amelia

I will be posting a Who's Who listing all members of a single family unit -- as far as I know them. There will also be a separate label to these listings. Hopefully this will help everyone (including me!) keep people and their relations to everyone straight! I'm starting with the household of Anthony and Amelia Parisi.

Anthony Peter Parisi -- "Tony" (10 Jan 1886 - 8 Nov 1981)
-- married* --
Amelia Cecilia Godskesen (5 Mar 1897 - 16 Jul 1960)

They raised the following three children:

Eleanor Cecilia Parisi (4 Aug 1919 - 21 Feb 1965)
-- married name: Bjore
Frank Edward Parisi (25 Feb 1924 - 13 Feb 1999)
Joseph Peter Parisi (b. 1934)

*I haven't found their marriage certificate yet, but I'm working on it!

Anthony Parisi's WWI Draft Registration Card

. .
Ancestry.com has now digitized and made available the WWI draft registration cards. I was able to find several members of my family. From the Parisi family, I was able to locate the one for Anthony Parisi.

Because these uploads come out so small, and this particular card isn't that clear to begin with, I'll transcribe it below. The front of the card is on the left and back on the right.

Front of Card:

Serial Number: 85 (upper left corner)

Order Number: 1419 (upper right corner)

Name: Anthony Peter Parisi
Age: 30
Address: 635-5th Street, Portland, Oregon

Date of Birth: December 10th, 1886
Citizenship status: Citizen of the U.S.
Place of Birth: Premione, Trent, Austria
Naturalized? Naturalized; [unreadable] came to US when he was 8 years old

Present Occupation: Buyer for Wholesale House

Employer's Name: Parks Brother

Place of Employment: 231 [unreadable] St.
Nearest Relative: Father, mother, 2 brothers & 4 sisters [unreadable note]
Marital Status: Single
Race: [unreadable]
Military service: None
Do you claim exemption from draft: No

Signature affirming above answers: Anthony Peter Parisi

Back of Card:

Height: Medium (box checked)

Build: Medium (box checked)

Color of Eyes: Dark Brown
Color of Hair: Dark Brown
Bald? No

Obvious Physical Impairment: some trouble with arched instep

Signature of Registrar: Cora E. Puffer
Precinct: 91
City: Portland
State: Oregon
Date of Registration: June 5th, 1917

Besides being a document that my ancestor filled out, this registration card gives us a physical description of my grandfather at age 30, an address where he lived in Portland, and employment information. Historical background of the draft cards also helps to put all this information in context. This excerpt is from Warren Blatt's excellent web page at http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/wwidraft.htm:

On May 18, 1917, the Selective Service Act was passed, authorizing the President to temporarily increase the military establishment of the United States. The Selective Service System was responsible for the process of
selecting men for induction into the military service, from the initial registration to the actual delivery of men to military training camps.

Under the office of the Provost Marshal General, the Selective Service System was made up of 52 state offices
(one for each of the 48 states; the territories of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico; and the District of Columbia), 155 district boards, and 4648 local boards... The average district board had jurisdiction over approximately 30 local boards, each with an average registration of 5000 men. Local boards were established for each county or similar subdivision in each state, and for each 30,000 persons (approximately) in each city or county with a population over 30,000.

During World War I there were three registrations:

The first, on June 5, 1917, was for all men between the ages of 21 and 31.

The second, on June 5, 1918, registered those who attained age 21 after June 5, 1917. (A supplemental registration was held on August 24, 1918 for those becoming 21 years old after June 5, 1918. This was included in the second registration.)

The third registration was held on September 12, 1918 for men aged 18 through 45.

Using the historical background above, I can see that Anthony registered for the draft during the first registration period.

Shameless plug for Ancestry.com since they have provided a lot of what I'm posting: It's my favorite pay-for-access site and has proven to be worth every penny. I find a lot of stuff on there, and they are adding more all the time. My local Family History Center (another great place!) has a membership and you can access Ancestry.com for free from them. I like my membership since I can access it from anywhere I have a computer and at any time.

Getting Some Attention!

Woo Hoo! This blog, along with my other family blogs (see side bar), merited a mention in George G. Morgan's "Along Those Lines... " (11/16 post)! Check it out at http://ahaseminars.livejournal.com/ or use the link in the side bar under Favorite Websites.

George Morgan is an well-known genealogy speaker, writer and teacher. His column, "Along Those Lines..." was featured on Ancestry.com for many years, until he recently moved it to this new blog. George and Drew Smith host "The Genealogy Guys" weekly podcast, which I listen to religiously, and which also was an inspiration for starting my blogs.

It's truly an honor to be mentioned in George's blog and I was so excited when he personally emailed me back to let me know he was posting a link to my blogs. I've been walking on air all week!

Guest Blog: Ed Bjore email

I received the following email from my Uncle Ed Bjore* in response to the previous blog (On the Front Porch).
I thought it was a perfect next blog -- elegant prose, clarifying information and a great explanation of why we are genealogists. Enjoy!

"Oh my goodness. My knees got weak and my stomach knotted when I saw your picture. I was overwhelmed with the memories.

I would guess this picture was taken Christmas of 64. In the window you can see the Christmas tree on the left, and the dirty glass, if you look close enough, is angels done with some window paste. There are also Christmas lights on the columns.

This picture was taken on the front (patio) porch at 6833 SE 112th Ave, Portland OR. It was a treat to see Georgia looking so well, and Mom making a face at the camera. Tony was Tony, with the pocket protector and all the pens. These are part of so many details that I had forgotten. Your mom was such a beautiful person, a winning smile, and a bundle of energy.

As you might know, Georgia died of lupus about 28 years ago, and we became the guardians of her daughter Andrea who was 7 at the time. Andrea got married this summer and we went to Tulsa OK to witness her wedding. It was a joyous time. Time just goes too fast, and we don't appreciate things at the time. That's the fun of genealogy for me--remembering all the wonderful people who have made me the person I am."

*Ok, in a previous blog I said I'd explain this. Ed is my cousin, but somehow, ever since I can remember, I called him Uncle Eddie. It probably has to do with the fact that he is approximately 14 years older than I am, but I'm really not sure. It wasn't until I was in my late 20's when I realized the real family connection. Of course, it's hard to correct when you spend all your formative years learning it one way. Kind of like all of us now trying to unlearn Pluto as a planet or getting used to 12 food pyramids...

On the Front Porch

Today I found this photo in my mom's collection when I went over to scan some pictures of her side of the family (Villalba-Barrios). I didn't even know this photo existed - I was doing the genealogist happy dance today!

The photo dates from a trip we made to Portland, OR to visit with my father's family (he's the Parisi), probably at Christmas or a little after. I am dating this based on my little sister who is standing in the front. She was born in May 1963, so Christmas 1963 or Easter 1964 is about right for her to be standing. It might even be as late as Christmas 1964.

From left to right, is Grandpa Tony, Georgia Bjore holding yours truly, Eleanor Bjore and Christine Bjore (hiding). In front is my mother (Miriam Parisi, known as Mimi) holding my little sister, Gina Parisi. I am not sure of the location, but I believe we are on the front porch of Eleanor's house. We all look like we're having a pretty good time, and hey, it's not raining!

Okay, the family connections and approximate ages: Tony (77) is Anthony Parisi of the Baseball/Window fame from the previous blog. Georgia (20) and Christine (10) are Eleanor's daughters and Eleanor (43) is my father's sister and Tony's daughter. My sister around her first birthday, my mom is 30, and I am about 3. Whew, get all that?

I found some other pictures, but didn't have time to scan them so I'll have to do that later. I will also be bugging my father to scan his photos to post on this site. Family blogs are nice, but it also means that you have at least one maniac in your family who always wants to come over with a scanner.

The Windows of St. Michael's (or The Baseball)

These are our family windows at St. Michael the Archangel, 1701 SW Fourth Ave, Portland OR (thanks to my "Uncle Eddie" - Ed Bjore - for the photo). St. Michael's is a pretty Roman Catholic church that was founded by many of the Italian immigrants in Portland in the early 1900's. When the church was rebuilt in 1902, many beautiful stained glass windows were commissioned from Povey Bros. Glass Co., and donated via subscription by parishioners*. The names of the parishioner who donated them are engraved in the windows above the first square of design.

For the windows above, the one on the left says "Joseph and Marina Parisi" and the one on right "Anton & Sisters Parisi". Joseph and Marina are my great-grandparents, and their son Anthony was my grandfather. I'm not sure why Anton was put there except it may be the Italian version.

Most of the other donors only purchased one window. It was quite expensive for these Italian immigrants just to pay for one. My great-grandfather was a laborer for the City Water Works, and a listing of the donors in the St. Michael's Centennial book* shows that most were also laborers, farmers or widows. That my great-grandfather would purchase TWO windows, and have his children's names on one seemed to be a great extravagance. Even his boss (and I believe friend from the old country), Costante Albertini only purchased one window and added "and family" rather than pay for a whole other window. I had always been curious about the second window.

Recently I re-connected with my "Uncle" Eddy (ok, he's really a cousin, but we'll get into that in another blog). We were discussing St. Michael's book and these windows, and he said "You know the story of those windows, don't you?" I guess Anthony (Grandpa Tony to me) and his sisters used to play baseball in the vacant lot/baseball field next to the church. Hmmm... baseball... next to a church... window connection...

Yup, they put a baseball through a Church window! Can you image? And for breaking the window, they got the honor of paying for a new one on subscription! Tony recounted the story to Ed and remembered weeks and weeks of going to the Church with his sisters and paying off this window with their hard earned pennies!

The windows were purchased in 1902, before the three youngest Parisi children of Joseph and Marina were born. I'll be going more into this family in the next several blogs.

*The Biography of a Parish, Saint Michael the Archangel by Fred A. Granata, J.D., printed by Dynagrahics, Inc. Copyright 1994

Blog Introduction

This blog tracks my discoveries while researching my PARISI family line. I will be posting photos, documents, stories and anything else I can find! It is a way of sharing this information with other family members as well as allowing others to contribute, correct and discover us!

While there are a lot of Parisi's, this blog mainly focuses on the ancestors and descendants of Anthony and Amelia Parisi of Portland, OR. Most postings will be on ancestors due to privacy and security issues.

Comments, corrections, inquiries and contributions are all gratefully accepted.