Digging Up Your Family

Giacomo Pera Family

I have finally been able to pull Giacomo Pera’s family together, and I am so excited about it!

The information that I have includes all seven children that were claimed by Maria Pera. I want to thank everyone who helped me with this information!

Giacomo Pera was born on September 10, 1943 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. His parent’s names are Pietro Pera and Rosa Panzone. I am still looking for more information for them, and feel certain that I will find it!

Angelia Maria Chiarlone was born on April 11, 1845 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. Her parent’s names are Stefano Chiarlone, son of Antonio Chiarlone, and Maria Delpiazzo, daughter of Francesco Delpiazzo. I will be researching these parents, too.

The children of Giacomo (Jacob) and Maria (Mary):

-Pietro Antonio Pera, born April 19, 1868 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. I am still unsure when and where he died.

-Vittorio Steffano Pietro Pera, born March 23, 1871 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. This is my 2nd great-grandfather, Steven Victor Para. He died April 13, 1942 in Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee.

-Antonio Mario Pera, born September 26, 1874 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. I am unsure when and where he died.

-Giuseppe Pera, born February 27, 1877 in Borgata Molina, Torino, Piedmonte, Italy (although his birth was recorded in Piana Crixia, Savona, Liguria, Italy. CLICK HERE for previous post). This is Joseph Para. He died April 25, 1958 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.

-Peter G Para, born April 4, 1882 in Tennessee (exact location unknown, could be Memphis). He died in October of 1867 in Olive Branch, De Soto County, Mississippi

-Rose Lena Para, born September 17, 1883 in Tennessee (exact location unknown, again could be Memphis). She died September 15, 1908 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.

-Mamie Para, born in April 1889 in Tennessee (probably Memphis, as this is close to the family first appearing in the city directories). She died October 3, 1969 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee.

I was able to find the information from a cousin named Marlo when she began linking the Pera/Chiarlone marriage.If you feel like trying to find your Italian ancestors, click on this link: http://antenati.san.beniculturali.it/

More Para Family Information! UPDATE!

Update below record.

I have spent so long trying to find out where my Para family immigrated from in Italy, and I finally found them! It was through a birth record of a previously unknown child.

In the 1900 US census, Mary Para claimed that she had SEVEN children, with only FIVE still living.

Those five would be Steven, Joseph, Peter, Rose, and Mamie.

Who are the other two?

Well, I managed to find the birth record for a sixth child, with a confirmation of Mary/Maria’s surname: Chiarlone.

AND now I know Para was actually Pera prior. Which literally translates into Pear. It reminds me of the apples apples and oranges quote from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.

I have attempted to translate the actual handwriting, and my buddy Sarah in Italy has also attempted, but the handwriting is a little to stretchy to read well (at least to us!).

The information I was able to get from this document:

Giuseppe Pera was born on February 27, 1877 in Piana Crixia, Savona, Italy to parents Giacomo Pera and Maria Chiarlone.

Or maybe he was born in Borgata Molino, Torino, Italy.

Google Translate tells me (to a certain point):

The year eighteen hundred seventy-seven, this day four of March in the morning hours and ten minutes, in the Municipal House.
Ahead of me Destefanis Stefano ? elderly
Officer of the Civil State of the City Piana Crixia pel ? prevented appeared Pera James of thirty-two years old farmer domiciled in Piana Crixia, who said to me that or AM Nine and minutes, of the Twenty-seven of the last month February, in the house in a Borgata Molino at ?, by Chiarlone Maria ? wife housewife with him
He was born to cohabiting Masculine sex child he introduces me, and that by the names of Joseph.
To the above and this act were present as witnesses () Peter, aged thirty-two, owner, and ? Angel of twenty-five years, the owner, both residing in this municipality bed hereby to read he () the year and with me ? ? holy THE STATEMENT ?…

UPDATE:

My mom’s friend Lisa, who lives in the Province of Florence, translated the birth record for me:

“

In YEAR 1877 , on march 4 at the 10 o'clock a.m.in the town hall .
Before me Destefani Antonio senior councilor,
Registrar the town of Piana Crixia
Appeared Pera Giacomo of 32 years , Farmer, domiciled in Piana Crixia, who stated that at 9 o' clock a.m. of February 27 in the house in Borgata Molino , from Chiarlone Maria his wife , housewife and cohabitant
Is born a baby male named Giuseppe
During this act were present Leagro Pietro, of years 32, owner, Borio Angelo ,of years 25 , owner, both residents in this town
Read this note to all present and that signed with me except the registrant that signed with a cross.”

I cannot thank her enough!

The red question marks are what I couldn’t make out, and it continues after the last one.

I am actually hoping someone can help me translate this document. Otherwise, I will keep working on it (it seems that at different size, certain words become easier to read).

Now to find child number SEVEN!

J Para Headstone

I spent pretty much all day working on the John B Smith family (his parents in particular). When I got to the point where I knew I had to stop for the day, I decided to go back to another favorite to research: the Para family.

And I made an exciting discovery!  How I have missed this in the past year, I’m not sure.  However, I found Giacomo Para’s headstone on Fine A Grave! It was originally posted by Dale Schaefer (#47452604) on March 15, 2015. The headstone reads:

J Para

Sept ? 1844

June 12, 1926

At the bottom of the stone is a cross lying on it’s side. I am not altogether sure of what this signifies. It appears that many people have wondered and it seems that many of these are Catholic graves. Answers that I have found point to the sideways cross symbolizing Jesus carrying it. If anyone knows, let me know!

Giacomo P “Jacob” Para

born Sept ? 1844 in Italy

died June 12, 1926 in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee

buried at Calvary Cemetery on Elvis Presley Boulevard

                                   Photo courtesy of Dale Schaefer

Finishing this post up, I just noticed that Dale transferred the memorial to me!

Jennie Wright

Yesterday I was able to break down one of my brick walls, and it broke down a brick wall for someone else!

It started with a Betty Crocker cookbook from 1950.  Inside on the first page was written:

Ownned by-Jenny Lee Wright
age-16
Given to by-Mom and Dorothy

I started wondering (as I often do when I see familiar names) if Jenny Lee Wright was in any way related to Jennie Wright, Stephen Anthony Para’s mother.  Usually when I start to wonder about that I go to my tree on Ancestry and start looking over siblings of a particular person.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t this time.  I didn’t have Jennie’s parents.  I realized this was one of my brick walls.

After reviewing the information that I did have, and conducting a pretty aggressive search, I was finally able to find Jennie’s family.

Jennie Wright, who may have been named either Margaret Virginia or Virginia Margaret per Brenda Black Watson, was born on January 21, 1880 in Shelby County, Tennessee to parents Robert Richard Wright and Litiana Augusta Daily. 

In 1880 Jennie and family are found living in District 14, Shelby County, Tennessee.  Jennie is listed as Maggie Wright, age 6 months, born in Tennessee.  The others in the household are: Robert (father), aged 27 years, born in Tennessee, a farmer (a berry farmer, according to the biography written by Brenda); Augusta (mother), aged 20 years (I think that’s what it says), born in Tennessee; Lucius, aged 7 years, born in Mississippi; and Eliza Wright, aged 60 years, born in Virginia.  Technically it appears that Robert’s mother Eliza is listed in a separate household, but that may have been a mistake by the enumerator.

Jennie married Steven Victor Para on December 12, 1895 in Shelby County, Tennessee.  She was fifteen at the time, and Steve was twenty-five.

Between 1896 and 1900 Jennie had two children: Stephen Anthony in 1896, and Joseph Dewey in 1898.

In 1900 Jennie and family are found living in District 58, Civil District 19, Shelby County, Tennessee.  Jennie is listed as age 20 years, born in January of 1880 in Tennessee, married for five years, mother to two children-both living.  Others living in the household are: Steven, age 26 years and showing he was born in March 1874 in Italy (there’s definitely questions regarding this date), married for five years, immigrated in 1881, employed as a farmer; Tony, age 3 years, born August of 1896 in Tennessee; and Dewey, age 2 years, born in April of 1898 in Tennessee.

In the two years following the 1900 census, Jennie gave birth to two more children: Elmer Francis in 1901, and Andrew Wright in 1902.

The next time Jennie I find Jennie is in 1909 when she bought a house on Walker Avenue in Memphis for $600.

In 1910 Jennie and her children are found living in District 273, Memphis Ward 26, Shelby County, Tennessee.  before we get into how Jennie shows on this census, I will list the children:  Anthony, age 13 years, born in Tennessee, attends school as well as employed as an office boy for a real estate agency; Joseph D, age 11 years, born in Tennessee, attends school as well as employed as a cash boy at various odd jobs; Elmer F, age 9 years, born in Tennessee, attends school; and Andrew, age 7 years, born in Tennessee, attends school.  As for Jennie, she is listed as the head of household, age 30 years, born in Tennessee.  She was not employed.  What is curious about this census is her marital status.  I mentioned this in the post I wrote about Steven Victor Para back in 2011:

The location of the family is on both the 1910 regular schedule (enumerated April 18-19) and also on the 1910 supplementary schedule (enumerated April 16-21).  It looks on the regular census as though it had been written in that Jennie was either married or widowed, but someone had erased it and marked that she was divorced.  There is something pertaining to her written in the margin, but I can’t make out what it says.

On the 1910 supplementary schedule it only lists Steven, at the same address, and he is married.  Again, something is noted in the margin pertaining to him, but the only word I can make out is “wife”.

I believe that the notations in the census margins have to do with their divorce.  They both appear on the court dockets for May 20, 1910 and the complaint was granted.  Unfortunately it doesn’t give us any remarks.

What I find interesting is that the census was enumerated in April, but the divorce wasn’t granted until May.  So either she was sure it would be, or it was later changed.

Jennie married Luther A Hargrove on November 23, 1910 in Shelby County, Tennessee.

Margaret Virginia “Jennie” Wright died on August 29, 1914 after having been in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Memphis for one month.  Her cause of death was listed as “pustular bubo-ovarian abscess”, which makes my heart just break for her.  She is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery Midtown, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee by Steven Victor Para.  Oddly, her headstone does not have her married name of Hargrove.  Instead it has Jennie Wright Para.

After Jennie’s death I kind of lose track of Luther (who I feel like blaming for her early death). 

In 1915 Luther (a carpenter), Anthony (a ruler at a bookbinding business), Dewey (a carpenter), and (presumably) Elmer, and Andrew moved to 1035 South Somerville.  After 1915, though, I lose him, as there are a few people with his name and his initials.

By 1916 Jennie’s sons had all gone in different directions.  Anthony still worked at the bookbinding company and had moved to 1042 South Somerville.  When Dewey filled out his WWI draft registration card in 1918 he listed the same address.  His nearest relative was also at the same address, listed as Mrs. CR Young.  A quick search brought up that Mrs. CR Young is Lena Wright, Jennie’s sister.  Elmer was an orderly at the hospital where his mother died, and in 1918 Elmer died of disease while serving in the US Army.  Andrew went on to be come a successful doctor in Texas.

I bet Jennie was proud of her sons.

A Word About Family Lore (with examples)

For the past several days I have been going through a lot of stuff trying to figure out what to write next about Timothy Demonbreun.  However, putting all of the information together is kind of difficult.  There is the problem of trying to separate fact from fiction, along with having to accept some things as definite fact, even though I cannot see the documentation (I am assuming that others who have written about him have seen it, so that’s where trust comes in on matters such as that).  There are so many fantastic stories about Timothy’s life, and I will share them all…along with letting my readers know which stories I do not have sources for and what stories have been passed down through the Demonbreun descendants for about two centuries now (my hope, as always, is that someone will present a source, a document, anything!).  I do, however, want to point out that most stories started somehow.  Here are a few family stories I have heard about my ancestors, either stories passed down or stories I have read online…along with the facts:

1.  Lore:  Spencer DeMumbrie was from France.  Fact:  Spencer DeMumbrie was born in Tennessee.  This one is kind of amusing because I can only speculate as to where this story came from.  On the death certificate for Minnie DeMumbrie, Spencer’s daughter, it has him as having been born in France.  Since Minnie’s son was the informant I can only assume that Minnie had told people her father was French, rather than descended from French-Canadians.  My Granddaddy even referred to her as his “French grandmother” (even though, in reality, he could have called both grandmothers French…his other grandmother Annie Bondurant was descended from the French Huguenot Jean Pierre Bondurant).

2.  Lore:  James Anderson Proctor’s first wife Paralee was a gypsy.  Fact:  James Anderson Proctor, the husband of my 3rd great-grandmother Amanda Summers, was married first to a woman named Paralee.  However, when I found the marriage record I also found that Paralee’s full maiden name was Delilah Paralee Duffel.  This means that Paralee was Amanda’s aunt through her mother Emily Jane Duffel.  And now, if anyone ever decides to start searching for Paralee again (I think everyone kind of gave up trying to find her when she “disappeared” after the 1850 census), they will now know what happened to her.  And it also answers everyone’s question as to where JA’s wife came from (because no one could figure out her maiden name, I guess).

3.  Lore:  The Para family had their surname changed to Para when they arrived at Ellis Island from Italy.  Fact:  That never happened.  What is known is that if their name was changed once they arrived in America, they would have done it themselves, and it would have been well after they arrived.  And there is still no proof that it was ever anything different.  Prior to boarding the ship in Italy their information and documentation would have been checked by Italian officials.  Once they arrived they would have had to present the documentation to officials that were either from Italy themselves, or fluent in Italian.  The records and names would have to match up, otherwise they wouldn’t be permitted to enter the country.  When filing for citizenship they would have had the option to change their last name if they so chose.  So far, I know they wouldn’t have come through Ellis Island, anyway.  The patriarch of the family Giacomo Para (Anglicized to Jacob Para) arrived in America about 1876 or 1877, sixteen or seventeen years prior to the opening of Ellis Island.  Before that he would have arrived through Castle Gardens in New York, if that’s even where he entered the country.  There is no record of him at Castle Gardens, either.  So there is no telling what location he came through.  I haven’t found his wife and children yet, either.  So back to the name:  If the surname was changed then I don’t have a clue what it was originally.  And apparently no one else does, either.  While I did find record of a Giacomo Para entering through California, he was much too young, he immigrated much too late and he stayed in California. 

4.  Lore:  Elizabeth Bennett was 115/116 years of age when she died.  Fact:  Um, no one really knows the truth here.  She is another mystery that everyone hopes to someday unravel.  She will be getting her own post, but you will meet her soon anyway, as she is a key player in the story of Timothy Demonbreun.  Anyway, if you are to believe her headstone, erected by her son Jean Baptiste, she was born July 24, 1740 and died February 7, 1856.  In 1850 she claimed her age as 105, putting her birth year about 1745.  However, she gave birth to her last child in 1795, making her age at this birth either 50 or 55.  Sigh.  I’m not saying it’s impossible.  Just improbable

5.  Lore:  There really is no lore for this particular example, about Elizabeth Freeland.  Just a jumble of information about her.  Fact:  In 1850, the first time Elizabeth shows up on a census record, Elizabeth is shown as being 37 years of age, born about 1813 in Alabama.  In 1860, however, she is 56 years of age, having been born in 1804 in Louisiana.  I do know that she married Peter McQueen in 1820 in Louisiana, so I greatly doubt she was born in 1813.  I mean, her first child Louisa was born in 1821, which would have meant that Elizabeth was a mere 8-years-old.  Unfortunately, her marriage records to Peter McQueen and Claiborn Perry don’t mention her age, or her place of birth, for that matter.  I know her brother was residing in Alabama when he died, but he also had land in Mississippi (which is where she was living when she divorced Peter and married Claiborn).

These are just a few examples of family stories and misinformation.  I just felt it was important to get this out there prior to continuing Timothy Demonbreun’s story.  Because, as you’ll see, his life was pretty wacky.

Stephen Anthony Para: 1960 President of the Tennessee State Labor Council

a LIFETIME of FAITHFUL SERVICE to ORGANIZED LABOR

STEVE A. PARA

President of TENNESSEE STATE LABOR COUNCIL

The Words of a Man…

“No other organization in history has done so much to raise the living standards and protect the rights of the working people as has Organized Labor.  It has been my good fortune to spend most of my life in the Labor Movement.  For whatever small contributions I may have made, or whatever leadership I may have given to this great cause, I am deeply grateful for having had the privilege to do so.”

These are the words of a man who for fifty-one years has faithfully served Organized Labor in Tennessee…these are the words of Steve A. Para, President of the Tennessee Labor Council.

Up Through the Union Ranks…

The story of Steve Para began in Memphis where he was born and grew up.  As a boy of 15, working in a printing and binding plant, Para joined the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders in 1912.  Leaving the printing trades to work for the Illinois Central Railroad, in 1917 he became a member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen.

Then came World War I.  Para served his country in the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe.

After the war he came back to Memphis where he again worked as a brakeman, and later as a conductor for the Illinois Central Railroad.

Para came up through the ranks of his union, serving as chairman of the local grievance committee and as secretary of the general grievance committee from 1927 through 1930.  In 1933 he was elected local legislative representative, and a member of the State BRT Legislative Board.

Para was elected State Legislative Representative for the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen in 1940, and for the last 23 years he has been the voice of the BRT in the Tennessee Legislature.

In 1943 he became a member of the National Legislative Conference of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and in 1960 was elected vice-chairman of the conference.

To President of Tennessee Labor Council…

Elected First Vice-President of the Tennessee State Labor Council in the 1959 biennial convention, Para became President in 1960 when then President Stanton Smith resigned to become AFL-CIO Coordinator of State and Local Central Bodies.

Without opposition and by acclamation, Para was reelected President of the State Labor Council in the 1961 state convention.

During his years of service and leadership in Organized Labor, Para’s ability and experience have been widely recognized and utilized by appointments to a wide variety of boards and committees.  To list but a few, he has served as a member of:

Regional Labor-Management Manpower Commission, U.S. Department of Labor

Advisory Committee to the Department of Employment Security (1952-63)

Executive Board of Citizens for TVA (1950-58)

White House Highway Safety Committee (1952-58)

Governor’s Emergency Committee on Traffic Safety (1952-63)

State Committee of Cancer Fund (1953)

Board of Tennessee Hospital Association (1948)

The Para Family…

Para married Virginia (Minnie) Richards of Memphis in 1927.  They have a son and three grandchildren.  The Paras now live at 222 Sequoyah Trail, Hendersonville, a few miles northeast of Nashville.

Steve is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Elks Club.

Progress With Para…

During the three years Steve Para has been President of the Tennessee State Labor Council, the Council has made greater progress and gained more prestige than in any other period in its history.

In 1960 a few months after Para became president, COPE-endorsed Senator Estes Kefauver won a landslide victory over “Tip” Taylor.  The campaign conducted by the State Labor Council through the city central bodies and the local unions was credited by Senator Kefauver as well as other state political leaders as being a major factor in the Kefauver victory.

As a result of the strong support which President Para gave to the program, the 1961 biennial convention of the Tennessee State Labor Council by a near unanimous vote adopted the Program of Progress with the $1.00 per member per year dedicated assessment to finance the program.  Under the Program of Progress and under the leadership of President Para, the Tennessee State Labor Council can become in the next few years the most powerful political force in the state.

A special convention of the State Labor Council in April 1962, by an overwhelming majority, endorsed Chattanooga Mayor P.R. Olgiati for Governor in the Democratic Primary.  Olgiati, a member of the Bricklayers Union, had for years been an active and able leader in the Chattanooga Labor Movement.  The State Council financed a major portion of the Olgiati campaign as well as much of the campaign organization and direction.  Tagged by the conservative Clement forces as the “Liberal Labor Candidate”, Olgiati was able to develop very little support outside of Organized Labor.  But Olgiati ran second, receiving over 211,000 votes!  President Para and the State Labor Council proved to the state political leaders for the first time that Organized Labor could put a candidate into the governor’s race, finance that candidate and conduct a campaign that would produce over 211,000 votes.  The State Labor Council gained greater prestige politically from it’s support of Olgiati that it had ever achieved before.  In no other Southern state has Labor demonstrated the political strength that it did in Tennessee in 1962 under the leadership of Steve Para.

Opinions of Others…

Another measure of a man is the opinions of those who know him best.

“I have known Steve Para for a lot of years.  He and I have not always been on the same side of the fence in BRT politics.  But whether he is for you or against you, he is able, fair, honest and devoted to the Union.  We need more Steve Paras in Labor.”-An opinion of a member of Para’s BRT Lodge in Memphis

“If Satan himself were endorsed by Organized Labor, then Para would do his best to elect him.”-The words of a state political leader describing Para’s loyalty and fidelity to the State Labor Council

“No other man in this state has given more of his life and is more dedicated to the cause of the Labor Movement than Steve Para.”-A tribute from an AFL-CIO officer

“There are certain political king-makers in this state who don’t like Para, because they can’t make him their ‘Judas Goat’ to lead Labor into their political pens.  They would like to see Para defeated in the State Council Conventions.”-The comment of a political reporter on a large Tennessee paper

A Final Word…

“This I believe”, says Steve Para, President of the Tennessee State Labor Council:

“The Tennessee State Labor Council belongs to the union members of Tennessee.  Their economic and political welfare must be the major concern of the officers of this council. Their will must be our command…

“When a convention of the Tennessee State Labor Council makes a decision, then each officer of the council should carry out that decision or resign…

“The Tennessee State Labor Council must never become the tool of any politician or any political clique.  As long as I am president, I will fight with all the power of this office to keep our council free from such outside political domination.”

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: A Formal Event

Stephen Anthony Para (1896-1984) and Minnie Virginia Richards (1896-1974)

Guest Post: Stories about Minnie Virginia Richards

Grandmother Para

by Virginia Marie Stalls

Grandmother was a lot of fun to be around, and I loved spending at least a week in the summers with her and Grandaddy.

She and he would banter back and forth, and she and the housekeeper would do the same thing. I would just sit and laugh.

I learned a lot from her. She taught me to hold a pencil between my teeth when I spoke because "young ladies don't open their mouths very wide when they speak." She corrected my pronunciation from "git" to "get as in bet." When I had trouble with "W" and "M" learning to write she told me that water starts with "W" and that it would hold water. If you put water in "M" it would fall out. I learned to set a proper table. She would briefly look it over and say that we would have our meal when the table was set correctly. Usually it would be a knife with the blade facing the wrong way. She went to finishing school as a young girl, but I had my own private tutor!

Whenever she went anywhere, including the grocery store, she would be dressed very nicely and wearing a fur coat in the winter. She was definitely patient with me because I loved to stroke the fur.

She took holidays very seriously and decorated elaborately for Christmas. Whether it was Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas the table was full of her special dishes, and she was a great cook. I think my favorite was her oyster dressing with giblet gravy over it. For Easter she and Granddaddy spent time dyeing eggs, and Daddy would gold leaf one for the grand prize of 50 cents, I think it was, for the lucky person who found it.

They lived on Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, TN when I was in junior high school. The owners of the house lived in the downstairs basement. There was a sunroom across the back of the house overlooking the lake. The owners would have parties, and country music stars attended. Grandmother pointed out to me who was there, and I can only remember Little Jimmy Dickens now.

When they moved from Nashville to Memphis I was in high school and would save my money to catch the train to go to visit with them. Later when I was a young adult and lived in Memphis Grandmother wasn't driving anymore. Her friends would pick her up about once a week or so to get together for cards. She would ask me to watch her soaps (Guiding Light, As the World Turns, and Secret Storm) so that she wouldn't miss anything.

Another thing she would ask me to do is to sneak Fate magazine to her and not to let Granddaddy know. She firmly believed in the supernatural and enjoyed reading about it.

She had a lot of plants by the sliding glass door going onto the balcony, and Granddaddy called it a "jungle."

What few stories about her childhood would come out usually at the prompting of my father if he was there. The one story I can recall right now is that as a child she refused to go to sleep until one of the housemen came to her bedroom and played the fiddle for her.

Another story involved a dinner at a Chinese restaurant in New York City. She asked their host what the gristly things were in her food, and he said it was rat tails. She promptly got up, went outside, and proceeded to throw up in the gutter. It's hard to imagine my proper grandmother sitting on the curb in NYC.

She liked corned beef sandwiches and chocolate éclairs a lot. Before I got the call that she had died I had spent the day craving those foods and wanting to shoot pool. She liked to play snooker. That day she and Grandaddy were getting ready to go to Nashville for a political convention. I talked to her the day before she died and she said she hadn't been anywhere in a long time, so she was really excited about going. She had just gotten out of the shower and sat down telling Granddaddy that she didn't feel well, and then she suddenly slumped and died.

Her funeral was a full Catholic funeral, and she is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis with her family around her. There is a monument with the Richards name where her parents and siblings are buried right near her grave. Her headstone is set flat, and Granddaddy is buried beside her.

Steven Victor Para UPDATE

Steven Victor Para is so hard to grasp.  I am really hoping someone will come forward with more information about him.  What I have from census records has many discrepancies.

Stephen Victor Para was born in March of 1870, 1872 or 1874 in Italy to Kiacoma Para (dates unknown) and Chiarlone Maria di Steffano (Stefano) (dates unknown), both of Italy.  One census gives his immigration date as 1881 and another says 1880.  I am still trying to locate his parents.

And that’s only the beginning!

On December 12, 1895 Steven married Jennie Wright of Tennessee.  She was 15 years old. 

They show up 5 years later on the 1900 census in Memphis, Tennessee.  By then they had two sons, one being my granddaddy’s stepfather, Stephen Anthony Para (1896-1984).  According to the record Steven was a farmer.  There is some dispute over this, however.  Steven was apparently the caretaker of the Forest Hills Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee.  The family lived in a stone house at the back of the property.  I wonder if he took care of the cemetery and was also a farmer?  If you look just above his name on the census you can see that their neighbor was a grave digger.  So it is possible that Steven was both a caretaker AND a farmer.

The next census gets even sketchier.  The location of the family is on both the 1910 regular schedule (enumerated April 18-19) and also on the 1910 supplementary schedule (enumerated April 16-21).  It looks on the regular census as though it had been written in that Jennie was either married or widowed, but someone had erased it and marked that she was divorced.  There is something pertaining to her written in the margin, but I can’t make out what it says.

On the 1910 supplementary schedule it only lists Steven, at the same address, and he is married.  Again, something is noted in the margin pertaining to him, but the only word I can make out is “wife”.

I believe that the notations in the census margins have to do with their divorce.  They both appear on the court dockets for May 20, 1910 and the complaint was granted.  Unfortunately it doesn’t give us any remarks.

In 1920 Steven shows up in Galveston City, Texas.  According to the census he was a boarder at a house with 10 other people.  It lists his marital status as widowed.  I have not found any other marriage records for him.

The death of Steven Victor Para happened at 3:20pm on April 13, 1942 at Western State Mental Hospital in Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tennessee.  His cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage due to arteriosclerosis.  He had been at Western State for 11 years and 11 months for treatment of psychosis.  I believe that his admittance to the hospital may be why I am unable to find him on the 1930 census so far.

Because of the marital status on the 1910 census, 1920 census and his death certificate (which marks him as widowed, informed by his son Dewey) I think that the break up of his marriage and death of his ex-wife may have caused his mental breakdown.  Jennie married again in November of 1910 and died in 1914.

I hope someone has more information that can help fill in the gaps.  I will, of course, continue to research Steven Victor Para!

UPDATE 9/1/2011:  I believe that “Kiacoma”, the documented name for Steven Victor Para’s father, should actually be
Giacomo, like Casanova’s name.  The di Steffano listed for his mother’s maiden surname may just describe Maria’s father.  More than likely Chiarlone is associated with her surname, as in Maria Chiarlone di Steffano. 

Minnie Virginia Richards

Jerome E Richards (1856-1922) and Minnie DeMumbrie (1858-1928) were thrilled when their beautiful baby girl, Minnie Virginia Richards, came into this world on April 5, 1896.  At the Memphis Jail.

The family home was having some work done and, lucky for them, Jerome worked for the Memphis Police Department and had an apartment fashioned in the jail for them to live until the work on the house was completed.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t done until after Minnie was born and she would forever hush her son, James Paul Stalls, Jr (1917-1987) when he would jokingly bring up this fact to anyone willing to listen.

Minnie was the only daughter of five children and she was the baby of the family.  She grew up pampered and fiercely protected by her older brothers.  She attended finishing school and graduated as a Young Lady, speaking the Fine Southern Way proper women of the South would speak: without opening her mouth too much (presumably so people would have to lean forward and say “huh?” a lot).

Minnie was 9 years old when tragedy struck and she witnessed the suicide of her brother, Claud E Richards, in the parlor of the family home.

She met James Paul Stalls, Sr (1889-1951), a popular local musician, and they married on July 27, 1914.  In the weeks leading up to the marriage there were many newspaper articles written, and read, on the grand affair.  She had two showers, which were written up in the the Memphis papers including the color motifs, refreshments and party games (these ladies apparently really loved to play Hearts).  The wedding itself took up nearly an entire column in one paper, listing what songs were performed and who performed them, the color theme and  what everyone was wearing.  The article is fairly long and you barely notice that the next column over notifies you to the fact that “Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dillard have returned after a weeks stay in the Ozarks”.

On August 19, 1917, Minnie gave birth to a son, James Paul Stalls, Jr.  He proved to be quite a little handful!  She once had him on the streetcar in town and he was acting up.  She told him that as soon as they got back home she was going to get a switch after him.  He began to loudly howl, “Please don’t beat me!  Please don’t beat me!”, which no doubt embarrassed her.  A woman on the train asked her if she planned on beating “that beautiful child” when they got home to which Minnie replied, “I wasn’t going to beat him…but now I may”.

Minnie and James divorced August 10, 1926.  She then met Stephen Anthony Para (1895-1984), a railroad conductor, and they married January 29, 1927.

Stephen pampered Minnie and she was a lady of leisure, requiring two divans, one for each of them, to lounge on.  She loved baseball and would have it playing on TV while she and Stephen snoozed.  There was a lot of laughter in their household with friendly banter, teasing and joking with each other and family.  She was known for throwing out an inappropriate joke or two from time to time.

Minnie loved to wear her furs, even to the grocery store, and even though it probably annoyed her, she would let my mother pet them often. 

Minnie Virginia Richards passed away July 6, 1974.  She had a formal Catholic funeral which may of her family and friends attended.

I have not yet found her obituary, but as soon as I do I will update along with sharing some more funny stories!  And feel free to contact me with your stories about Minnie!