Stories of the ancestors of Dan Babish and Irene Stoppiello

Sunday, August 11, 2013

If I Had A Hammer

While our kitchen is in the midst of being torn apart and remodeled, I thought I'd look back at some of Irene's ancestors who were carpenters.  Five of Irene's direct ancestors, including her father, and paternal grandfather, and, on her mother's side, her great grandfather, and second and third great grandfathers were all carpenters.

Irene's third great grandfather, James H. Hammond, was a carpenter in New York City.  The earliest record I have listing his occupation is the 1850 U.S. census entry for the household of his father, Joseph.  [1]  James, age 19, occupation - carpenter, is found on the fourth line of this extract.


Irene's second great grandfather, William B. Hayes, was a carpenter in New York City and Essex County, New Jersey.  The 1860 U.S. census entry of his father, William B. Hays, contains his son, also named William B. Hays, a carpenter, age 21. [2] The spelling of the family name didn't settle down to "Hayes" until later.


Here is William B. Hays listed as "carp" or carpenter living at 278 High Street in Orange, New Jersey, in the 1893 City Directory of the Oranges. [3]


Irene's great grandfather, Henry Channing Currey, was a carpenter in Essex County, New Jersey.  The earliest record I have showing his occupation is this city directory entry from 1897.  [4]  It lists "Currey Harry, carp, 183 N Park, EO" or East Orange, New Jersey.


Irene's dad, Neil Stoppiello, and grandfather, Michael Stoppiello, were both professional carpenters for most of their lives.  They worked in New Jersey and then Florida.  I don't have any specific records for either of them showing their occupation.  Here is a photograph showing the house Irene lived in on Marconi Avenue in Iselin, New Jersey, from about age 7 to 14.  The photograph shows scaffolding Irene's father erected while he was adding wood shake siding. [5]


Irene's direct ancestry includes at least one carpenter for the past five generations spanning from about 1850 until after the year 2000.

[1] 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, New York, New York [543], Database online. Census Place: New York Ward 9 District 1; Page 31A, Image 68. Joseph Hammond household, dwelling 191, family 405; NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 543; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com); digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com).

[2] 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, New York, New York [795], Database online. Census Place: New York Ward 8 District 3; Page: 914; Image: 395; Family History Library Film: 803795. page 250 [penned], William B. Hays household, dwelling 766, family 2222; NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 795; digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com); digital image, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com).

[3] J. H. Baldwin, Publisher, Baldwin's Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex County (Newark, N.J.: Holbrook Printing Company, 1893, 1897), p. 135, 1893 William B. Hays entry, accessed 11 August 2013; digital images, Ancestry.com (U. S. City Directories) (www.ancestry.com).

[4] J. H. Baldwin, Publisher, Baldwin's Directory of the Oranges and Townships of Essex County (Newark, N.J.: Holbrook Printing Company, 1893, 1897), p. 124, 1897 Harry Currey entry, accessed 12 February 2010; digital images, Ancestry.com (U. S. City Directories) (www.ancestry.com).

[5] Babish Family Photographs original photographs; privately held by Daniel Babish, Columbia, Maryland, 2013.  Rear of 79 Marconi Avenue, Iselin, New Jersey late 1950s or early 1960s showing scaffolding.