Re: Alden/Andrew Doneilo Conway MA update
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In reply to:
Alden/Andrew Doneilo Conway MA update
janice graves 9/13/08
Janice: So glad you found what you need. Yes, their farm on Baptist Corner was definitely on the Ashfield side of that road that runs between Ashfield and Conway. I'm not sure where you live or whether you're familiar with that area, but, depending on where a family lived on some of those old country roads, it could be hard to tell whether you were in Ashfield or Conway or Shelburne Falls. About 90% of those towns were farms and country roads--it's still that way--and the "downtown" areas are often about four public buildings and businesses on a 1/2 mile stretch of road. I find it absolutely beautiful, although I'm rarely there in winter.
Anyway, he was a sweet man, and he and Aunt Priscilla (she was my great-aunt and he my great-uncle, to be precise) had a very nice vegetable garden by the side of the house. None of that group of Doneilos ever lost their love for farming, even though they left the acreage behind.
I don't know whether your interest is more in the Alden or the Doneilo sides, but I found some amazing information on the Doneilos. Back in the old country, the name was spelled Danilo, and they were from a town called Huta Samokleska, which is now part of Poland. My grandfather and his family always said their Dad was from "Austria," which my own Dad would always say was ridiculous, as they spoke Polish. Turns out that their area in the Carpathian Mountains had been part of the Austro-Hungarian empire in the 19th century, when Stephen Danilo emigrated, and that they spoke Rusyn and were Orthodox Christians, not Catholic like the Poles. It even said "Austria" as the land of their birth on the census records, once we found those. Finding all of that out was a lot of work, but very exciting, as before the internet made genealogical records more easy, I had been convinced finding their farm town in Europe would have been like finding a needle in a haystack.
Good luck with your searches!
--Cynthia
More Replies:
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Re: Alden/Andrew Doneilo Conway MA update
Andrew J. Smith 2/21/09
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Re: Alden/Andrew Doneilo Conway MA update
janice graves 9/13/08