• A quest for my Scalcione family history

    The Scalcione  & Kelly Families

    Rocco Scalcione, faculty photo from the 1961 US Merchant Marine Academy, Long Island NY.

     

    As a 50+ year old  adoptee I searched for and found my roots in May 2017 after taking a DNA test with Ancestry.com

    As part of my continued research/search, I am still looking to find and  make contact with family members  who are decendants or relatives of any person on the paternal side of my ancestry tree, most were Italian and from Great Neck, Port Washington/ Long Island/ Nassau County for the most part.

    This includes others not  shown on this tree; Bobby Scalcione (California) Anthony Scalcione,  the Pietro Peter Annesi family,  Leslie Miller, Gentilella, Zazzarino, Denley, and the James Hicks/ Joanne Scalcione Hicks family, and Matt Armiento.

    On the maternal side I pretty much found my living relatives, but there could be some Irish decendants of Charles Smith, Sadie Wanser, Anna Denley,  or John F Kelly who was an award winning engineer for the Long Island Railroad.

    I’m not looking for money,  homes, cars, your fine china, estates,  inheritances or any such things and I wouldn’t have a problem signing a legal document to that effect, but my father Robert Scalcione of Allentown is obstructing my efforts probably with false information about me and my  motives in my  search for my biological family to prevent any contact with them. It became obvious that he never told his ex wife Barbara Powers, current wife Elizabeth Scalcione, or anyone in the family that I, or my mother  even exist, but exist we do and several family members now know we exist.

    Through Ancestry.com DNA results,  I found my biological parents, two brothers, and many cousins, father however from the get-go wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, and that became even more clear when,  after months of his having my contact info and my not hearing a word from him, I decided to send a personal certified mail letter  to him explaining how I found him,  a bit about me, why I contacted him, and stated by that letter in writing basically that  I wanted nothing from him, money, cars, homes whatever- just a friendship and to learn more about myself and family, some family history, maybe exchange some old photos and compare our lives. I  sent  it to his home in Allentown NJ by certified mail so I would know for sure he received it and not wonder if it was lost in the mail.   That brought about a  baffling, hostile, unwarranted fury of anger directed at my innocent mother of all people- not directly to me, in fact, he never once responded  to me directly but amazingly he ordered (!!!) my 77 year old mom to  tell me, (an adult min you)- to basically stop looking to contact anyone in “his” family!

    So I decided to “write him out” of my life, move on, and find other family members who may be interested in getting to know me.

    I don’t get it, I’ve done nothing TO this man, he even STILL maintains a regular friendship and correspondence with my MOM to this day *, all these years later! yet I’m some parriah here!

    *Mom decided to block his calls and contacts after all this, after admonishing him over several things and asking “how can a parent hurt their own children like this?”

    Scalcione family tree
    Scalcione family tree
    SCALCIONE – Anthony, of Cliffside Park, NJ, on Sunday, June 30, 2002. Beloved husband of Theresa (nee Parella). Devoted father of Susan Keenan of Ocean Grove, NJ. Loving grandfather of Patrick Anthony Keenan. Dear brother of the late Rocco Scalcione, and Rose Addeig. Anthony was a member of UFCW Union, Local 464A. A Funeral Prayer Service will be held at McCorry Brothers Funeral Home, 780 Anderson Avenue, Cliffside Park, on Wednesday, July 3, 2002 at 11 AM. Cremation is private. Visiting hours on Tuesday, are from 2-4 and 7-9 PM. Family requests memorial donations be made in Anthony’s name, to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 238 Columbia Avenue, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010.

    Published in The Record/Herald News on July 2, 2002

    https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/northjersey/obituary.aspx?n=anthony-scalcione&pid=388602

    Part of my Ancestry DNA matches.

    Ancestry match

    This proves a 1st cousin relationship to a woman who is the daughter of my father’s late sister Joanne Scalcione Hicks.

    Valerie Annesi match on Ancestry

     

    And this proves my ancestry connection to the Annesi side of my father’s line-  decendants of Pietro Annesi in my tree showing as 3rd cousin Valeri and Chris Annesi 2nd or 3rd cousin.  Pietro is my father’s maternal grandfather.

    Ancestry matches

    Some additional matches to me in my DNA results.

    My Grandfather Rocco Scalcione, 1969 Merchants Marine Academy Yearbook
    Father Robert, from family photos (below)

    MY BOOK

    This is the book that family members would want to have, it’s only available directly through me unless a used copy happens to appear on Amazon’s books.

    https://www.randallwolff.com/gallery/

    The book has nothing to do with my adoption, though it’s briefly mentioned on one page, but it has many photos, and more of my life as an artist and collector of architectural artifacts. As the two family members could see for themselves, I’m successful in my own right, own my house with no mortgage, and owe no one anything, in short I’m not looking for money out of anyone.

    I can be reached through messages on my Ancestry.com page too, it displays my family tree to those who are logged in;

    https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/tree/114060022/family

    NEW YORK (Office of the Governor) – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today signed legislation allowing adoptees for the first time to receive a certified copy of their birth certificate when they turn 18-years-old. This measure (S3419/A5494) helps ensures that all adult New York adoptees will have the same unimpeded right to information about their birth and biological parents.

    “Where you came from informs who you are, and every New Yorker deserves access to the same birth records – it’s a basic human right,” Governor Cuomo said. “For too many years, adoptees have been wrongly denied access to this information and I am proud to sign this legislation into law and correct this inequity once and for all.”

    This legislation removes the right of government agencies to restrict the type of information made available to adopted persons and removes the previous barriers to receive information about biological parents to identify medical data that can prevent preventable diseases or untimely death. Under this new law, the adopted person’s lawful representative or their descendants will also be able to get access the birth certificate if the adoptee is deceased.

    “I am so proud to have been the Senate sponsor of the Clean Bill of Adoptee Rights and I thank Governor Cuomo for signing this historic piece of legislation, Senator Velmanette Montgomery said. “This has been long overdue. We owe our success to the advocacy of thousands of adult adoptees who have fought tirelessly on this issue for over 20 years. The level of support I received for this legislation from adult adoptees all across the state and the nation was astounding. It is important that they have the right to seek answers about their health, their family history and their heritage.”

    “The signing of this adoptee rights bill is a momentous step forward for adoptees across New York State. After many decades, adoptees will finally share in the same human and civil rights as other New Yorkers who are free to access their family histories and medical backgrounds,” Assemblyman David I. Weprin said. “I commend Governor Cuomo for signing this landmark bill ending discrimination against adoptees statewide and I thank Senator Velmanette Montgomery for carrying this bill the Senate.”

     

     

  • City of New York 1686 seal design West Side Highway

    I was pleased to locate one of these 65# cast iron City charter seals like the ones I had in the 1970s and was able to buy it just now, there were 5 different designs and I have 2 of them, now this 3rd one. I used to have a few complete sets of them.

    They were made around 1928-1934 to decorate the sides of the old elevated Wes t Side Highway that ran along the Western edge of Manhattan. The artwork was designed by noted sculptor Rene Chambellan,though these seals had to be very specific, already made designs, so he had little leeway or say on the actual designs, but he made the master models for these.
    The highway itself was shut down for good in 1973 after a section of the roadbed collapsed under a truck, and it was demolished in stages over about 20 years.

    The city totally neglected the ironwork, and the liberal use of road salts combined meant this substantially built structure was already falling apart and had to be condemned in just 45 years…

    About 800 to 1,000 of each design of the seals were cast, I dont know how many were salvaged, certainly not all of them but I read that the city had about 800 of the for sale around 1980. The city had many for sale in the city store way back then for $150 as is, or $250 sandblasted ($450 and $750 in todays’ money) I got this one today for $499- basically the “inflation” amount difference between what the city was selling them for around 1980 and what that amount is today.

    I remember some guy on Ebay from Nebraska had one of these for sale a decade ago, it was given to his mom years before by a friend and sat in the farm field leaning against a stock tank. Well this guy thought he found a gold mine, he said; “it came off a Civil War calvary wagon and was worth a lot of money!!!” He wanted some ridiculous price like $1500, quite a bit for something sitting on the farm field that they got for free as a gift!

    He meant “cavalry wagon” LOL and even so his story was pure fabricated bullshit, I even sent him photos of MINE front and back showing they were identical to his and he still insisted HIS had to have come off a Civil War wagon LOL!!

    Oct 2nd

    The lye bath took less than 15 minutes to remove all the old paint off the iron, leaving a little surface rust that is mostly now wire brushed away. Waiting on the can of Gibbs’ spray to rub out the rest and clean it up.
    I need to make a flat steel bar with two holes in it to mount on the back to hang it on the wall.