Genealogy has been a really special hobby for me. My first exposure, was in the 11th grade ,back in 1973. My history teacher, Mrs. Randazzo, gave the class a project.
Every one had to search their famiy tree. We also had to bring in pictures or keepsakes from family past.
I searched my mother's family (Boe, Graff) and my father (Spongia).
I thought that I could not go to far back because most of the family had only 4 generations in the United States.
My Graff family was a mystery. My mother did not know a lot about this family line. Her mother's parents died before my mother was born. There was a clue that got me on the right road. My mother's brother took me to the Greenwood Cemetery to a gravesite. His parents were buried there.
The tombstone, was broke in half, due to past hurricances, it is just laying against the bottom half of the tombstone. There are about five other names on the tombstone. He did not know who they were. I wrote down everything on the tombstone. This tombstone mainly had Miller (Mueller) family.
He did remember a second family headstone, which was for the Graff family. I wrote down all their names from this grave. My next step, was to the public library to search for death notices, and then census report.
My Graff Family is finally coming together.
This line belongs to my mother's father. . The family worked in the dairy business.
The family entered the United States from France, but the name have it orgins in Norway.
The Spongia family belongs to my father's father. This name comes from the Adratic Sea Coastline. I have been corresponding with several people, and it looks like there are family with this surname in Croatia, along the Istria Peninsula. It is also spelled Sponza. It has Italian origins.
The Maraspino family belongs to my father's grandmother. It is also from the Adratic Sea Coastline, Dalamtia.
I am not sure of it's orgin.
The Loup family is my husband and children's surname. It suppose to mean "wolf" in German. This family settled on the German Coast in Louisiana, and in Cajun Country.
Some of the other surnames that are in my children and husband's lines are
Boudreaux, Breaux, Matherne,Porche.
