When Carmella (Corcetti) Shirley of Manor Township became interested in her familial roots, she didn't have much digging to do here in the U.S.A.
“I did the Corcetti, Curci and Basile family,” she said. “That's my mom and my dad's side.” Carmella's parents, Massimino and Amelia (De Paolis) Corcetti, were born in Foggia, Italy, she said, “but they came to the United States from Naples.”
“They came here April 12, 1912, when the Titanic went down,” Carmella said. “They were on the Carpathia, but they were already docked when (the Carpathia) got the SOS to pick up the survivors.”
Carmella grew up in Vandergrift, Westmoreland County, where her brother owned a bakery. “The immigrants at that time came over so they could have a better life,” she said. “They came to work in the mines or on the railroad.”
She got most of the information for her own family tree from family members still living in Italy. But when she decided to research husband Lyman's family tree, she found their roots traveled back into the 1600s, to our colonial times.
Today, with more than 20 years of Shirley family research under her belt, Carmella still hasn't broken through all the brick walls.
Of all the Shirley family ancestors, Carmella is most fascinated with her husband's paternal grandmother, Maggie Shirley.
“Maggie was a very impressive woman. I was just taken up by her history,” she said. “She was one of the first women to drive a car in Manor Township.”
Born Margaret Simpson, Maggie married Lyman Shirley, the grandfather Carmella's husband is named for. “Lyman is my husband's grandfather, and then Lawrence Shirley is his dad,” Carmella said. “They lived in Pattonville.”
Carmella relied on mother-in-law Gertrude (Klingensmith) Shirley when she first began to work on the Shirley family tree. “I got a lot of my info when my mother-in-law was alive,” she said.
She also got information from others whose family trees intertwined with her husband's, and has followed the Shirley family roots back to 1694. “I got to 1735, and then, through the Church of Latter Day Saints, brought it back to 1694.”
To date she has husband Lyman's family line as: Thomas born 1694, lived in Chester, Pa.; Robert, born 1735; John, born 1771; James, born 1828; Lyman, born 1861; and father, Lawrence. Some of the Shirleys moved into the Apollo area. Grandfather Lyman settled in Manor Township.
“With James, we had a hard time finding his (grave),” Carmella said. “We were going to Maysville, Kiski Township, near the Indian County border, because that's where he lived. But he's buried in Brackenridge,” she said. “Evidently, in their old age he moved to live by his son who lived in Brackenridge.”
Not long after she first began researching husband's family, Carmella met Janet Cowan. “She came to one of our very first genealogy club meetings.” Cowan also was researching the Shirleys.
Today, Carmella assists others with their family tree research at the Mildred Lankerd-Thomas Genealogy Library in Kittanning., through which she was instrumental in Armstrong County cemetery research. “We went to different cemeteries when we had genealogy club outings,” she said. The club members would record the names and dates found on the headstones.
The cemetery book was taken on by Mechling Publishing. “I showed it to Al Mechling and he said he wanted to publish it.”
Carmella is having a hard time working on the Simpson line of the family. “I went back to James and hit a brick wall. There were two James Simpsons in Armstrong County.”
