Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon – Page 2 – Many Branches, One Tree

Wishful Wednesday: Happy and Not So Happy Endings

Thomas Charles Gaffney (1874 – 1937) Cora Alice (Terrill) Gaffney (1879 – 1951) Agnes Evelyn (Gaffney) Johnson (1902 – 1977) Third of a four part series I have copies of two photographs of my grand aunt and grand uncle, Benita (McGinnis) and Phillip C. McCormick on their engagement day in 1921. The pictures, taken in the back … Continue reading

Wisdom Wednesday: Scrapbook of a Lifetime

Benita Elizabeth (McGinnis) McCormick (1889 – 1984) Phillip Columbus McCormick (1892 – 1981) From left to right: Phillip and Benita McCormick with their tour guide, 1962, Piraeus, Greece. One of the reasons my family moved to California in 1967 was to be closer to my great-aunt … Continue reading

Treasure Chest Thursday: The Lady Plate

My mother, Joan (Schiavon) Huesca used to say that my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, was her own best customer when it came to their Chicago antiques business, Chatham Galleries. The Lady Plate, signed by the artist Dapoigny and undated, was with us so long, she was practically a beloved member of our family. One … Continue reading

Workday Wednesday: Going into the Antiques Business

Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 – 1963) Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Having amassed a sizable amount of furniture and antiques during her European travels to add to her already large collections, my grandmother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, now needed a place to put them. Invitation to and newspaper article about the … Continue reading

Travel Tuesday: Homeward Bound on the Queen Elizabeth

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 – 1963) From Cherbourg to New York aboard the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, September 29 – October 4, 1950 On Friday, September 29, 1950, my mother and my grandmother, Joan and Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon, boarded the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth at Cherbourg, France, bound for New York City. … Continue reading

Matrilineal Monday: Falling in Love with Europe

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Alice Gaffney (McGinnis) Schiavon (1895 – 1963) European Tour – August 15 – October 4, 1950 Though my mother initially had not wanted to go to Europe, she was soon mesmerized by the fascinating people and whirlwind activities on board the luxury oceanliner H.M.S. Queen Mary … Continue reading

Those Places Thursday: Reluctant Traveler

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) Aboard the R.M.S. Queen Mary, August 15, 1950, New York to Southampton My mother’s passport photo, 1950 My mother did not relish the idea of going to Europe, especially with her mother, Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon. But in the summer of 1950, she had no better plans. The … Continue reading

Talented Tuesday: Our Chinese “Auntie”

The Very Talented Miss Margaret Yu Margaret Yu, far right, circa 1950. I am not sure where this photo was taken or whether the people with her were family members or friends. My mother, Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca met Margaret Yu while both were attending Saint Francis College in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Margaret was an exchange … Continue reading

Mappy Monday: The Schiavons and the McCormicks in the 1940 Census

Map shows the walking route that sisters Alice (McGinnis) Schiavon (House “A”) and Benita (McGinnis) McCormick (House “B”) might have taken to visit each other’s families in 1940 Chicago, Illinois. (Courtesy Google Maps, 2012) Visiting the 1940s Chicago of the Schiavon and the McCormick families, we can see the beginnings of a decade of change for … Continue reading

Looking Back: The Schiavons in the 1930 Census

In a snapshot of Ralph and Alice Schiavon and their two children, five year-old Thomas and 21-month-old Joan, the 1930 United States Census shows us that less than a year after the stock market crash of 1929, the Great Depression had not fully impacted the family yet. On April 8th of that year, we can … Continue reading