Staszel Connections

Notes on the Staszel lines:

1. The name has many spellings in America.  The most common (at least in our family) is Staszel (the original), Stosel, Stosal and Stossel.  There are many other spellings in various documents through the years ... Stasel, Stassel, Stazel, Stocel, Stashel, etc.

2. The name originates from the Zakopane area of southern Poland ... at least in regards to where they were before coming to America.  If there is an earlier history than southern Poland I am not aware of it.  Some of these towns were the name is prominent are Nowe Bystre (most likely where the family was from), Zubsuche (later Ząb, Suche), Chochołów, and Ratułów.

3. There were at least four brothers that came to America according to Uncle Albert Stosel (audio recording from 1990s).  The oldest brother was Joseph (Josef) and he came to America before Albert (Adalbert), Louis (Ludwik) and Jemenek (audio was not clear).  Joseph settled in the Pittsburgh area. Albert joined Joseph around 1902-1905. I cannot find any records of Albert in the country in the 1910 census, but his first two children (Frank and Albert) were born in Pennsylvania in 1912 and 1913.  Albert later moved to Grand Rapids Michigan. Joseph, his third son was born in Grand Rapids in 1915.

4. Albert's first marriage occurred in 1910 in New Jersey when he married our grandmother Maria Funket. She died in 1921 shortly after giving birth to Aunt Betty. Grandma Anna was only two years old when she lost her mom.  They had six children together ... Frank, Albert, Joseph, Sophia, Anna and Elizabeth (Betty).

5.  Grandpa Albert married Grandma Mary's younger sister Victoria in 1923.  They had six children together .... John, Rose, Stanley, Adam (died at birth), Genevieve and Mary.

6. Uncle Al mentions that the youngest brother went out west ... maybe to Colorado.  There was a Jesse Stossel that moved to Wyoming from Chicago in about 1914-1915. His oldest daughter (Genevieve) was born in Cicero Illinois in 1914 whereas his oldest son (Joseph) was born in Wyoming in 1916. Given there is a strong DNA match with one of Jesse's descendants coupled with Uncle Al mentioning that the youngest brother moved west, I believe that Jesse is the anglicized name of the Jemenek that Uncle Al talks about.  In addition, our cousin Lynn Staszel (Louie's grand daughter) confirmed that the youngest moved out west. The only thing she remembers hearing about him is that he had red hair.  Many of Jesse Stossel's descendants have red hair. Uncommon for southern Poles.

7.  Jesse married  Mary Barbara Pytalovska. They had at least seven children .... Genevieve, Joseph, Josephine, Stella, Stanley, Rose and Helen. Notice the overlap with many of Albert's children's names.  My DNA match with this line is with Rose's son (Gary Mefford).

8. So now that we have found Jesse in the documented history and identified his family, let's try to find Joseph. This task proved to be more difficult as there are two Joseph Stossels (both married to Catherine) living in the Pittsburgh area. The first one lived in Springdale (suburb of Pittsburgh) after originally coming to Oliver PA to be with his brother (near Uniontown) in 1899. The second is found in Cambria County, PA.  Both were born around 1865- 1866. I tend to think that the first is more likely the older brother due to the following reasons:

• The second's death record lists his father as John Stossel. Albert's second marriage record lists his parents as Mark (Marek) Staszel and Sophia Miskowiec. This is the only record that I have found that gives Albert's parents. No records that I have for any of the brothers lists their parent's name.  Still it is probable that the marriage record is correct as the information (presumably) came directly from Albert.
• The oral history from Uncle Al mentions that Albert came to America to be with his brother Joseph. Both Joseph Stossels came to this country to be coal miners, however only the first was definitely in the country according to census and other records when grandpa Albert came over. The first definitely entered the country in 1899 (although census and naturalization records list 1898). The second came sometime between 1901 and 1905. The 1910 census lists his 9 year old son having been born in Poland (Hungary) and lists his 5 year old as being born in Pennsylvania.  If it was 1905, it is possible that Albert was already in the country (1902-1903).

9. The immigration records also show a Josef Staszel coming to New Salem PA in 1905. It is possible that this is a third Josef Staszel born in the late 1860s that came to Pennsylvania (albeit much further east).  There are other Josef Staszel's that went to Chicago. More research is required.

10. The 1899 immigration record shows Joseph, Catherine and their oldest son Mathias coming to America on the ship "Konigin Luise".  The record mentions that he is going to stay with a brother in Oliver PA. There are a few Staszels in that area at that time. The 1990 census record lists a Michael (born about 1857) and an Andrew (born about 1872) staying in the same house.  Are these also brothers?  There is also a Paul Staszel living in the area whose direct descendant I have a DNA match to (Thomas Staszel, son of John Staszel, son of Jacob Staszel, son of Paul Staszel).  More research is required.

11. The best chance of solving this mystery is to go to (or write to) Poland and look in the church records.  The two churches that will be necessary to look into are the church at Czarny Dunajec (the villagers of Nowe Bystre went here) and the church at Poronin (the villagers of Zubsuche went here).  Josef Staszel's records state that he was born in Nowe Bystre but emigrated to the United States from Zubsuche so searches at both churches is warranted.

Haplogroups

Paternal Haplogroup:  R-M269 (R-P311)

Maternal Haplogroup:  HV1

Paternal (from 23andMe):

My paternal line stems from a branch of R-M343 called R-M269, one of the most prolific paternal lineages across western Eurasia. R-M269 arose roughly 10,000 years ago, as the people of the Fertile Crescent domesticated plants and animals for the first time. Around 8,000 years ago, the first farmers and herders began to push east into Central Asia and north into the Caucasus Mountains. Some of them eventually reached the steppes above the Black and Caspian Seas. There, they lived as pastoral nomads, herding cattle and sheep across the grasslands, while their neighbors to the south developed yet another crucial technology in human history: bronze smelting. As bronze tools and weaponry spread north, a new steppe culture called the Yamnaya was born.

Around 5,000 years ago, perhaps triggered by a cold spell that made it difficult to feed their herds, Yamnaya men spilled east across Siberia and down into Central Asia. To the west, they pushed down into the Balkans and to central Europe, where they sought new pastures for their herds and metal deposits to support burgeoning Bronze Age commerce. Over time, their descendants spread from central Europe to the Atlantic coast, establishing new trade routes and an unprecedented level of cultural contact and exchange in western Europe.

The men from the steppes also outcompeted the local men as they went; their success is demonstrated in the overwhelming dominance of the R-M269 lineage in Europe. Over 80% of men in Ireland and Wales carry the haplogroup, as do over 60% of men along the Atlantic Coast from Spain to France. The frequency of R-M269 gradually decreases to the east, falling to about 30% in Germany, 20% in Poland, and 10-15% in Greece and Turkey. The haplogroup connects all these men to still others in the Iranian Plateau and Central Asia, where between 5 and 10% of men also bear the lineage.

R-P311 is relatively common among 23andMe customers with 1 in 35 having this haplogroup.

Maternal (from 23andMe):

Your maternal line stems from a branch of haplogroup R called HV1. The members of haplogroup HV1 all descend from a woman who lived approximately 17,000 years ago, likely in the Middle East. The Ice Age was still in full swing, and much of Eurasia to the north was covered in massive glaciers. Then, gradually, the cold faded away and people from the Middle East and the southern edges of Europe began moving north. Some of these migrants were women who belonged to HV1.

Though some women moved into Europe, haplogroup is relatively rare among modern Europeans. HV1 can be found at low levels among the peoples of the northern Caucasus, Turkey and Iran. The highest levels of HV1 are in the nomads of the Middle East and North Africa. In fact, HV1 reaches almost 10% in the Druze of the Levant and 15% in Berbers of Tunisia. Although HV1 can be found in Moroccan Jewish, Yemenite Jewish and Palestinian Jewish populations, there are many non-Jews belonging to the haplogroup as well. For example, a small number of HV1 individuals have been found in Ethiopia and Sudan, though they appear to be very recent migrants from the Arabian Peninsula.

HV1 is very uncommon with only about 1 in 1700 23andMe customers having this haplogroup.

The Case for Tofani

I first began doubting my Fazio roots a few years ago.  After taking multiple DNA tests and speaking with a few descendants from Serrastretta I realized that I did not match any of their DNA. This seemed unlikely as Serrastretta is a very small, closed knit mountain community where almost all of the inhabitants share about a dozen or so surnames.  If they all matched each other, I should match them as well.

The second clue I received was when my third cousin (Laurie Anne Marasco Disinger) told me that she and her dad (Frank Marasco) had their DNA done on 23&Me. Having my own 23&Me DNA kit, I did a lookup to see if we matched.  No match!  At the third cousin level (and second cousin once removed in Frank's case) there should be a very strong match, but alas there was none.  This all but confirmed that I was not a Fazio (and as it turned out neither was my mom or her father).

So if not a Fazio, then who was my great grandfather? We will get to that in a bit, but first let me say that my DNA matches to other Fazios has been confirmed as long as they descended from my great grandmother (Maria Antoinette Luponio). I have more than a dozen matches that confirm that I am related to her, but nothing confirming a link to her husband Raffaele Fazio.  My confirmed Luponio matches as of this date are as follows:

• Joseph Fazio (1st cousin) - My Uncle Joe's son
• Anthony DiFilippo (1st cousin once removed) - My Aunt Helen's (grandpa's sister) son
• Crista Rothe (2nd cousin once removed) - My Uncle Nick Fazio's great granddaughter
• Gail Gray (4th cousin) - confirms match back to Crescenzo Luponio/Maria Emmanuela Angelillo
• Rene Collingsworth (3rd cousin) - confirms that Grandma Luponio and her sister Concetta Luponio Barone were indeed sisters. Rene is Concetta's great granddaughter.
• Stephen Paravati (3rd cousin) - confirms match with Grandma Luponio's other sister Emma Luponio Borselli.
• Joseph Alfano (3rd cousin once removed) - also confirms match back to Crescenzo Luponio/Maria Emmanuela Angelillo

There are several other more distant matches that also link us to the Luponio line however these matches could not be placed in the family tree yet.  With more than twenty Luponio matches and no direct Fazio matches who could be our paternal Italian link?

There is a strong DNA case for our paternal Italian great grandfather being a Tofani.  If that name sounds familiar it should. Alfredo Tofani was married to grandpa Joe's oldest sister Jennie. They were married in 1914. Her marriage record says she was 17 at the time, but her tombstone says that she was born in 1899 so it is more likely that she was 15 at the time of her marriage (and 18 when grandpa was born).

I first began suspecting that a Tofani was an ancestor when I received a DNA match on ancestry.com for Kylee Tofani Lewis. Kylee is showing as 4th - 6th cousin match with high confidence (2 segments, 34cm).  Kylee's family is not from central NY nor have they ever been in central NY. Her family is  from Greenville PA.  I traced her family tree back to Giacomo Tofani from Alatri Italy. The same hometown of Alfredo Tofani.  Were they cousins?

The next two Tofani DNA hits were also from the same family (descendants of Giacomo Tofani) and living in (or near) Greenville PA.  Their names were M. Clavin and Terri Kimmy.  M.Clavin's mother was Frances Tofani (daughter of Giacomo).  Terri Kimmy is also a granddaughter of Giacomo Tofani. Her mother was Maria Tofani (daughter of Giacomo).

The last Tofani hit confirmed that we were in all likelihood descended from a Tofani. This hit was discovered in June 2017 when a match with Gabrielle Tofani was discovered. Gabrielle is a descendant of Alfredo Tofani, but is not related to Jennie Fazio. Gabrielle descends from Alfredo's 3rd wife (Anna Stellato).  Alfredo had two sons with Anna (John and Alfred). Gabrielle descends from Alfred through his daughter Greta Tofani.

So the obvious question is ... was Alfredo Tofani our great grandfather? The DNA definitely confirms that we are descended from a Tofani. Alfredo lived in the house with great grandpa and grandma Fazio during the time-frame when grandpa Fazio was born (1917) and is still living in the house in 1920 (two years after Jennie had died).  Reference the 1915 New York State Census and the 1920 Federal Census.  The family is living on Fifth Street in both censuses.  So the opportunity was definitely there to have an affair with his mother-in-law.  The only other alternative was that another Tofani relative of Alfredo got great grandma Fazio pregnant. There were other Tofanis living in Rome NY at the time.  It is possible that one of them is the father although Occam's Razor tells us that the simplest explanation is often the correct one ... Alfred Tofani is our great grandfather.

Three additional thoughts pertaining to this story.

1.  The Tofani matches mentioned above also match Anthony DiFilippo. This means that Aunt Helen was also a Tofani.

2. Mom always insisted that she had northern Italian blood.  Alatri is right outside of Rome Italy so she was closer than we originally thought (Fazios are from Serrastretta, Calabria).

3.  Mom once told me that Aunt Sheila told her that great grandma Fazio was promiscuous and had sex with her boarders as her husband was old and blind.  She may have been onto something.  I wonder if the other children (Jenny, Nick, George, Albert and Emma) were Raffaele's children.  A DNA test comparing one of their descendants with Laurie Anne Marasco's test would confirm/deny this theory.

Here is a photo of Alfred Tofani (far right) with grandpa Fazio (second from right) ...

    

Update: Received another Tofani match (Sheryl Mohr) on 9/30/ 2017.  Sheryl is the sister of Terri Kimmy. Her and I have a stronger DNA connection (38 cms on 4 segments) than with Terri (25.3 cm on 2 segments).

Update #2: In 2019, found another strong Tofani match to Alfred Tofani. This is either our great grandfathers son (born 1942) or his grandson.  The connection is 142cm across 10 segments. At this level it is probably the grandson, but it all but confirms that Alfred (wife of Jennie) is our great grandfather.