Poetics and Ruminations

The Story of an Italian Protestant

This is the story of my father told almost in his own words, with just a little elaboration and interpolation from me, but quite a fair amount of paraphrasing. It is a story that needs to be told because, as Charles J. Scalise wrote in his essay, “Retrieving ‘WIPS’: Exploring the Assimilation of White Italian Protestants in America,” “This study explores the assimilation of the WIPS [an acronym taken by Prof. Scalise from his title phrase] into American culture and seeks to offer some possible explanations for their general invisibility in historical studies of Italian Americans.” (1}

This is not the first time I have tampered with my father’s work which I edited after his death in 1968 as The Spiritual Autobiography of Luigi Turco and donated in 1969 to the Center for Immigration Studies of the University of Minnesota at the request of its Director, Rudolph J. Vecoli. (2) The manuscript consists of three parts, “A Brief Story of My Life,” “The Wisdom of the Bible,” and “A Letter to My Son” [which may be found elsewhere on this blog] — that is to say, yours truly. After he had done his “Autobiography” and his “Letter,” at the very end of his time, my father worked largely on translating some of my poems into Italian — not out of any literary consideration, but out of a desire to understand his older son. This is clear from some of his letters. He thought in Italian, and in order to communicate, he had first to translate his thoughts into English. The reverse was true as well — in order to understand English, he had to translate into Italian.

On several occasions, particularly in an earlier letter he had written me on September 16, 1957, he had asked me to help him out: “I am sending this copy to you of the story of my life for correction of my English. My greatest trouble is my English language. I am determined to master it as best as [sic] I can. So, please teach me as much English as you can. Correct this paper for me and … show me all my mistakes of grammar, punctuation, construction, ect. [sic].” (3)

Luigi Turco was born in Riesi, a rural community in south central Sicily, on the 28th of May 1890. His surname means “Arab,” and it dates from the period when, during the ninth and tenth centuries, Sicily was ruled by people who had derived from the Middle East (confirmed by a haplogroup G [M321] DNA analysis made by the National Geographic Society’s Human Genome Project in 2006) and who entered Sicily from North Africa. No doubt that means his ancestors were Muslims [see "Deep Ancestry" elsewhere on this blog]. (4) However, “It goes without saying,” he wrote, “that, being an Italian, my faith was that of the Roman Catholic Church.” (5)

Deep Ancestry

Almost all my life I have known that my last name, Turco, in Italian means what it says: “Turk.” It dates, I understand, from the period of the Arab rule of Sicily from the ninth to the tenth centuries, and it is not an uncommon name in Sicily where my father was born. Since there was no such place as Turkey at the time, the word simply means “Arab” or “Moor”; moreover, according to Halbert’s (1), a Turco family coat of arms can be found in Rietstap Armorial General, and the shield is described as “Silver with a Turk, facing front, dressed in a blue tunic and red pantaloons; wearing a red turban on his head, holding in his right hand a silver scroll, and in his left hand a silver scimitar trimmed gold. Family mottos are believed to have originated as battle cries in medieval times, but a motto was not recorded with the Turco coat of arms.”

However, I am something of a cynic, and I have long believed in an adage that would serve well for any family’s motto: “It is the wise child that knows its father.” Since everyone has trampled over Sicily since time began, including Sicils, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, French, Vikings, Normans, Danes, English, and so on ad infini-tum, many of them raping and pillaging as they wandered across the countryside, I assumed that somewhere along the line there must have been a break in the chain and that my name might as easily have been Smith or Jones as Turco. So when it became possible, I decided to have my DNA tested to see where I really came from.

The Lineage of May Laura Putnam Turco

This book contains the early history of the Putnam family in America; it will be available from Star Cloud Press (http://www.StarCloudPress.com) on May first, 2009, the birthday of the late May Laura Putnam Turco.

FOR LARGER, MORE READABLE VERSIONS OF THESE IMAGES, PLEASE CLICK ON THEM

Sources:

Putnam, Eben, A History of the Putnam Family in England and America, Salem: Salem Press, 1891.
——, The Putnam Lineage, Salem: Salem Press, 1907.

I. ? Roger de Puteham, Hertfordshire, c. 1086.

II. ? Simon de Puteham, Herts, c. 1199.

III. ? Ralph de Pudeham, Stivecle, Buckinghamshire, c. 1200-1249.

IV. ? William de Puttenham, Bucks, c. 1250.

V. ? John de Puttenham, Bucks, c. 1279-1294.

VI. John de Puttenham m. Agnes; Puttenham, Bucks, c. 1306.

VII. Thomas Puttenham m. Helen Spigornell; Bucks, c. 1272-1307;
*Roger
James.

VIII. Roger Puttenham m. Aline, Herts, c. 1322;
*Roger.

IX. Sir Roger Puttenham m. Margery; Tring, Bucks, c. 1310-79;
*Henry
Roger
Robert.

X. Henry de Puttenham; Bucks, c. 1380;
? William.

XI. William Puttenham m. Margaret de Warbleton; Puttenham & Penne; b. c. 1380;
*Henry, b. c. 1402
? Robert, living 1406-28
? John, rector of Tewin, Herts (resigned 21 June 1453
? Thomas, vicar of Ambrosden, County Oxford, 1458.

XII. Henry Puttenham m. Elizabeth, widow Goodluck; Puttenham & Penne, b. c. 1402
*William, b. c. 1430.

XIII. William Puttenham m. Anne Hampden; Puttenham, Penne, Sherfield, Warbleton &c., c. 1430-92.
Sir George
Edmund, of Puttenham
*Nicholas, of Penn, b. c. 1460
Frideswide
Elizabeth
Alionore
Brigide
Agnes.

XIV. Nicholas Puttenham, Putnam Place, Penn, b. c. 1460
John of Penn
*Henry, b. c. 1480.

XV. Henry Putnam, Penn, b. c. 1480
*Richard, of Eddlesborough & Woughton, b. c. 1500
John, of Slapton & Howbridge
Thomas, of Eddlesborough.

XVI. Richard Putnam m. Joan (2nd wife?), Edlesborough & Woughton, b. c. 1500
*John, of Wingrave
Harry, of Woughton
Joan.

XVII. John Putnam m. Margaret, Rowsham, Wingrave, b. c. 1520
*Nicholas, b. c. 1540
Richard, of Wingrave
Thomas, of Towsham
Margaret, of Wingrave.

XVIII. Nicholas Putnam m. Margaret Goodspeed, Wingrave, b. c. 1540
Anne, bapt. 12 Oct. 1578
*John, bapt. 17 Jan. 1579
Elizabeth, bapt. 11 Feb. 1581
Thomas, bapt. 20 Sep. 1584.

XIX. John Putnam m. Priscilla Gould (?), Aston Abbotts, Bucks, & Salem, Mass., b. c. 1579; d. Salem Village (Danvers), 30 Dec. 1662
Elizabeth, bapt. 20 Dec. 1612
Thomas, bapt. 7 Mar. 1615; d. Salem Village, 5 May 1686
*Nathaniel, bapt. 11 Oct. 1619; d. Salem Village, 23 Jul. 1700.
Sara, bapt. 28 Jul. 1624
John, bapt. 27 May 1627; d. Salem Village, 7 Apr. 1710.

XX. Nathaniel Putnam m. Eliz. Hutchinson, b. Aston Abbots, Bucks, c 1619; d. Salem Village, 23 Jul. 1700
Samuel, 1652
Nathaniel, 1655
*John, b. 26 Mar. 1657
Joseph, b. 1659
Elizabeth, b. 1662
Benjamin, b. 1664
Mary, b. 1668.

XXI. Constable “Carolina John” Putnam m. Hannah Cutler, b. Salem Village, 26 Mar. 1657; d. Sep. 1722:

Carolina John was Constable of Salem Village at the time of the Witch Hunt of 1692. During the hunt he was stricken by smallpox, as was his daughter, Sarah, born on 5 March 1692, who died of the disease. Sarah’s birthdate in the Parish records is apparently given as 1695, but this is impossible; according to Hannah Putnam’s testimony in the trial of John Willard (see [Woodward, W. Elliot, ed.], Records of the Salem Witchcraft, two volumes in one, New York: Lennox Hill, 1972, p. 275), “…this deponent’s child Sarah 6 weeks old died of Willard’s curse." This entry seems to have escaped the notice of Eben Putnam in his genealogy which repeats the error and is otherwise confusing on this issue.

Hannah, 1679
Elizabeth, 1680
Abigail, 1682
Samuel, 1684
*Josiah, 29 Oct. 1680
Joseph, 1687
Mary, 1688
Susanna, 1690
Joshua,
David (or Daniel?)
Rebecca, 1691
John, 1691
Sarah, b. 5 Mar. 1692; d. six weeks later
Amos, 1697 (ancestor of the Putnams of Houlton, Maine, including Putnam Packard, cousin of Jean Cate Houdlette Turco, wife of Lewis Putnam Turco, son of Luigi Turco and May Laura Putnam Turco)
Priscilla 1699.

XXII. Josiah Putnam m. Ruth Hutchinson, b. Salem Village, 29 Oct. 1686; d. Danvers, 5 Jul. 1766
Asa, 1714
Enos, 1716-1780
*Josiah, b. 3 Mar. 1719
Peter, 1724
Elizabeth, 1725
Elisha, 1728
Ruth, 1732.

XXIII. Josiah Putnam, Jr., m. Lydia Wheeler, b. Brookfield, 14 Aug. 1721, d. 17--; b. Salem Village, 3 Mar. 1719, d. Warren, MA, 4 Feb. 1795
*Asa, b. 10 Aug.. 1743; d. 7 Sep. 1795
Lydia
Thankful, 1747
Josiah III, 1750
Ruth, 1752
Mary, 1759.

XXIV. Asa Putnam m. Anna Collins, b. Danvers, Aug. 1743, d. 7 Sep. 1795
Perley, 1767
Lewis, b. 22 Aug 1769 (namesake of the Author)
Serephina, 1722
Ebenezer, 1729
Josiah, 1781
Alfred, 1784
*Sewall, b. 23 Sep. 1786
Sylvia, 1789.

XXV. Sewall Putnam m. Rebecca Shepard, b. 4 Nov. 1791, d. 25 Feb. 1838; b. Brattleboro, VT, 23 Sep. 1786, d. So. Trenton NY, 2 Mar (?)
Albert, 1809
Sarah Louisa, 1811
*Harvey, b. 25 Nov. 1812; d. 1863
Amanda, 1814
Savina, 1816
Anna, 1820
Mary Elizabeth, 1822
Charles Sewall, 1824
Hester, 1827
George Washington, 1831
Alfred, 1833.

XXVI. Harvey Putnam M. Surinda Dewey, b. Deerfield MA, 24 Mar. 1833; d. Eureka KS, 20 Nov 1899; b. 25 Nov. 1812; d. Princeton IL, 14 Jan. 1863
Lillian, 1855
*William Herbert, b. 18 Sep. 1857; d. Superior WI 22 Oct. 1949
Savina, 1863.

XXVII. William Herbert Putnam m. (1) Mary E. Price 18 Nov. 1884, d. bef. 1895; m. (2) Laura Christina Larsen, b. Manistee MI, 5 Dec. 1874; d. Superior WI, 13 Jan. 1952; b. Princeton IL, 18 Sep 1857; d. Superior WI 22 Oct. 1949
Myrtle Cara, 1896
Harvey Herbert, 1897
*May Laura, b. Wayne NB, 1 May 1899; d. Bristol CT 25 Nov. 1985
Arnold Louis, 1900
Floyd Arthur, 1902
Lillian Mabel, 1905
Edwin Irving, 1906
Russell Sewall, 1908
Elmer Theodore, 1910.

XXVIII. May Laura Putnam m. Luigi (n) Turco, b. Riesi, Sicily, 28 May 1890; d. Meriden CT, 18 Sep. 1968; b. Wayne NB, 1 May 1899; d. Bristol CT 25 Nov. 1985
*Lewis Putnam, b. 2 May 1934
Gene Laurent, b. 25 Feb. 1939.

XXIX. Lewis Putnam Turco m. Jean Cate Houdlette, b. Meriden CT 29 May 1934; b. Buffalo NY 2 May 1934
Melora Ann, b. Meriden CT 21 Jul. 1960
Christopher Cameron, b. Oswego NY 23 Jan. 1973.

The Friggindork Chronicles

The Origin and Characteristics of the Friggindork Family in Britain and the United States

by Wesli Court

The Friggendork family (or “Friggindork,” as it is usually spelled in North America) is of ancient lineage. It may be the only tribe that is associated with a particular day of the week, Friday or “Frigedaeg,” “day of the Goddess Frig” which is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “A common West German translation of the late Latin "dies Veneris," day of (the planet) Venus. The Old English name Frig corresponds to Old Norse Frigg, wife of [the god] Odin (not to Freyja) and is the feminine of the Old Teutonic adjective frijo- 'beloved, loving'....”

The establishment of the duchy of Dork dates probably from the reign of King Alfred, though its exact founding is lost in the shadows of ancient history. The fiefdom lasted until 1179 (Julian calendar) when the Normans abolished it upon the death of Bertrand, thirteenth Duke of Dork, who is known to history as Dork-O'Mundy, the Great Dork (or “Dork of the World” in Middle English). The disestablishment of the Duchy of Dork took place at Dorking Castle (Dorcaster) on Friday - of all days! - the thirteenth day of July of that year, a date fraught with ominous portent, ever since which all Friggendorks have feared and abominated the number thirteen.