Great Grandma Photo!

Here is a photo of my wife and our first son, CJ, with my grandmother, Vera Daconta, and grandfather, Frank Daconta. Vera Daconta's mother was Olympia Matisse.

Eugene Matisse at Ancestry.com

Found Eugene Matisse in a census record which confirms his wife was Vincenza and it even gives an estimated birthday for him. Interesting to note that Eugene was born close to when Henri Matisse was... the quest continues ... very seriously considering membership in Ancestry.com.

Matisse Family in Paris

Well, there certainly were Matisse's in Paris, France. While I did not find Eugene Matisse in the searchable database of EllisIsland.org - I did find this record which at least confirms that there were Matisse members living in Paris, France. No huge break through here but every little bit of confirmation helps ... (NOTE: this database only covers 1892-1924. Ancestry.com has an earlier one so we need to find out WHEN Eugene and Vincenza came across from Paris to New York???) ... The quest continues ...

People Finders on Vera Daconta

Here is what the website peoplefinders.com had on Vera Daconta. One interesting thing that I did not know was her middle initial is "V". I probably will not need to purchase any information from this site as my Dad or Aunt have such key documents. I thought it was interesting to see what we could pull up on the internet. Of course, Ancestry.com also has information and again, I will only pay for that information if I hit a road block that I cannot surmount in other ways. I am not in a rush ... my only goal is to make consistent progress and to have this be a shared adventure that our whole extended family participates in and enjoys!

Initial Notes from a Conversation in 1998

We must begin at the beginning. We were told from our parents that we were related to Henri Matisse the famous French painter. The source of this information was my grandmother, Vera Daconta (God rest her soul). Her mother was Olympia Matisse (hope that spelling is correct and will confirm shortly via her birth certificate).

After purchasing the book, The Unknown Matisse in 1998, I noticed that I could not find the names my Grandmother had told me about. So, I called her and my grandfather. These are the notes I scribbled down from that conversation in exactly the way she told me...

12/25/1998

• Henri, Carl, Eugene Matisse, Albert Matisse
• Eugene Matisse married Vincenza ______ (seamstress)
• Olympia Matisse was the daughter of Eugene and Vincenza.
• Olympia Matisse married Genarro Barrone
• Vera Barrone (my Grandmother) was the daughter of Olympia and Genarro.
• Eugene Matisse was from Paris. Eugene was the oldest.
• Albert and Carl were inventors. Invented Search lights.
• Eugene painted the flower on her dress.
• Olympia was born on the ship coming over.
• "They were here from the 1800's"
• Grandma was born in 1909.
• Came over in New York.
• Grandma had 5 sisters and 3 brothers.
• Lucille is her older sister (Note: she told me most of this information is from Lucille).

All of this needs to be painstakingly researched, corroborated and where possible proven via objective documents.

References

To begin this quest, I am using two initial references.

1. How to Do Everything with your Genealogy, by George G. Morgan. Published by McGraw-Hill/Osborne.
2. The Unknown Matisse, by Hilary Spurling. Published by Alfred A. Knopf.

My initial plan is to work this problem from both directions - top down and bottom up. The bottom up approach is to go from our ancestry up and out. The top down approach is to go from Henri Emile Benoit Matisse down and out.

In addition to quoting from these sources, I will at times, comment on the quality of the sources and their usefulness in the search.

The Quest

I see this blog as having three focus areas:

1. Genealogy. Tracing our family history back from our grandmother, Vera Daconta, to Henri Matisse (the famous French painter). This blog will trace our learning experience, trials and tribulations, successes and failures in this endeavor.
2. Matisse. Learning about Matisse, why he is considered great and how we should take the lessons of his life and apply it to our own.
3. Family. This is and should be a family project. Family heritage and honour is important so I am hoping to get as much as our family as possible, including the kids, involved in this project.

So, with those three objectives ... let us begin the quest!!