Ancestors of Christopher John Augustine Morry

Joseph Nicodemus Giovannetti

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: 25 May 1885 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ¹⁷⁵ Christening: Death: 26 Mar 1962 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ( at age 76) ¹⁷⁴ Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: 24 May 1886, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Alt. Birth: Cir 1887, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Alt. Birth: 25 May 1891, Cow Bay, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Parents

Father: Lorenzo Giovannetti ¹⁷³ ^,175 Mother: Florence Alice Elizabeth Turner ¹⁷⁵

Notes
General:

140112 from website of . L. Munro on Ancestry.com:

Letter to Mary Thomas Giovannetti following the death of Joseph Nicodemus Giovannetti 26 Mt Royal Ave St John's Newfoundland Dear Mary, Today I received a letter from my brother Humbert informing me that Joe had passed away. I am very sorry to know of his demise and my wife and daughter join me extending to you and your children our sincere sympathy. It is only a short while ago that I learned that Peter and Lilly had also died. Some how I did not write to Peter's family. Would you please extend to them my deepest regret. Having read from a clipping of our Sydney papers the cause of Joe's death and his age 76 I did not til then know that he was only 10 years younger than I. When I left home to go to school in Jersey City at the age of 14 I recall Peter and Joe seemed to be a lot younger than I. Uncle Larry had first a number of girls and dispaired of any boys coming. Then Peter came soon followed by Joe and Benny whom on account of being away from home at his birth I remember nothing about. Uncle Larry was the oldest of the family of five brothers and was the first to come to the New World. He knowing of the exploits of Columbus and Cabot both of Genoa went there from Tereglio a beautiful hill top village where his father had a beautiful stone home built in 1745 as the stone by the front door has engraved on it. There too is a marble castle the summer home of Princess Antonette. Uncle Larry didn't intend to live his lifetime eating grapes and chestnuts admiring the beauty of Tereglio so he strolled off to Genoa. At Genoa he found a vessell loaded with salt salling to Newfoundland. He asked the captain for a job but there was nothing for him a landman. So he hunted around returning to the salt vessel. He asked the sailors to stow him away. So they put him in the salt- where he remained until they got far from land in the Mediteranian and came on deck. After much pallover the captain threatening to throw him overboard the captain told him ok but he had to work his passage. That he was happy to do. This ship reached this city the oldest in North America, then only a fishing settlement. After that Uncle Larry never lost his live for the sea, which in the end was the cause of his death. Uncle was a handy man, a sailor, a carpenter, a watch repairman, could turn his hand to most anything. But he was the most stubborn man I ever knew. He was a good christian and attended mass daily. I trust God will help you to over come the sorrow at the loss of Joe. Having lived to be 75 there is not much he lost to see except perhaps the coming of a nuclear war which none of us wish to see. With love and kindest wishes I am Your cousin Lou Giovannetti

Katherine Jane Giovannetti

Sex: F
AKA: Jean Giovannetti ⁵³
Individual Information

Birth Date: 14 May 1916 - Wabana, Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ⁵³ ^,175 Christening: Death: Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Residence: from Census, 1921, Bell Island, Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Living: 2008, Greely, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Parents

Father: Dr. Humbert Adrian Giovannetti ⁵³ ^,168 ^,175 ^,1504 ^,2665 Mother: Dr. Katherine Theresa Driscoll ¹⁷⁵

Spouses and Children

1. *Donald Macgregor ⁵³ ^,175 Marriage: 9 Mar 1938 ⁴³³⁰ Children: 1. Ann Macgregor 2. Living

Notes
General:

Still living at time of death of her twin brother Gerald according to his obituary.

Moved into a home near Ottawa in 2006-2007 according to Reg Giovannetti. In good health and active in 2008.

Living

Sex: M

Parents

Father: Living Mother: Living

Lambert Lorenzo Giovannetti

Sex: M
AKA: Lambert Giovannetti ⁴³³⁰
Individual Information

Birth Date: 19 Mar 1896 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ¹⁷⁵ Christening: Death: Cir 1965 - ( about age 69) ¹⁷⁵ Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: 12 Apr 1895, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Parents

Father: Lorenzo Giovannetti ¹⁷³ ^,175 Mother: Florence Alice Elizabeth Turner ¹⁷⁵

Living

Sex: F

Parents

Father: Dr. Gerald Adrian Giovannetti ⁵³ ^,175 ^,4330 Mother: Alexina Mackinnon ¹⁷⁴ ^,4816

Spouses and Children

1. Living Children: 1. Living 2. Living 3. Living

Leo Randolpho Giovannetti

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: 7 Nov 1880 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ¹⁷⁵ Christening: Death: Cir 1945 - ( about age 65) ¹⁷⁵ Burial: Cause of Death:

Parents

Father: Antonio Giovannetti ¹⁷³ ^,175 Mother: Sophia Wilkie ¹⁷⁵

Spouses and Children

1. *Christina Ellsworth ¹⁷⁵ Marriage: Children: 1. Nancy Marie Giovannetti 2. Ellen Sophia Giovannetti

Lorenzo Giovannetti

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: 28 Jun 1834 - Tereglio, Tuscany, Italy ¹⁷³ ^,175 ^,4330 ^,4331 ^,4818 Christening: Death: 9 Jun 1907 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ( at age 72) ¹⁷⁵ Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Immigration: From Italy, Cir 1855, Canada.
• Occupation: Sea Captain, 1881, Cow Bay, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Occupation: Clock & Watch Maker, 1891, Cow Bay, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Occupation: Jeweller, 1901, Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Alt. Death: 9 Jun 1907, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Parents

Father: Luigi Giovannetti ¹⁷⁴ Mother: Maria Annunziata Rinaldi ¹⁷⁴

Spouses and Children

1. *Florence Alice Elizabeth Turner ¹⁷⁵ Marriage: 15 Feb 1874 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ¹⁷⁵
Marriage Events
• Alt. Marriage: Bef 1881, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. Children: 1. Mary Rosellia Giovannetti 2. George Lambert Giovannetti 3. Teresa Alice Giovannetti 4. Cecilia Lillian Giovannetti 5. Mary Elizabeth Giovannetti 6. Teresa Sarah Giovannetti 7. Joseph Nicodemus Giovannetti 8. Jane Estella Giovannetti 9. Peter Charles Giovannetti 10. Benedictus James Giovannetti 11. Lambert Lorenzo Giovannetti 12. Florence Edith Giovannetti

Notes
General:

140112 from a letter by Dr. Lou to Mary, widow of Joseph Nicodemus Giovannetti at the time of the latter's death:

"Uncle Larry [Lorenzo] was the oldest of the family of five brothers and was the first to come to the New World. He knowing of the exploits of Columbus and Cabot both of Genoa went there from Tereglio a beautiful hill top village where his father had a beautiful stone home built in 1745 as the stone by the front door has engraved on it. There too is a marble castle the summer home of Princess Antonette. Uncle Larry didn't intend to live his lifetime eating grapes and chestnuts admiring the beauty of Tereglio so he strolled off to Genoa. At Genoa he found a vessell loaded with salt salling to Newfoundland. He asked the captain for a job but there was nothing for him a landman. So he hunted around returning to the salt vessel. He asked the sailors to stow him away. So they put him in the salt- where he remained until they got far from land in the Mediteranian and came on deck. After much pallover the captain threatening to throw him overboard the captain told him ok but he had to work his passage. That he was happy to do. This ship reached this city the oldest in North America, then only a fishing settlement. After that Uncle Larry never lost his live for the sea, which in the end was the cause of his death. Uncle was a handy man, a sailor, a carpenter, a watch repairman, could turn his hand to most anything. But he was the most stubborn man I ever knew. He was a good christian and attended mass daily.

Louis B. Giovannetti

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: Cir 1939 - New Brunswick, Canada ⁴³³² Christening: Death: Cir 1985 - Moncton, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada ( about age 46) ⁴³³² Burial: Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: Cir 1934, New Brunswick, Canada.
• Alt. Death: Cir 1988.

Parents

Father: Dr. Joseph Louis Giovannetti ²⁰ ^,168 ^,175 ^,2274 Mother: Bertha Leblanc ¹⁷³ ^,175

Louis Elmer Giovannetti

Sex: M

Individual Information

Birth Date: 8 Apr 1922 - Wabana, Bell Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹⁷⁵ ^,4332 ^,4819 Christening: Death: 28 May 1995 - Bell Island, Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ( at age 73) ⁴³³² ^,4819 Burial: Cause of Death:

Parents

Father: Dr. Humbert Adrian Giovannetti ⁵³ ^,168 ^,175 ^,1504 ^,2665 Mother: Dr. Katherine Theresa Driscoll ¹⁷⁵

Spouses and Children

1. *Catherine Christine McLaughlin ¹⁷⁵ Marriage: 11 Sep 1947 - Pictou, Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada ⁴⁸²⁰ Children: 1. Living 2. Living 3. Living 4. Living 5. Living 6. Living

Dr. Louis John Giovannetti

Sex: M
AKA: Lewis John Giovannetti ⁴⁸²¹
Individual Information

Birth Date: 24 Oct 1875 - Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada ¹⁷³ ^,175 ^,2665 ^,2666 ^,4821 Christening: Death: 20 Jun 1963 - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ( at age 87) ¹⁷³ ^,4822 Burial: 22 Jun 1963 - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹⁹ ^,4823 Cause of Death:
Events
• Alt. Birth: 1875, Italy.
• Alt. Birth: Oct 1875, Port Morien, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Education: St. Vincent's College, and Beatty, Pennsylvania, United States, Between 1880 and 1900, Jersey City, Hudson, New Jersey, United States of America.
• Residence: Age: 16; Marital Status: Single; Relation to Head of House: Son, 1891, Cow Bay, Cape Breton, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Graduation: Dalhousie University, after St. FX, Antigonish, NS, 1900, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
• Occupation: Medical Doctor, stipendiary magistrate, relieving officer, Between 1900 and 1950, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Residence: Between 1901 and 1906, St. Jacques, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Residence: Between 1906 and 1926, Trepassey, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Appointment: Magistrate, Apr 1919, Trepassey, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Filed a report on the overseas flight by the US Flying Corps in that month as Magistrate for Trepassey.
• Residence: Medical Officer, Between 1927 and 1943, Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Living: 1935, Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Residence: 1942, Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Residence: Medical Officer, Between 1944 and 1950, Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Census: 1945 Newfoundland Census of Household of Frederick Costello, 1945, Calvert, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. (Household Member)
• Census: 26 Mount Royal Avenue, Medical Doctor, 1945, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Louis J Giovanetti
Newfoundland Census, 1945

Name:
Louis J Giovanetti
•
Event Type:
Census
Event Date:
1945
Event Place:
Mount Royal Avenue, St. John's West, Newfoundland, Canada
Gender:
Male
Age:
69
Marital Status:
Married
Birth Year (Estimated):
1876
Birthplace:
Canada
Page:
109
HouseholdRoleSexAgeBirthplace
Louis J GiovanettiMale69Canada
Beatrice GiovanettaWifeFemale57Ferryland
Reginald GiovanettiSonMale21Ferryland
Patricia GiovanettiDaughterFemale18Trepassey
Barbara PenneyMaidFemale19Holyrood.
• Departure: En route to St. John's/Halifax/Boston on the Newfoundland, 15 Nov 1950, Liverpool, Lancashire, England. John L Giovannetti

In the UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960

Name: John L Giovannetti
Gender: Male
Departure Age: 74
Birth Date: abt 1876
Departure Date: 15 Nov 1950
Departure Port: England
Ship Name: Newfoundland
Shipping Line: Furness Warren Line
Search Ship Database: Search for the Newfoundland in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Destination Port: Halifax, Canada
Master: C H Kenyon
.
• Arrival: Returning from trip to England, Cir 21 Nov 1950, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Alt. Death: 1963, Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
• Obituary: Daily News, 21 Jun 1963, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. DEATHS
GIOVANNETTI — Passed
peacefully away on June 20.
1963, Dr. Louis J. Giovannetti
in his 87th year, leaving to
mourn his wife, Beatrice
(Morry); one daughter, Patricia
and three sons; Dr. H. F. Giovannetti, Bell Island; Dr. J. L.
Giovannetti, Newcastle, New
Brunswick; and Reginald T.
Giovannetti of Dartmouth, Nova
Scotia. The remains are resting
at Barrett's Funeral Home, 328
Hamilton Avenue. The funeral
will take place at 11, 5 a.m.,
Saturday, with Requiem Mass
at St. Theresa's Church, Mundy
Pond. Interment at Belvedere
Cemetery.

Parents

Father: Nicodemus Giovannetti ¹⁶⁸ ^,173 ^,175 ^,4142 Mother: Jane Harrietta Deason ¹⁶⁸ ^,175 ^,2665

Spouses and Children

1. Isabella Maud Burke ¹⁶⁸ ^,175 Marriage: Cir 1902 - St. Jacques, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada Children: 1. Dr. Humbert Francis Giovannetti 2. Dr. Joseph Louis Giovannetti 2. *Beatrice Mary Morry ¹⁶⁸ ^,918 ^,1064 ^,4824 Marriage: 7 Jun 1923 - Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada ¹⁰⁹ Children: 1. Reginald Thomas Giovannetti 2. Dr. Patricia Mary Giovannetti

Notes
General:

The tentative date for birth and death in Bruce Cameron's Family Ties data base is clearly wrong as this would make him 104 at the time of his death and this was certainly not true.

1921 Census of Trepassey:

Dr. Giovannetti L. J. m head married 1875 oct 45 Port Morien NS1900 Giovannetti, Isabella M. f wife married 1865 july 45 St. Jacques NFLD Giovannetti, Humbert m son single 1904 sept 17 St.Jacques Giovannetti, Joseph m son single 1905 mar 16 St. Jacques Hynes, Josephine f servant single 1896 aug 25 Jacques Fountaine NFLD

NFGenWeb 1935 NF Census Placentia Bay Region - Placentia

Giovannetti Louis Head m m 59 Giovannetti Beatrice Wife f m 45 Giovannetti Reginald Son m s 11 Giovannetti Patricia Dau f s 8

From Encyclpedia of Newfoundland: GIOVANNETTI, DR. LOUIS JOHN (1875-1963).

Physician. Born Port Morien, Nova Scotia. Brother of Humbert Adrian Giovannetti qv; father of Dr. Humbert F., Dr. Joseph L., Dr. Patricia M. and Reginald T. Giovannetti qqv. Educated Jersey City, New Jersey; St. Vincent's College, Beatty, Pennsylvania, United States; St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish; Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the summer of 1900, after graduation from Dalhousie University, Giovannetti travelled the west coast of New-foundland and the coast of Labrador as medical examiner for the Mutual Life Insurance Company. In 1901 he moved to St. Jacques, Fortune Bay and set up a medical practice with Dr. C.T. Fitzgerald qv. In 1906 he was appointed MedicalOfficer, Justice of the Peace, Stipendiary Magistrate and Relieving Officer at Trepassey. In 1926 he left Trepassey for Placentia, where from 1927 to 1943 he served that area as Medical Officer. Giovannetti moved to Ferryland in 1944 and remained there as Medical Officer for thearea until his retirement in 1950. He died on June 20, 1963 in St. John's. P.M. Giovannetti (letter, Oct. 1982). DPJ

140112: A "Lewis" Giovanneti shows up as a nephew of Lorenzo Giovannetti, aged 16 in the 1891 Census in Cow Bay. I suspect this is Louis John Giovannedtti even though it shows him as being born in Italy, most likely an error.

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140112 from website of M. Lynn Munro on Ancestry.com:

The Beginning
by L J Giovannetti
I have now reached the age of 76 years and I consider it is time I began to write my biography. In the year 1866 my father Nicodemus left his home in Tereglia Italy, a town approximately fifteen hundred people, situated on one of the many and beautiful mountain tops of the Appanine Range in the province of Lucca, Tuscany. During the occupation of the French at Louisburg, Cape Breton, Canada, after they were driven from Placentia Newfoundland (1713) they opened the first coal mine in North America at Cow Bay in the 1860's. By the 1880's the town was changed to Port Morien. In 1866 my father arrived on this side of the Atlantic, the most prosperous town in Canada. That was the place where he with three other brothers made his home. That too was my birth place. I thus well remember my boyhood days watching vessels of every description, from John Peaches' fishing boat, to full rigged ships sailing in the bay to anchor in the shelter of the quarter mile long breakwater, which incidentally the federal government granted yearly a sum of ten thousand dollars for repairs, which at that time was considered a large sum of money, and which gave the people, who were not coal miners, sufficient money together with their farming to tide them over from year to year. Cow Bay during my boyhood had two mines operating Blockhouse and Gowrie. The business part was in between. Thus there was great riverly between the boys who attended the Blockhouse and Gowrie school when they met in Middletown where the business people and their shops were. Uncle Lorenzo was the oldest of the four brothers to leave Italy. For many days he was knocking about Genoa awaiting a ship to bring him to America, the land of promise. Then one day on a wharf there Lorenzo asked the captain of a salt laden schooner for a birth as a sailor. Never being at sea before so captain refused to have anything to do with a greenhorn for so long a passage across the western ocean to Newfoundland, the mecca of Europeans who fished the lowly cod. Salt to them was then as it is today almost as precious as gold. Not to be outdone Uncle Larry when the captain was absent from his ship induced the crew to hide him away on board their ship. This they did. Then after leaving Genoa and feeding him for three days they demanded he come on deck and give himself up to the captain who being a kindly man accepted him as a member of his crew without pay. Uncle Larry learnt so much on such a long voyage that he was not long in Newfoundland before he was considered capable of caring for a ship. Thus he soon became a captain and was the owner of a schooner, carrying coal from Cow Bay where he decided to make his home. Father followed him there in 1866. Uncle Larry on one of his trips to Halifax was acquainted that there was a young stylish Italian strolling about that city who knew no English and was always saying to parties whom he contacted the word " Giovannetti". At once Uncle Larry started to look for him. He proved to be Uncle Anthony who later accompanied him on the return voyage to Cow Bay in 1874. Another brother Uncle John came to Cow Bay in 1874. He being not very strong was unable to stand Canadian wintes. Thus after one year he returned to the lovely climate of his native Tereglia. Couisn Angelo whose god-father he ws as well as mine described him as a lovely gentleman. If one can judge what he was like from the home and gardens which I saw belonging to him in Tereglia, the it should be said of him that he loved grandeur, produced with his hands, from mother earth. Father and the two brothers Lawrence and Anthony built their homes in Cow Bay and all married NS women and lived there until the Dominion Coal Co came to Cape Breton and bought up all the collieries. Some years previously the Blockhouse mine had to close for money of to pay the royalty placed on it. Balooni of 5th Ave in New York being the owner. Gowrie was closed by the Dominion Co because of the coal from it was salty. Thus Morien as it was renamed about that time began to be a Ghost town. My father had died in 1882 when I was eight years old leaving mother to care for us three children, I being the oldest. Father had left a store situated on Breakwater Road. It was well stocked with the merchandise of a general store. We children with mother had a nice eight roomed home. The store being filled with goods just previous to father's illness, mother, although being a strong woman was unable to care for it and us, her children. But like mothers the world over at least in those days she considered we came first. Thus she left the business to father's clerk to care for it. These were difficult times especially with the Scotch who farmed in the Back Land of Morien, then known as Cow Bay. Red headed Malcolm McAuley the clerk had a kind heart when he had other peoples property to give away to his hungry relatives. Thus after one year the business was wound up. Mother being a strong woman with a bit of determined scottish blood started a hotel. She succeeded so well that she was able to send us three children to colleges and universities where we, given the chance, graduated.

300513 from Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador Biography:

GIOVANETTI, LOUIS JOSEPH (1875-1963), b Port Morien, NS; MD (Dalhousie) 1900; d St. John's 20 June. Giovanetti came to Newfoundland shortly after his graduation from Dalhousie medical school, and was employed by Mutual Life Insurance as a medical examiner on the Newfoundland west coast and coastal Labrador. In 1901 he went into private practice at St Jacques FB. Giovanetti became medical officer at Trepassey in 1906 and later held similar positions at Placentia (1927-43) and Ferryland (1944-50). PFK

NOTE: They have misspelled his surname, which should be GIOVANNETTI and they also have given him his son's second name. His name should be Louis John Giovannetti.

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Laura Morry Williams reproduced a part of the biography of Lou Giovannetti part written by his nephew, Addison Bown, and part by himself, as five chapters in her book Over the Fence. Here is the first Chapter:

OVER THE FENCE LAURA MORRY WILLIAMS
Outport Doctor Part One Pages 28-33

This portion of a tribute to Doctor Giovannetti was written by Addison Bown and permission to copy it was given to me by Dr. Giovannetti's son, Reginald.
Louis J. Giovannetti, the eldest of three children of Nicodemus Giovannetti, was born at Port Morien, Nova Scotia, Canada, on October 24, 1875. After attending St. Francis Xavier in 1893, he entered Halifax Medical College (then affiliated with Dalhousie University) in 1896 and graduated in April, 1900. He came to Newfoundland that year at the invitation of Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, to act as Medical Examiner on a voyage along the West Coast to Labrador.
Crossing to Port Aux Basques on the S.S. Harlow, he first came into contact with Newfoundland weather conditions when he was told by the conductor on the Reid Company's railway that the train would not leave for 24 hours for fear she would "capsize." On the train, was the late Hon. John Pitts, a prominent business man and political figure in the colony. Dr. Giovannetti left the train at Bagg's Crossing, Bay of Islands, where the yacht, Selina, with Capt. Thomas Fiander, awaited him. It was not thought then, that within twenty-five years a great industry employing thousands of people would arise on the shore of Bay of Islands, or of the second city in Newfoundland, Corner Brook, which would grow up around it.
The first stop on the voyage north was at Woody Point, in Bonne Bay. There he met the pioneer doctor in that area. Dr. Prebble, who, as a young man, had gone to the French Shore from Nova Scotia to catch and pack lobsters. Finding most of the population illiterate and subject to all the ills of mankind, he sent to Toronto for a Home Medical Service Book, studied it and eventually set up practice after passing an examination at St. John's. The Newfoundland Legislature passed a special Medical Act which enabled him to receive a licence to practice under Section 29.
While at Bonne Bay, Dr. Giovannetti brought his fast Newfoundland baby into the world, the mother being Mrs. Seeley, wife of the principal merchant there. Her daughter was the first of a long line of infants who were delivered by Dr. Giovannetti in his 50 years of practice in the out ports of this country.
The yacht went on to Port Saunders where there were a few fishermen engaged in catching lobsters; the French had been given fishing rights for lobsters. Under the terms of the treaty by which the French had been given fishing rights from Cape Ray to Cape John, it was illegal for residents to catch fish in that area, all rights being reserved to the fishermen who came out annually from France. On the following day. a British warship, H.M.S. Calypso (Later, the Briton) arrived there and confiscated eight cases of lobsters belonging to a Newfoundlander.
This situation was resolved later in 1904 when the French finally gave up their treaty rights through the efforts of Sir Robert Bond. Prior to that time, the British Navy was required to protect the interests of Frenchmen.
From Port Saunders, the yacht sailed to Port Aux Choix and then to Brig Bay, from which she crossed the Straits of Belle Isle to Blanc Sablon. The months of July and August were spent going from Red Bay to Harrington South.
After his return to Cape Breton, Dr. Giovannetti received an invitation to practise at St. Jacques on the South Coast of Newfoundland and re-crossed the Gulf on the Bruce with Capt. Delaney. At Port Aux Basques, he joined the Glencoe. On arrival at Harbour Breton, the principal settlement in Fortune Bay, hundreds of people on the wharf were giving a send-off to Charles Way, the newly elected member, who was leaving to take his seat in the House of Assembly. The great firm of Newman's fish suppliers and buyers, as well as owners of the maturing cellars for the world famous Newman's Port wine, was then about to close its business at Harbour Breton. Dr. Con Fitzgerald, famous medical practitioner of the South Coast, was living there at that time. He had been brought out from England years before by the company.
Dr. Giovannetti spent the next five years at St. Jacques, ministering to the patients under the most difficult conditions to be found in the whole of Newfoundland. Roads were non- existent and the only means of transportation was by open boat in all kinds of weather. While there he met and married his first wife, Maude Burke.
In 1905, while on a visit to St. John's, he learned that Dr. R. H. Carey, stipendiary magistrate at Trepassey, had died and he applied for the post. Dr. Carey was a veteran of the American Civil War who had come to Newfoundland and first practiced at Ferryland where he married Miss Minnie Morry. In 1889 he was made magistrate of Trepassey and died there in July, 1905. In September of that year. Dr. Giovannetti received the appointment and moved to Trepassey with his wife, Maude Burke, and two sons, Humbert and Joseph. He remained there for the next 21 years.
Dr. Giovannetti lived in an area which was noted for its shipwrecks, and in his capacity of Justice of the Peace, he was called upon to receive depositions from surviving officers of steamers and vessels, giving a sworn statement of the circumstances of each wreck.
But the greatest single event in the history of Trepassey during that period was the flight of three American seaplanes from there to the Azores in 1919. That was about a month before the direct crossing of Alcock and Brown from Newfoundland to Ireland and their winning a $50,000 prize from the London Mail newspaper after landing in an Irish bog. During the preparations for the flight for the American seaplanes the harbour at Trepassey was filled with warships. At one time there were 21 destroyers at anchor, in addition to supply ships. The destroyers were afterwards stationed 50 miles apart on the route across the Atlantic. Of the seaplanes which set out from Trepassey Bay, only one finally reached Portugal from the Azores. The scene at the settlement during those historic weeks was described as the "greatest show on earth." Before the arrival of the fleet, two Americans visited Trepassey to select a suitable site of the proposed attempt to fly the Atlantic. One of them was a lame man who was afterwards discovered to be the Secretary of the Navy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, later to become President of the United States.
Dr. Giovannetti's first wife, Maude Burke, died at Trepassey in 1922. A year later, he remarried Beatrice Morry of Ferryland. who was a sister of World War One veteran Howard Morry, and a niece of Miss Minnie Morry, who had married the earlier doctor at Trepassey, Dr. Carey. Dr. Giovannetti had two children by Beatrice: Patricia and Reginald.
In 1926, at the invitation of Rev. W. P. O'Flaherty, who had previously been parish priest at Trepassey, Dr. Giovannetti moved to Placentia and remained there until 1943. Finding, because of advancing age, that he was unable to cope with the large practice and serve the hospital, he decided to retire and make his home in St. John's. However, while in St. John's, he was prevailed upon to accept an appointment to Ferryland and thus served there for four years while retaining his home in the city.
Finally, at the age of 74, he settled down in St. John's. But now that retirement had come, he determined to realize the dream of a lifetime and make a pilgrimage to the home of his ancestors. In 1950, he crossed the Atlantic to England and proceeded by train through France to Rome. In the Eternal City, he was privileged, through the kind offices of the Irish Christian Brothers, to receive the blessing of Pope Pius XII at St. Peters. He then journeyed to his father's home in Tereglia and remained there for three months, during which time he celebrated his 75th birthday.
On Thursday, June 20th, 1962, at St. Clare's, death closed the mortal career of a pioneer Outport Doctor, Louis John Giovannetti, after a long and useful life of 87 years. The last of the graduating class of Dalhousie Medical School, he had actively practiced his profession in Newfoundland for half a century. He was one of the old types of outport practitioners who belonged to an era that is now past but which was benefited and enriched by the faithful and devoted service which he and others like him rendered to the people of their time. They leave behind them a legacy and a memory which are among the brightest adornments of those earlier years.
Dr. Giovannetti was predeceased by his sister, Mrs. T.A. Bown and his brother, Dr. H.A. Giovannetti. Left to mourn his passing were: his wife, Beatrice; his daughter, Patricia, with the Department of Education; three sons, Dr. Humbert, dentist at Bell Island, Dr. Joseph, in medical practice in New Brunswick, and Reginald, an engineer in Dartmouth, N.S.
The following table of dates summarizes Dr. Giovannettis half century of practice in Newfoundland.
St. Jacques1901-1905
Trepassey1905-1926
Placentia1926-1943
St. John's1943-1946
Ferryland1946-1950

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And here is the second Chapter:

OVER THE FENCE
LAURA MORRY WILLIAMS
Eyewitness Account of the 'Nancies' - Pages 135-136
From the journal of Dr. Lou Giovannetti
The U.S. Navy seaplanes nicknamed 'Nancies' were built of half-inch plywood. They were bi-planes. The engines were placed between the wings and forward of them, two on each side of center. The wings were 100 feet from tip to tip and made of half-inch wood. There were floats under the tips of the lower wings. The batons were the shape of ordinary boats, sharp bows and square sterns. One could see the water through the half-inch planking. Their engines were 'Liberty' built. Aft of the wings was an open cockpit. Except for the red star on the upper wings there was no colour except varnished natural wood. The crews consisted of three men to a plane.
The seaplanes NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4, came to Trepassey on May 13th, 1919. The crews got supplies and waited for a favourable day for what was hoped was going to be the first transatlantic flight. That day came on May 15th and at 6 p.m. the planes started to taxi out the harbour. Plane No. 4 got up first, taking the air under the old battery in the 'Reach.' The other two planes seemed to have some trouble before reaching the Lower Coast; a dory went to one and took off one man. I was on my bicycle going to the battery. In reaching there, I saw No. 4 go out over the outer bay to Cape Mutton and return when the crews saw the other two delayed. No. 4 returned and flew over and around the settlement giving all a great show. It looked as if it were going to hit Dick Sutton's chimney and it was so low my wife could see the pilots as the plane crossed over our home.
The plane eventually landed on the harbour and everyone started toward the Reach. Then as I watched from the battery, the planes came below and each in turn rose from the water, each one making three efforts to rise by rising and falling, rising and falling, and the third time up it was off toward Cape Mutton.
Next day at the Anglo American Telegraph Office, I learned No.4 had got to Faial Island in the Azores. No. 1 got down, losing a float, but taxied in. No. 3 got down and couldn't get up and a destroyer nearby saved the crew.
The planes were accompanied by twenty one Navy warships stationed at 50-mile spacings along the route to the Azores. The crews of each destroyer averaged 125. The flagship was the USS Aroostock which came to Trepassey to provide refueling and maintenance for the planes. By May 12, all of the destroyers were gone from Trepassey except Aroostock, Prairie, and the tanker. The crews of those vessels were with us for ten days. The sailors were on leave and roamed the woods and visited those who welcomed them. There was no rowdyism. They were the most law abiding and gentlemanly crowd of men I ever heard of.
The NC-4 and its crew of US naval aviators made the first successful transatlantic flight in 15 hours and 18 minutes. But that feat was somewhat eclipsed on June 16, 1919, when John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in a Vickers Vimy biplane flew from Newfoundland to Ireland non-stop in 16 hours and 27 minutes. Alcock and Brown successfully landed in an Irish bog and received the Daily News prize often thousand pound for the first flight across the Atlantic in less than 72 consecutive hours.

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And the third chapter:

OVER THE FENCE - Page 153-155
LAURA MORRY WILLIAMS
Outport Doctor Part Two
From the Journal of Doctor Louis Giovannetti
When he reached the age of 76 years, Dr. Louis Giovannetti decided to write his autobiography. The following is transcribed from his journal.
"In the year 1860, my father. Nicodemus, left his home in Tereglia, Italy, a town of approximately fifteen hundred people, situated on one of the many and beautiful mountain tops of the Apennine Range in the province of Lucca, Tuscany.
During the occupation of the French at Louisburg, Cape Breton, Canada, after they were driven from Placentia, Newfoundland, in 1713, they opened the first coal mine in North America at Cow Bay, the most prosperous town in Canada. That was the place where Nicodemus, with three brothers, made their home. That, too, was my birthplace and I remember my boyhood days, watching vessels of every description from John Peaches fishing boat to full rigged ships sailing in the bay to anchor in the shelter of the quarter mile long breakwater, which incidentally the Federal Government granted, yearly, a sum of ten thousand dollars for repairs, which at the time was considered a considerable amount of money It gave the people, who were not coal miners, sufficient money, together with their families, to tide them over from year to year.
Uncle Lorenzo was the oldest of four brothers to leave Italy. For many days he was knocking about Genoa awaiting a ship to bring him to America, the land of promise. Then one day, on a wharf there, Lorenzo asked the captain of a salt laden schooner for a berth as a sailor. Since he had never been at sea before, the captain refused to have anything to do with a greenhorn for so long a passage across the western ocean to Newfoundland, the Mecca for Europeans, who fished the lowly cod. Salt to them was then, as it is today, almost as precious as gold. Not to be outdone, Lorenzo, or Uncle Larry, when the captain was absent from the ship, induced the crew to hide him away aboard the ship. .This they did. Then. after leaving Genoa and feeding him for three days, they demanded he come on deck and give himself up to the captain, who, being a kindly man, accepted him as a member of the crew, without pay. So much Uncle Larry learnt on such a long voyage, that he was not long in Newfoundland before he was considered capable of caring for a ship. Thus, he soon became a captain and was the owner of a schooner, carrying coal from Cow Bay, where he decided to make his home. Nicodemus followed him there in 1860. Now, Uncle Larry, on one of his trips to Halifax, was told that there was a young stylish Italian strolling about that city, knowing no English and always saying, to people whom he contacted, the word Giovannetti. At once, Uncle Larry started to look for him. He proved to be his brother, Anthony, who later accompanied him on the return voyage to Cow Bay Another brother, John, came to Cow Bay in 1874. He, being not very strong, was unable to stand Canadian winters. Thus, after one year, he returned to the lovely climate of his native Tereglia. Nicodemus, my father, and two brothers, Lorenzo and Anthony, built their homes in Cow Bay and married Nova Scotia women; they lived there until the Dominion Coal Company came to Cape Breton and bought up all the collieries.
Nicodemus died in 1883, when I, the eldest, was eight years old, leaving his wife to care for the children. My father had left a store situated on Breakwater Road. The store was well stocked with the merchandise of a general store. We had a nice eight-roomed home. The store had been filled with goods previous to my father's illness but my mother, although being a strong woman, was unable to care for it and the children, Louis, Humbert and Rita. But, like most mothers the world over, at least in those days, she considered the children came first. Thus, she left the business to her husband s clerk, Malcolm McAuley to care for."
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And the fourth chapter:

OVER THE FENCE - Pages 156-161
LAURA MORRY WILLIAMS
Outport Doctor Part Three
From the Journal of Doctor Louis Giovannetti
"When I met Dr. Prebble, he was a man of 85 years who had gone through much hardship on sea and on land, on dog sleds in winter and 'Shanks Mare' in summer. Little did I think then that I, too, would follow the same footsteps in the following year at Fortune Bay. Dr. Prebble had opened his black bag and brought out a pair of obstetrical forceps, Simpsons, telling me how, many years previously a M.D. visiting Bonne Bay had told him where to purchase them. Previous to their possession he had, on numerous occasions, to bring children into the world with large fish hooks. Freely an ingenious old gentleman, he was a fisher of children as well as of fish. As he was about to depart, Dr. Prebble asked me to be good enough to attend any persons who sought mv advice as he realized they suffered from many things which he could not diagnose. Few, however required me, and those who did come were incurable.
During my stay in Bonne Bay, Mr. Blissard, who was fond of the spirits, learned that Dr. Prebble had two sons who owned a general store down the street in which, upstairs, they kept a barrel of rum which was dispensed on the doctor's orders. He requested me to approach the old gentleman for a prescription for two gallons. I complied and got the rum. That night, Bennie B. invited the Customs Officer and others aboard as he was shy drinking alone.
For their amusement, he wound up the first phonograph ever in that part of Newfoundland, an Edison, with barrel shafted records.
The Customs Officer, Bancroft, had been a school master tor many years and could spin a yarn that was never before told. He said at English Harbour years before, the widow had her blankets stolen and he called a meeting. In the middle of the packed school there was a tar pot turned upside down on which he placed a rooster. To the assembly he spoke and admonished in words like this: "You will all stand around the wall; then one by one, you will touch the pot with your right hand and with your hand held high, return to your former position with your back to the wall. When the guilty one touches the pot the rooster will crow. All had done what he had requested and the rooster did not crow, but on examining the hands he saw that one had no dirt from the pot. To this person's house he went after the meeting and there he found the blankets.
I went to practice the following fall and English Harbour was in my district. I made inquiries about the story, and beyond a doubt it was true.
But Bancroft had another up his sleeve, very original and newly made. This one was about the old man at Port Saunders 80 miles north of Bonne Bay, where custom duties required Bancroft to go. The story went like this: This old man, having died in the States, left relatives quarrelling about the division of the estate. So naturally they inquired of him. Thus, next trip Bancroft brought to Port Saunders a phonograph. He knew that a recording could be made by anyone. Knowing how Mr. Blissard talked, he spoke into the recorder like the old man would. Arriving at Port Saunders, he called a meeting in the school for all the relatives. All being seated, he explained about the phonograph being able to record the voice of the dead, together with their thoughts, providing anything that they missed in good faith saying when alive. In other words, the spirit came back to stop all the wrangling and quarrelling unpleasant to God and the Lord. Having thus spoken he wound up the phonograph, released the lever and it spun... "My dear relatives," he began. That was enough. The man's voice was enough! Hearing it. the relatives all jumped up and fled to their homes. Never, after that, was a word spoken about the dead man nor his will. So they all lived peacefully after that.
Bancroft missed his calling. He was a born actor. He was a native of Topsail, Conception Bay. When next I met him, he was on board the coastal boat coming from Bonne Bay, sick, dropsical, and died shortly after.
One day we dropped anchor in a little harbour which contained one Livyer' family consisting of a man, his wife and a boy of twelve years. Mr. Sheldon had the deck hand row ashore. He returned to tell of visiting the 'livyer' and, whilst there sitting before the fire, the 12-year-old son came in asking his mother to give him 'a suck.' At first, the men disbelieved Sheldon. Thus the captain and I decided to go ashore and see what was doing. So we entered the house and after about a quarter of an hour in came the boy saying, "Mother, give me a suck." The mother was by no means shy in our presence. She bared her breast, took the boy with his cap on his head upon her lap and he went to it like a three-month-old child. "Well," she explained to us, "he's all we have."
Another time, at another place, we stopped before a log house where the old man was chopping wood. When, in the doorway appeared his spouse. Seeing us, she said, "Good day gentlemen," then began to berate her husband about the poor clothes he was wearing. He spoke back saying he could not always be dressed up. She had her answer, saying he should be always clean. He answered, "Mother, you didn't marry the governor." Strange to remark she, whilst not dressed in silk or satin, looked clean and tidy in her gingham.
Along the Labrador Coast from Blanc Sablon and Isle Aux Bois, there is a passage 20 miles long protected by islands Inside of which the sea is calm in a storm. As we sailed along it, there was a gale outside during which a strong puff broke the jib stay. But it was not long before the captain, shimmying along the jib boom, got a rope tackle on it and hauled it tight (taut) again. That night we spent in a rocky harbour where only one family lived.
Next morning we arrived at Bonne Esperance, where the Whitley's of St. John's had a room and a lovely residence. The Whitley's sons and daughters were spending their summer there. At Salmon River, nearby, was another family room run by the Bucky Brothers. Two of the Bucky sisters, who had been residing in the U.S.A, were there. Whilst there, Sheldon's son, Piercey about my age, came from his Peabody, Mass. home. What a time we all had fishing trout and picking bakeapples. By the time we left there it was the month of August.
On January 1903, Captain Billy Cluett, a citizen of U.S. formerly of Belleoram, came to my office in St. Jacques requesting that I walk the next morning to Belleoram to join his schooner which was from Gloucester but was at Rencontre, awaiting cargo of frozen herring. This I did. Arriving at Rencontre and attending to another captain's dislocated shoulder, I decided as soon as I had lunch, to return to Belleoram and home by a different schooner, what was known as a Western boat, with an outside rudder. Light snow, without any wind, was falling all the time. There being no engines of propulsion in those days, we had to depend upon sail and oars. About an hour out from Rencontre, the little wind we got died out. The skipper ordered the dory be launched. It was given a line and two men in the dory towed the schooner. Besides the dory, those aboard the schooner rowed two great oars amidst dark snow and fog; all worked and prayed for a little wind. It took 'til eleven p.m. to cover the eight miles to Belleoram. At Belleoram, although snow was falling and it was pitch dark, I decided to walk home to St. Jacques. The distance was three miles, half of which over a steep road. New snow lay about a foot thick and it looked like if wind came it would be a stormy night. Nevertheless, with one satchel strapped across my shoulder and another in my hand, I first went to Mr. Eli Rose, the blacksmith, to borrow a lantern. They induced me to remain the night with them but no, I decided to go on, as if an urgent case required me. Up I went over the hill and anybody who had been in Belleoram knows what a steep hill it is. I, eventually, scuffing through snow, reached the top. Now the mile and a half ahead was a gradual downhill. I was tired and found it a relief to be on a downgrade. Reaching within a mile of the journey's end, the road levels off and in winter leads across St. Jacques pond when it's frozen. I was about to step on the pond when out of the fog and snow a cry rang out. "0 mister, 0 mister with the lantern." At once it struck my memory the time is 12 midnight, the ghostly hours. My Elsinore cap, tied down over my ears, felt as if it were lining off my head. Then came to me the flashing memory of when I was a student at St. Vincent Benediction College at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, about twelve years before, when I had asked Father Thaddeus if there were ghosts. To that, Father Thaddeus replied, "I never saw one and never met anyone who did, but, if anything troubles you like that, ask them in the name of God what they want." So with renewed courage, after almost putting out the lantern, by dropping it in the snow, I called out, "In the name of God, if you are a live person, keep on calling; So then I heard faintly "Mister, mister," and then, "Doctor, is it you?" I turned to find there, lying under a tree, a girl clad in an old coat. I asked her to get up. She said she could not. Then, with my legs across her, I caught her by the neck and placed her on her feet. She said, "I'm frozen; So I started to manhandle her, beat life into her. Eventually we danced in the snow and then I led her to St. Jacques. There I had to pass the home of the Relieving Officer, Mr. Clinton, who I awoke, and handed the girl over to his care.
After I was home awhile and my wife awoke and looked at me, she said, "My God, Lou, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost; It was then that I got the story of Mary Jane Rochester off my chest. The advice of Father Thaddeus gave me such courage I did not know I was frightened.

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And the fifth chapter:

OVER THE FENCE - Page 162-165
LAURA MORRY WILLIAMS
Outport Doctor Part Four
From the Journal of Doctor Louis Giovannetti
"At Belleoram, one night, I had bought a lantern to light my way back to St. Jacques. It lighted my way for many years after that. I was tired after my six-mile walk that night and wanted a good rest. However, before breakfast next morning, there were two men at my door wanting me to go to Barra. Thus, over to Belleoram I walked again, no horses or carriage roads there then. There, in a dory, they rowed over six miles to Barra. There I got a call to another place three miles away. I did it, returned to St. Jacques, arriving very tired at about 6 p.m. As I slammed the surgery door behind me, a gale of wind and rain started. It was now the 11th of November and I prayed for a few days rest after such a long day's jaunt of twelve miles. The longest walk I ever had before being six miles when I was a boy in school in Pennsylvania. But a few days rest was not to be because before I finished supper that evening two men arrived from Coombs Cove saying their mother had broken her arm. They begged me to go with them that night, but I was so tired I had to refuse them, telling them I could not go even if they had to carry me. I went to bed that night, too tired to sleep. Nevertheless, the next morning I donned hip rubbers, my oil coat and the oil cap Tommie Burke sent me and faced a gale of westerly wind and rain. The wind was in our teeth, that's what made the walking so hard. I had not gotten a mile when I had to rest and that's the way it was for almost fourteen miles to Coombs Cove. The men's patience was worn out with me but I could do no better. To make matters worse, a button had broken from my pants when we were eight miles from St. Jacques and got into my boot. Fearing to get my stocking wet if I removed it, I walked the next six miles limping along. At Coombs Cove, I slumped in a chair and had a man remove my boots. What a relief! I fixed up the old lady and then went to the home of my old friend. Tommy Fiander, of my Labrador trip, whose home was there. That night I rested and was pleased to find the storm had abated, but it looked like snow. In order to avoid the fourteen mile walk back, Capt. Tommy advised me to have the two men guide me to Boxey and there take a dory to St. Jacques. This I did, with a light, fair wind and light snow we arrived at western head of St. Jacques. The men, fearing the wind would spring up and impede their way back, induced me to drop off there. So I landed and started to follow the land wash back around St. Jacques. After about two hours, I reached home. With that over, I thanked God and got a rest.
x-x-x-x-
Another time, I was in a stateroom with the captain of Fortune Bay's mail boat. He was returning from St. John's General Hospital where doctors had removed a growth from his abdomen. After a few days home at St. Jacques, he again got a severe pain in the abdomen. Old Dr. Fitzgerald, who had previously sent him to hospital, was called. Being puzzled, Fitz wired to Superintendent Keegan to learn what had been done at the General to the captain. Their reply was they had found a great cyst which they feared to remove from the abdomen. After Fitz told the captain the truth, that he was incurable, the captain, having a home of his own at Pool's Cove, Fortune Bay, packed up his belongings, resigned as captain and moved his family there. Knowing his case was hopeless, he did not trouble any doctor except to get some medicine for pain. But for some reason within a month the pain left him and although he did not command the S.S. Hump, he, being at the age of retiring, worked around home at gardening and curing fish. During this time the First Great War was on and amongst those who left Pool's Cove to volunteer was the ex-captain's adopted nephew. On his return from overseas he brought with him a bucksome Scotch girl as his wife. She thought a lot of the old captain and he thought so much of her that he began to molest her. The young soldier grinned and bore it until his jealousy induced him, who had become accustomed to seeing blood spill on the battlefield, to leave his bride and bed. Early one morning, he took his gun and proceeded to the shore where he hid underneath a stage until his uncle appeared and then shot and killed him. Fate had come to him, whom everyone had considered to be a kindly gentleman. The court and jury found the ex-soldier not guilty, allowing his conscience to deal with him as it saw fit.
x-x-x-x-
During my time at Placentia, I called upon a Mr. Young of St. Brides who was complaining of a pain in his anus. I had to administer chloroform to examine him. Previously, I suspected the patient had swallowed a fish bone recently, but after quizzing him and members of his family I could get no assurance that they even had a meal of fish that year or the previous one, not many meals anyway, as fish were so scarce. Under chloroform, I noted a bone lodged for sure inside the sphincter. With the aid of a pair of artery forceps, I removed it. When the patient awoke and rubbed his eyes I showed him the pitted, mahogany colored bone which was about 1-1/2 inches long. He remarked, "Doctor, I must have swallowed that three summers ago. I now remember a bone of the neck of a codfish getting caught in my throat, but with the help of some bread I swallowed it." He had at no time during the three years suffered any pain until that day.
x-x-x-x-
One morning in Placentia, I was looking out a window upon my back yard when I saw one of the hens with about an inch of a straw protruding from its mouth and struggling hard to remove it by extending its bill and neck. When I saw its efforts proved fruitless, I left the window to go to its relief. As I reached the back steps entering the yard, I saw another hen going towards the suffering one. The hen, on reaching her, made a pick at the straw. Missing, it tried again and grabbing the straw in its bill it sat back and at the same time pulled back its neck and so removed the straw which was about eight inches long. Who says hens have no sense!"

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Letter to mary following the death of Joe Giovannetti:

26 Mt Royal Ave

St John's Newfoundland

Dear Mary,

Today I received a letter from my brother Humbert informing me that Joe had passed away. I am very sorry to know of his demise and my wife and daughter join me extending to you and your children our sincere sympathy.

It is only a short while ago that I learned that Peter and Lilly had also died. Some how I did not write to Peter's family. Would you please extend to them my deepest regret. Having read from a clipping of our Sydney papers the cause of Joe's death and his age 76 I did not til then know that he was only 10 years younger than I. When I left home to go to school in Jersey City at the age of 14 I recall Peter and Joe seemed to be a lot younger than I. Uncle Larry had first a number of girls and dispaired of any boys coming. Then Peter came soon followed by Joe and Benny whom on account of being away from home at his birth I remember nothing about.

Uncle Larry was the oldest of the family of five brothers and was the first to come to the New World. He knowing of the exploits of Columbus and Cabot both of Genoa went there from Tereglio a beautiful hill top village where his father had a beautiful stone home built in 1745 as the stone by the front door has engraved on it. There too is a marble castle the summer home of Princess Antonette. Uncle Larry didn't intend to live his lifetime eating grapes and chestnuts admiring the beauty of Tereglio so he strolled off to Genoa. At Genoa he found a vessell loaded with salt salling to Newfoundland. He asked the captain for a job but there was nothing for him a landman. So he hunted around returning to the salt vessel. He asked the sailors to stow him away. So they put him in the salt- where he remained until they got far from land in the Mediteranian and came on deck. After much pallover the captain threatening to throw him overboard the captain told him ok but he had to work his passage. That he was happy to do. This ship reached this city the oldest in North America, then only a fishing settlement. After that Uncle Larry never lost his live for the sea, which in the end was the cause of his death. Uncle was a handy man, a sailor, a carpenter, a watch repairman, could turn his hand to most anything. But he was the most stubborn man I ever knew. He was a good christian and attended mass daily. I trust God will help you to over come the sorrow at the loss of Joe. Having lived to be 75 there is not much he lost to see except perhaps the coming of a nuclear war which none of us wish to see.

With love and kindest wishes

I am Your cousin Lou Giovannetti

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Louis J Giovannetti MD by Addison Bown

On Thursday 20 June 1962 at St Clare's Mercy Hospital, death closed the mortal career of a pioneer outport doctor, Louis John Giovannetti, after a long and useful life of 87 years. The last of the graduating class of 1900 from Dalhousie Medical School, he had actively practiced his profession in Newfoundland for half a century.

A native of Port Morien, Cape Breton, the late Dr Giovannetti was of direct Italian descent, his father Nicodemus having emigrated to Canada from Tereglio, a town in Tuscany in the year 1866. He settled at what was then known as Cow Bay in Cape Breton Island. The French, after their expulsion from Placentia in 1713, had moved to Louisburg and near there, at Cow Bay, they opened the first coal mine in North America. By the 1860's the town that grew up around the mine had become one of the most prosperous of its kind in Canada. Some twenty years later its name changed to Port Morien, which is located only a few miles from the present town of Glace Bay.

His uncle Lorenzo, the eldest of four brothers, (John, Lorenzo, Anthony) to leave Italy, came out to Newfoundland from Genoa, learned navigation here and became the captain of a schooner. He was engaged in carrying coal from Port Morien and finally made his home with his brothers, John, Nicodemus and Anthony. Anthony returned a few years later, while the others remained. ( This is actually untrue as it was John or Giovanni that returned to Italy and Anthony remained- Lynn Munro)

Louis Giovannetti, the eldest of three children of Nicodemus Giovannetti was born at Port Morien on 24 October 1875. He entered Halifax Medical School ( then affiliated with Dalhousie University) in 1896 and was graduated in April 1900. He came to Newfoundland in June that year at the invitation of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, to act as Medical Examiner on a voyage along the West Coast to Labrador.

Crossing to Port Aux Basques on S S Harlow, he first came into contact with Newfoundland weather conditions when he was told by the conductor on the Reid's company's railway that the train would not leave for 24 hours for fear she would "capsize". One of the passengers was the late Hon. John Pitts, a prominent businessman and political figure in the Colony at that time. Dr Giovannetti left the train at Bagg's Crowing, Bay of Islands, where the yacht Selina, Captain Thomas Fiander awaited him. While waiting for the ship to sail he visited the R C church and found the late Monsignor Sears working in the gallery. Like many of the old time clergymen, he " could do a good carpenter job". There was not thought then that within the next quarter of a century a great industry employing thousands of people would rise on the shore of Bay of Islands, or the City (Cornerbrook) second in Newfoundland , which would grow up around it.

The first stop on the voyage northe was at Woody Point, Bonne Bay. There he met the pioneer doctor in that area, Dr Prebble, who as a young man had gone to the French shore from Nova Scotia to catch and pack lobsters. Finding most of the population illiterate and subject to all the ills of mankind, he sent to Toronto for a Home Medical Service Book, studied it and eventually set up in practice after passing an exanination at St John's. The Newfoundland Legislature passed a special Medical Act which enabled him to receive a license to practice under section 29.

While at Bonne Bay Dr Giovannetti brought his first Newfoundland baby into the world, the mother being Mrs Seeley, wife of the principal merchant there. Her daughter was the first of a long line of infants who were brought into the world by Dr Giovannetti in his 50 years of practice in the outports of this country.

The Yacht went on to Port Saunders where there were a few fishermen engaged in catching lobsters. Under the terms of the treaty by which the French had been given fishing rights from Cape Ray to Cape John, it was illegal for the residents to catch fish in that area, all rights being reserved to the fishermen who came out annually from France. On the following day a British Warship H M S Calypso (afterwards the Briton) arrived there and confiiscated eight cases of lobsters beloinging to a Newfoundlander who had caught them "illegally" on the French shore. The question was resolved a few years later (1904) when the French finally gave up their treaty rights through efforts of Sir Robert Bond. Pror to that time the British Navy was required to protect the interests of Frenchman.

From Port Saunders the yacht sailed to Port Aux Choix and then to Brig Bay, from which she crossed the Straits of Bell Isle to Blanc Sablon. The months of July and August were spent going up and down the Labrador coast from Red Bay North to Harrington south. At Blanc Sablon the firm of Job Brothers had a fishing room, run by the late Hon Samuel Blandford, a famous sailing captain who, like Hon John Pitts was a member of the Legislative council. The Witeleys had a room at Bonne Esperance.

After his return to Cape Breton, Dr Giovannetti received an invitation to practice at St Jacques on the South Coast and recrossed the Gulf on the Bruce, Captain Delaney. At Port Aux Basques he joined the Glencoe. On arrival at Harbour Breton, the principal settlement in Fortune Bay, there were hundreds of people on the wharf giving a send off to the newly elected member, Charles Way, who was leving to take his seat in the House of Assembly. The great firm of Newman's fish suppliers and buyers as well as owners of the maturing cellars for the world famous Newman's Port, was then about to close its business at Harbour Breton. Dr Con Fitzgerald, famous medical practitioner of the South Coast, was living there at the time. He had been brought out from England years before by the company.

Dr Giovannetti spent the next five years at St Jacques ministering to his patients under some of the most difficult conditions to be found in the whole of Newfoundland. Roads were non-existent and the only means of transportation was by open boat in all kinds of weather. While there he met and married his first wife Maud Burke, a cousin of the late Senator V P Burke.

In 1905 while on visit to St John's he learned that Dr RH Carey stipendiary magistrate at Trepassey had died and he applied for the post. Dr Carey was a veteran of the American Civil War who had come to Newfoundland and first practiced at Ferryland where he married Miss Minnie Morry. In 1889 he was magistrate at Trepassey and died there in July 1905. In September that year Dr Giovannetti received the appointment and moved to Trepassey with his wife Maud Burke and two sons Humbert and Joseph. He remained there for the next 21 years.

Dr Giovannetti could tell many interesting stories of life on the Southern Shore in those years. He lived in an area which was noted for its shipwrecks and in his capacity of justice of the peace he was called upon to receive depositions from surviving officers of steamers and vessels giving a sworn statement of the circumstances of each wreck.

But the greatest single event in the history of Trepassy during that period was the flight of three American seaplanes from there to the Azores in 1919. That was about a month before the direct pioneer crossing of Alcock and Brown from Newfoundland to Ireland. During the preparations for the flight, the harbour at Trepassy was filled with warships. At one time there were 21 destroyers at anchor there, in addition to supply ships. The destroyers were afterwards stationed 50 miles apart on the route across the Atlantic. Of the seaplanes which set out from Trepassey Bay, only one finally reached Portugal from the Azores. The scene at the settlement during those historic weeks was described as "the greatest show on earth".

Before the arrivel of the fleet two Americans visisted Trepassey to select a suitabel site of the proposed attempt to fly the Atlantic. One of them was a lame man who was afterwards discovered to be the secretary of the Navy, Franklin D Roosevelt, after President of the United States.

Dr Giovannetti's first wife Maud Burke died at Trepassy in 1922. A year later remarried Beatrice Morry of Ferryland who is a sister of World War Veteran Howard Morry and a niece of the Miss Minnie Morry who had married the earlier doctor at Trepassy, Dr Casey. Dr Giovannetti then had two children by Beatrice, Patricia and Reginald.

In 1926 at the invitation of Rev W P O'Flaherty who had previously been parish priest at Trepassey Dr Giovannetti moved to Placentia and remained there until 1943. Finding because of advancing age that he was unable to cope with the large practice and serve the hospital there, he decided to retire and make his home in St John's. He was prevailed upon, however, to accept an appointment to Ferryland and served there for four years while retaining his home in the city.

Finally at the age of 74 he settled down in St John's. But now that retirement had come, he determined to realize the dream of a lifetime and make a pilgrimage to the home of his ancestors. In 1950 he crossed the Atlantic to England and proceeded by train through France to Rome. In the Eternal City he was privileged, through the kind offices of the Irish Christian Brothers to receive the blessing of Pope Pius XII at St Peter's. He then journeyed to his father's home in Tereglia and remained there for three months, during which time he celebrated his 75th birthday.

The following table of dates summarizes his half century of practice in Newfoundland

St Jacques- 1901-1905

Trepassey- 1905-1926

Placentia- 1926-1943

St John's- 1943-1946

Ferryland- 1946-1950

The late Dr Giovannetti was one of the old type of outport practitioner who belonged to an era that is now past but which was benefited and enriched by the faithful and devoted services which he and others like him rendered to the people of their time. They leave behind them a legecy and a memory which are among the brightest adornments of those earlier years.

Left to mourn his passing are his wife Beatrice , one daughter Patricia of the department of education, and three sons Dr Humbert, dentist at Bell Island; Dr Joseph in medical practice in New Brunswick and Reginald engineer of Dartmouth, NS. His brother Dr H A Giovannetti and his sister Mrs T A Bown both predesceased him. He was laid to rest in Belevedere Cemetery following Requiem Mass in the Parish Church at Mundy Pond on Saturday morning June 22nd. May he rest in peace.

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040722:
New information emerged when transcribing Dad Morry's diary for November 21 1950. Dr. Louis Giovannetti had no connection with England. Upon further investigation it was revealed that he did indeed travel to St. John's from England on the Newfoundland departing from Liverpool on November 15 1950. His wife, Beatrice Mary "Trix" Morry, was not travelling with him. It could still be possible this trip was simply for tourism. But on the same voyage it is shown that he was accompanied by a man of his age named Angelo (actually recorded as Angela) Giovannetti (a barber) and his wife, identified only as Mamie. They are shown to be tourists. But it raises the question, since they are not known close relations of Louis, of whether he was accompanying them to immigrate to North America. The address where they stayed most recently in England was that of Pat Morry's parents, 14 Gale St., Dagenham.

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