Varied ethnicity makes for interesting heritage

• McCarvel

submitted photo Mike McCarvel, rural Brewster, stand in front of the wedding photo of his Irish grandparents, Mike and Gusty McCarvel.
• McCarvel 2

submitted photo John Salentiny, maternal grandfather to Mike McCarvel, came from Luxembourg as a young bachelor in the 1920s.

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BREWSTER — He’s one-quarter Irish, one-quarter Luxembourger and half German, and in the past few years is taking an active interest in finding out more about his heritage.

“I know more about the Luxembourg than the others,” Mike McCarvel admitted.

That’s because his grandfather John Salentiny came to America in the 1920s, and Mike knew him as a youngster. Salentiny died in the 1970s at the age of 85, giving Mike a chance to get acquainted with his grandfather.

“We weren’t real close,” he said, admitting that his grandfather was a somewhat cold man. “He was a good man and a hard worker, but not prone to outward signs of affection.”

When Salentiny first came to America, he was alone. He lived as a bachelor for several years, staying first with a sister who was already in the United States, then with other families he knew as he pursued employment.

“It’s funny, because that is what immigrants are doing now, yet people comment about having so many family members under one roof,” Mike pointed out. “That hasn’t changed.”

Salentiny stayed with people who spoke his language, connecting with others from back home and doing farm jobs. He had come from a farm background in Luxembourg and stuck with it, renting a farm in Westbrook while saving up money to purchase his own. He ended up buying a farm in Dundee.

“He was very complacent and quiet,” Mike said. “But I have a great photo of him smoking a pipe and wearing a fur coat. He’s just looking ahead as if to say, ‘Here, take me as I am.’”

Mike doesn’t know much about his grandmother Wilhelmina Anna, who died when he was about 4 years old, other than she was German. She and John were married in Dundee, and the couple worked the farm until it was later turned over to an adult son. John and Wilhelmina then moved into town, but John continued to help with the chores, traveling to the farm most days.

After his wife died, John continued to live in Dundee. Mike has memories of his grandfather’s huge strawberry patch. John, it seems, was an avid gardener, and did his gardening chores mostly by hand.

“The machinery age kind of passed him by,” Mike explained.

These days, Mike regrets the fact he never talked to his grandfather about traveling to America or being a stranger in a new land.

“I think he talked to my mom about it, but I never asked him anything,” he said.

Knowing his grandfather’s story, Mike has often wondered what kind of guts it takes to pack up everything and travel to another country.

“It was easier for my grandfather — he didn’t have any family to bring over or take care of,” he said. “I’ve thought about it, and with a family, I don’t think I would have been willing to undertake that kind of endeavor.”

Mike is named after his grandfather Michael McCarvel — his father’s father.

Grandfather McCarvel was not an immigrant, but his father before him came from Ireland. Originally ending up in Illinois, he came to the Brewster area with the railroad.

“I think his brothers also worked for the railroad,” Mike said.

The first Mike McCarvel married Augustus, known as Gusty, on Feb. 8, 1911, in Brewster.

His grandfather died the same year Mike was born, so he never knew him, but his father Joe travelled each year to McCarvel family reunions, where Mike would spend the day playing with distant cousins.

Joe always wanted to visit Ireland, Mike said, but before a trip could be planned, a knee replacement surgery hampered his mobility. Joe died last year.

“I’m still thinking about going,” Mike said. “My brother Tom went about 15 years ago and took my son, Paul.”

The two travelers got the opportunity to visit with relatives that own an inn in Ireland and do a little “pub crawling,” which is something Mike would like to do.

“As you get older, you want to know more about this kind of thing — about these people that left their homes behind,” he said. “How did they manage to do all that? Save up money and send for family while scraping out a living?”

Mike’s father and mother Marie did take the opportunity to travel with Tom to Europe and spent several days in Luxembourg. Marie had an uncle, John’s brother, who was 96 years old at the time.

“There was a cousin who served as an interpreter for them, and Mom thoroughly enjoyed visiting with her uncle and the family,” Mike said. “He was a farmer, his son was a farmer, and by then a grandson had taken over the farm. They had a good time talking about farming.”

Comparing notes was a bit tough, he added, because Euros and hectors don’t always translate well into dollars and acres.

Daily Globe Reporter Justine Wettschreck can be reached at

376-7322.

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