1930-1935
Josep Mussap Studio Portrait (1 of 2)
One of two photos from the same studio session. Josep was father to Luigia Babuder Carson. Little is known of him and there are only three photographs of him in the family collection. Uncertainty surrounds his first name. Alfred and Arlie Carson's family geneaology, "Carruth to Carson", has his name as Giovanni. However, ship manifest records from Alfred and Luigia's voyage to the US in 1948 record his name as Josep. Research shows that he was very likely an Arbanasi Italian with his ancestors originally immigrating to Croatia from Albania. As Luigia's son, I recall my mother mentioning that her father was Albanian. A February, 2018 email exchange with sisters Linda and Deborah confirm this:
Linda Rebecca Carson Lieser: "Mom always called him Johnny Musap. Giovanni is the Italian for John. I don't know that I ever heard him referred to any other way. Definitely Albanian."
Deborah Jean Carson: "I do remember mom saying that her father was Albanian."
Sometime between 1945-1947 Luigia last saw Giovanni at a cafe in a train station--most likely in Trieste. There is no family recollection what happened to him afterwards.
