Famiglia di Digoncelli

Nonno’s maternal ancerstors were the Digoncelli’s. This is the first three generations of the Digoncelli family tree.  While we no nothing of the family prior to Nonno’s mother, we do know about his mother’s generation and the generations that follow. Many of the Digoncelli’s came to America and those relatives who remained in Piantedo continued to correspond with Nonno, exchanging letters and photos on a regular basis. What we know of Maria Ursula’s family comes from old photos, postcards, family stories and the Ellis Island files. From these evolve the  family tree.

• Maria Ursula had at least three brothers, Giovanni, Vincente and Antonio. Family photographs seem to indicate that the twins Albina and Enrica were Giovanni’s daughters.  From the Ellis Island records we know Giovanni also had two sons, Giacomo and Giovanni Battista, known simply as Battista. Both sons traveled to America and settled in California. Battista  came to America first. On November 14, 1903, at age 17, he arrived in New York aboard the La Savoie. From there he traveled to California. Seven years later his brother  Giacomo, age 21, decided to join Battista and came to America  aboard the Berlin out of Genoa, Italy, arriving in New York on January 18, 1910. With $26 in his pocket, all that he had left after paying his passage, he set out for Albion on the Mendocino Coast of California to work in the sawmills or vineyards. Giacomo died January,1916.
• Another brother of Maria Ursula was Vincente Digoncelli, the father of Giovanni Battista. Giovanni Battista was another Digoncelli cousin who decided to try and make his fortune in America. At age 22 he left home and boarded the La Lorraine out of La Harve, France. He arrived in New York on April 14, 1914 and with $30 in his pocket set out for the home of his cousin Giacomo in Albion,  California. On April 16, 1903, at the Court House in Sonoma, Giovanni Battista became a natualized citizen of the United States.

• Maria Ursula’s third  brother was Antonio. He was married to Mary Giboli. They had two children, Anna (Annita) and Santino.
• Anna, born in 1885 in Piantedo,  followed her cousins to America.  Anna was  married to Giacomo Acquistapace, born in 1885 in Sondrio, Italy. In 1901 Anna, Giacomo and their infant son Camillo left Genoa aboard the Liguria setting sail for America. They arrived in New York on August 2, 1901. They travelled to California and settled in  Aqua Caliente. Having adopted America as their new home, Anna and Giacomo were sworn in as citizens at the Sonoma Court House on April 16, 1903.  In 1906 a second son, Giacomo, Jr. was born. With war looming, Giacomo, Sr. enlisted in the WWI Civilian Draft Registration. It is not known if he was called to serve but all indications are that his services were not needed. Sometime before the 1920 census Giacomo died leaving Anna a widow with two teenage sons. Anna supported herself and family as a resort proprietor in Aqua Caliente. In 1922, Anna  and Giacomo, 16, returned to Piantedo for a visit. They returned to the United States and their resort in Agua Caliente on June 10, 1922 aboard the Paris out of Le Harve, France. It is here that we lose track of the Acquistapace part of the family tree.

• Santino, Anna’s brother, remained in Piantedo and raised his family there. Surprisingly, through correspondence and photographs, we know more about Santino and his family than we do about Anna’s family.  Santino had five  children, Vinzenzo, Claudio, Romeo, an unnamed son , and Lorenzo.

   Vincenzo,   had four children, two girls and two boys. We know them from their photograph taken in the late 1940’s .

Claudio is the son that is a parish priest. It is reported that he is the priest in the photographs of Maria Ursula’s funeral.

 July 13, 1949 

• The unnamed son is married to Gerfaria and they have two children, a son Bice and a daughter Contivete.

Romeo was born around 1915. He served in the Italian military during World War II. He married Esteria. They have a son, Vito and three daughters. Nonno inherited property from his mother and when he died the property came to Dad. In 1962, Dad sold that small piece of land in Madesima in the Italian Alps to Romeo and his family for $640. Romeo and his family developed the property into a small ski villa known as Refugio Camanin. A cousin , Igilda Digoncelli, is the proprietor.

Bank Transfer for purchase Land

• Lorenzo, the last son of Santino, was born in 1901. At age 21 Lorenzo decided to join his aunt Anna in America. Sailing aboard the Conte  Rosso out of Genoa, he arrived in New York on August 5, 1922 bound for San Francisco.  He had hoped to marry Annie Scalcini, but she had married Mike Del Naro. Lorenzo remained in San Francisco and later married Alphosina. and the two of them lived there until their deaths in 1983 and 1981 respectively.

Maria Ursula thru the Years

 Photos 1905, 1925, 1946

• Nonno’s mother was Maria Ursula Digoncelli. She was born in Piantedo on January 30, 1865. We know nothing of her childhood. She married Domenico Scalcini in June of 1888 but was widowed at age 23 during  the first year of marriage. She gave birth to her only son, Domenico shortly after her husband’s death. From this point on she signed all her correspondence: “Digoncelli, Maria Ursula, the widow Scalcini.” She never remarried and continued to live the remainder of her life in Piantedo. Among her interests were weaving and letter writing. She wrote many letters to her family in America. She sent Lena Edelwiess flowers from the Italy high country. In February of 1953 Nonno visited his mother,his only trip to Italy after coming to America. After Nonno’s departure, Maria’s health began to deteriorate rapidly. It is rumored that she willed herself to live long enough to see  her son “one last time.” She died July 22, 1953. She was buried in the Digoncelli family plot in Piantedo.