The Bognanco Valley of Northern ItalyOther immigrants who came to the North Yuba region from the Bognanco Valley included Andrea Broggio, who lived in Downieville and was naturalized there as a U.S. Citizen in 1897 before returning to Bognanco, and Giovanni “John” Broggio, who arrived in Sierra County in the early 1890s.According to the 1900 census, John Broggio lived as a boarder at the residence of John and Teresa Ponta at Downieville. Then he shows up in the 1910 census at Forest City, working as a miner and living with Lorenzo Lagomarsino. By the 1920 census, Broggio was back in Downieville. He owned three cabins along what is now Lavezzola Creek in the vicinity of the Empire and Lavezzola Ranches.In May of 1934, Broggio ended up missing after hosting a wine party with some friends at his lower cabin. Broggio was known as somewhat of an eccentric; the Mountain Messenger of May 19, 1934, reported the theory that Broggio was on a trip somewhere and “that upon visiti

The small church at Bei, built in 1662.On the second to last day of my visit to the Bognanco Valley, I met up for an interview with a local author and historian, sharing with him the story of my ancestors and the many other immigrants who came to Sierra County from the region (the interview ended up as a half-page article in the Eco Risveglio newspaper). We then got into his vehicle and did a tour of the rest of the valley, stopping near the border of Switzerland.Afterward, for lunch, I met an 83-year-old woman and her son, who had come from the city of Varese to meet me. This woman’s grandfather was Giovanni “John” Mottini, the brother of my great-great-grandfather Joseph Mottini. Our meeting was the first time the California and Italian branches of the Mottini family had met for over a century!For some background on John Mottini, he immigrated to Sierra County in the 1880s and became a naturalized U.S. citizen at Downieville in 1889. Before moving to Nevada City, he

On the second day of my trip to the Bognanco Valley, I met up with a man and his wife with whom I’d been in contact for several months. This man was raised in the Bognanco Valley as a kid in the 1940s and 50s before immigrating to the US in 1956. After retirement, he returned to the Bognanco Valley hamlet of Pioi to restore an old family home, which is likely well over 400 years old! He and his wife now spend a little over half of his time in the United States and the rest at their restored home in Pioi.Interestingly enough, this man and I have a few things in common; we both have great-great-grandparents who belonged to both the Mottini and Morganti families. Another commonality between us is that our families both had close ties to Giovanni Pietro “John Peter” Pianezzi (1866-1955), also known as William Ramm or John Delano, a man with quite an interesting story. Pianezzi was married to the aunt of the man I met in Bognanco.John Peter Pianezzi was born in Bognanco, t

Some of the Pianezzi siblings with their parents in Bognanco, 1870s: Marietta, mother Anna Maria Mottini, Teresa, John Peter, father Giovanni, LawrenceAfter checking into my hotel at Bognanco at the “frazione,” or hamlet, of Fonti, I made it my mission to see as much of the Bognanco Valley as possible despite the rainy weather. From Fonti, I walked down the road to the hamlet of Pianezza, which was the home of the maternal line (the Baiettini family) of my great-great-grandmother Rosa Morganti Mottini.Pianezza is home to a small cluster of stone cottages, just a handful of residents, and a tiny museum devoted to the history of the town’s antique wine press, which dates to 1744. At the museum, I was greeted by an older woman who was happy to open the museum for me, though she probably found it odd that some scruffy American was excited enough to walk nearly two miles in the rain to come and visit her tiny hamlet. The woman had no clue who I was, but I already knew who

Immediately after arriving in Domodossola by train, I boarded a bus that took me along the Bogna River to the small community of Bognanco, the original home of my Italian great-great-grandparents, Giuseppe “Joseph” Mottini and his wife, Rosa Morganti, who settled in Sierra County in the latter half of the 19th century, along with many other immigrants from the Bognanco Valley.For years, the descendants of Joseph Mottini and his wife believed the couple originated from Domodossola (as stated in a previous article, it was typical for immigrants to refer to their hometown as the largest nearby town, as the peripheral villages weren’t well-known); however, several years ago, my good friend Don Costa (a descendant of Downieville’s pioneer Costa family) came across my great-great-grandmother’s immigration records stored with some of the Costa family items. This document listed her hometown as Bognanco - a new discovery! Previously, in 2017, I visited Domodossola

So far in this series, my readers have followed my travels from the region of Liguria in Italy to the region of Piedmont in search of the roots of Sierra County’s Italian pioneers. My travels took me through Chiavari, Genoa, and Rigoroso. From there, I ended up in Milan, where I took a train to the Ossola Valley, the region the rest of this series will focus on.Before arriving in the town of Domodossola, I passed by the smaller communities of Piedimulera and Pieve Vergonte (more specifically, the tiny locality of Fomarco), the ancestral homes of Sierra County’s Tomola family. In 1882, several members of the family of Bartolomeo Tomola (1850-1916) came to California (including cousins and in-laws, which included the Bassi and Blardone families), sailing from Le Havre, France to New York, then taking a train across the country to California.Of interest, the Anzasca Valley west of Piedimulera and Pieve Vergonte is one of the few locales in Italy that was known for gold mining,

Ponta’s Hotel (Joseph Ponta at center of group)There was a time in Downieville’s history when numerous hotels populated the town’s streets. Many were lost to fire (the Capitol Hotel in 1936 and the St. Charles Hotel in 1947, for example), and others, like the Sierra Hotel, were torn down (if I remember correctly, the late Gus Poggi, a descendent of Italian immigrants, humorously stated this structure was torn down because there were more hotels in town than visitors). One building that still stands in Downieville at 401 Main Street was a structure once known as “Ponta’s Hotel,” which was operated by Giuseppe “Joseph” Ponta (1852-1928) and his wife Carolina Bottaro (1863-1937).It is likely that nobody is alive anymore who remembers the building when it operated as a hotel. Still, old-timers may remember the building as the home of the George Bachels family for many years and later the Charles Hardesty family. More recently, the building ha

The John Ponta Family — Teresa, Melba, Julia, Andrew, and JohnSeveral members of the Ponta family immigrated to California in the latter half of the 1800s from the small town of Rigoroso in the Italian region of Piedmont, including the following four brothers: Giuseppe “Joseph” (1852-1928), Nicola (1856-1885), Giovanni “John” (1858-1951), and Enrico (1864-1950; Enrico is referred to as both “Henry” and “Richard” in various sources). The Mountain Messenger of May 3, 1914, tells of the death of a cousin of the men, also known as Henry, who lived for many years in both Sierra and Plumas Counties. The article states: “News has just reached us that Henry Ponta, a cousin of Joe, John, and Richard Ponta of this place, died from pneumonia not long ago. Henry was well known in this vicinity, working in the old Happy Hollow mine near Port Wine, as well as in different mines in the vicinity of Sierra City, but he returned to his hom

Tony Lavezzola and his horse Don in front of the St. Charles HotelOf the several children born to Michele and Maria Lavezzola, perhaps the one remembered most by Sierra County old-timers is their son Antone “Tony” Lavezzola (1881-1962). Tony was best known as the unofficial “Mayor of Downieville” and, for many years, was the proprietor (from 1904 to 1944) of the well-known St. Charles Hotel that burned down in 1947.In Volume 3 of History of the Sacramento Valley, California by Jesse Walton Wooldridge, published in 1931, Tony’s biography states he “had no opportunity to go to school until he was seventeen years old, and then he attended only five and a half terms. He is self-taught, having always been a studious reader, and his experiences have been educational, so that he is a very well informed man. He remained on his father’s farm until 1904, when, in partnership with Joseph Lavezzola [note: Joseph T. Lavezzola was the son of John Lavezzola a

The Michele Lavezzola FamilyMost sources indicate that Michele Lavezzola settled at the property, still known to this day as the Lavezzola Ranch, about five miles northeast of Downieville, in 1869. However, this conflicts with the information provided in Volume 3 of History of the Sacramento Valley, California by Jesse Walton Wooldridge, published in 1931, which features a biography of Antone “Tony” Lavezzola, a son of Michele and Maria Lavezzola. It states Tony’s parents “were born, reared and married in Genoa, Italy. In 1859 the parents emigrated to the United States and came direct to Downieville, where the father started farming. He soon afterward bought from a Mr. Wilson a squatter’s right to one hundred and sixty acres of land, about fifty acres of which were cultivable, and when the homestead law went into effect he took it up and proved on it.” As discussed in a previous article, Michele and Maria Lavezzola were actually from San Colombano Ce

An old photo of the Romano Ranch (earlier Italian Ranch)Several records indicate that Michele Lavezzola was in Sierra County well before 1867, his supposed arrival date that is stated in many sources. In the 1860 census of Downieville, Michele Lavezzola is listed along with several other Italian miners. In researching the history of Charcoal Flat long ago, I found records that Michele joined John Lavezzola at the latter’s ranch there by 1864. As stated in my last article, John and Michele were likely either brothers or in-laws. The 1870 and 1880 censuses of Butte Township (which included Sierra City, Loganville, and Charcoal Flat) lists John Lavezzola and his family; next on the list is Michele Lavezzola and his wife (with their respective birth years listed as 1835 and 1848, which matches with other records on the couple).Therefore, it is my opinion that Michele Lavezzola actually first came to Sierra County in the late 1850s (as opposed to 1867), appearing in the 1860 census of

Tracing the Footsteps of Our Ancestors — Part 4The Costa siblings: John, August, Louisa, Tony, and NickThe children of Antone Costa and Anna Bacigalupi, who survived infancy, became well-known throughout the North Yuba region. Nick Costa, the oldest son, sent for his wife, Maria Raffa, from Chiavari (it was quite commonplace in those days for the Italian men that settled in California to either return to Italy for a bride or pay to send for one; oftentimes these marriages were arranged ahead of time). John Costa married Margaret Campbell. John owned many businesses in Downieville along with many mines in the area, including the Excelsior and Monte Cristo mines, and was arguably one of the most successful men to have lived in Sierra County. His descendants include the Folsom family of Downieville. Louisa Costa married Joseph Pianezzi, an immigrant from Bognanco, Italy (more information on the Pianezzi family later on in this series). August Costa married Marie Saul, and Tony Costa

Tracing the Footsteps of Our Ancestors — Part 3Antone Costa and his wife Anna BacigalupiThe Sacramento Daily Union of December 18th, 1865, reported the following: “Downieville, December 17th. About ten o’clock last evening, as Jack Costa, an Italian gardener above town, was putting out his candle preparatory to going to bed, he was shot through the window with a shot-gun loaded with a slug. The charge took effect in his left side, breaking three ribs. He lived about two hours. Nothing is directly known as to who committed the horrible deed.” However, not long after, newspapers reported that “suspicion attaches the crime to a brother-in-law of the murdered man.” The Mountain Messenger of December 23rd, 1865, gave more details, reporting, “Giacomo Costa was proprietor of the garden furthest from the center of the village, and last Saturday evening his house was made the theater of a terrible tragedy. At about ten o’clock on the evening ment

Tracing the Footsteps of Our Ancestors — Part 2The Garibaldi/Ponta Ranch (earlier Italian Gardens) above Downieville in the late 1800s.Antone Costa and his family first lived at the “Italian Gardens” in Downieville on the northwest side of town, a place for many years known as the Garibaldi Ranch, then later, the Ponta Ranch. While doing research on the Italian Gardens, I found out that Antone Costa was not the first Costa to live in Downieville, a new revelation to his descendants! It turns out the first Costa to live in Downieville was Giacomo “Jack” Costa, who first established the Italian Gardens in the mid-1850s. Deed records at the courthouse also show a Thomas Costa buying property in Downieville in the early 1860s at Zumwalt Flat, the location where Antone Costa would later establish his family home and ranch.It is not known the relation (if any) of Jack Costa and Thomas Costa to Antone Costa - it could be likely they were brothers or cousins, as J

Tracing the Footsteps of Our Ancestors — Part 1Yours truly standing in the town of Chiavari, the ancestral home of Downieville's Costa clanMany newcomers to Sierra County have probably heard something to the effect of “be careful who you talk about when talking to someone, because they’re probably related” or “a murder cannot be solved in the county because all the DNA is the same.” More specifically, in Downieville, it is said that almost everyone in the town is related to a Costa, either by blood or through marriage (I belong to the latter category). It should be noted that Sierra County was the place to which numerous families immigrated from Italy and Switzerland in the latter half of the 1800s and the early 1900s, mostly from the Liguria and Piedmont regions of Italy and the Canton of Ticino in Switzerland. To this day, numerous descendants of these early settlers still live in Sierra County.In September, I took a week off work and traveled