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MALUGANI Family History, Part I

The Malugani family has its earliest known roots in Primaluna, in the river valley Valsassina in the Alps of Lombardy and is separated to the west from Lago di Como (Lake Como) by the mountain la Grigna (2,410 m/7,907 ft). The stream Pioverna flows from the base of the mountain Grigna northwest down the Valsassina through the towns of Introbio, Vimogno, Barcone, Primaluna, Cortabbio, and on to Lago di Como at Bellano, all in the province of Lecco.

Four Malugani siblings (Giuseppe², Antoni, Caterina, and Maria) were born in Primaluna migrated northwest into the Swiss canton of Ticino. Joe started a family in Ticino before they all immigrated to America in 1889 and 1892, settling in Sonoma County, California. Joe arrived first in 1889 and then Antoni and Caterina followed in 1892 and 1893 via New York along with Joe's wife and two children. Sister Maria emigrated in 1896 to western Pennsylvania, and another sibling is said to have emigrated to South America, likely Argentina.

Carlo MALUGANI¹

1. The parents of our Malugani family were Carlo Malugani¹ and Marta Maroni.^{[Cen ~1890]} They had at least four children before her death after giving birth to son Paolo Amadeo in 1873.^{[Marci 174-176]} Carlo remarried to Marianna Cerini of Giumaglio, Ticino, Switzerland, and had one more daughter. His four surviving children all emigrated to America from Switzerland in the early 1890s:

Marta (Maroni) Malugani died in Primaluna on March 31, 1873, three days after giving birth to son Paolo Amadeo who died four days after his birth. Marta was about 39 years old.^{[Marci 174-176]}

Carlo reportedly went on to remarry to Marianna Cerini on March 29, 1877^{[Mar 1877]} and had one more daughter, however, there is a discrepancy between the date of their marriage and the birth of daughter Maria.

Son Giuseppe migrated north to Giumaglio and married Aurelia Cerini⁹, Marianna's niece, in 1888 and started a family there. He emigrated to America in 1889 but returned to retrieve his family, sister Caterina, and perhaps brother Antonio, and all emigrated to America in August 1892. Another brother is said to have emigrated to South America, either to work in the diamond mines or, more likely, as a cattle rancher in Argentina.

Carlo died sometime before 1892 when Marianna died.^{[Dth 1892]}

Marianna (Cerini) Malugani died on October 15, 1892, in Primaluna. She was recorded to be 55 years old, but, if the same, would have been 52 years old. Her parents were listed as Pietro Cerini and Giovanna Cerini.^{[Dth 1892]}

Giuseppe "Joe" Carlo MALUGANI² (1864-1924)

11. Giuseppe Carlo "Joseph ("Joe") Charles" Malugani ², was born February 9, 1864, in the region of Lago di Como in Lombardi, Italy, now believed to have been pinpointed to the town of Primaluna, Lecco Province, in a valley that drains into Lago di Como from the east. He moved from Primaluna to Giumaglio, Ticino, Switzerland, in 1888 and married Aurelia (Caterina) Cerini⁹, a native of Giumaglio, on either February 5^{[Mar 1888]} or May 31, 1888.^{[Cen ~1890]} They were wed by Reverend Giovanni Bardelli, presumably in Primaluna by authority of Father Riccardo Pedrazzini, who recorded the marriage at the parish of Giumaglio. Aurelia is believed to have been the niece of Joe's stepmother, Marianna (Cerini) Malugani. Until at least the birth of son Charles, Joe went by "Carlo."^{[Bap 1888,1890]}

Joe emigrated to California in 1889 ahead of the rest of his family and first settled in Analy Township, on the outskirts of Santa Rosa, Sonoma County. Aurelia, who was likely pregnant with their second child when Joseph left, joined him in 1892. After arriving in California they had six more children, all born in the greater Santa Rosa area, who lived to adulthood. Another two children died in infancy and are buried up by the milk house off St. Helena Road:

11A.	Martina Giuseppina MaluganiΔ	30 Sep 1888	27 Mar 1981	(92)
11B.	Charles Aurelio Malugani3	3 Apr 1890	28 Apr 1957	(67)
11C.	Serena MaluganiΔ	24 Jul 1893	1 May 1928	(34)
11D.	Antonio MaluganiΩ	30 May 1895	31 Oct 1977	(82)
11E.	Josephine L. MaluganiΔ	5 Dec 1898	4 Oct 1994	(95)
11F.	Joseph C. Malugani (Sr.)Δ	9 Oct 1899	22 Aug 1984	(84)
11G.	Filomena L. MaluganiΩ	2 Oct 1901	19 Nov 1931	(30)
11J.	Daniel Joseph Malugani, Sr.Δ	11 Aug 1908	28 Feb 2008	(99)

Joe was a dairyman and also a reasonably accomplished mason who is said to have first worked for the Leggett family near the intersection of the old Sebastopol Highway and Wright Road on the outskirts of Santa Rosa. Joe was naturalized at the Sonoma County Superior Court on September 4, 1894. His voter registration on August 6, 1896, listed him as a dairyman and described him as only 5' 2" tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. It was also in this area that Joe was twice enumerated in the 1900 census, first as a lone, but married, boarder with the Louis Pedrotti family in Llano Precinct, and then at the end of the month with his family in Analy Township. Louis Pedrotti was Aurelia's third cousin through their Giumini lines.

Joe later worked for the Austins above Rincon Valley and by 1901 built the "Rock House" residence off Saint Helena Road near his sister Catherina Paroli and family. Joe filed the patent (200933 in Twp 8N R7W, Sec 21) for the Rock House property on May 25, 1911. When son Dan was born in 1908, the family residence was recorded on his certificate of birth as "Hogs back Ranch," a name that none of Joe and Aurelia's great grandchildren recall hearing.^{[Birth 1908]}

Joe was also registered in the Rincon precinct of Santa Rosa in 1900 and 1912, and as a Republican in the latter. Son Dan recalls that Joe had a strong sense of citizenship and urged his son-in-law Toni Magatelli to become a citizen because one "must become a citizen to live here."

Joseph C. Malugani (Sr.)
Josephine (Malugani) Sanford
Tony Malugani
Charles A. Malugani³

After the "Rock House," the Maluganis moved to the bottom of Alpine Road where they were enumerated in the 1920 census. There Joe set about building a second rock house, which he had nearly completed—all but the windows—before he died in 1924.

One September afternoon Joe's son Dan went looking for his father. After seaching a while he checked the corn field and found him lying passed out on the ground. Dan carried him back to the house and Joe died the next day of bronchopneumonia.

Joseph Charles Malugani died at the age of 60 on September 12, 1924, in Santa Rosa. He is buried at the Calvary Cemetery on Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa. Daughter Filomena joined him after her death on November 19, 1931.

Aurelia (Cerini) Malugani died 24 years later on January 28, 1948, in San Rafael, Marin County, California, and was buried three days later at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery, along side Joe and their daughter Philomena. Aurelia was 79 years old.

Antonio "Tony" MALUGANI (1866-1933)

12. Antonio "Zeo Tony" Malugani was born probably near Lago di Como, Lombardia, Italy, in March 1866. He emigrated to California in the early 1890s, either with his brother Joseph in 1889 or with his sisters in 1892. He was naturalized at the Sonoma County Superior Court on July 18, 1898 and registered to vote that same day. The voter registration lists him as a laborer, 5' 5" tall, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair. In 1900, Antonio registered as a resident of the southern portion of Sebastopol.

Zeo Tony lived with his brother Joe and family in the hills above Rincon Valley.^{[Cen 1920]} After his brother died in 1924 and his sister-in-law moved into Santa Rosa, Tony remained in the hills with his nephew and apparent namesake Tony.^{[Cen 1930]}

Antonio Malugani died on March 28, 1933, in Sonoma County. He was 67 years old.

Catherine (MALUGANI) PAROLI (1868-1949)

13. Caterina "Catherine" Malugani, known among our branch of the Malugani family as "Zea Paroli," was born in Switzerland on September 1, 1868, and immigrated to California with her brother Antonio, her sister-in-law Aurelia (Cerini) Malugani, and her two children in 1892. Caterina married Antonio Paroli on April 8, 1895, in Sonoma County, and raised four children and one grandson:

131.	Paul Paroli	7 Feb 1896	14 Jan 1984	(87)
132.	Domenica Paroli	30 Dec 1897	28 Dec 1917	(19)
133.	Charles F. Paroli	5 May 1901	Jun 1981	(80)
134.	Martina Paroli	(1905)	18 Feb 1907	(2)
1321.	Albert Mike Paroli, Sr.	9 Jun 1917	17 Mar 1992	(74)

Catherine Malugani married Antonio Paroli on April 8, 1895, in Sonoma County, California. They were married by S.K. Dougherty, Superior Judge in Sonoma County. At the time, Caterina had been living in Stony Point, midway between Santa Rosa and Petaluma, and Antonio in Freestone, between Sebastopol and Bodega Bay. Both were 22 years old.

Antonio filed for land patent 8361, section 21 of Township MD 8N 7W, on June 2, 1904, which lies off St. Helena Road in the hills above Santa Rosa. By 1920, the Parolis resettled in Rincon Precinct at a place that is later likely identified as 2733 Calistoga Road. The family continued there through 1940 with sons Paul and Charlie, and grandon Albert.^{[Cen 1940]}

Antonio Paroli died on June 13, 1940, in Sonoma County, at the age of 70 years old. He was buried on Saturday, June 15, at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Santa Rosa.^[Grave]

Catherine (Malugani) Paroli died nine years later at the age of 80 on January 9, 1949, of hypertensive heart disease caused by arteriosclerosis. At the time she was living at the Paroli Ranch at 2733 Calistoga Road, Santa Rosa. She was buried on January 12 at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery^{[Dth 1949]}.

Maria (MALUGANI) SPOTTI^Δ (1875-1954)

15.Maria Malugani^Δ was born on July 27, 1875 (or 1874^{[Mar 1896]}) in Primaluna, Lecco Province, Italy.^{[Nat 1907]} On her marriage license she was recorded as "Martha G. M. O. Malugani." She emigrated in 1896 and married Pietro "Peter" Spotti, a native of Introbio, 2.5 kilometers up the valley from Primaluna, on March 25, 1896, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. They had as many as 11 children:

15A.	Charles Spotti	12 Mar 1897	6 Mar 1991	(93)
15B.	Ernesto SpottiΔ	13 Jun 1898	(1940-1949)	(40s)
15C.	Eugene Spotti	1 Jul 1900	17 Apr 1992	(91)
15D.	Rinaldo "Ray" SpottiΔ	26 Jul 1902	16 Jan 1996	(93)
15E.	Eugenia Spotti	10 Jul 1904	(> 1910)	(> 5)
15F.	Bianca "Blanche" Spotti	29 Jul 1906	(> 1930)	(> 24)
15G.	Dante Spotti	13 Sep 1908	1977	(68)
15H.	Fred Spotti	(Feb) 1910	1969	(59)
15I.	Rolando Spotti	27 Apr 1911	16 Aug 1932	(21)
15J.	Bruno Louis Spotti	7 Sep 1912	17 Feb 1991	(78)
15K.	William D. SpottiΔ	7 Oct 1916	16 Jun 1993	(76)
15L.	Peter R. Spotti	1 Feb 1921	7 Jun 2007	(86)

Pietro and Maria were both recorded as residents of Bridgeville, Allegheny County, about 10 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, along Chartiers Creek, when they wed. She was 21 (or 20) years old and he was 29.^{[Mar 1896]} They started their family in Essen, 2 miles east of Bridgeville, and their first three children were born there. Next they moved to Federal, about 5 miles west of Essen up Thoms Run, which drains into Chartiers Creek. Rinaldo was born at Federal. By the birth of Antonia in 1906, the family moved to Morgan, along Millers Run, which also drains into Chartiers Creek. The area was later described as South Fayette Township, Allegheny County, "along Miller's Run Road outside of Sygan Hill,"^{[Cen 1910]} which lies between Morgan and Sygan Hill. Pietro worked as a coal miner from at least 1903, when he filed his declaration of intention to become naturalized, through at least 1910. Their home was rented and it was futher recorded that all eight of Maria's children survived to the time.^{[Cen 1910]}

By 1930, the family was enumerated in Cecil Township, Washington County, but lived along a mail route out of the McDonald Post Office to the north.^{[Dth 1932, Cen 1940]} Cecil Township lies about 5 miles farther up Miller's Run from Morgan. There Pietro worked as a general farmer and his sons as farm laborers.^{[Cen 1930]}

Tragedy befell the Spottis when 21-year-old son Rolando fell from a roof while painting a school house in Midway, Allegheny County, and fractured his skull. He was buried at Melrose Cemetery^{[Dth 1932, Grave]} in Bridgeville.

By 1940, the household consisted of Maria, Pete, and sons Charles and William. The family home and farm were valued at $8,000.^{[Cen 1940]}

Pietro Spotti died on March 15, 1947, in Cecil, Washington County, following a bout of pneumonia with contributing factors of acute bronchitis and arteriosclerosis. He was buried on March 19 in Melrose Cemetery. Pietro was 80 years old.^{[Dth 1947, Grave]}

Maria (Malugani) Spotti died in 1954, at about the age of 79, and was buried with Pietro in Melrose Cemetery.^[Grave]

Continue on to
Malugani Family History, Part II