Troy's Genealogue

What's New?:

News
Journal

Family Histories:

Marchese (Terini) Family History, Part II

Giovanni TERINI/MARCHESE (II)²(~1636-1686)

11. Giovanni Terini/Marchese (II)² was born about 1636, likely in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. He married Giovanna Pozzi², who was about 13 years younger, and had as many as eight children. His first son may have been from a previous marriage:

During Giovanni's life, his family name was recorded as Terini, but by 1690 the name Marchese appeared among his children, alternating or even being listed together with Terini through 1724, after which the name settled on Marchese.

In 1651, this Giovanni, who was about the age of 15, or perhaps his father, and Pietro Janzino were reportedly tortured because of accusations by a witch.

Giovanni and Giovanna chose the following as godparents for their children:

• Giacomo and Giovanni (III): no baptism records found in Giumaglio before 1667;
• Antonio: Giovanni Rusca (Giovanotti) and Mrs. Maddalena (Pozzi) Adami, likely Giovanna's elder sister^{[Bap 1668]};
• Carlo: Father Carlo Osvaldo Fricar of Zocchi and Domenica Ianzi^{[Bap 1670]};
• Domenica: Don Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi, Notary, and Apollonia Pozzi, likely Giovanna's sister^{[Bap 1672]};
• Anna Maria: Don Baldassare Franzoni of Cevio and Maria Pozzi^{[Bap 1675]};
• Giovanna: Giovanni Pozzi and Mrs. Domenica (Rossetti) Terini (Marchese)^{[Bap 1681]}; and
• Catterina²: Giovanni Pietro Pozzi and Domenica Adami.^{[Bap 1684]}

Giovanna was named as godmother to Maria Maddalena Ianzini^{[Bap 1669]} and likely Simone Pozzi.^{[Bap 1671]}

In the last week of May 1677, Giovanni Ambrogo Torriano, Bishop of Como, held mass confirmation ceremonies for parishes in the valley at the Church of San Maurizio in Maggia, 4 kilometers downriver, and the Church of Santi Placido ed Eustachio in Someo, 2 kilometers upriver. The Marchese family was confirmed in Maggia and at that event, the following sponsoring godparents were named for each:

• Giovanni (II)²: Don Giovanni Battista Franzoni of Cevio;
• Giovanna²: Mrs. Giovanna (Cerini) Pozzi;
• Giacomo: the Very Rev. Dom. Ercole Franzoni, Pastor of Cevio;
• Giovanni (III): Don Giuseppe Franzoni of Cevio;
• Antonio: Giacomo Ianzini;
• Carlo: Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi, Giovanna's younger brother;
• Domenica: Giovanna's sister-in-law, Mrs. Giacomina (Sartori) Pozzi, wife of Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi, Giovanna's younger brother; and
• Anna Maria: Catterina Pozzi.

It is interesting to note that the Marchese family was the only one to gain sponsorship from three Franzonis, the valley's dynasty of aristocrats. The Pozzi-Righetti family garnered similar support from the Dons of Cevio and Gordevio, and the Bonetti-Coirata, Lesina-Balzari, and Pozzi families each gained sponsorship from Don Giovanni Battista FRANZONI of Cevio.^{[Con 1677]}

It is also notable that son Giacomo's parents were not recorded, in contrast to that of his siblings. He was enumerated following his apparent father and in birth order before his siblings, but this may suggest he was from a previous marriage.^{[Con 1677]} This omission calls attention to the fact that his mother (or stepmother) Giovanna Pozzi² was about 13 years younger than his father and would have been about 14 years old at the time of Giacomo's birth. Furthermore, there is about a five-year gap between Giacomo's birth and that of his next younger brother Giovanni (III).

Similarly, Carlo Ciceri, Bishop of Como, held confirmation ceremonies in June 1683 for parishes in the valley at Maggia, 4 kilometers downriver, and Someo, 2 kilometers upriver. Daughter Giovanna was confirmed at the Church of Santi Placido ed Eustachio in Someo on June 29, at which time her godmother was named as Mrs. Catterina (Righetti) Pozzi.^{[Con 1683]}

Son Giacomo Marchese (recorded as Giacomo Terini) died on August 13, 1683, when he fell from crags at Barsona (unlocated) and suddenly died. He was 20 years old. Giacomo was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1683]}

Giovanni died on Christmas Day, December 25, 1686, at his home Giumaglio. He was reported to be "about 50 years" old and was buried the following day in cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1686]}

Giovanna continued on for as much as another 27 years. In 1692 she was recorded as a 42-year-old widow with five children (all but youngest Catterina²), of whom Giovanni (Jr.) was named as the head of household.^{[Cen 1692]}

Six years later, Antonio, Domenica, and Anna had all left home but Catterina, age 12, was present, and Giovanni (Jr.) had wed.^{[Cen 1698]} Giovanni's (Jr.) 1-year old daughter joined the family by 1702.^{[Cen 1702,1703]}

Giovanna Maria (Pozzi) Marchese was not recorded with her son Giovanni in 1709^{[Cen 1709]}, but likely died on January 14, 1714, at her home in Giumaglio. She was recorded to be "about 63 years" old. Giovanna was buried the following day in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1714]}

Giovanni MARCHESE (~1650-1693)

BB. Giovanni Terini/Marchese, the son of Giovanni Antonio Terini, was born about 1649 or 1650, or perhaps as late as 1655 or 1656, likely in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. He may be a nephew to the elder Giovanni¹ as suggested in the marriage record of his son Antonio to his apparent uncle's daughter, in which they are reported to have the second and third degrees of consanguinity (i.e., first cousins, once removed). Furthermore, in the 1692 parish census, he and his family were enumerated between the households of a younger Pietro Antonio Marchese (perhaps his brother) and an even younger Giovanni Marchese (III) (his likely first cousin).^{[Cen 1692]} Giovanni married Domenica Rossetti and had at least four children:

Giovanni and Domenica were wed on February 17, 1681, at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Recorded witnesses to their union were Giovanni Sartori, Giacomo Pozzi, and Giovanni Cerini.^{[Mar 1681]}

Giovanni and Domenica chose the following as godparents for their children:

• Antonio: Giovanni Pietro Pedrotti and Domenica Terrini (Marchese)^{[Bap 1682]};
• Giacomo: Don Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi and Maddalena Ianzi/Ianzini^{[Bap 1685]};
• Giovanna: Giacomo Pietro Giornica and Domenica Terini (Marchese)^{[Bap 1688]}; and
• Domenica: Antonio Pedrotti and Domenica Lafranchi of Coglio.^{[Bap 1693]}

Domenica was chosen as the godmother to Giovanna Terini (Marchese).^{[Bap 1681]}

In June 1683, Carlo Ciceri, Bishop of Como, held confirmation ceremonies for parishes in the valley at Maggia, 4 kilometers downriver, and Someo, 2 kilometers upriver. Son Giovanni Antonio was confirmed at the Church of Santi Placido ed Eustachio in Someo on June 29, at which time his godfather was named as Antonio Cerini.^{[Con 1683]}

Daughter Giovanna died two days after her third birthday at their home in Giumaglio on September 29, 1691. She was buried the following day in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1691]}

Giovanni Marchese died at his home in Giumaglio on March 11, 1693, just six weeks after his fourth child was born. He was reported to be about 37 years old. Giovanni was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1693]}

After Giovanni's death, Domenica continued to live with son Antonio, his new bride, daughter Domenica, and her elder sister Giovanna.^{[Cen 1698-1703]}

Domenica (Rossetti) Marchese died on May 10, 1709, at her home in Giumaglio. She was buried the following day in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Domenica was 47 years old.^{[Dth 1709]}

Pietro Antonio MARCHESE (~1655-<1709)

Z. Pietro Antonio Marchese was born about 1655, likely in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. His relationship to our Giovanni¹ is not known, but in the 1692 parish census his family was enumerated followed by the households of an elder Giovanni Marchese and a younger Giovanni Marchese (III).^{[Cen 1692]} Antonio was married three times. His first wife was Giovanna Giornica in 1683, with whom he had three daughters. Giovanna died in 1689 after giving birth and two months later Antonio remarried to Catterina Gaspari. They had two children before her early death. Afterward, Antonio married Giovanna Maria (Mirenini) Gaspari, the widow of Catterina's apparent late brother, Giovanni Giacomo Gaspari. She had one surviving son from her ten-year marriage and they went on to have five more daughters together, including a set of triplets. All together, Antonio fathered ten children but only one son from his second marriage survived to adulthood:

Antonio married Giovanna Giornica on February 9, 1683, at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, as were two other couples: Giovanni Battista Bonetti and Anna Maria Ianzi, and Antonio Ianzi and Domenica Bonetti. Antonio was about 27 years old and Giovanna about 18 or 19 years old. Before their marriage they obtained dispensation for the impediment of the fourth degree of consanguinity (i.e., third cousins, however, the exact connection of their relationship is not yet known). Recorded witnesses to all three marriages that day were Pietro Pedrotti, Giovanni Adami, and Giovanni Pozzi.^{[Mar 1683]}

Giovanna (Giornica) Marchese died on September 8, 1689, two weeks after giving birth to daughter Giovanna, who died the following year. Giovanna confessed the day of her death but unexpectedly died before administration of the last rites were completed. She was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Giovanna was only 25 years old.^{[Dth 1689]} She and Antonio had been married six years.

With two young daughters, Antonio remarried, two months after Giovanna's death, to Catterina Gaspari on November 18, 1689, at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Antonio was about 34 years old and Catterina about 21 or 22. Prior to their marriage, three traditional declarations were made on October 23, 28, and 30, but their marriage was delayed by having to seek dispensation for the impediment of the fourth equal degree of consanguinity (i.e., third cousins, however the exact connection of their relationship is not yet known). Dispensation was coordinated with the Nuncio Apostolic to Switzerland in Lucerne and approved on November 16. Recorded witnesses to their union were Giacomo Sartori, Carlo Antonio Pozzi, the town don, and Giovanni Pozzi.^{[Mar 1689]} At the time, Antonio was about 34 years old and Catterina was about 21.

Daughter Maria Catterina Marchese died on February 1, 1697, at the age of 9. She was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1697]}

Catterina (Gaspari) Marchese died on January 30, 1700, at her home in Giumaglio, apparently during an outbreak of some kind that took the lives of six parishioners in the span of three weeks, including her likely brother, Giovanni Giacomo Gaspari. She was reported to be 32 years old. Catterina was buried the same day in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1700]}

A month after the first outbreak subsided, another even worse malady struck and culminated in the parish's most tragic month and its most deadly year on record. Seven parishioners died in a single week in April 1700--most of them children--and among them was nine-year-old son Giovanni Antonio, who died on April 20^{[Dth 1700C]}, and also Gaspare Gaspari, the 23-month-old son of Giovanna Maria (Mirenini) Gaspari, who would remarried to Antonio five month later. Both children were buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1700B,C]}

Antonio remarried to Giovanna Maria (Mirenini) Gaspari, the recent widow of Catterina's apparent late brother Giovanni Giacomo Gaspari, on October 13, 1700, at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. Antonio was about 45 years old and Giovanna about 28. It was noted that Antonio and Giovanna were related by affinity (i.e., related by marriage rather than by blood) and they obtained dispensation beforehand from the Nuncio Apostolic to Switzerland in Lucerne. Recorded witnesses were Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi and Guglielmo Mirenini.^{[Mar 1700]} Giovanna had four sons during her first marriage, but only Giacomo (II), who was five years old at the time, lived to the time of Giovanna's remarriage. Giacomo lived with his uncle Pietro Paolo Gaspari through 1703.^{[Cen 1702-1703]}

The triplets were born in the home of midwife Elena Giumini, who performed an emergency baptism on the first. The other two triplets were baptized the following day.^{[Bap 1709A-C]}

Antonio and his wives chose the following godparents for their children:

1. Giovanna (elder): Giovanni Antonio Terini (Marchese) and Giacomina Galeazzi of Lodano^{[Bap 1685]};
2. Catterina: Giacomo Pietro Giornica, perhaps Giovanna's brother, and Maria Lafranchi of Coglio^{[Bap 1687]};
3. Giovanna (younger): Giovanni Giacomo Rusca (Giovanotti) and Giovanna Cerini^{[Bap 1689]};
4. Antonio: Giovanni Pietro Sartori² and Maria Teresia Gaspari^{[Bap 1690B]};
5. Giovanni: Pietro Gaspari, Catterina's younger brother, and Domenica Marchese^{[Bap 1695]};
6. Giovanna: Giovanni Antonio Marchese and Mrs. Lucia (Molinari/Bonetti) Cantoni^{[Bap 1701]};
7. Catterina (elder): Giovanni Terrini (Marchese) and Anna Cerini^{[Bap 1703]};
8. Lucia: no godparents named^{[Bap 1709]};
9. Martire Maria: Giovanni Antonio Pozzi, but no godmother named^{[Bap 1709B]}; and
10. Catterina (younger): Francesco Carasa(?) of Ascona and an unnamed daughter of Domenico Rusca (Giovanotti).^{[Bap 1709C]}

Antonio was in turn named as godfather to Bertina Pozzi^{[Bap 1690A]} and Catterina as godmother of likely nephew Giovanni Gaspari.^{[Bap 1693]}

Pietro Antonio Marchese died between 1708 and 1709.^{[Cen 1709]} He was about 53 years old.

After Antonio's death, Maria continued with Antonio's son Giovanni and their daughter Giovanna, ages 13 and 7, and her 66-year-old father, Giovanni Giacomo Mirenini.^{[Cen 1709]}

Giovanna Maria (Mirenini Gaspari) Marchese sometime after 1709. In that year she reportedly was 34 years old^{[Cen 1709]} but was 39.

Continue on to Part III