Roots in Someo, Switzerland
Someo (Soméi)
The ancestral home of our Guerra, Muscio, Perini, Tognini/Coirata and Tognazzini families is the town of Someo in the Italian-speaking canton of Switzerland. In Ticinese dialect it is known as Soméi. Someo lies in Valle Maggia, one of the three main river valleys of Ticino. It is located about 2 kilometers north of Giumaglio and Coglio and its parish also included parishioners from Riveo to the north.
Native familes include: Andreina (Bescanti/Bescantini/Biscanti); Antognazzi; Antonini (Antognini); Bettanta and Bettantini; Bonetti; Caligari; Camani (Camanòi) and Camanini, both of Riveo; Caporgno (Capornei) and Caporgnini; Cerini (Bravini) of Riveo; Cerri; Coirata (Tognini); Coppi; Dalido (D'Ali); Fachini (Tognazzini); Ferrari; Filipponi; Franscioni/Franscionini; Giacometti; Guerra (Gueroni?); Guzzi (Tognazzini) of Riveo; Jorio (Iorio); Lanotti; Martinoni; Morganti; Muscio; Nicola; Pedretti; Pedrina; Perini; Perinoni (Parinoni); Pezzoni; Poma of Riveo; Righetti (Reit) of Riveo; Tonascia of Riveo; Tognazzi of Riveo; Tognazzini of Someo and Riveo; Tognetti; Tognini; and Tomasini.
Riveo
L'oratorio della Madonna delle Grazie in Riveo was subordinate to the parish of Someo. Residents of Riveo occassionally wed there (1739-1776) and were buried there (1749-1842), but all recorded baptisms were performed at the church in Someo.
Parish Records
Having completed full parish reconstructions of Giumaglio and Coglio, I ordered microfilms of parish records for the Church of Saints Placido and Eustachio (in Italian as "Chiesa di Santi Placido ed Eustachio" and in Latin as "Ecclesia Sancti Eustachii et Socios, Matyres") in May 2017. The parish of Someo was formed before 1591 from the mother church at Cevio[Signorelli 325], about 7 kilometers upriver. Because I only have two main blood lines in Someo--the Tognini/Coirata and Tognazzini families, it was originally not my intention to do a full parish reconstruction like I did in Giumaglio and Coglio. But then I got carried away. Running into some trouble tracing my Tognazzini family I wound up starting from the beginning and doing a full reconstruction from 1688 forward. 
My plan, as of this writing, is to continue until 1850, which should catch most all of the emigration generation. The parish records available for Someo comprise:
- Deaths: 1688-1899;
- Marriages: 1689-1899;
- Confirmations: 1719-1899; and
- Baptisms: 1723-1900 (less a 10-year gap from 1868 to 1878).
Throughout most of this time the parishes of the valley had been under the Diocese of Como, in Italy, until the new federal government of the restored Swiss Confederation unilaterally abolished the diocese's jurisdiction in 1859. Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) eventually responded by appointing the Bishop of Basel, in Switzerland, as administrator Apostolic over the parishes of Ticino in a nominal Diocese of Lugano in 1888. Such an administrator ran the parishes of Ticino until 1971 when a formal Diocese of Lugano with its own bishop was finally established.
Pastors of the Parish of Someo
Father Giovanni Pietro Martinoni (~1685)
Father Giovanni Pietro Martinoni, likely a native of Someo, was noted as vicar of Someo when he performed a baptism in the parish of Giumaglio in 1685. His tenure predates the earliest available, microfilmed records for Someo, which began in 1689.
Father Baldassare Maria Franzoni (1688-1704)
Father Baldassare Maria Franzoni (1656-1719) of Cevio, according to Family Search Family Tree[KD3F-LK6], became rector of Someo in 1688. He started the first available, microfilmed book of marriage records in 1689.
In 1697, Father Bernardo Varena of Locarno and Father Giuseppe Garozzi, Vicar of Coglio, successively substituted for Father Franzoni for about five months.
Father Franzoni served as rector through at least December 1704 and overlapped as vicar and rector of Giumaglio for 14 years from July 1704 through the end of 1718. Father Franzoni died on June 2, 1719, in Cevio.[KD3F-LK6]
Father Giuseppe Nicola Casanova (1705-1709)
Father Giuseppe Nicola Casanova became rector of the parish by February 1705 and started the second available book marriage records for the parish in 1707. He served through at least May 1709. Father Casanova may have been from Brissago, south of Locarno, as indicated by likely relative Giovanni Pietro Casanova's having served as a witness to a marriage in Someo that Father Casanova officiated.
Father Giovanni Antonio Camani (1710-1717)
Father Giovanni Antonio Camani of Campo was vicar from January 1710 until his death on March 20, 1717. He was "about 50" years old and was buried in the Church in Someo. Father Camani was tended by Father Baldassare Franzoni who had served as vicar of Someo before transferring to Giumaglio by 1704. Father Camani's death record is the first entry in the first available, microfilmed book of death records.
Father Giovanni Battista Pozzi (1717-1731)
Father Giovanni Battista Pozzi (1685-1731) was a native of Giumaglio and the son of Giovanni and Giovanna (Cerini) Pozzi.[Bap 1685] In 1707 he was noted once as a a cleric under Father Franzoni in Giumaglio and served with him at least through 1710. He went on to become the vicar of Brontallo, 14 kilometers upriver, where he served at the time of Father Antonio Camani's death in March 1717. Father Franzoni filled in as the vicar of Someo but called upon Father Pozzi to preside over a wedding in Someo in early April. Later that same month Father Pozzi officially became the vicar.
Father Pozzi substituted on occasion for Father Franzoni in Giumaglio until Franzoni's apparent death around 1719. After Franzoni's death, Father Pozzi filled in as vicar and rector in July and August 1719 until Father Giovanni Battista Grassi of Mosogno, Valle Onsernone, took over as vicar of the parish for a year from August 1719 until August 1720. After Father Grassi's departure, Father Pozzi doubled as vicar of Someo and temporary vicar of Giumaglio from September through November 1720.
As many as three chaplains were noted serving with Father Pozzi during the 1720s: Father Pietro Giovanni Lafranchini of Medio Vicho (?), Valle Lugano, in 1719 and 1725; Father Bernardo Antonio Berna of Prato in 1722; and Father Giacomo Antonio Ramelli in 1728.
Father Pozzi served as rector and vicar of Someo through at least December 1730 and died on January 5, 1731, either in Someo or his native Giumaglio. He was buried at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Giumaglio. Father Pozzi was "about 45 years" old.
Father Giovanni Angelo Broggini (Broggino), Vicar of Giumaglio, substituted briefly in February 1731 following Father Pozzi's death.
Father Giovanni Domenico Barazzi (1731-1765)
Father Giovanni Domenico Barazzi of Locarno took over as vicar by February 1731, following Father Pozzi's passing in January. Father Barazzi was about 25 years old and served until his death 34 years later.
Father Giovanni Battista Grassi of Mosogno, Valle Onsernone, was again recorded in the parish as its chaplain from 1733 through 1740.
Another Father Giovanni Battista Pozzi of Coglio served under Father Barazzi as vice chaplain from 1742 to 1745 before becoming Vicar of Coglio. (The earlier Father Pozzi was from Giumaglio.) The following year, Cleric Fabio Barazzi of Locarno, presumably a relative, was named as a witness to three parish marriages in 1744 and 1745.
Father Giovanni Domenico Lafranchi of Tegna became vice chaplain of Someo by 1746 and occasionally performed marriages on behalf of the vicar through 1756. He may have been of the Lanfranchini family that is native to Tegna and perhaps related to Father Domenico Lanfranchini who later served as rector of Someo in 1807 and 1808. Father Lafranchi died at the home of Bernardo Muscio on December 10, 1756, and was bured in the church. He was 58 years old. Similarly, in 1749, Father Fabio Barazzi was first recorded as the chaplain of Someo and performed marriages through 1751. He was later noted as the Pastor of Lodano by 1756.
Father Barazzi started the second surviving parish book of death records in February 1746 and a book of baptisms in April 1759. With him served Father Giovanni Pietro Neri (~1710-1784) of Avegno, Chaplain of Someo, from at least 1759 beyond Father Barazzi's tenure until his death in 1784.
Father Barazzi died at the age of "about 59" years at the vicar's residence in Someo on November 19, 1765. He had been attended by Chaplain Neri. Father Domenico Antonio Calzonio, Vicar of Giumaglio, presided over Father Barazzi's funeral and burial in the Church of Someo the following day.
Father Gaspare Travelli (1766-1788)
Father Gaspare Travelli of Locarno served as pastor and vicar of Someo for 22 years from at least January 1766 through June 1788.
Father Giovanni Pietro Neri (~1710-1784) of Avegno continued to serve with Father Travelli as chaplain until his death. Father Neri's likely elder brother, Giovanni Battista Neri (~1705-1779) of Avegno, died in the chaplain's home in Someo on March 5, 1779, at the age of "about 74" years. He was tended by Father Travelli and buried in the parish cemetery in Someo. Five years later, Father Neri died on April 14, 1784, also at the age of "about 74" years, at the chaplain's home in Someo. He was tended by Father Travelli and buried inside the church in Someo. He served the parish as many as 25 years.
Father Teodoro Martinoni, a native of Someo, performed a baptism on the son of Mrs. Maria Anna (Martinoni) Guerra in 1780. He later returned to the parish to perform two marriages in 1785 and 1786 and was identifed as the pastor of Calpiogna, Valle Leventina (Calpiogna is in Valle Ticino). The second was for the marriage of Giovanni Pietro Martinoni, the son of an elder Teodoro.
Father Giuseppe Antognini was later noted as chaplain in March and April 1785. Canon Gerolamo Bonenzi of Locarno, Chaplain of Someo, also served concurrently with Father Travelli from at least November 1785 through June 1788.
After Father Travelli, the parish was run by substitute pastors Giovanni Antonio Calzonio of Auressio, pastor of Giumaglio, from July 1788 to October 1788; Capuchin Friar Emanuele of Bellinzona, from August 1788 to November 1789; and Chaplain Giuseppe Luigi Orelli of Locarno from December 1789 to June 1790. Father Orelli had also substituted as vicar of Giumaglio from April to November 1784, and was later still acting as chaplain in Someo in 1814, during Father Giuseppe Maria Tomaso Rè's tenure. Father Orelli later died in the chapelry home in Someo on January 8, 1817, at the age of 78, and was buried in the church.
During this period of turnover, three baptism records (November 1787, August 1788, and August 1789) had been omitted and later back-entered by Father Giuseppe Maria Tomaso Rè in 1811.
Photo contributed by Diana Neal
Father Antonio Tognetti (1790-1803)
Father Antonio Tognetti was a native of Someo, likely the one born June 16, 1769, to Giuseppe and Giovanna Lucia (Lanotti) Tognetti. He was first noted as a cleric in Someo in 1789 and later served as vicar from July 1790. In the 1789 record he was identified as the son of Domenico Tognetti, perhaps a reference to Giovanni Domenico Tognazzini, whom his mother remarried to when Antonio was six years old.
Father Giovanni Antonio Laloli of Gordevio served with Tognetti as chaplain from 1791 through 1794; Father Francesco Rusca of Locarno as chaplain from 1795 to 1797; Father Giorgio Antonio Giacometti of Locarno was noted as chaplain between 1799 and 1802; and Father Giovanni Giondini in 1803.
Father Tognetti served 14 years until his death in December 1803 and was buried in the middle of the church. He was reportedly "about 38 years" old but may have been only 34.
Interim Vicars (1804-1808): Calzonio, Friar Emanuele, Leoni, Bonenzi, Terribilini, Lafranchini and Dellapietra
Immediately following Father Tognetti's death, Father Giovanni Antonio Calzonio of Auressio, pastor of Giumaglio, took over briefly as pastor by early January 1804. He had done the same 15 years earlier following the departure of Father Travelli in 1788.
Capuchin Friar Emanuele of Bellinzona substituted as vicar from January through March 1804. He may have been the same Friar Emanuele who had previously substituted from August 1788 to November 1789 after Father Travelli.
Father Giorgio Antonio Leoni of Valle Onsernone served as pastor of Someo by May 1804 through March 1805, however, there was an unexplained gap in records from August 1804 until his departure. He performed a last baptism in March 1805 but it was recorded by his successor, Father Bonenzi.
Father Eugenio Bonenzi became pastor of Someo by May 1805 but died a year later on August 31, 1806, at the age of 34 or 35. He was buried under the portico of the main doors of the church in Someo.
Father Pietro Giuseppe Terribilini, Pastor of Vergeletto and Protonotary Apostolic of Giumaglio, substituted from September 1806 until at least April 1807. Father Giovanni Antonio Laloli of Gordevio (who had served with Father Tognetti as chaplain from 1791 through 1794) returned as substitute chaplain in September 1806.
Father Domenico Lafranchini served as rector of Someo from July 1807 until February 1808. He may have been related to Father Giovanni Domenico Lafranchi of Tegna, who earlier served as vice chaplain of Someo from 1746 until his death in 1756.
Father Giovanni Antonio Laloli of Gordevio was again observed as chaplain in December 1807 and took over the parish after LAFRANCHINI's departure in March 1808 under the authority of pastor-delegate Giovanni Giorgio Dellapietra of Coglio. Fathers Laloli and Dellapietra served in this arrangement through November 1808.
1808 was also the year that Emperor Napoleon ordered a census of all male residents, regardless of age. In this census, 176 males were recorded and 182 females counted among 76 households for a total of 358 residents.
Father Giuseppe Maria Tomaso RÈ (1809-1827)
Father Giuseppe Maria Tomaso RÈ (1780-1839) was the youngest of five children born to Pietro Maria RÈ and Giovanna Maria SARTORI of Cevio. He served as pastor and rector of Someo for 18 years from June 1809 through October 1827. His records also included back-entries of three omitted baptisms from 1787, 1788, and 1789, which Father RÈ recorded in 1811. Father RÈ's records also stood out in that he had women witness at least two marriages.
Capuchin Friar Emanuele of Bellinzona was noted again as chaplain in May 1811, 7 years after his last mention and 22 years after his first.
Chaplain Giuseppe Luigi Orelli of Locarno, whose service as chaplain dated back to December 1789, following the death of Father Gaspare Travelli, was again observed in Someo in 1814. He died in the chapelry home in Someo on January 8, 1817, at the age of 78, and was buried in the church by Father RÈ.
Fathers Gaia, Pontoni, Antognini, and Friar Guglielmo (1827-1833)
Father Pietro Gaia (written as "Gaja") of Ascona served as vicar and pastor of Someo for three years from November 1827 through September 1831. He was noted once to have been assisted by Chaplain Paolo Orelli in April 1830.
Afterward Father Giovanni Giacomo Antognini of Gambarogno, Vicar of Giumaglio, substituted in Someo from at least November 1831 through December 1832. During this time Father Pietro Luigi Pontoni of Cimalmotto, Campo, Chaplain of Someo, served over the church, under the authority of Father Antognini, from November 1831 through January 1832.
Friar Gugelielmo of Campo, a Capuchin Friar, served as Spiritual Overseer (Æconomus Spiritualis) of Someo from at least March 1832 through September 1833.
Father Pietro Antonio Porta and Pietro Maria Porta (1832-1860)
Father Pietro Antonio Porta, Spiritual Overseer (Economus Spiritualis) tended the parish as early as September 1833, in the absence of Friar Guglielmo, and by June 1834 oversaw the parish through as late as May 1836. In April 1835, he acted under the authority of Father Pietro Maria Porta of Campo, Vicar-Elect, who took over (dropping the suffix "Elect" in March 1837) and served 25 years. Father Porta's death records were distinctive in that, starting in 1837, he usually recorded the names of both parents of the deceased, rather than just the father.
Father Porta was assisted over the years by four other parish priests. Father Giuseppe Tunzi served as Adjutorem (Assistant/Shepherd) from about December 1836 to March 1839. Father Giacomo Grazzi, noted both as Coadjutorem (Assistant) and Chaplain, served in August and September 1839. Next, Chaplain Francesco Pedrotta served from about June 1840 to January 1841. Afterward, Filippo Galli of Gerra Gambarogno served as Adjutorem from at least September 1842 through at least July 1850.
Father Pietro Maria Porta served the parish until his death at the age of 56 on September 6, 1860. He was buried on September 8 at the Church of San Bernardo di Chiaravalle in his native Campo. Father Giuseppe Tunzi, then Chaplain, attended him at his death.
Father Giacomo Antognini, Pastor of Giumaglio, took over briefly as Vicar of Someo upon Father Porta's death and then Chaplain Giuseppe Tunzi tended the parish from mid-September 1860 through January 1861.
Father Girolamo Napoleone Barca (1861-1867)
Father Girolamo Napoleone Barca of Boggio, about 60 kilometers south near Lugano, became pastor by December 1861 and served nearly six years until about October 1867. Interestingly, Father Barca wrote his records in Italian for the first year and half before switching to the customary Latin.
Father Giacomo Antognini, Pastor of Giumaglio, again took over as Vicinior of Someo after Father Barca and served until April 1868.
Fathers Domenico Maggini, Giosuè Maggini, and Lorenzo Rizzoli (1868-1880)
Father Domenico Maggini served the parish as spiritual overseer (economus spiritualis) from about May 1868 to July 1870 when he became vicar for the next eight years. In June and July 1878, Father Giosuè Maggini (relation unknown), Prior of Maggia, acted in Father Domenico Maggini's name. Father Giosuè Maggini later, still serving as Prior of Maggia, served as vicinior delegate of Coglio and Giumaglio from 1898 through at least 1903.
Father Lorenzo Rizzoli of Borgnone, Centovalli, Vicar of Coglio and substitute for the parish of Giumagliio, substituted at the parish of Someo under mandate of Father Domenico Maggini from January 1879 through July 1879 and then served as Vicinior of Someo through January 1880.
Giovanni Antonio Barbisio (1880-1881)
Theologian Giovanni Antonio Barbisio served the parish for one year as Apostolic Missionary and Curate from April 1880 to July 1881.
Father Agostino Anzini (1881-1882)
Father Agostino Anzini took over the parish of Giumaglio by March 1880 until 1887; and, beginning by October 1881, he concurrently took over the parish of Someo through March 1882. The following year he similarly took over the parish of Coglio.
Father Achille Pio Bernasconi (1882-1887)
Father Achille Pio Bernasconi of Ascona served from March 1882 to December 1887. In his first year he used the title of curate (curatus).
Father Riccardo Pedrazzini (1888-1890)
Father Riccardo Pedrazzini took over the parish of Giumaglio by May 1887 and served the next three years until at least December 1890. He doubled as "vicinior" for Someo from January 1888 through December 1890. He also served as "vicinior" for Coglio during the same time frame.
Father Filippo Vacchini (1891)
Father Filippo Vacchini, Pastor of Lodano, served the parish for four months from January through May 1891.
Father Alfonso Borrani (1891-1894)
Father Alfonso Borrani served as Spiritual Deacon for three years from November 1891 through November 1894.
Father Antonio Padlina (1895-1898)
Father Antonio Padlina, priest of the parish in Giumaglio, doubled as vicinior of Someo, by February 1895, and Coglio. He served the three parishes through September 1898.
Father Carlo Ghiringhelli (1899->1900)
Father Carlo Ghiringhelli tended the parish as Spritual Overseer (Economus Spiritualis) from February 1899 through at least 1900 when the available parish records concluded.
Notai and Dons of Someo
Bernardo Musio (1717-1733)
Benardo Muscio (~1668-1733) was first observed recorded as notaio when he married in 1717. He first married to Domenica Jorio, daughter of Martino, in 1691. He next married Giovanna Andreina, daughter of Antono, in 1708, and had one daughter. Finally he married Maria Margherita Nicola (~1694-1747), daughter Giovanni Battista, in 1717 (when he was first recorded as notaio), and had at least seven children before his death in 1733.
Giovanni Pietro Lanotti (1735-1753)
Giovanni Pietro Lanotti (~1688-1753), son of Pietro, served as witness to numerous marriages beginning as early as 1718; and from 1735 through 1753 was observed as a notaio (notary) with the title of don. Curiously the title of "Don Notaio" was scratched out on his death record. He was married to Giovanna Lucia Antognazzi (~1694-1746), daughter of Giovanni Antonio.
Teodoro Maria Martinoni (< 1723-1767)
Don Teodoro Maria Martinoni (~1699-1767), son of Martino, was a physician, recorded as such as early as 1723. He married three times: Ludovica Laghi (~1705-1740) of Lugano; Giovanna Maria Filipponi (~1727-1753), daughter of Taddeo; and Maria Margherita Resighini (~1722->1780) of Fusio, the widow of Giovanni Antonio Delnotaro (1728-~1753), in 1753 in Coglio.
Giuseppe Dalidio (~1789)
Giuseppe Dalidio (1748-1790s) was noted twice as a don in 1789. His wife Giovanna Maria Antognazzi was a granddaughter of Don Giovanni Pietro Lanotti.
Francesco Maria Stefano Dalidio (<1830)
Francesco Maria Stefano Dalidio (1786-1830) served as Consigliere (Councilor) and Prefectus militus (military Prefect?) of the Circolo (Municipality) of Maggia, Rovana, and Lavizzara. His wife Giovanna Maria Lanotti was a great granddaughter of Don Giovanni Pietro Lanotti. He died on January 21, 1830, at the age of 42.