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Pozzi Family History, Part I

The family name (cognomen) Pozzi means "well" (as in a water well) in Italian, and in Latin was often translated accordingly in the various noun cases and genders as Puteus, Puteo, Putei, and Putea. The Pozzis were the largest and most prominent family of Giumaglio and the neighboring village of Coglio, often producing the town "don," who was frequently a notary or doctor. The Pozzi family of Giumaglio also produced Father Pietro Giacomo Pozzi, who started the first surviving parish baptism registry book in 1668 and served as vicar of the parish for 28 years.

Pozzi Coat of Arms
Albero Genealogico della Famiglia Pozzi, Arnoldo Pozzi

The earliest existing parish census of 1692 counted 11 Pozzi households in 4 groups, as well as 3 households with Pozzi wives (the Ianzi, Gaspari, and Marchese families). A source of confusion is that three heads of household were named Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi, one was the town notary and another the town doctor. Not listed in the census, but yet again of the same name, was a fourth--Father Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi (~1619-1694), Vicar of Giumaglio. Finally, I have also included Don Giovanni Pozzi^•, the head of the Coglio family who was also of Giumaglio roots, to account for all families of the era. The heads of these households are subgrouped here by census page references and then within each group reorganized by birth order for comparison. Others who died before 1692 have also been added for comparison and context, but lack page references. So far, our family ties back to at least three of these families:

Some of the interactions between these families include:

• Francesco [15B] married Lucrezia Pozzi, reportedly his second cousin and a daughter of Giovanni¹ [9C] . They in turn chose the following Pozzi godparents for their children: Giovanni Antonio (Jr.) [15D]; the wife of Giacomo Pietro [17A]; and Giovanni Angelo Pozzi, the son of "Zane" [13C].
• Giovanni's² [9C] daughter Maria (Pozzi) Cerini³ chose the following Pozzi godparents for their children: Stefano Pozzi, son of "Zane" [13C]; Maria (Hostini/Delnotaro) Pozzi, wife of Giacomo Pietro Pozzi [17A]; and Giacomo Tomaso and Giacomo Filippo Pozzi, sons of Giovanni [6C]; and Giacomina Pozzi, granddaughter of Giovanni Giacomo [15A].
• Zane Pozzi [13C] and his daughter Lucia were godparents to children of a younger Zane Pozzi, the son of Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi [16C].

Giacomo POZZI¹(~1602-1672)

A/B. Giacomo Pozzi¹ the father of either Giovanni Pozzi², Zane Pozzi², or both may be the one born about 1601 or 1602, likely in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. While it appears unlikely that he would have two sons so similarly named, for purpose of comparison, both as listed as follows:

Mentions of Giacomo as father to either apparent son are as follow:

• Giovanni Pozzi and Catterina Scamoni: grandfather of Benedetto and Lucrezia Pozzi.^{[Bap 1667,1669]}
• Zane Pozzi and Giovanna Maria Mazzini: grandfather of Angelo, Anna Maria, Pietro Antonio, Maria^{[Bap 1671,1673,1693, Dth 1672]}

Through March 1672, the death of granddaughter Anna Maria^{[Dth 1672A]}, Giacomo was recorded as living, but beginning with Pietro Antonio's baptism in 1673, he was referred to as deceased.^{[Bap 1673]}

Giacomo Pozzi, age 70, died in his home in Giumaglio on July 16, 1672. He had confessed and was anointed the day prior, indicating that his death was not unexpected. Giacomo was buried the same day in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1672B]}

Giovanni POZZI¹(~1616-1695)

C. Giovanni Pozzi¹ was born between 1614 and 1617, probably in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. He was identified at the age of 75 in the first parish census of 1692 among a group of seven Pozzi households. Through association of other records, his son Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi is likely a brother to three Pozzi sisters whose father was known to be named Giovanni. The reconstructed family looks like:

Giovanni Antonio & Berta Pozzi

Giovanni Antonio Pozzi, the town ferrier, was the son of a Giovanni Pozzi, but so far it is unconfirmed which one he was the son of. He married Berta Pozzi and the records show strong familial connections between their family and those of the Pozzi siblings here. So far I am unable to determine whether Antonio or Berta is the more likely sibling and have placed both here for illustrative purposes as I explore further.

In the first parish census of Giumaglio, Giovanni¹, age 75--the eldest of the parish--was enumerated with his son Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi, daughter-in-law Maria Bassi, and grandson Giovanni Antonio, age 1.^{[Cen 1692]}

As for the girls, both Maddelena and Giovanna were identified as daughters of Giovanni (presumably the same Giovanni) when Giovanna named Maddalena as the godmother of her son Giovanni Antonio.^{[Bap 1668]} Similarly, Giovanna and Maddalena each named Apollonia, also a daughter of a Giovanni Pozzi, as godmother to one of their children^{[Bap 1672A,B]}; and Maddalena later named a daughter Apollonia.

Giovanni Giacomo Pozzi interconnects with the girls in that Maddalena named him as godmother to one of her sons and he named two of her children as godparents to his children. He was also named as godfather to two of Maddalena's grandchildren. With Giovanna², he named two of her children as godparents to two of his children.

Giovanni Pozzi died on April 20, 1695, at his home in Giumaglio, reportedly at the age of 80. He was buried in the cemetery of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1695]}

Continue on to Part X