Cerini Family History, Part H1

Giovanni Pietro Cerini^Δ (1828-1904)

11732332. Giovanni Pietro Cerini^Δ, was born on the night of September 16/17, 1828, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland, and baptized on the 17th as “Jacobus Joannes Petrus.” His godfather was named as Pietro Torneri (II), who was married to Giovanna Maria Giumini, his father's first cousin on his paternal grandmother's side. His godmother was Mrs. Maria (Piezzi) Cerini, wife of uncle Antonio Cerini.^{[Bap 1828]} Pietro married Ellen Howard in the early 1860s and they had at least four children:^{[Dth 1904]}

Pietro, recorded as “Giacomo Pietro of Giacomo Pietro,” a farmer, took out a loan of 710 francs on May 30, 1855, to emigrate to Australia. This was the same day that younger brother Pietro (Antonio) also took out an emigration loan.^{[Cheda 341-342]} The usual cost was 1,000 francs, so presumably Pietro or his family was able to put up the remainder. As did his brother, Pietro likely traveled aboard the Adèle^{[Gentilli 34]}, which departed Antwerp, Belgium, and arrived in Sydney on November 8, 1855.

Peter, as he was called in Australia, was one of 43 initial shareholders for the Derwent Jacks Quartz Gold Mining Company Limited in 1874. He bought 100 shares at £2/10/- (two pounds, 10 shillings). Five other Swiss-Italian shareholders, all of whom were also miners who lived at Derwent Jacks, were: Bundi Perinoni, Martin Gaggononi, Stephen Bolla, Peter Polla, and Peter Bardozie. Each of them bought 50 shares.^{[Hunt 279]}

John Peter Cerini suffered from pneumoconiosis (caused by inhalation of dust) for five years until he died on January 12, 1904, in Piggoreet, Shire of Grenville, County of Grenville, Victoria, Australia. He was reportedly 76 years old but was 75. He was buried on January 14 at Scarsdale Cemetery, 9 kilometers north of Piggoreet.

Pietro (Antonio) Cerini (1830-1903)

11732333. Pietro (Antonio) Cerini, was born on the morning of June 17, 1830, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland, and baptized that same day. His godparents were named as Pietro Torneri, who was married to Giovanna Maria Giumini, likely his father's first cousin on his paternal grandmother's side, and who also served as godfather to Pietro's elder brother Giovanni Pietro. Pietro's godmother was named as Mrs. Marianna (Piezzi) Adami, the wife of Pietro Marco Adami, and also his father's first cousin on Pietro's paternal grandmother's side.^{[Bap 1830]}

Pietro, recorded as “Pietro Antonio,” a mason, took out a loan of 400 francs from the Oswald company on May 30, 1855, to emigrate to Victoria, Australia. This was the same day that elder brother Giovanni (Giacomo) Pietro also took out an emigration loan.^{[Cheda 342]} The usual cost was 1,000 francs, so presumably Pietro Antonio or his family was able to put up the remainder. Pietro (Antonio) traveled aboard the Adèle^{[Gentilli 34]}, perhaps with his brother, which departed Antwerp, Belgium, and arrived in Sydney on November 8, 1855.

Pietro (Antonio) settled in Hepburn (1856-1857) and mined with partner Alessandro (Mansueto) Pozzi. He also mined in Piggoreet, about 77 kilometers southwest of Hepburn, and was naturalized in 1896.^{[Gentilli 34]}

Pietro (Antonio) Cerini died in Ballarat, between Hepburn and Piggoreet, in 1903. He was about 73 years old.^{[Gentilli 34]}

Giovanni Battista Cerini⁸ (1834-1929)

11732335. Giovanni Battista Cerini⁸, was born on August 7 or 8, 1834, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland, and baptized on August 8. He may have been named for his maternal uncle, Giovanni Battista Tognazzini. His godparents were Marcello Lafranchi, likely his great uncle, and Mrs. Maria (Piezzi) Cerini, the wife of his uncle, Antonio Cerini.^{[Bap 1843]} She had also been the godmother of Battista's eldest brother Giovanni Pietro. .

Battista married Maria Orsola Cerini⁸, his second cousin, after being granted a dispensation, on on April 14, 1861, in Giumaglio. Giacomo Pietro Piezzi and Ferdinando Pozzi were recorded as witnesses.^{[Mar 1861]}. They had seven children and all but one of the six who lived to adulthood emigrated to America:

The Cerinis named the following godparents for their children:

1. Addelida: Pietro Cerini, Orsola's younger brother, and Maria Cerini, Battista's younger sister^{[Bap 1861]};
2. Pietro: Giovanni Piezzi and Marianna Cerini, Battista's sister^{[Bap 1863]};
3. Annonziatta: Felice Cerini, likely Orsola's uncle, and Mrs. Apollonia Piezzi, the widow of Giovanni Piezzi, likely the godfather of Pietro^{[Bap 1865]};
4. Aurelia: Agostino Piezzi, likely the brother of Giovanni Piezzi, and Maria Cerini (no immediate relationship)^{[Bap 1867]};
5. Carolina: Domenico Pedrotti and Maria Cerini, Battista's younger sister^{[Bap 1869]};
6. Silvio: Giovanni Lorenzo Pozzi and cousin Marianna Cerini, daughter of Felice^{[Bap 1871]}; and
7. Dan: Giacomo Pedrotti and Carolina Pozzi.^{[Bap 1872]}

Godfathers Giovanni and Agostino Piezzi and Domenico Pedrotti were all grandsons of Giovanni Domenico Piezzi.

Battista's two eldest brothers emigrated to Australia in 1855. Battista is recalled to have emigrated to California but did not settle there permanently. He left his family behind in Switzerland during at least two trips to America. While in America he worked at a dairy in Fallon, Marin County, California, just north of Tomales.

The first trip may have been captured in the 1880 census in which a Battista Cerini, age 47, was working as a hired man on the farm of Luca and Barbarina Bonetti in Nicasio Township, Marin County. Along with them worked Angelo Bizzini, a button maker, age 30, and Marco Bonetti, age 18.^{[Cen 1880]} While the Bonetti family is well established in Giumaglio and the Bizzini family associated with Avegno, none of Battista's employers or co-workers in 1880 have been connected to Giumaglio. Battista's eldest son Pietro is also recorded to have immigrated to California in 1880.

After son Pietro's emigration to California came Dan's in 1888 and Annonziatta's in 1890.

Battista was named as the godfather of grandson Carlo Aurelio Malugani⁸ in 1890, likely while his son-in-law Giuseppe Malugani was in America. Giuseppe returned and took daughter Aurelia⁷ and their two toddlers to California 1892.

Daughter Addeleida also emigrated by 1893, to Pennsylvania. In the end, of their six grown children, only daughter Carolina stayed behind in Giumaglio while her first seven children emigrated to California between 1907 and 1920.

Battista's own last trip to America was believed to be the year of his grandson Dan's birth in 1908. According to granddaughter Alice Cerine, Battista fought under Teddy Roosevelt in the Indian Wars, but that is unlikely as Battista was already in his 70s by then.

Giovanni Battista Cerini died on January 4, 1929, in a hospice in Someo, at the age of 94 years. He was buried in Giumaglio.

Battista has been credited as the source of his grandchildren's longevity. Six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren lived to be 95 years or older: Olga Cerine (1891-1991), age 99; Maria (Bertelli) Mazzina (1896-1992), age 107; Josephine (Malugani) Sanford (1898-1994), age 95; Daniel Malugani (1908-2008), age 99; Doro Bertelli (1905-2000), age 95; Giuseppina Bertelli (1909-2016), age 107; Alice Cerine (1911-2012), age 101; Mike Magatelli (1913-2011), age 97; Annabelle Pomi (1917-2015), age 97; and Hazel (Malugani) Goss⁴ (1919-2018), age 99. An article attributed Battista's and others' longevity in Giumaglio to “the air of our waterfall and our grottoes.”^{[News 1929]}

Marianna (Cerini) Malugani^Δ (1840-1892)

11732337. Marianna Cerini was born on the morning of March 15, 1840, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland, and baptized that day. Her godfather was a man named Battista (family name illegible) from Bergamo, Italy, and her godmother was Maddalena Giumini, her father's first cousin on his maternal side.

Marianna is known for having been named by her brother Battista⁸ as the godmother of his eldest son Giovanni Pietro Cerini.^{[Bap 1863]}

Marianna is believed to be the one who married Carlo Malugani¹ in Primaluna, Lecco province, Italy, on March 29, 1877^{[Mar 1877]}, becoming his second wife. As such, her stepson Giuseppe Carlo Malugani² later married her niece Aurelia Cerini⁹. Their blended family was:

Carlo Malugani died sometime before Marianna's death in 1892.^{[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]}

Maria Marghertia (Cerini) Tognetti^Δ (1842->1876)

11732338. Maria Margherita Cerini^Δ was born on April 8, 1842, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. Her godparents were named as Pietro Antonio Tognazzini of Someo and Margherita Lafranchi of neighboring Coglio, who was likely her namesake.^{[Bap 1842]} Margherita married Angelo Tognetti around April 16, 1876.^{[Reg ~1894]}

Maria Catterina Cerini (1844-1885)

11732339. Maria Catterina Domenica Cerini was born on September 18, 1844, in Giumaglio, Ticino canton, Switzerland. Her godparents were named as Pietro Adami and the widow Catterina Piezzi.^{[Bap 1844]}

Maria Catterina Domenica Cerini died on April 27, 1885, in Giumaglio, six years to the day after her next younger sister Carolina died. Catterina was buried the following day at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. She was only 40 years old.^{[Dth 1885]}

Maria Carolina Cerini (1847-1879)

1173233A. Maria Carolina Cerini was born on January 27, 1847, in Giumaglio, Ticino, Switzerland.^{[Bap 1847]} Her godparents were named as Pietro Antonio Tognazzini of Someo (likely a relatve on her mother's side) and Carolina Pozzi, her apparent namesake.

Maria Carolina Cerini appears not to have married and died on April 27, 1879, at her home in Giumaglio. She was only 32 years old. She was buried the following day at the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.^{[Dth 1879, Reg ~1894]}

Maria Cerini

1173233x. Maria Cerini lived in Giumaglio, Ticino, Switzerland. She is known for having been named by her brother Battista³ as the godmother of his two daughters, Addelida and Ernesta Carolina Cerini, however, I have yet to isolate which of the five “Maria” sisters she correlates to.^{[Bap 1861,1869]}