San Pellegrino Mineral Water

San Pellegrino mineral water is produced in the province of Bergamo, west of Brescia. The two cities are sort've "rival cities" in the world of sport, but have a long shared history. This mineral water is from the runoff from the Bergamask pre-Alps, and apparently has special natural properties. You can find San Pellegrino almost anywhere from liquor stores to supermarkets. Also popular is the mineral water brand Salo, from the town of it's name in Brescia, along the coast of Lake Garda. I couldn't find information very easily on that. I'll be looking. I have seen that product at Beverages and More. The following is part of the information from Wikipedia.

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San Pellegrino

San Pellegrino (also S. Pellegrino) is a mineral water with added carbonation, produced and bottled at San Pellegrino Terme, in Lombardy, Italy. The water originates from a layer of rock 400 m (1,300 ft) below the surface, where it is mineralized from contact with limestone and volcanic rocks. It emerges from three deep springs at a temperature of about 22 °C (70 °F). The surrounding area is highly favorable for the formation of the mineral water basin from the replenishment point, located on the Dolomite range. The water then seeps to great depths of over 700 m (2,300 ft) 700 m (2,200 ft) where it begins its long subterranean journey to an aquifer. Since 1997 San Pellegrino is owned by Nestlé and exports bottles to most countries in Europe, North America, Japan, the Middle East and Australasia.

History

During the 600 years of San Pellegrino production, numerous important events have happened. In 1395, the borders of the town "San Pellegrino", were drawn, marking the start of its water industry. Leonardo da Vinci visited the town in 1509 to examine and try its "miraculous" water. He later wrote a treatise on the subject. In 1782, the water was analyzed for the first time. The results show that the water is remarkably similar to that of today. In 1899, 35,343 bottles were produced, 5,562 of which were exported, the first recorded sale figures. Nine years later, in 1908, San Pellegrino was exported to the main European cities, as well as Cairo, Tangiers, Shanghai, Calcutta, USA, Brazil, Peru and Sydney.

Several years later in 1932, a variant of San Pellegrino was introduced to the market: Aranciata (orangeade). It was a soda that had San Pellegrino as the majority of the ingredient, but with concentrated orange juice added. Today, San Pellegrino also produces carbonated beverages in other various flavors: Limonata (lemonade), Sanbittèr (bitters), and Chinò (chinotto).

Just over 30 years later, in 1968, San Pellegrino appeared on the front cover of the British Sunday newspaper The Observer. On April 20, 1970, the official name of the company became San Pellegrino SpA. Later in the year, it was the leading beverage company in Italy, demonstrating the company profits. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the water continued to expand and grow. Later in 1988, San Pellegrino was the first Italian water to be exported to France. In the same year, San Pellegrino became part of Nestlé. Fifteen years later in 2003, a 75 cl format reached US$10 in New York City restaurants, where 65,000 bottles are sold every day in the city.

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Wikipedia Link with more information

San Pellegrino Official Site in English with more historical background

Ticinese Migration to Australia and New Zealand

Ticino Migration to Australia and New Zealand


The Movement Away From Home

AUSTRALIA - The first two Ticinesi migrants (in 1851) paid their own way to Australia. Two more left in 1852 and it was perhaps the successful return of two of them in 1854 which caused the general exodus of 1855 when1073 arrived in Australia. A few of their Italian cousins who had lived in Ticino for many years were granted loans to leave and some of their relatives even joined them direct from Italy. So, the overall migration lasted for almost 100 years.

The Ticinesi who migrated to Australia were, mostly, from the south west of Canton TICINO (or TESSIN in German) in the villages in dead-end valleys.

From the two western regions - Valle Maggia and Locarno; and Lugano and Mendrisio in the south but in the 1851-1856 period 1661 of them emigrated to Australia. Records show that only 48 of these were Ticinesi women being only 1.8% of the total of 2660 migrants.

Amongst the migrants the most common given names were Giuseppi (254), Pietro (208), then Giovanni (172), Giacomo (135), Antonio (97), Carlo (88) and Battista (71).

NEW ZEALAND - Gentilli makes a little comment on the migration in, "Of special interest is the small flow of Ticinesi to the New Zealand gold fields. Very few were mentioned in Swiss records or in letters from Australia (CHEDA 1976), a few founded names families in New Zealand. At least two enterprising ones organized groups to NZ together."


Traveling Out

In 1852-3 the ships to Australia were mostly British, and in 1854-55 German, Belgian and French ships leaving Europe commonly traveled via the Canary Islands and south (parallel to the Brazilian coast) swinging south east with the Roaring Forties trade winds passing some 500km south of Cape Town. From then on it was, very often, a fast and stormy passage across the Southern Ocean until they were south of Albany when sailing ships turned north towards their destinations of Adelaide, Geelong, Port Phillip (Melbourne) and Tasmania or Sydney.

From the early 1860s a block of farming land could be obtained in Victoria so easily that to the Ticinesi migrants it seemed like a dream.

By far the greatest number of Ticinesi disembarked in Port Phillip Bay (or at Williamstown a short distance across the bay) and, after obtaining provisions, made for the excitement and hardships of the Victorian gold fields around Bendigo and Ballarat 160km to the north west.

The Ticinesi were deeply religious and of the Victorian Ticinesi who married they tended to marry Irish or English Catholic girls who, as English-speakers, taught their husbands English and named their children according to their Swiss heritage but mothers brought them up to their standards and records show that the Ticinesi contributed a large number of well brought up children to Australia.

However, young deaths due to disease and a fair proportion of unmarried Ticinesi men kept the next generation well below replacement level.

A spate of naturalizations (nearly half of the total) occurred in the 1890s for the young men of the 1850s were now near to retirement and the British citizenship was a prerequisite for the pension. The Swiss Government had always accepted dual citizenship so with retirement and old age poverty was a real concern. So much so that the benevolent Swiss Society of Victoria and the more-affluent and culturally inclined Swiss Club of Melbourne were formed.


Long Term Results

A small number of Ticinesi migrants prospered but, ultimately, most just survived (and some families were not even able to pay back the loans to their Swiss community back home). Of the many who became publicans they still had credit problems due to their penchant for extending credit to family and friends.

The Ticinesi at home received some very unfavorable reports from the migrants in Australia. After 1856 those who left Ticino for Australia were more likely to join a relative established as a farmer, or seek a paid job in the mining industry, with the hope to be promoted to underground mining.

The first generation of immigrants lacked the means, and perhaps the experience and even the farsightedness, needed to encourage children to improve their social standing as soon as possible.



Passenger Lists and Other Resources

Visit Victorian Government's Record Centres at http://www.vicnet.net.au/~provic/

LONDON and LIVERPOOL lists are available, generally, in the repository in the port of arrival (e.g. the Public Records Office City Office in Melbourne, Australia).

Five Useful Centres - ships' Passenger Lists are available in the Victorian PRO for ships arriving in Melbourne (where by far the greatest majority of Ticinesi landed in Australia). One index list is for "Assisted" and one for "Unassisted" migrants into Australia. Unless you know which group your ancestor was in you will have to search both card indexes but most migrants appear to have been unassisted passengers for many Ticinesi had obtained local funding to make the trip. To see these indexes (and associated Passenger Lists on microfilm) visit the PRO, City Search Room, Level 2, Casselden Place, 2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, 3000 (Phone 03 9285 7999). It is on the corner of Spring Street and inside the Commonwealth Public Service building - in there look for the Melbourne Archive Centre (which also holds the Australian National Archives). If you are outside the Melbourne metropolitan area use Freecall 1800 657 452.

There is the Laverton Repository at 57 Cherry Tree Lane, Laverton North, 3026, 03 93693244. It is some 15km southwest of Melbourne city and holds the land/rates documentation from gold mining towns where most of the Ticinesi lived 1850+.

The Administration and Probate office is on the 1st Floor, 417 Little Bourke St, Melbourne, 3000 on Phone 03 9603 7222. Probate documents are held at the Laverton Repository and will be couriered into the city PRO, City Search Room, for you.

Births, Deaths and Marriages are at 295 Queen Street, Melbourne, 3000, on 03 9603 5800

The Victorian (La Trobe) State Library is at 328 Swanston Street which holds photos and drawings plus other details of SOME early migrant ships. Once there ask about seeing "The Argus" newspaper microfiche (in the buildings in Russell Street behind the library) where the shipping information gives lists of stores on board ships arriving - they are most interesting!

The Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies is situated at 6 Lavelle St, Blackburn, 3130 on Phone 03 9877 3789. The Genealogical Society of Victoria is at 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne, 3000, on Phone 03 9663 7033.

There is also the Italian Historical Society (which focuses on Italian-born migrants and descendants rather than people of Swiss-Italian origin) based at the Italian Resource Centre, 185 Faraday Street, Carlton, 3053 on Phone 03 9349 1144


A List of Ticinesi Names in Australia and New Zealand

There is a wealth of information in the way of graphs and maps in The Settlement of Swiss Ticino Immigrants in Australia, (1988) by the late Doctor Joseph GENTILLI. This superb 134-page text is available from the School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, University of Western Australia, Entrance 1, Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009.

Cost AUST$16.50 (inc gst) plus $7.00 postage and handling within Australia (cheques made out to the University of Western Australia). For overseas researchers the cost would be AUST$16.50 (inc gst) plus postage and handling of $22.75 for airmail or alternatively $14.50 for surface mail. Payment (made out to the University of Western Australia) by Bank Draft ONLY (in Australian dollars). Obtain advice from Elaine Waters ewaters@segs.uwa.edu.au.

Passenger Lists record some 45 Ticinesi returning home for good, others to marry and then return to Australia. Some, who returned in the 1880s, took small parties of young Ticinesi relatives and acquaintances back to Australia with them - for the attraction of cheap land was now more appealing than the lure of gold.

Migration to Australia practically ceased after 1876 but emigration to California continued.


Bibliography on the Ticinesi (Italian and English)

The book L'emigrazione Ticinesi in Australia (1976) by Giorgio CHEDA was published by Dado in Locarno with a second edition in 1979. There appears to be little real information useful to genealogists in this text and we understand that no English version has been published.

Two other references enthusiasts could look into are:- "The Ticinesi in Australia" by A. Pagliaro in Italians in Australia, Conference Proceedings, Vaccari Foundation, Melbourne, 1985 (2nd edition 1987) a copy of which is probably held by the La Trobe Library, State Library of Victoria, Melbourne; and,

The Caligari Papers which are held by the Genealogical Society of Victoria at 252 Swanston Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 on (03) 9663 7033.


Much of the credit for the information on these pages goes to Doctor Joseph Gentilli, the publication GEOWEST and the Department of Geography at the University of Western Australia under Professor John Dodson and is most gratefully acknowledged.


Ticino Migration to Australia and New Zealand

Friend in Brescia Looking to Migrate to USA

Our friend Stefano in Brescia needs help to fulfill his dream of emigrating to the USA. He is a truck driver and apparently can handle any type of truck. It's very hard for a European to become a U.S. citizen now, and he has to partake in a yearly lottery in which the odds are quite low. If he can obtain employment in the USA, then the process will be much easier. Unlike many in Europe in recent times, he is a big, big fan of this country. We would like to use this entry as a springboard to help him. If you are looking for, or happen to know someone who might be looking for a young but very experienced driver, contact him or us. Thank you.

Stefano's webpage

5/10/08 >>> I am going to add to this page as time goes on, and with more knowledge, we can just continue to proceed to the next step.

7/7/08 >>> Yahoo Answers: How can I help a European friend emigrate to the USA?

Valcamonica, Lombardia to Monongahela, Pennsylvania

This is just our first look at something which is a large area of study for us. That being the migration of immigrants from the Valle Camonica to Monongahela, Pennsylvania. Many men were employed in the mining industry, something that Camunians had much experience with.

The arms and weapons manufacturing industry was very big in Brescia for many centuries. They armed the Venetian Empire, which they were a part of, and don't forget Beretta firearms (founded in 1526).

I mainly just wanted to give our friend in Italy, Pier Luigi, a chance to put a feeler out there for his genealogical research.

I suspect it's possible that this Western Pennsylvania city's most famous native, football great Joe Montana, is of Camunian descent. His father's original surname spelling is something like "Montagna" or Italian for "mountain," further suggesting Camonica heritage. I think Pier Luigi was trying to say that there are descendants living there that he and his genealogy group (Circolo Culturale Ghislandi) would like to communicate with.

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Looking for my ancestors

I'm a grandson of an Italian immigrant in Monongahela, Pennsylvania in the 19th century. I am looking for Italian people that now live in Monongahela because I and my cultural circle are interested in searching for our grandfathers who immigrated there. Can anyone help me? My name is Pier Luigi Milani and I live in a little town of Malegno, in Valley Camonica, Brescia (country), Lombardia, near to Milano in Italy. My Grandpa was Luigi Milani, dead in Monongahela or Pittsburg in 1914 and buried in Pittsburg. Also many other immigrants from Malegno are living in Monongahela. If anyone has information, please e-mail me.

My E-mail is milanipl@tin.it

Thank you, Pier Luigi Milani

Monongahela, Pennsylvania Community News

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We also want to know much more about this unfolding history. Once again, the link to Pier Luigi's genealogy circle:

Circola Culturale Ghislandi

Franciacorta Heritage

From Wikipedia [in ‘Franciacorta’]:

“The territory of Franciacorta is a section of the Province of Brescia in the Italian Region of Lombardy. Franciacorta extends north from the plain of the river Po to the shores of Lake Iseo, and from the river Oglio on the western border to the town of Cellatica in the east. The geography of rolling hills was shaped by glacial action. The soil, glacial moraines consisting of gravel and sand over limestone, drains well, and is ideal for the cultivation of grapes and winemaking. The weather is mild and constant due to its location south of the foothills of the Alps and the tempering presence of large lakes. To publicize wine tourism the district established a Strada del Vino Franciacorta on the model of the famed German Wine Route (Weinstraße) in 2001.

“The area has been inhabited since Paleolithic times, with archaeological records left by Gauls— the Cenomani of Brixia (modern Brescia), Romans and Lombards. The name Franciacorta, attested in 1277, is thought to derive from curtes francae, the fortified courts of the Frankish empire established in the 8th century.

“There is a Cluniac foundation, the Abbazia di San Nicola, at Rodengo, which has been inhabited by Olivetan monks since 1446. Other places of interest include Passirano, with an interesting castle, and Provaglio d'Iseo, with a Romanesque church.

“Lombardia wine is the Italian wine produced in the Lombardy region of north central Italy. The region is known particularly for its sparkling wines made in the Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese.”

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To be more geographically specific, the Franciacorta area is just south of the pre-Alps of the Valle Camonica. It’s amazing of just how famous this tiny area is, of course mainly for it’s wine. It would not be much trouble to find a Franciacorta brand at your local wine establishments. You could check at Beverages and More, in the Italy section under Lombardy. Sometimes you see labels under Cellatica as well.

This webpage stated “The name Franciacorta, attested in 1277, is thought to derive from curtes francae, the fortified courts of the Frankish empire established in the 8th century.” There seem to be many legends on just how this interestingly-named region got it’s name. I have heard that in Italian, Franciacorta means “small France,” which is also a likely possibility. I have also read that Franciacorta means “Free Court", a zone of free market in the Middle Ages.

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From Wikipedia [in ‘Lombardia (wine)’]:

“Lombardia wine is the Italian wine produced in the Lombardy region of north central Italy. The region is known particularly for its sparkling wines made in the Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese.”

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There are other more famous wine regions, like Tuscany and Piemonte. Lombardia is mostly known for it’s manufacturing. However, it does rank up there.

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According to Wikipedia [in ‘Lombardia (wine)’ – History]:

“The winemaking tradition of Lombardy dates back to its settlement by Greek colonist(s?) from Athens along the Po river. Archaeological evidence suggest that these settlers traded wine with the Etruscans in nearby Tuscany.”

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This must have been a small settlement, as I have not heard anything even remotely about Greeks settling in Lombardia. I do know that the Greeks were all over, but in Italy it was almost exclusively in the south. Etruscan settlement, at it’s peak, was right up to southern Lombardia.

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Also according to Wikipedia [in ‘Lombardia (wine)’ – Franciacorta]:

“The Franciacorta wine zone is responsible for some of Italy's most prestigious sparkling wines. Located along the shores of Lake Iseo, vineyards are planted in well drained morainic soils. The area has a long history of producing still red and white wines but has gained most of its success in the last 40 years since it started producing sparkling wines. In 1995 the region received DOCG and created a separate DOC, known as Terre di Franciacorta for its non-sparkling wines.

“The sparkling wines of this area are composed primarily of the Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco grape with a maximum 15% of Pinot Nero allowed. The area has a Crémant style wine, known under the trademarked name Satèn, that has less carbon dioxide as the standard sparkling wine but is more "bubbly" than a frizzante. This wine is not allowed to have any Pinot Nero in the blend. The rosé sparklers are required to have a minimum 15% Pinot Nero. The vintage dated wines are required to have a minimum 85% of grapes from that year's vintage and must be aged for at least 30 months prior to release. Non-vintage wines must be aged for at least 18 months. The Franciacorta sparklers are often a little sweeter than Champagne with the brut style having up to 20 grams per liter of sugar while brut Champagne can have no more than 15 grams.

“While sparkling wine production accounts for more than half of the Franciacorta area's production, many producers have begun focusing on make red Bordeaux-style blends and Burgundian style Chardonnays aged in oak. Despite the frequent use of Pinot Nero in the sparkling wines, a still Burgundian red Pinot is not permitted under the Terre di Franciacorta DOC.”

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Links:

Franciacorta [Wikipedia]

Lombardia (wine) [Wikipedia]

MyFranciacorta.com [events in Franciacorta; in English]

Mother Cabrini: First American Saint of Lombardian descent

Mother Cabrini is the first American Saint, recognized by the Catholic Church. She was of Lombardian descent. I will merely transfer her biography from Wikipedia here. As we now know, Wikipedia is good in some ways and not in others. However, I believe this to be the standard and accepted short biography.


Mother Cabrini

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (July 15, 1850 – December 22, 1917) known during her life as Mother Cabrini, was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

She was born Maria Francesca Cabrini in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, in Lombardy, the youngest of thirteen children of Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini who were farmers. Two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years.

At 13, she was sent to Arluno to study under the Daughters of the Sacred Heart at the Normal School, and in 1868, at 18 she was certified as a teacher. Four years later she contracted smallpox When she tried to enter into the Daughter of the Scared Heart, Mother Giovanna Francesca Grassi refused admission even though she saw true potential in her because of her frail health. She said, "You are called to establish another Institute that will bring new glory to the Heart of Jesus." She was rejected by the Canossians as well. Instead, she supported her parents until they died and helped the family on the farm. She taught at a private school that was founded by one of her fellow sisters in Sant’Angelo. Then, in 1871, she became a public school teacher in a nearby village under the request of her pastor.

Finally, she took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit priest, Francis Xaiver. She became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.

In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religous vows with her, founded the Institute of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) on November 14. Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death.

The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Bishop Giovanni Scalabrini of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII.

Although her lifelong dream was to be a missionary in China, the Pope sent her to New York City on March 31, 1889. There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, NY today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, [1] and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after her death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve Mother Cabrini's goal of being a missionary to China. After much social and religious upheaval and only a short time, the sisters left China, and subsequently a Siberian placement.

She was naturalized as an American citizen in 1909.

Mother Cabrini died of complications from malaria at Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. Though originally entombed in West Park, NY, after her death on December 22, 1917, her remains were exhumed from West Park in 1931 and are now enshrined on display under glass in the church's altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, part of Mother Cabrini High School, located at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The street to the west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor.

She was beatified on November 13, 1938 and canonized on July 7, 1946 by Pope Pius XII. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun. Her body is not incorrupt; although it is often said to be so, signage around her shrine and resting place in Washington Heights make it very clear that she is not.

The Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago is named after her, due to her work with Italian immigrants in the location. It has since become a haven for underprivileged and poor people and the MSC sisters still work there. Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, also bears her name.

The Cabrini Mission Foundation is an organization committed to advancing St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's mission and legacy of healing, teaching, and caring around the world.

Mother Cabrini's feast day is celebrated on December 22 by Traditionalist Roman Catholics.

Further information and links at the Mother Cabrini page at Wikipedia

The Story of Anton Nichelini & His Family

by Kathy Kernberger and Shirley Penland

St. Helena Star, Discover St. Helena, Summer 1998

Edited by Douglas A. Patterson


Between 1875 and 1910 world wide depression, poor crops and political unrest in Italy drove thousands of Italians and Swiss-Italians to the United States, with many of the Swiss-Italians settling in the San Francisco Bay area. Most sought opportunity in the large cities like San Francisco but some who knew about both farming and business chose to look for opportunity in the countryside like in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Anton’s father, Franceso Nichelini, was a prime example of this type of immigrant and Anton followed him there later on once Francesco had earned enough money for Anton’s passage. Anton was born Giuseppe Antonio Nichelini on November 22, 1862 to Francesco and Carolina Cotti Nichelini in Verscio, Canton Ticino, Switzerland. The family included six children.

At the age of nine, Anton was sent to Paris to live with his uncle Martino and aunt, Antonesca, in order to learn the art of stone masonry. While living with them, he was able to go to school, and it was thought that for a time he was an altar boy at Notre Dame Cathedral.

At the age of 17, he returned to the family home in Switzerland, an accomplished stone mason. These skills were later put to use in building his house and winery in Napa County’s Chiles Valley. The Nichelinis were one of the Patriziato or leading families in Verscio, good businessmen and, among other things, owned and operated the local grist mill. A visit to the local Catholic church in Verscio today will show that they were very influential in the church with their many crypts honored in the walls.

The records of the church in Verscio start in the year 1600 and there is a Nichelino recorded who, after his first wife died, married another woman and changed his name to Nichelini as best we can tell. All Nichelinis today are descended from him.

The romantic story, not proven, is that in the late 1500’s this fellow Nichelino lived in Nichelino, Italy, a suburb of Turino. His last name was Righetti, and he had fallen in love with a woman with whom neither family approved. So, they eloped, with sufficient money, of course, to Verscio, Switzerland, and became Patriziato. They sort of bought their way in. Supposedly, in those days in Italy one was not allowed to have the name of a town or city as one’s own name. No longer being in Italy, and wanting to have a unique name, they picked Nichelino, their home town. No one the town of Verscio had a name ending in the letter “o”. So, when he remarried, he changed the “o” to an “i”, or so the story goes.

Anton’s uncle, Giuseppe Secondo, had immigrated to San Francisco in 1849. He found gold, not in the Sierra Foothills, but in a pasta factory which he started in 1853.Guiseppe sold the pasta factory in 1865 for a tidy profit which he mentioned far and wide on his return to Switzerland.

Lured by the tales of his brother, Anton’s father, Francesco, came to San Francisco area to seek his fortune as things were looking pretty bleak at home. In 1875, he applied for a homestead grant on the Sonoma side of Mt.Veeder.

Here, he started a vineyard, built a house, and made plans for his family to join him. After he had saved enough money, he sent for some of the children to join him. In typical fashion, the mother sent the oldest child over first, his sister, even though Francesco had asked for Anton, who was younger to be in the first, as he was the most educated and able. He had to wait.

In 1882, at the age of 19, Anton arrived in Sonoma County. He thereafter changed his name to Anton, the French version of Antonio. He emphatically said that he was Swiss and not Italian, an important distinction as the Italians had just replaced the Chinese at the bottom of the local socio-economic ladder. There, he went to work for pioneer winemaker Joshua Cheuvet, who had originally come from France.

Under Chauvet’s guidance, Anton added the skills of viticulture and winemaking to those of stone mason. It also helped business that Anton was very fluent in French, Italian and German with so much of the population first generation Americans. His English textbook was a dictionary, which also helped him with pronunciation as well as understanding and meaning and he very quickly became fluent in his new country’s tongue.

In 1884, Anton decided to apply for a homestead in Napa County. He had heard about the Napa Valley from the Chauvet family, and decided to apply for a homestead of 160 acres in Chiles Valley.

Named for J. B. Chiles, the area was not well known to many people. However, he found a property that was rich in both chrome and magnacite, the later an alloy used in the making a special steel. In addition, Anton felt that hillside grapes were better for making quality wines than fruit on the valley floor. This was the place he hoped to settle and, someday, raise a family.

At that time, in order to acquire a homestead, it was necessary to become a citizen and make a certain amount of yearly “improvements” to the property. Anton, with Caterina’s later help, fulfilled these requirements and was granted a homestead by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892.

In 1890, the Chauvet family urged Anton to go to San Francisco to meet a charming young lady named Caterina Corda. Also a Swiss immigrant from Ticino, she was working at a hotel there. She claimed the Hotel owners would never let her out and it was really more like a prison.

Anton followed the Chauvet’s urgings, and three weeks later, the couple was married in Santa Rosa on July 7, 1890, with Henry Chauvet acting as Anton’s best man.

Family lore has it that Caterina, who was born in Switzerland in 1869, had fallen in love with a man in Switzerland whom her family considered “unsuitable.” Forbidden to marry him, she had come to San Francisco.

On her first “date” with Anton, as the story goes, they had gone for a ride in his buggy. During this ride, Caterina, obviously, a very forthright lady, is said to have asked Anton if he “had honorable intentions” and if so, was he going to marry her or not, and how long it would take him to do it.

After their marriage, not having a house of their own, they lived with relatives. One day, they went to see his homestead in Chiles Valley. Greatly taken with the beauty of the property, she told him “This is where I want to make our home.”

Shortly after, they moved to the small cabin, which Anton had already built on the property. The first four of their twelve children were born in this little cabin. The cabin is still on the Nichelini property today.

The decade from 1890 to 1900 was a busy one for the growing family. Anton worked as a magnacite miner for the Stanley and Bartlett Mines in Chiles Valley. He also started making wines from the vineyard which he and Caterina were expanding. Their growing family required more space than the small homestead cabin could provide.

Anton started building the hand-cut stone winery, and the family home that sits above it. It is still a familiar site for travelers on Highway 128 near the intersection of Lower Chiles Valley Road.

These buildings were completed in 1896. A gala housewarming included more than 100 guests with the as yet unfinished upstairs used as a dance floor with music provided by the Miller and Payne’s orchestra. A midnight supper completed the celebration.

Later, the upstairs was partitioned into the four bedrooms that remain today. Eight more children were born to the couple in the “new house” with Anton acting as “midwife.”

The dozen children were William, Joseph, Josephine, Ida, Rosa, Catherine, Mary, Frederic, Allen, Emma, Antoinette, and Inez.

Dates of the births spanned the years from William in 1891 to Inez in 1916.

In 1902, Father Blake, of the St. Helena Catholic Church, baptized all the five older girls at a family gathering.

“Brother Allen” became a noted football player. At a game between rivals, Napa and St. Helena, he played so well that the Napa fans forgot themselves and began cheering for the St. Helena High School team.

At St. Mary’s College, he was one of the “Galloping Gaels,” under the leadership of coach Edward Madigan. As an All American, he played on the winning team in the Shrine East-West game against President Gerald Ford.

Professionally. Allen played for both the Chicago Cardinals and Los Angeles Bulldogs. And in 1973, he was inducted into the National Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. One of his helmets remains on display there.

By 1910, Anton was Superintendent of the Red Mountain Mining Company in Livermore. When World War I broke out, he returned to Chiles Valley to work for the Tulare Mining Company. He patented several commercially successful magnacite ore smelting techniques which were later successfully applied to borax mining, including mines in Death Valley where he worked for a while bringing them on line.

His own property had also had chromium deposits that he developed. In 1916, he sold four of these mines to a San Francisco group.

Heart problems caused his health to begin to fail in 1934. On November 9, 1937, Anton died at the St. Helena Sanitarium (now St. Helena Hospital) after a severe heart attack.

Caterina lived until August 19, 1952. That year, she celebrated her 83rd birthday at a party with her 11 children (her daughter Rosa died in 1932). Many of her 29 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren also attended the party. Many people remembered both “Ma and Pa Nick” for their many acts of kindness and open hospitality.

Today, the winery which Anton and Caterina started is still family-owned, making it the oldest continuously operated family winery in Napa County.

Great grandsons Joseph and Philip Sunseri supply the grapes from vines, some of which were planted by Anton in the late 1920s. Another great grandson, Jim also supplies grapes from his Chiles Valley vineyard.

Yet, another grandson, Greg Boeger, and his son Justin Boeger, and great great granddaughter Aimee Sunseri, all UC Davis graduates, act as winemakers. Sitting literally at the edge of the road, the winery also contains Anton’s original Roman style wine press. To this press, believed to be the only one of its kind in left in tact in California, is well worth a visit. Otherwise, stay, have a glass of wine and enjoy playing bocce ball.

Our thanks to Inez Nichelini Boeger for her help in this article. Also, to Pauline Locey for her help.

Article link at NicheliniWinery.com