PEDRONCELLI FAMILY NARRATIVE

Guglielmo (William) Pedroncelli was born in Madesimo, Italy around 1887. He emigrated on the ship Weimer, arriving in New York on 24 April 1903 with his brother Battista, uncle Lorenzo, and Lorenzo’s family. Between the family members they arrived with a total of over $1,800, much more than the average immigrant family.

Guglielmo and his brother Battista came to Gualala to join their father, Battista, and his younger brother Lorenzo, who had arrived a few years prior and were living and working on Larson R. McFaul’s farm in Gualala. On 6 August 1903, shortly after starting his new life in Gualala, Guglielmo died of a brain concussion. He was buried in the Gualala Cemetery.

MIGRATION OF THE PEDRONCELLI FAMILY – POST 1903:

BATTISTA PEDRONCELLI (Father of Guglielmo Pedroncelli) A search of the 1910 U.S. Federal Census taken after the death of Guglielmo Pedroncelli shows that the Pedroncelli family was no longer living on the Mendocino Coast. After the death of his son, father Battista Pedroncelli is not found in any records, and may have returned to Italy where his wife was presumably living.

BATTISTA PEDRONCELLI (Brother of Guglielmo Pedroncelli) b. 2 April 1888, d. 9 January 1976. Battista Pedroncelli, who arrived on the Weimer from Madesimo, Italy in 1903, became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1917, along with his wife Genoffa and daughter Rena. Tracing this family unit shows that Battista moved to Los Angeles by 1909, when he married Genoffa. The family remained in the Los Angeles area. Battista died on 9 January 1976.

LORENZO PEDRONCELLI (Brother of Guglielmo Pedroncelli) b. October 1888, d. 31 July 1908. Lorenzo migrated to the Los Angeles area, likely with his brother Battista. He died on 31 July 1908. Lorenzo is buried in Ventura, California at Cemetery Memorial Park.

LORENZO PEDRONCELLI (Uncle of Guglielmo Pedroncelli) b. 1863, d. 1 May 1919. Lorenzo Pedroncelli and his wife Angela moved to Township 2, Fresno County, California. Their young son, Lorenzo, presumably died before 1910. While records provide Lorenzo’s wife had 9 children prior to 1910, only three were living at the time of the census: Lino, Emmett, and Alfred. Another child, Ida, was born before Lorenzo died in 1919. Lorenzo’s massive probate file shows his success as a farmer of peaches, currants, and raisins; likely boosted by the $830 he brought to America with him, far more than most immigrants at that time. He owned a vast amount of property, employed many, and was a shareholder in the California Peach Growers.

Research compiled by Kelly S. Richardson, APR, AG, Anchored Genealogy.