Newbie needs help with Francisco Morelli

[georgeeckholt]

Hi Rosebushr,

I hope that you get this message. We have the same great grandfather. My grand-father was Isidoro Giovanni Raphaelo. He dropped the Isidoro when he left he Carabinieri. In the US his legal name was John Ralph Morelli. But because he was a half-brother of Giovanni Morelli, already in Albuquerque, he went by Ralph. He had three children. Gina, Emma and Frank. I am Emma's younger son. Ralph came to the US around 1907-8 and then went back to marry Maria Pasquarosa Gragnani. She lived in Ponte a Moriano which is just a few kilometers north of Lucca and northwest of Capannori where Ralph lived. In our family we knew of your grandmother as Aunt Sadie. The Annunziata name may have been associated with the time of year of her birth. Annunziata means Annunciation and is a Catholic Feast Day around March 25. My grandmother's middle name of Pasquarosa means Rose of Easter.

I hope this helps and would like to correspond with you.
George

[PoppaDavid]

What George writes is good. His mother and my father were siblings.

I was informed of this thread tonight, and may have some additional information to share, if you wish to contact me at jo.david@frontier.com . You still have living relatives in Albuquerque named Morelli, including the sons of Teddy and Ralph ( Sadie's brothers ), and some of their children. Other relatives are from the children of the daughters of Sadie's half brothers Americo and Augustino, and they are scattered across the U.S. Her third half brother is a mystery. We lost track of your line when Sadie married John and moved to Colorado Springs, except for a note that John died in 1936.

I attached a photo of Sadie. It was part of a larger family photo. I don't usually publish family information on public forums, although I am very willing to share with family members.

David

[PoppaDavid]

I would like to find the source for the names of Giovanni Rondina and Domenica Ballestrini as Amabile's parents. That would be new information to me.

It has been a year since my cousin George and I last posted on this topic.

After three years, this may be old news. But, for anyone who stumbles on this thread:
Amabile Romdina was the second wife of Francisco Morelli of Lucca. They had four sons and one daughter.
Joe, John, Ralph, Teddy, and Sadie. The older brothers traveled to the US and ended up in Albuquerque. Mother and Theodore and Sadie came to Albuquerque some time after Francisco's death. Sadie moved to Colorado.

Ralph was my grandfather and he returned to Italy to marry my grandmother.

Albina Marta was the first wife of Francisco Morelli. They had three sons that I know about. Michael, Americo, and Augustino. All of the sons came to Albuquerque as a result of their uncle Daniel. Michael went to Las Vegas NM and I have no information of a family. Most of the off spring of Augustino and Americo were women, so there are few examples of Morelli families in their grandchildren (of Lawrence, Renato, Bruno, & Frank, only Lawrence had a child that I know about). The daughters married into Giacopuzzi, Tomasi, Martinelli, Lopizich, Bachechi, Dotson, Ferraro, Grande, Lee, and Chandler names.

I would like to learn more about the Italian connection for Morelli, Marta, Rondina, Gragnani, and Caselli. And the della Nina and Rafaeli families who married Americo and Augustino. And the Menicucci cousins.

David (jo.david@frontier.com)