Ronzani in Ironwood, MI

[goosebriar]

Looking for any information on the Ronzani family that immigrated from Italy to Iron Mountain, MI, specifically Floyd Ronzani who died in 1955.

[ptimber]

Your a winner! Floyd is not an Italian name so I suspect his name is Feo Ronzani. If this is his correct first name then you can get going on finding your roots. There are for your information 66 Ronzani listed int he www.ellisisland.org website arriving at NYC between 1892 and 1924 and no doubt he is among them and following the usual pattern moist americans in those days immediately gave him a first name and I suspect Floyd was someone who figured he was the most american of them all!. Please confirm this so I can send you to your DNA, documents, relatives and history. Peter

[Essgee]

Well...

Peter was correct in assuming Floyd was an American name....Floyd Ronzani was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan on 23 Feb, 1911. He died in Feb of 1955.

His parents were Giovanni Ronzani and Caterina Broglio and they came from Lusiano in Northern Italy.

Here is some info:
1920 census of Iron Mountain,Dickinson,MI
living at 601 Milwaukee Ave
John, age 47, born Italy, arrived in 1898, naturalized in 1904, miner
Catherine, age 41, born Italy, arrived in 1904
Guistina, age 22, born Italy, arrived in 1904
Antonio, age 20, born Italy, arrived in 1904
David, age 14, born MI
Irene, age 12, born MI
Eugene, age 11, born MI
Floyd, age 8, born MI
Natalie, age 3, born MI

1930 census of Iron Mountain, Dickinson,MI
Living at same address (he owned his home in 1920)
John, widower, age 57, born Itlay
Guistina, age 29, born Italy
David, age 24, born MI
Irene, age 21, born MI
Floyd, age 19, born MI
Natalie, age 13, born MI

IN addition, found:
Arrived in New York on May 9, 1905 Caterina Broglio, married, Gusitina Ronzani, age 7, Antonio Ronzani, age 5 on the ship Le Aquitaine out of Le Havre. From the town of Lusiano.

Antonio is in the WWI registration records living at 601 Milwaukee AVe.
Number 9741 (or A741..hard to read) Serial # 1805.
He is listed working for Oliver Iron Manufacturing Co., in Iron Mt.
His birth date listed 29 Jun, 1899. He died Sept of 1973.
David born 6 Dec. 1905, died July 1986
Eugene born 28 March 1909, died Sept 1975
Justine born 21 Oct 1898, died Jan 1990

And you probably know this as well...Eugene Ronzani was Gene Ronzani, the coach of the Green Bay Packers. He left the team in 1953. If you go to the Green Bay web site, you can see some info and a picture.

Could not find John Ronzani passenger record...but you know he was naturalized in 1904 (may be 1905 as they were a year off on the arrival date of Caterina and the kids) And it should be in the state of Michigan. This could give you additional information on John's (Giovanni's) father and mother, his date of birth, etc.

I am betting that there is a lot of family info on them because of Gene. You might want to look for cousins, aunts and uncles and see what they have.

Good Luck and good hunting.

[ptimber]

As an added kicker there are 96 Ronzani in Lusiana and there is even a Rita Borglio Ronzani listed. Go to www.paginebianche.it and put in surname in first line and Lusiana in third line and click CERCA for a look see at possible relatives. Peter

[goosebriar]

Boy - you guys are good!!! Thank you!!

Can anyone speculate as to why Caterina was listed as "Broglio" instead of Ronzani when she came over from Italy? If she was John Ronzani's wife, why wasn't she listed as Ronzani?

There is family legend that a male who came from Italy was an alcohol and tobacco smuggler (John Ronzani?) so I think he may have had a different name when he came over in 1898 (1898 is from census record). What is the Italian equivalent for John?

[Essgee]

HI...

Giovanni is the Italian name that translates to John. He will be listed as Giovanni.

A woman's legal name in Italy...the one she uses her entire life...is the name she was born with. There is no "maiden" name as such. Only in America did she become known by her husand's name. Needless to say, all documents generated in Italy...birth, death, marriage...all would list her by her legal name. When she left Italy, once again she would be listed by that name we refer to here as maiden name, but over there as legal name.

Also, the records would also represent the Italian names, not the English translations.

Hope this helps...........

[sweetpea]

I know this is an extremely old thread,
My name is Debby Ronsani (Ronzani) I am related to Gene Ronzani.

I am also trying to find family In/From Iron Mt.

There is also a connection to Cantele, Sartori..
Maddalena Ronzani , Lusiana-- DOB ?? DOd-- May 23, 1885 , Lusiana-- She married an Antonio Sartori in Lusiana-- had 4 children-- Marco {my Grand Father } An Antonio, Annetta and an Angelo - Angelo married a Giovanna Ronzani {DOB 9-27-1883} in Lusiana---Giovanna's Father was Francesco Ronzani who married an Angela Zampese in Lusiana--