December 28, 2023
So far in this series, my readers have followed my travels from the region of Liguria in Italy to the region of Piedmont in search of the roots of Sierra County’s Italian pioneers. My travels took me through Chiavari, Genoa, and Rigoroso. From there, I ended up in Milan, where I took a train to the Ossola Valley, the region the rest of this series will focus on. Before arriving in the town of Domodossola, I passed by the smaller communities of Piedimulera and Pieve Vergonte (more specifically, the tiny locality of Fomarco), the ancestral homes of Sierra County’s Tomola family. In 1882, several members of the family of Bartolomeo Tomola (1850-1916) came to California (including cousins and in-laws, which included the Bassi and Blardone families), sailing from Le Havre, France to New York, then taking a train across the country to California. Of interest, the Anzasca Valley west of Piedimulera and Pieve Vergonte is one of the few locales in Italy that was known for gold mining, the area being home to the well-known Guia Mine, which was active from 1710 to 1945. Many residents of the villages in this region are listed as miners in the old Italian archives, including members of the Tomola family. Bartolomeo Tomola and his wife Agostina Bassi (1856-1933) had three children in Italy. The first, a son, lived only a few months. He was followed by two daughters: Mary Teresa (1880-1893) and Teresa “Tessie” Maria (1882-1971). After the birth of Tessie, Bartolomeo Tomola immigrated to Sierra County. It was not until the spring of 1891 that he sent for his wife and daughters, who made the long journey to California (this journey is chronicled in the Sierra County Historical Society’s newsletter of the Summer of 2013). Two more daughters, Pierina “Rena” (1891-1926) and Josephine (1898-1977), were born to Bartolomeo Tomola and his wife after the latter’s arrival in Sierra County. Bartolomeo Tomola was superintendent of the Cleveland Mine west of Sierra City for some time. More of his relatives joined him in California, including several nephews, including nephews John and Vincent Tomola (who worked at the Hilda Mine and are both buried at the Sierra City cemetery) and nephews Nat and Joe Tomola (who both later lived at Gold Flat near Nevada City before moving to San Francisco; Nat worked at Nevada County’s Brunswick Mine). Regarding the daughters of Bartolomeo Tomola and his wife Agostina Bassi, the oldest, Mary Teresa, died only two years after her arrival in California. The second daughter, Tessie, married Tony Lavezzola, the subject of previous articles in this series (her descendants still live in Sierra County). The fourth daughter, Josephine, married Antonio G. Costa, whose family was also the subject of previous articles in this series (it was typical for Italians to marry only other Italians back in the day). Josephine served as a schoolteacher at North Columbia in Nevada County and later took the position of postmistress of the post office in Downieville. The third daughter, Rena, married Marvin Wright (not an Italian) and served as a fire lookout on the Sierra Buttes for two seasons, along with a career as the postmistress at the Downieville post office before her untimely death (she was succeeded by her sister Josephine, who served the position until 1959). In 1920, four years after the death of Bartolomeo Tomola, Agostina Bassi Tomola and her daughters purchased the earlier Moran Ranch on the west side of Goodyears Creek, about three miles above Goodyears Bar. James J. Sinnott wrote that the family “made the ranch their home until 1923 in which year they sold the place to Mr. Chamberlain. Josephine in that year left to begin teaching at North Columbia. The Tomolas had earlier lived at the Cleveland Mine below Loganville, and at Sierra City. They had a vegetable garden at the ranch and sold much of the produce to the Salmon Lake Resort of George McGee.” Unfortunately, during my trip to the Piedmont region of northern Italy, I did not get the chance to stop at Piedimulera. However, I did get in touch with a distant Italian relative of mine who lives in Pieve Vergonte, who told me she knows a few members of the Tomola family and that there are still many members of the Tomola family who live in the area. A quick internet search also turns up many people in the area with the Tomola surname. So perhaps, on my next visit to the region, I will have the chance to meet some of them! Part 11 of this series, coming next week, will focus on my visit to the Bognanco Valley just west of Domodossola, an area once home to many Italian immigrants to Sierra County and which has a personal significance to me, as Bognanco was the home of my Italian ancestors for many generations before their arrival to Sierra County.