General Notes

Name means "Little Bear"
Orsolina sailed without escort on the ship "Regina d Italia" from Genoa, Liguria, Italy, arriving at Ellis Island Dec. 14, 1914.  Residence Listed:  Porte Buggianese, Lucca,   Italy.  She then boarded a train to come west to meet with her first husband.  She was called to Black Diamond, WA. by husband Angelo Pasquini, but he died suddenly in 1917. She later came to Stockton, Ca. (where Angelo's sister apparently lived) and eventually took in washing down at the waterfront for support. This is how she met Francesco, who courted her on a bicycle built for two.  I recall as a chld witnessing them taking a renewal of their wedding vows in grand style sometime before 1963.

According to the story handed down to me, Italy was still under a feudal system when grandma Orsolina lived there.  She was always haunted by the death of her first child with her first husband, Angelo.  As with most of her family, Orsolina worked in the fields under the feudal system, so it was common to have a "wet nurse" to breast-feed the baby for the mother. Apparently, the infant was "allergic" to the other woman's milk and died.  This is the story as handed down to me; however, as with my mother, my grandmother never discussed her precise genealogy with me or with her daughter (my aunt), she just told us (many times) that her line came down from the ancient Etruscian culture, but of course that civilization has long been given over to ancient history and would be quite improbable for backup documentation. Since I now have a professional genealogist assisting in the search, an expanded picture is developing.   She did tell me several times in her life that her name "Orsola" (as she was later called) meant "bear" and that it related to "the bear in the sky" (Ursa Major or "The Great Bear").

"Nonna" was instrumental in helping me to understand tradition while I grew up in a world of so much change.  She held to the ancient healing arts through herbs and an incredible intuitive ability.  At the age of 90 years, she was social director of the nursing home, and she was alert and sharp until her stroke, from which she passed quickly.   To see a picture of Orsolina/Orsola, please see my genealogy website at:
<a href=http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/valeriepippi>Tribal Pages</a>

SOURCES:   Family knowledge and records.  Italian records researched and documented by professional Italian genealogist Carolyn B. Ugolini, A.G., Sandy, UT.

1890 HI-LITES: When Orsolina was only one week old, Ellis Island became the first stop for immigrants to the U.S.