Sonoma County Biography

Antonio Bettinelli



One of the nourishing ranch enterprises in Chelino valley is that maintained .by Antonio Bettinelli and Augustus Tunzini, partners in the maintenance of seven hundred and twelve acres of fine ranch land adjacent to Petaluma, on Rural Route No. 2. Both men are Swiss by birth and training, which is equivalent to saying they are expert dairymen, and this indeed is true in their case. At the present time one hundred cows of the best breed contribute to the maintenance of their dairy, besides which there are fifteen head of young stock that will add to the size of the herd as soon as they are grown. The poultry industry is also a feature of the ranch enterprise, eight hundred chickens of the White Leghorn variety being an average flock. Four head of horses are also being raised on the ranch, which taken altogether is one of the most flourishing in this part of California.

Antonio Bettinelli was born in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, in the year 1871. one of the three sons (besides whom there were two daughters) born to his parents, Lawrence and Giovannina Bettinelli. One of these sons, Fillipo. had come to the United States in 1884, and two years later, in 1886, Antonio joined his brother in Marin county, the two working in the employ of ranchers in that county for some time. Subsequently they came to Chelino valley, Marin county, and both are now maintaining ranches on their own account not far from Petaluma.

Antonio Bettinelli chose for his wife a native daughter of California. She was formerly Miss Corinna Dado, born in Chelino valley, Marin county, in 1879. Ten children, six sons and four daughters, have been born to them, as follows: Paul, Lawrence, Alvino, Olympic, Everest, Alfred, Genevieve, Caroline, Irene and Elma. All of the children are robust and heartv and as they advance in years will be fitted to take their place creditably in the world, if the faithful training of their parents is adhered to. Mrs. Bettinelli is the daughter of Paul Dado, who was born in Switzerland in 1840, his wife, formerly Caroline Togni, having been born in the same country in 1853. Their marriage resulted in the birth of eleven children, three of whom were sons, Attilio, Silvio and Leo. The daughters were Belinda, Corinna, Delfina, Evelina, Florinda, Julia, Valeria and Irene. Attilio married Claudina L. Bloom, the daughter of James B. Bloom, and they had one daughter, Genevieve; after the death of his first wife he married Olivia Gambonini, and one son, Vernon, has been born of that marriage. Belinda became the wife of Philip Casarotti, and they have five children, Charles, Walter, Ernest, Irene and Eveline. Delfina became the wife of Alfonso Garzoli, and one child has been born to them, Marion. Evelina is the wife of Silvio Gambonini, and the mother of one son, Raymond. Florinda married Joseph Garzoli and has three children, Leo, Clayton and Matilda. Politically Mr. Bettinelli is a Republican, and with his family he finds religious consolation in the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, being communicants of the Church of the Assumption at Tomales.

History of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Julie Appletoft
April 2008
Pages 1103-1104


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