Sonoma County Biography
Filippo Gaudenzio Casarotti
The tide of immigration which bore so many of the industrious and capable sons of Switzerland to the west, brought Filippo G. Casarotti to Sonoma county in 1884. He was then a young man poor in pocket, but rich in hope and determination to make a success of his life in this country as hundreds of his co8untrymen had done before him. It is therefore with commendable pride that he views the broad acres which are his and contrasts his present prosperous condition with his condition a little over a quarter of a century ago, when he landed as an immigrant on the shores of this country.
Generation after generation of the Casarotti family had lived and died in Switzerland, accepting uncomplainingly the conditions by which they were surrounded. It was therefore regarded as a wild adventure when Filippo G. Casarotti broke the traditions of long standing by leaving the land of his forefathers to found a home inn the United States. This he did in 1884, when he was seventeen years old, his birth having occurred in 1867. He was induced to take the step owing to the fact that so many of his countrymen had preceded him here and made a success of their undertakings, and confidence in his ability to do what others had succeeded in doing spurred him on when trials or disappointments came his way. Working as a farm hand in the employ of others gave him valuable experience and taught him many things in regard to agricultural life in this country which he was able to put to practice to his advantage later on. For eleven years he was engaged in dairying on the Tomasini ranch in the Chelino valley, and after selling his stock and outfit at the end of this time, returned to Canton Cicino, Switzerland, with his family, spending the years 1902 and 1903 in his native land. After his return to California he was on the Murphy ranch, also in the Chelino valley, for five years, and since 1910 he has been located on the fine ranch which he now leases. This consists of three hundred and thirty-three acres not far from Petaluma, upon which he makes a specialty of dairying and raising chickens. Fifty-three cows of excellent breed constitute his dairy, while his poultry yard contains nine hundred laying hens, besides which he has three head of fine horses. Taken altogether, Mr. Casarotti has one of the most thrifty appearing and prosperous ranches in this section of country and he is regarded by all who know him as an upright, substantial citizen, one whose activities are not confined to the accomplishment of personal interests only, but include his fellowmen, the community in which he lives and the county.
The parents of Mr. Casarotti were Filippo and Margareta (Genazzini) Casarotti, both natives of Switzerland, born respectively in 1832 and 1827, and the latter was first married to Mr. Piesenti. Five children were born of the marriage of Mr. And Mrs. Casarotti, Filippo G. being the only son. The daughters were Giacomina, Piesenti, Maria S. and Matilda. Maria S. makes her home in Italy, the wife of G. Fobelli and the mother of five children, Adolpho, Joseph, Clalia, Alvenia and Margaret.
Filippo G. Casarotti chose as his wife Belinda E. Dado, who was born in Marin county, Cal., in 1879, the daughter of Paul and Carolina (Togni) Dado, both born in Switzerland, the former in the year 1830. A large family of eleven children blessed this marriage, three of whom were sons, Atilio A., Silvio J. and Leo C.; the daughters were Belinda E. (Mrs. Casarotti) Corina C., Delfina A., Evelyn E., Florinda G., Julia C., Valeria R. and Irene A. Atilio married for his first wife Cladina Bloom, by whom he had one child, Jennie V., and after the death of his first wife, married Olivia Gamboni, by whom he also had one child, Vernon E. Corina C. became the wife of A. Bettinelli and the mother of ten children, Paul G., Lawrence B., Olympia O., Ervino, Everest M., Henry A. Genevieve, Covina, Irene V. and Alma O. Delfina A. married Alphonzo Garzoli, and has one child, Maria. Evelyn E. is the wife of S. Gambolini and has one child, Raymond S. Florinda G. married Joseph Garzoli and has three children, Clayton, Leo and Matilda. Irene A. is the wife of P. J. Bloom. Mr. Casarotti and his wife have five children, Charles P., Ernest A., Walter Y., Irene J. and Evelyn M. The entire family are communicants of the Catholic Church, and are stanch adherents of the faith which has given consolation to their ancestors for generations. Politically Mr. Casarotti is a Republican, and socially he is identified with the lodge of Druids at Tomales.
History of Sonoma County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
May 2008
Pages 1106-1107
Sonoma County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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