Our Story
I began studying my Morisoli family history about three years ago. It was quite a difficult family to trace due to the repeated use of names generation after generation, but it became easier with the help of one of my cousins who, without a doubt, is an expert on this family's history. The name Morisoli has a few variations such as Morosoli, Moresoli, and Morisolli.
The Morisoli family originates from a village called Monte Carasso, located in today's capital of Ticino, Bellinzona. Pietro Morisoli is the first recorded person with the surname. His son, Giovanni Battista Morisoli married Marta Santini, the daughter of Giovanni Santini. Together they had six children. One of Giovanni Battista and Marta's sons, Giovanni Maria Morisoli married Caterina Monighetti, and they had a son Giovanni Morisoli.
Giovanni Morisoli made his way to a village called Medeglia, where he married Domenica Giannoni on February 26, 1767. Among their many children was a son named Bernardo Antonio who, on May 7, 1798, married Giuseppa De Prati. They had seven total children. Their son Bernardo Morisoli was born in January 1812.
Bernardo Morisoli married Maria Morisoli and had twelve total children. Their son Michele (Michael) was born in 1850. Michele married Marietta Vittoria Morisoli on August 28, 1877 in Monte Carasso. According to church records, they had ten children: Michele Natale, Candido Angelo, Tiziano Iginio, Livio Giovanni Fulgenzio, Giuseppe Biagio, Vittorio Emanuele Tommaso, Maria Teresa Giuditta, Pietro Paolo Tista, Giuseppa Helvetia Elvezia, and Ilda Virginia. Seven of their ten children appear to have made their way to the United States – Michele (Michael), Candido, Iginio (Eugene), Emanuele, Maria, Pietro, and Helvetia.
Emanuele first made his way to the United States in 1910. He travelled from Monte Carasso to Antwerp, Belgium where he boarded the SS Lapland. The SS Lapland departed from Antwerp on May 7, 1910 and arrived at Ellis Island on May 16. Emanuele was processed through Ellis Island and made his way across the country to Santa Barbara, California where his brother Eugene was already living. In 1911 Emanuele went back to Monte Carasso and in March of 1912, left for good. Emanuele made his way to Havre, France where, on March 30, 1912, he boarded the SS La Provence and made his way to Ellis Island. He arrived in the United States on April 6, 1912 and once again made his way across the country to Santa Barbara, California where he found work as a dairy farmer. On August 24, 1916 Emanuele married his cousin, Ida Massimina Ferrari whose parents arrived from Ticino in the 1890s. Emanuele and Ida had five children: Dorothy Louise (1918-1991), Mary Josephine (1920-2007), Joseph Peter (1922-2008), Michael Manuel (1926-1994), and Harvey Eugene (1932-2011). The family eventually settled in Santa Paula, California where the children attended school.
Dorothy married Donald Henry Riege and had four children, one of whom, Thomas Alan Riege passed away in 2006; Mary married George Leonard Coberly and had two children; Joseph married Emalene Scott and had two children; Michael, a member of the United States Marine Corps and World War II veteran married and had three children; Harvey, who served in the Army, married and had one son.
Maria Teresa Giuditta Morisoli married Albino Ferrari, uncle of Ida Ferrari. Albino Ferrari was born in Cadro, Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland. He sailed from Havre, France on board the SS La Touraine on April 23, 1904 and arrived at Ellis Island on May 1, 1904. Maria made her way to Havre, France where she departed on the SS La Lorraine on April 23, 1910. She arrived at Ellis Island on April 30. They married and had two sons Charles (1912-2003) and Kenneth (1916-1984).