George Dolcini paternal ancestry

Paternal Ancestry for George Dolcini: 8/28/1906 - 9/25/1988

Sonoma, CA

Georgiana Wallman was born in 1886 and was married in 1906 at age 19. She became pregnant shortly thereafter (or before) and had a son, George Dolcini. This essay will attempt to trace the identity of the father, as well as detail some other aspects of George Dolcini’s life, family and ancestry.

The first name of George’s father does not appear in any records. The surname was Dolcini; that much we know. The Dolcini surname was locally common to only two ranching families in Nacasio and San Antonio, Marin County and to one immigrant servant/ dairy laborer named Joseph Dolcini, also in Marin.

The above two Dolcini families and households were established by the immigrants, and brothers, Peter Arnold Dolcini and Michael Dolcini. The 1880 US Census listed both Peter and Michael Dolcini.

Peter Arnold Dolcini was born around 1855 in Switzerland and arrived in the US in 1871. His wife was Anita Margaret Martin, born in California.

Michael Dolcini was born around 1851 in Switzerland and arrived in the US in 1868. His wife was Isoline Dolcini, born in Switzerland. (In 1905 Michael was listed as a Nicasio/ San Rafael dairyman with a Petaluma Post office address. Later in1930 Michael had a Petaluma address.)

The 1900 Census had one Joseph Dolcini, age 28, born 3/1872 in Switzerland. His immigrant year was 1888. In 1900 he had been in the US 12 years, his father was Swiss, mother born in CA. This seems to say that he was Peter’s son and Anita Margaret Martin was his step-mother, as she was born in California.

In 1900 Joseph lived in Nicasio and was a servant/ dairy labor of dairyman Ameda Bolla. Joseph does not appear listed as a member of either the Michael or Peter Dolcini families or households but the stats match up at least in terms of surname and parent’s place of birth. He was maybe a cousin or a nephew. One key point: of the eventual young Dolcini men of similar marriageable age to Georgiana Wallman, Joseph was the only one who was Swiss born.

These two Dolcini lineages, Peter and Michael, and perhaps Joseph as a third lineage, came from Ticino Canton, the only Italian speaking canton of Switzerland.  

The 1900 Census in Marin County, Nicasio Township, shows that Peter and Anita Dolcini had some children: Arnoldo Tully Dolcini was then 12. He was born on October of 1887 in California. Son Alvino Dolcini was @ 7, four to five years younger than Arnold.

The 1900 Census in Marin County, San Antonio Township, shows Michael Dolcini and wife to have a son Emedio, 11, born 1888 in California. Alvina E. Dolcini, daughter, was 7 and born 1893. Isoline was 38 in 1900.

In 1910 Michael’s wife’s name had changed from Isoline to Palla. Palla was 48 in 1910, making her the same age as Isoline. Palla could be a nickname for Isoline or  Isoline could have died and Palla was a new wife.

Alvina, daughter of Michael and Alvino, son of Peter, were exactly the same age. This caused some confusion during the research process. At one point I was certain, upon finding Alvino Dolcini, that I had found George Dolcini’s father, as Georgiana named a future son Alvin. Then I came upon Alvina and felt sunk, ‘Alvino’ was maybe just a census typological error; one o or one a makes all the difference for gender in Romance language names.

Now the stage is set for the mystery Dolcini son to be born and to know who his father logically might be. On 8/28/1906, George Dolcini was born. He lived until 9/25/1988. His Social Security Number was: 546-16-2101; why let an obscure bit of research go to waste?

The 1910 Census shows George Dolcini’s mother, Georgiana (Wallman) Dolcini as being 23 years old, residing in Sonoma County, Sonoma Township, born in California and married for 4 years. Georgiana’s marriage date was 1906. There are no records showing anyone as her husband, even though her name had changed from Georgiana Wallman to Georgiana Dolcini.

In 1910 George Dolcini’s father’s birthplace, on the Ancestry.com census, was listed as Germany with Scotland in parentheses. The Heritage Quest census father’s birthplace is near illegible but seemingly not ‘Germany (Scotland)’. The Heritage Quest father’s birthplace looks more like ‘Swiss Italian’. Wouldn’t that be great if two web sources had different census info! The household listed George Wallman, age 58 as the grandfather of George Dolcini. Grandfather George Wallman was a Prussian, German speaking immigrant.

In 1910 Arnold T. Dolcini, son of Peter, was 22 and lived in Oakland as a boarder, working as a bank clerk. Alvino, son of Peter, was 18, lived in Marin County and was listed as farm labor. 

In 1910, Emedio Dolcini son of Michael, was 20. Alvina, daughter of Michael was 18

Dante, son of Michael was 15.  

So who of the above eligible Dolcini man and boys was the father of George Dolcini? Arnold, Alvino, Emedio or Joseph? These above are the only male Dolcinis locally around in the Census records who could have had relations with Georgiana.  The father could be from one Santa Barabara Dolcini lineage or from one Valente Dolcini from Solano County. Valente would have been 15 in 1906 when George Dolcini was conceived. The father could be one of the immigrants Michael or Peter themselves.

George Dolcini is said to have been short and dark but we have no way to tell which possible father may have had those characteristics. Every little bit of evidence here could count; but sometimes a wall gets reached after which the past speaks no more.

Further detailed accounting of census records might show matching or not matching physical characteristics. This would entail getting clear, blank census forms from 1880 on and seeing who had what color hair etc.  Photographs might show common characteristics, for example, big ears. This might be an avenue to pursue if nothing else pans out in the research process.

Emedio, Arnold, and Alvino were of the same general age as Georgiana in 1906, her marriage year when she was 19 years old. In 1906: Arnold was 18, Emedio was 16, and Alvino was 13 or 14.  

Here there is a new twist to add. There are two Joseph Dolcinis. The Joseph previously mentioned would have been 34 in 1906, perhaps a bit old for 19 year old Georgiana, but still possible.

Joseph #2 shows up in the 1920 Census and he back track from there to being 24 in 1906. In 1920 he was listed as 38 years old and lived in San Jose. He was married and a freight handler for the railroad. His immigration year was 1887 and naturalization year 1896, different than Joseph #1. He was born Swiss with mother Italian and father Swiss. Joseph #1’s (step)mother? was born in CA. This is clearly a different Joseph than the #1 from 1900. Now another possible father can be added to the mix. This Joseph was of eligible age in 1906 and born in Switzerland.

It is doubtful that immigrant Michael Dolcini was the father as he was an ensconced San Antonio dairyman in Marin County. Peter Dolcini was a Marin dairyman as well and both were married. These two are probably out.

George Dolcini’s father was born in Switzerland as per the 1910 Census listing, or at least not US or California born. Arnoldo, Alvino and Emedio were all born in US. That leaves Joseph Dolcini #2 as the only same-age-range male Dolcini born in Switzerland at that time. Joseph #2 is a likely suspect.

Current Dolcini family histories from Marin County may not list Joseph #2 as a family member as he was apparently from another Dolcini lineage. He could be yet again another cousin or nephew. I have a feeler out to the current Dolcini Red Hill ranch in Marin. That there is Joseph Dolcini #1 confuses things. But Joseph #1 is a probable son of Peter Dolcini and step son of Anita Martin Dolcini.

Alvino Dolcini could be the father. He is very likely the one Georgiana’s later son Alvin is named after. But Alvino was only 13 or 14 when Georgiana was married at age 19; an unlikely possibility then, for Alvino as father and husband; boy toy maybe. The names Alvino and Alvina point however to the very strong possibility that George Dolcini is descended from one of the two Marin County Dolcini ranching families, most likely the family of Peter Dolcini. The Alvin/ Alvino/ Alvina connection is too strong to ignore when the evidence is so slim otherwise. Alternately Georgiana could simply have liked Alvino or Alvina and decided to name her son after him. A constant shortfall of this kind of work is imputing untrue assumptions just.

Unfortunately, Georgiana’s marriage to whoever of the above Dolcinis is not on any census or marriage records that I can find. The best that can be done is educated guesswork. Any male Dolcinis found to be living in Sonoma in 1906 would be a hot lead. The above accounting lists them all, even out of the region to Santa Barbara, Solano County and San Jose.

Joseph #2 is more of the right age and he was born Swiss; Alvino is the right name; Arnold was out and about living in Oakland and could easily have taken the train into Sonoma. It seems likely Georgiana got pregnant by Joseph #1, Joseph #2, Arnold, Emedio or Alvino. This pregnancy could have occurred out of wedlock and resulted in a shotgun marriage; thus the marriage was a mere legality to save face and hence no records or presence of the father. There is no record of the divorce either. At any rate, the offspring, George took the Dolcini surname; that much we know.

There are no other Dolcinis that I know from this time period buried in the Mountain, Valley or Catholic cemeteries in the city of Sonoma. Whoever the Dolcini was does not appear either to have owned land or a ranch in Sonoma during the critical time period. This all suggest that there was a tryst. That Georgiana remarried in 1912 and that the Wallman household does not show her husband, even though she shows up married on the 1910 census, indicates that she was not cohabiting with the Dolcini sire anyway.  

The Wallman family had ranch land off southeast Broadway in Sonoma, right where the Adele Harrison Middle School is currently located. What was called the ‘Dolcini adobe’, the Wallman Adobe, the Wallman-Dolcini Adobe, was built in the 1898 by George Wallman, Prussian immigrant and maternal grandfather of George Dolcini. Georgiana was the oldest child of George Wallman and George Dolcini was the firstborn heir of the next generation of the George Wallman lineage. George Dolcini was born, lived and died in the adobe house built by his grandfather George Wallman. I believe the house came to be called the Dolcini adobe because George Dolcini ended up being the sole property owner through primogeniture inheritance. I don’t see that there was any Dolcini ranch or presence in Sonoma other than perhaps for as short as just one night.

There could have been a concurrent Dolcini homestead or ranch on Broadway, adjacent to the Wallman property. If this was the case it is likely that the Dolcini and Wallman kids had sexual relations or married, hence George Dolcini. (An example of neighbor marriage is illustrated in the city of Sonoma by the Campbell and Smith families whose adjacent lots sat between MacArthur and Napa Street East and 5^th and 6^th Streets East.) However, no Dolcinis show up on any Sonoma census, marriage or divorce records. There were no Dolcinis in Sonoma that left any imprint, except for George Dolcini, son of Georgiana Wallman Dolcini. One of the above mentioned young men and Georgiana must have been involved in some way. This is the mystery to be solved. Who was it?!

Georgiana’s Dolcini husband could have died, and they buried him out back. (1) For that matter, maybe somebody killed the Dolcini husband. Georgiana may have left him and been divorced, again, no record of any of this. 

On 1/17/1912, Georgiana Wallman Dolcini  married Frank Atsuo Matsuyama. Georgiana’s name then became Georgiana Wallman Matsuyama.

On September 8, 1919, Alvino Dolcini, age 27 marries Jennie Agnes Rosselli, age 21. Both are residents of Petaluma. Alvino, Arnold, Joseph and went on to traditional marriage trajectories in the years after Georgiana married Frank.

On the 1920 Census, George Dolcini was 13 and his father was listed as from Switzerland. So what was it? Germany, Scotland or Switzerland? The country of origin listings on the various censuses are easily misinterpreted due to sloppy handwriting and bad copies, so the Dolcini father’s countries of origin may be misinterpreted in the record due to the latter factors. His father was most probably from Swiss Italian ancestry as Dolcini was a Swiss name, the immigrants coming from the canton of Ticino.

In 1920 Arnold Tully Dolcini was 32, lived in San Antonio Township, Marin County, was head of household, dairyman and married to the Irish Katherine Rosanna Connelly, age 27. They had two kids 3 ½ and 1 ½  years old.

In 1920 Alvino Dolcini was 27, in Nicasio and married to wife Jennie, 21. Emedio Dolcini was 31 and single in 1920 and on the 1940 Census.

In the 1930 Census George Dolcini was 23, listed as single and a truck farmer, and his father as being born in Switzerland.

Georgiana is listed through the years as head of household on the Broadway ranch with George Dolcini and all Georgiana’s children by Frank A. Matsuyama, George Dolcini’s half siblings, as members of the household. The second husband, Frank, was never listed as head of household or even as living in Sonoma. Frank was counted in the census living in San Francisco and it is probable that due to nativist sentiment and US law against Japanese and oriental immigrants, Frank’s ability to own land was limited. During and after World War Two, the Matsuyama children all changed their surnames to Wallman so as to sidestep anti-Japanese sentiment.

Alternately Frank may never have had any title to the property anyway.

As an aside, a May 7^th 1940 Buena Vista primary election index shows a fun listing of locals including the main character of this essay:

George Dolcini, gardener, Rep

Mrs. Georgiana W. Matsuyama, housewife, East Broadway, Rep

George W. Matsuyama, farmer, Rep

Mrs. Annie S. Wallman, housewife, RFD, Dem

George Wallman, farmer, RFD Rep

William D. Rambo, dairyman, Rep (family sold a parcel of Lot #513 where the former Schuhmann Hotel now stands)

Mrs. Elsa M. Shuhmann, RFD, Rep (eldest daughter and heir of Otto and Clara Schuhmann)

Miss Florence M. Bill, telephone operator RFD Republican (daughter of Johanna Schuhmann [Otto’s youngest daughter] and Philip C. Bill)

Julius Dresel, electrician, Dem (Otto Schuhmann was hired man in Carl Dresel household as an immigrant)

Otto Schulze, farmer, RFD, Dem (a one time boarder in Schuhmann Hotel, home butcher)

Mrs. Bertha E. Von Sydow, housewife, RFD, Buena Vista (wife of Hans Von Sydow)

Harold Thornsberry, Srl worker, Rep (Thornsberry Road)

Lee F, Thornsberry, farmer, Rep

Frank M. Burris, banker Republican (well known Sonoma surname)

 In the late1950s, George Dolcini was still single, unmarried. (Nancy P.) Only he and Alvin Wallman lived on the ranch in the late 1950s and early 1960s. George Dolcini eventually inherited the property and land by primogeniture. Since it appears George Dolcini never married or had any children, the property went upon his death on 9/25/1988 to his seven Matsuyama half sibling heirs.

George Dolcini is buried in the Sonoma Mountain Cemetery along with his grandfather George Wallman, his uncle, George Wallman, mother Georgiana Wallman Matsuyama, stepfather Frank Atsuo Matsuyama and half brother Alvin J. (Matsuyama) Wallman.

The question of George Dolcini’s paternal ancestry may never be answered. Perhaps this essay will serve as a reminder for any Dolcini family historians or local Sonomans who may still remember.

(1) Nancy Parmelee said George Dolcini and Alvin Wallman spoke of burying people out back on the property. Who might that be? All the critical actors in this tale are accounted for except the mystery Dolcini husband. Perhaps it is George Dolcini’s father who is buried out back. He may have died, thus there is no record of a divorce for Georgiana.