Sierra
County
Biographies
MRS. CLAUDINA DOTTA
Mrs. Claudina Dotta, a widow of the
late Lodovico Dotta, is
still living on the home ranch of seventeen hundred acres near Vinton and has
managed the property in a very capable and judicious manner. Her late husband was born in Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, March 19, 1844, and in 1864 came to the United States, settling in
El Dorado County, this state. He was
employed in the mines for thirteen years and during that period also developed
a good apple orchard and became interested in livestock, having a fine herd of
cattle and a large drove of hogs. In 1879,
however, his health became impaired and he moved to the Sierra Valley. For awhile he worked for wages but was not
satisfied with that and bought his present place, forming a partnership with
the late Emilio Romalli, under the firm name of Dotta & Romalli, an
association which lasted for thirteen and a half years. In addition to the ranch of seventeen hundred
acres, they bought another of like size.
On the dissolution of their partnership in 1896, they divided the
property, each taking one of the seventeen hundred-acre ranches. Mr. Dotta gave close attention to the
management of his ranch to the time of his death, December 9, 1920, and was
notably successful as a farmer and stock raiser. He was a man of excellent qualities, and had
a host of warm friends throughout his community.
On April 14, 1898, Mr. Dotta was
united in marriage to Miss Claudina Ponci, who was born in Canton Ticino,
Switzerland, June 23, 1875, a daughter of Louis and Candida (Mari) Ponci and a
sister of Vincent Ponci, a sketch of whom appears on other pages of this
work. To her parents were born nine
children, as follows: Claudina May;
Josephine, the wife of Pete Mongoni, of Denver,
Colorado; Louise, who was married and died in Switzerland, leaving three
children; Vincent; Madeline, who died in Switzerland, leaving three children;
Columbine, the wife of Louis D. Madlina, a rancher at
Beckwith, California; Samuel, who died in Denver, Colorado; Caroline, the wife
of Louis Gambetti, a rancher at Redwood City, California; and Joseph, who was
injured while serving in the navy during the late war and is now in the United
States Veterans Hospital at Washington Lake, Washington. Claudina Ponci was employed in a hotel at
Vinton for sixteen months and ten days prior to her marriage to Mr. Dotta. They are the parents of seven children: Josephine, who is the wife of Albert Roberti,
a rancher in the Sierra Valley, and they have two children, Elia
and Elmer; Rinaldo, who died when fourteen years of
age; Anita, who is the wife of Alfred Larson, driver of the mail stage between
Chilcoot and Sierraville, and who by her former marriage became the mother of
six children, three of whom died in infancy and three are living, Atillio, Walter and Enna, who are
at home with their mother; Lodovico, of Reno, Nevada;
Eva, the wife of Janson Langdon, of Merced Falls,
this state; Frank V., who assists his mother in the management of the home
ranch; and Thelma C., who is in the grammar school. Mrs. Dotta gives her attention largely to
raising beef cattle, also maintains a good dairy, and cuts a large amount of
excellent hay in the fall. She supports
the Democratic Party, but cares little for public affairs. She is well known for her kindliness and
hospitality and merits the high place which she holds in the esteem of those who
know her.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 401-402. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010 Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's Sierra County Biographies