Photos from the Bott Family

A few months ago I received an email from Adriana Genetti along with three photos. Adriana is the youngest of four Genetti sisters from Castelfondo. She and her sisters are my 3rd cousins, once removed. On previous visits to Italy, I have had the pleasure to meet and socialize with Maria, Lidia and Luciana – Adriana’s older sisters. But I have yet to meet Adriana in person. However I do know that our Italian cousins (as well as many friends from Castelfondo) read our family blog and occasionally they send us photos and documents. I always look forward to their insight and comments.

Adriana’s email arrived in late August and was in Italian. I used Google Translator to read her message. Here is what she wrote:

Hello Louise!

Unfortunately, you and I have never met, but I know who you are and I know you. I’m writing to send you some photos of the Genetti family of America. During a trip to Assisi with my sister Luciana, I met a person from Salter who has family ties to the Bott family. We talked with her about our American relatives and she kindly gave me some photos that I now send to you.

The first photo shows Dora Genetti (daughter of Damiano) with her husband Verecondo Bott. The other two photos also show Dora Genetti with her husband and other people in your family that you probably recognize. I hope you enjoy this message.

Sincerely,
Adriana Genetti

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Well, I must admit – Adriana’s photos had me stumped for some time! Of course, I knew who Dora and Verecondo Bott were. But I was completely baffled by the group photos! Usually I only post photographs on our website if I can confirm details, dates and possibly the story attached to the pictures. Unfortunately, I’m not that familiar with the Bott family and did not recognize anyone in the group photos. This certainly was going to take a bit of investigation on my part to decipher the event, find a date and identify the people pictured in Adriana’s photos.

The title attached to one photograph gave me my first clue: “50 cena dei 50 anni fratelli Bott”. This was a 50th Anniversary dinner and had something to do with the Bott brothers.

Look closely and you will see a cake topper with the number “50” positioned on the head table in front of one couple. On further inspection, I recognized Addorlorata (Dora) Bott seated on the far left side of the head table, but not with her husband Verecondo. However, two other men at the head table had a very close resemblance to Verecondo Bott – the man seated in the center and the gentleman dressed in the light-colored jacket, second from the right. Examining other details, I guessed that the event took place sometime in the 1950’s. Since Dora was in attendance, I surmised the dinner was probably held in or near Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

With these clues in mind, I went to work digging into various research websites. With help from Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com I found what I was looking for.

After searching the Hazleton papers, circa 1950’s for the surname of Bott, I eventually narrowed my findings down to two articles that tell the story of Adriana’s photos. (see articles pictured in this post)

The group photographs were taken at a 50th Wedding Anniversary dinner for Mr. and Mrs. Condy Bott on June 22nd, 1957. Condy (short for Condido and incorrectly spelled as “Coney” in the first newspaper article) was the brother of Verecondo Bott, husband of Dora Genetti. So the couple at the center of the table were Condy Bott and his wife of 50 years, Anna Maria Seppi Bott. The people seated at the other tables were Condy and Anna’s adult children with their families. It was obvious that Condy looked very much like his brother Verecondo. 

But why was Dora at the dinner without her husband and who was the 2nd man at the table who also resembled Verecondo?

The rest of the story fell in place after I located Verecondo’s obituary dated July of 1955 (see below). Dora was seated at the head table because she was part of the Bott family. However her husband Verecondo passed away in 1955, two years prior to his brother’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. Therefore, he obviously was not at this event.

In Verecondo’s obituary it states that he is survived by two brothers: Condy of Drifton, PA and Silvio of Tyrol. Although I’m not certain, but I believe the man at the head table, second from the right is most likely the younger brother Silvio. He must have traveled to Pennsylvania to visit his family and take part in the celebration. Silvio was the baby of the family and much younger than his two brothers. I found no documentation that Silvio ever immigrated from the village of Salter to the United States. Therefore we can probably assume the anniversary photos were passed down through the descendants of Silvio Bott. And according to Adriana’s email, these descendants still lived in Salter, Val di Non!

In conclusion to this very long blog post – I also searched and found the obituaries for both Condy and Anna, (see below).

Condido Angelo Bott was born in Salter, Tyrol on December 11, 1876. He died in Drifton, Pennsylvania on Decemeber 8, 1958 at the age of 72.

Anna Maria Seppi Bott was born in Lattimer, Pennsylvania on January 3, 1888. She passed away in Hazleton, Pennsylvania on February 10, 1974 at the age of 86.

I have also included the obituary for Addolorata “Dora” Genetti Bott, born August 12, 1889 in Castefondo, Val di Non; died October 11, 1971 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

Our thanks to Adriana Genetti for thinking of her American cousins and sharing these special photos with our extended family. Adriana’s photographs have also been added to our Pennsylvania Photo Page.

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UPDATE – November 19, 2020: I received a comment from Lois Wesson, adding the following information to this blog post:

“A family member sent me a link to your blog. My grandparents are Condy and Anna Bott. I have the picture of their 50th wedding anniversary. The people are all labeled. The man at the end of the head table is John Fusetti. The woman seated next to him is his wife Mary Seppi Fuesetti.”