SITE OBJECTIVE
     It was my intention in creating this web site to provide a source of genealogical information 
of the Bertello and Ferrero families (and related families) originating from Schierno that could 
be accessed, edited and updated by all family members. In other words, to provide a living growing 
document of these families. To fully participate you need to become a member or administrator. 
Please email me and I will be more than happy to make this happen. Also you will notice that I 
have omitted the birthdates of all living people due to privacy concerns. I will be happy to 
provide them to members requesting this information. Thank you all for assisting in this project. 

BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
       Virginio Bertello (1902 - 1990) was a first cousin of my mother, Ida Mary Ferrero (1902 - 
1988), and they grew up together in Schierano in their early youth. They were and remained very 
close friends even after my mother, at age 10, along with her family moved to San Francisco in 
1912. I personnally met Virginio and Lena in Camogli in the early 1980's while vacationing and it 
was our mutual interest in the Bertello and Ferrero family genealogies that started our 
corespondence. Virginio provided me with much of the information contained here and without it 
this site probably would not exist. A letter Virginio sent to me in October, 1984 undoubtably 
provides the best overview of information of the families of Bertello and Ferrero and the Village 
of Schierano, and is therefor included as follows:

LETTER - From Virginio Bertello to Jim Hubbard, October, 1984

SCHIERANO (Pronounced Skierano, usually called Schierano d'Asti)
	Like most villages in that hilly part of Piedmont, SCHIERANO sits on a hill (Top 418 
meters high, about 200 meters above the bottom of the valley) 20 miles by road East of TORINO 
(Turin), already in the province of Asti. Formerly united to Primeglio (The first village East of 
Schierano) in the COMMUNE (Municipality or township) of PRIMEGLIO-SCHIERANO, in 1929 was 
incorporated in the "Commune" of PASSERANO-MARMORITO. Also, it was in the province of Alexandria 
but since the creation of the province of Asti in 1935, it was included in the latter.
	The old tower, used now as a belfry, is about a thousand years old and it is believed that 
the first settlement at Schierano was in the 8th century or a little earlier.
	Population in 1573 was recorded as 17 families or about 90 people increasing to 328 in 
1837 then decreasing slowly to 225 in 1951. With the development of industry, most went to Turin 
and now the population is 60 or 70. There was no industry but agriculture. The soil is very good, 
vineyards are the best of Italy but now they are in almost complete abandon.

FERRERO
	This name is common all over Piedmont. In Schierano there are several strains of Ferrero 
not related one to the other as far as we can remember. Grandfather Luigi Ferrero was an only son. 
Generally his family had very few children and I have never heard of relatives on his side. He 
died of a stroke at 70. I have not known him. It seems that during his whole life he kept saying 
that he would have been happy if he could live to be seventy.

VAJ (Pronounced like the English word "Vie")
	Luigi Ferrero married a girl, CAROLINA VAJ, from CAMPOLUNGO, a little hamlet in 
the "commune" of ALBUGNANO, the first village North of Schierano. Grandmother Carolina often told 
me that the Vaj came from the East, probably Hungary (I have never heard of anybody with this name 
except Hungarians. They escaped the Turks (Who eventually reached Vienna) and also several 
pestilences. Always going West they arrived in a spot with good land and pure air they liked: 
Campolungo. I do not know when they reached it.
	They bought enough land, built houses and a few years later even a small church, still 
existing. They must have had money and an education above the average (At that time most were 
illiterate) and kept teaching their own children to read & write, as there were no schools. 
Grandmother Carolina had an uncle who was called "the poet" because he composed poetry (Never 
published).
	She took care that her children went to the schools that were available in Schierano: Only 
some teaching by the old priest when my parents were of school age. But after this, in our 
families, they kept reading and writing much more than average peasants who quickly forgot 
everything.

BERTELLO
       As far as I could find out, this tribe lived on the Alps (Both sides) roughly between the 
latitude of Turin and that of Aosta (Mont Blanc) corresponding on the West side with SAVOY. The 
French spell the name BERTHELOT (Pronounced Berte lo). All the Berthelots who had some idea of 
their old home-site told me it was in Savoy or thereabouts. In Piedmont the name Bertello is not 
common. Don't confound it with Bertelli, who came from Tuscany, where they are still plentiful. No 
Bertello is mentioned in the older documents of Schierano, so they must have arrived not many 
centuries ago: Perhaps after the Counts of Savoy (Later kings of Italy) took over in 1631. There 
are Bertellos in Schierano who are no kin to us. It seems that our family came from PINO D'ASTI 
(The first village West of Schierano):  I remember being sent to Pino (About 1916) to represent 
our family at the funeral of a cousin who - by the way - was married to a woman from Genoa.
	Other Bertellos from Pino went to CASTELNUOVO DON BOSCO (The larger village West 
of Pino) where the "Pasticceria Bertello", the largest confectionery, is still in business. One 
went as far as BORGO SAN DALMAZZO (Near CUNEO) to start a printing shop which is now one of the 
largest in Italy, still owned by the same family and still keeping the name of "TIPOGRAFIA 
BERTELLO".
	My great-grandfather had 8 children and each one of them had 8 children too (Perhaps one 
or two did not marry). That means there were about 50 first cousins!  No wonder they hardly knew 
each other. About 1930, when paying a visit to my parents, I was told that a Bertello girl,  
first cousin to my father, was married to a Ship's Captain and lived in Genoa. She was already 
old and died before I could find time to pay her a visit, as I was on a ship.
	The brothers and sisters of my father had less children.  My father (And an aunt) had 
five, the rest only two or three; a girl did not marry.  MARIE of San Francisco was my first 
cousin and so was her husband Anthony (Tunin) who died earlier.  Of course, they were first 
cousins to each other.  They had no children.  CARLO BERTELLO of San Leandro, California is my 
first cousin too. I have first cousins (Or their descendants) also in France,  Spain and England.
	Perhaps you know that Marie of San Francisco had a brother at Schierano. His daughter 
married a man from MORIONDO TORINESE (West of Castelnuovo Don Bosco) whose mother was a Vaj from 
Campolungo, i.e. our distant cousin.

GENEALOGY  (AND REMINISCENCES.....)
       Luigi Ferrero and Carolina Vaj had 3 children: Maria, Teresa and Giacomo (James). Maria 
married Giovanni (John) Ferrero of Schierano (No kin). They bought a farm at Vastapaglia (A little 
hamlet near COCCONATO) and had a son, Luigi, and a daughter, Virginia, now both dead. Eventually 
they bought a small hotel and restaurant in Cocconato.  We keep in touch with their descendants, 
all in or near Turin. 
       Teresa, my mother (Called Gin) married Giovanni Bertello.
       Giacomo married a girl from ALBUGNANO, Eugenia, opened a restaurant in Turin but business 
was not good and in 1911 they went to San Francisco.  Up to that time, during Summer Vacations,  
Ida,  Pierina (Betty) and Rosina (all daughters of Giacomo), were sent to Schierano to stay with 
Grandmother Carolina;  and I - with my younger brother Fiore - took every opportunity to go and 
play with them. We were like brothers and sisters and we all adored Nonna Carolina. She was a 
wonderful woman. She lived alone after the death of Grandfather Luigi and took care of the house 
and some land (Including a vineyard) with little hired help. She had very good health and never 
saw a doctor, never took any medicines until she had a stroke and died in a couple of weeks with 
her mind perfectly clear and without feeling any pain. She was almost ninety.
	As for my mother Teresa and my father Giovanni Bertello, they moved about for several 
years prior to returning to Schierano. My father married more or less against his father's will. 
As soon as married they went to Marseille, France, were their first son was born. That's why Luigi 
was called in French "LOUIS". Later they returned to Italy, on a farm at Vastapaglia near my 
mother's sister Maria, and when they saw a good opportunity they went back to Schierano.
	My grandfather kept the one general store and my father bought it (With so many 
children, my grandfather could not give it as a gift). About 1905 or 6 my father also bought the 
house where my grandfather lived at the time, which was the old family home, about 200 years old.
	After the death of my father, we - sons and daughter - agreed to let Louis have it. His 5 
children later bought the house near it, tore down the dividing wall and now, with a lot of 
repairs and interior rebuilding, they have 4 modern apartments. Ezio, the older son, gave up his 
part as his wife owns another house in the country, near Turin.
	As I said, my parents had 5 children: Louis, born 1890, who went to San Francisco but 
returned to Schierano in 1918 or 1919 because he "did not like the American way of life".
	Bettina, born 1893, one of the best women I have ever known, who was like a little mother 
to us. Ida must remember her. She married a second cousin, Carlo Bertello, and had two girls and a 
boy.
	Quinto, born 1896, who went to France, married a widow from Albugnano. Had no children of 
his own. His wife's son by the first marriage is considered one of the family.
	I was born in 1902 and Fiore in 1907 (Married, 1 son, 1 grandson). I came to Camogli 
(After junior high) and entered the nautical school, then the Naval Academy (Jan. 1921) for my 
military service, them went to sea until '68. Lena was born in Camogli. Her father, Giuseppe 
Castruccio, was from Rapallo and went to sea on sailing ships. Her mother was born in Camogli but 
her name was Hebel, as her grandfather was a German mechanical loom technician who went to 
Lombardy. One of his sons came to Camogli to open a workshop which did all iron work needed by 
sailing ships. He had a maximum of 14 workmen. At that time Camogli had the biggest fleet in 
Italy: About one thousand vessels. All ended with the oncoming of steam.
	Lena is an only child. We have two sons: ELIO, born 1927, bank employee, bachelor, living 
with us; and FIORENZO, born 1933, living in Genoa. He went to sea until he married Giovanna, then 
took over a small agency for technical parts, specially high-pressure valves.
	They have two daughters: ROBERTA, 20 (Who studied German and for several years has spent 
one or two months in Nurnberg) and DANIELA, 18 1/2, who studies English and did the same thing in 
England. Daniela, as second and third languages took German and French.
	The descendents of Giovanni Bertello and Teresa Ferrero, including those related by 
marriage, are now over 40. The big occasion for general reunion is the first Sunday of September, 
which is the annual fair of Schierano. Every year most of us gather for the occasion; but last 
year Lena and I did not feel very well and thought the trip was too tiring. I don't know whether I 
will be able to go next year.....