Begetters of Children by Michael Pedretti

Michael Pedretti's Begetters of Children weaves a tale from Northern Italy to Bad Ax (later called Genoa), Wisconsin in this epic family saga! The story is an historical fiction account of how the family settled on San Bernardo Mountain, developed a village, farmed unfarmable land, avoided plagues, wars, thieves and other human disasters, had many children, immigrated to Genoa, Wisconsin, developed the land and populated half of America. (I joke only a little here). The appendix includes the genealogical history of Stefano Pedretti the first of the family to immigrate to the USA and photographs of vital records found in San Bernardo. The book also includes the history of the village of San Bernardo laced with an account of life on the mountainside including the story of how the citizens of the area developed and maintained for 500 years a republic government in greater Val San Giacomo several centuries before the American colonies established the American republic.