Ricca-Quarelli Family Collection

Italian immigrant Tomasso Antonio Maria Quarelli (spelled Quarello in Italy) and his family were pioneering settlers, business owners, and community leaders in Winkelman, Arizona. Quarelli (1875-1958) was born in Rivara, Italy and immigrated to the United States in 1900, arriving in New York City on February 19. He settled in Morenci, Arizona, where he worked in the mines. Quarelli returned briefly to Italy in 1904, where he married Clotilde Rosa Sesta Ricca (1882-1955) on December 7 before returning to Arizona in 1905. According to family legend, Quarelli had planned to remain in Italy but returned to the United States in order to avoid serving in the Italian army.

Over the next four years, Quarelli worked as a brickmason in the mines of Globe, Arizona and on the construction of Roosevelt Dam. By 1908, he had saved enough money to send for his wife and young son, Carlo Dominic (1905-1983). Clotilde and Carlo Quarelli arrived in New York City on June 8, 1908. Because she spoke no English, Clotilde Quarelli wore a sign reading Deliver me to Thomas Quarelli at Bowie, Arizona. With the help of American officials and friendly strangers, Clotilde and Carlo arrived safely at Bowie, were reunited with Tomasso, and settled in Globe. Tomasso and Clotilde Quarelli had seven more children: Lucia Lucy (Quarelli) Wilkins (1909-1995), Maria Mary (Quarelli) Adams Morris (1910-1984), Giovanna (1910-1911), Giovanna Jay (Quarelli) Peoble (1913-1962), Clotilde Tillie (Quarelli) Dougherty (1915-1985), Rosa Rose Quinta (Quarelli) Hanson (1918-2015), and Margarita Margie Delfina (Quarelli) Dalmolin (1922-2011).

In 1911, Tomasso Quarelli moved his family to Winkelman, Arizona. After working as partner in the Champion Store, he started his own mercantile business on Front Street. The market later expanded to include a bar, which Quarelli operated until Prohibition. He also added a 14-room hotel to the establishment’s second story. His oldest son, who used the name Charles in the United States, occasionally helped him with the store but was more interested in reading. He went on to graduate as valedictorian of Hayden High School (1925) and to earn a degree in business administration from the University of Arizona (1931). When Tomasso Quarelli retired, two of his daughters, Mary Morris and Jay Peobles, took over the store’s daily operations. Charles Quarelli married Elma Ruth Collins (1913-1999) in 1937 and the couple reopened Tomasso Quarelli’s bar as the Wagon Wheel in the same year. In 1948 the bar and two Quarelli family homes were destroyed by fire. The Quarellis purchased the building that had originally housed the Gila Valley Bank and the adjoining general store and rebuilt both of their enterprises. The fire led Charles Quarelli to advocate Winkelman’s re-incorporation in order to improve emergency and public services. He eventually served three terms as the city’s mayor. When Charles Quarelli retired from the Wagon Wheel, his sister, Margarita Margie Dalmolin, took it over. In 1978, Front Street was renamed Quarelli Street in the family’s honor.

Clotilde Ricca di Quarelli was the youngest of nine children, including Giacomo (d. 1933), Giuseppi, Angelina Quinta Ricca in Obert (1865-1957), Maria Ricca in Vernetti (1869-1960), Matteo, Giovanna Ricca in Bertino (1871-1935), Quinta Petronilla Ricca in Cavallo (d. 1932), and Candido (1876-1932). Several of these siblings immigrated to the United States. Candido Ricca arrived in New York on October 31, 1900 and visited Arizona, Colorado, and California before settling in Illinois, where he worked in the mines. Giovanna Ricca in Bertino, along with her husband, Bert Bertino, and oldest son, arrived in New York in August of 1893. They settled in southern California, where Bert Bertino worked as a gardener for Luther Burbank. Maria Ricca in Vernetti, her husband, Charles Peter Vernetti, and their oldest daughter arrived at Ellis Island in 1892 and settled in Colorado.