The church records from Gordevio indicate that Lee was born there on September 4, 1868, but the commune of Lierna received a document from Gordevio in which it was declared that on September 13, 1868, Mr. Giuseppe Morelli recorded the birth of his son in the community of Gordevio on September 3rd, around midday. Gaudenzio Morelli (who later changed is name to Lee G. Morelli) left for the United States with his mother, Elisabetta, and younger brother, Tony, on May 17, 1885. On June 28, one day before his arrival in New York, he wrote the following letter to his first cousin, Celeste, son of his mother’s sister, Madalena.
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28.6.1885 Dearest Cousin!

Today I hope it will be the last day to spent in the middle of the Atlantic and I want to let you know that we are all well and so far have had a good trip and good company with everyone.

After our sad separation in Locarno, we arrived in Lucerne at 8.35 pm where they treated us well to live and stay. We left in the morning at 5:30 for Bern, instead of Basel, and here we arrived at 8:35 in the morning. We stopped until the 19th. We left at 9:30 in the morning for Havre and we went direct. We arrived at the sea port on the 20th at 12 o'clock. We immediately entered the Normandie crew and at 3 o'clock in the evening two cannon shots gave a farewell to the port of Havre and after a short time we saw nothing but sky, water and fog ...

It is not to say if all the saddest thoughts came to our mind, but thank God the sea, instead of quiet, was peaceful and we suffered a little the first day, but I did not vomit and the others little. We are always lively. Bordoli accompanied us to Bellinzona and I beg you in some way to let him know about our good trip.
Tell Giovanni Laloli to bring you my sickle doll (steel) hanging from the peltrera (wall wardrobe without doors) that I forgot to bring with me. And you dear aunts I recommend you to be happy and not to think bad about us because they finally say that the journey is bad especially for the sick, but I tell you, because I have seen, that instead the healthy ones get sick, so the devil is not so bad as he paints himself, and the chatter to believe them must be put into practice. In sum, the trip is fun, but when I'm in California I think pipe smoking will end for me as well as for all those who will come.

Give my best regards to Antonio Gaggioni, Beniamino B., Giuseppe Maddalena, Beniamino Maddalena in the name of Antonio, Innocenta, a kiss to Michele (all Maddalenas).
Say hello to Rachel (Maddalena) and Marianna and her daughter and Giovanni Laloli, my godfather, and those of Giovan Giacomo Laloli, Martina and all those who ask you about me and all of us.
I leave you with a kiss and a handshake and a thousand greetings from my mother and my brother. Goodbye! I remain your nephew, G. Morelli.

Say hello to Pretti Maddalena and Silvia.

When we are in place we will give you better information and I will also write to the members and to those I promised. Goodbye

(On the fourth page written in pencil)
Arrived on the ground on the 29th at 4 pm ... Stop at Hotel Ticino until the 30th. Departure on the train for San Francisco at 7 in the evening. Goodbye Everyone
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From San Francisco, Lee, along with his mother and his brother, went to Occidental and then to Duncans Mills where he joined his father and older brother who were harvesting redwood trees along Freezout Creek, a tributary of the Russian River. He became a US citizen in Sonoma County on December 21, 1891. Lee and his brother, Joe, founded Frederick Sieg Grove #94 of the Druids in Occidental. He was the bookkeeper in the family, and he was a Notary Public in the state of California. Nine months before his father’s death in 1910, he and his family were deeded the 43-acre Morelli parcel located at the corner of Harrison Grade and Dupont Roads.

In 1949, at the age of 81, Lee went to Mt. Sinai Hospital in San Francisco for cataract surgery on one of his eyes, then, at a later date, went back for similar surgery on the other eye. When he died several years later at the age of 84 there was a tacit understanding in the family that the ranch would be inherited by Lee’s oldest son, Morvin, who had lived and worked on the ranch for many years without formal compensation. However, Lee did not have a will, so the ranch actually passed to Lee’s wife, Angelica, and when she died in 1963, the ranch was given in equal shares to her 4 children. It was eventually sold in about 1965 and the money disbursed to the heirs. See the included aerial photo of the ranch.

Although Lee was only 5eet 3 inches tall, and Angelica was even shorter, they managed to produce 4 tall children. The boys were both over 6 feet tall.