Gaudenzio (Lee) Morelli came to the United States with his mother and younger brother, Tony, in 1885 where he joined his father and older brother who were harvesting redwood trees near Duncan’s Mills on the Russian River. 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, Morvyn, 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.