Pietro Blam and his family immigrated to the United States sometime between 1892 and 1895. They settled in the area of La Salle County, Illinois, and first appear in US census records in 1910. Today the Blam family is known instead by Blum and there has been some question about the origins of this name since at least 1998, when the family hired a firm to research the name.

The Blum surname replaced Blam not all at once, but slowly between when they immigrated in the 1890’s and the 1920 census. In the 1910 census, Pietro (noted as Peter) and the family members still living in his house were recorded with the Blum surname. However, in the same 1910 census, Pietro’s oldest son Giovanni (noted as John) was recorded with the Blam surname. By the 1920 census, Giovanni was also recorded with the Blum surname.

Giovanni “John” Blam, 1910 US Federal Census

Pietro “Peter” Blam, 1910 US Federal Census

Local records of the family in Malonno, Italy, before immigration to the US indicate that the family’s surname was Blam. While conducting our research, we found baptism, marriage and death records that all contain the Blam family surname. In addition to sacramental records, we also found local records referred to as “Stato Delle Anime” or State of the Souls. This record is very similar to a census, but is administered by the church in order to keep record of its congregation. This document confirms many ancestors in Malonno that went by the Blam surname just before the family immigrated.

Stato Delle Anime (1869)

A message in the upper right corner of the Blam family records from the 1869 Stato Delle Anime includes an important clue about the family’s heritage and origins. Both this document and other records located for Blam family members note their occupation as “foladore” (or the plural version, which is “foladori”) which are those that worked in the local folk craft of preparing wool for use in hats or shoes. Local researchers in Malonno tell us that this craft is extremely unique to that region of Italy and was probably passed down generations of Blam ancestors as a family trade.

This family is called ‘Foladori’ because of the machinery they have at home. It’s very ancient in Malonno, and always well-off, but always in Malonno. See also cousins and uncle at #209.

Further research in the Stato Delle Anime documents from the 1700’s and 1600’s confirms that the Blam family can be found in Malonno during that period. The earliest reference of the family that our local researcher was able to find is from 1662. In this document, the family is referred to by their craft “Foladore” instead of their surname. This makes it possible that the Blam surname originated while the family was living in Malonno, although in 1564 the Council of Trento ordered Catholic parish priests to record each individual with name and surname. By the 17th century, most Catholics should have already had surnames.

Stato Delle Anime (1662)

Blam is not a common Italian surname, in fact a quick Facebook search of the name finds few results in all of Italy outside of Malonno. The name likely has German roots and possibly even some Jewish connection. However, given nearly 250 years of history in Italy prior to immigration to the US, it’s safe to assume that our Blam family ancestors where Italian by blood.