Francisco was the son of Louis Bruschi Sr and the brother of Marcos and Louis. He was born in Isola, Parma, Italy, and immigrated to New York in 1846 where he worked in a candle factory with a Garibaldi and Laveroni. Francisco married Rosa Castagnetto from the esteemed Castagnetto family. They were married 16 July 1861 in New York, and had the following children:
* Aurelia Bruschi 1856–1872
* Virgilio Giacomo Bruschi 1858–1937
* Demetrio Marco Bruschi 1860–1937
* Adeline Josephine, Mrs Louis Cassaretto 1864–1902
* Frederico M Bruschi 1865–1940
* Eugenia R, Mrs John Haigh 1867–1927
* Floridia A, Mrs Alonzo Griffin 1872–1947
* Anna Louisa, Mrs Harry Barrett 1874–1905
* Francisco John Bruschi Jr. 1875–1939
* Mark Bruschi 1880–unk

Francisco had moved to Coulterville, CA by 1856, and was naturalized on 29 August 1865. Garibaldi also relocated to Hornitos where he started his famous chocolate factory, now located in San Francisco. His eldest son would marry Laveroni's daughter, Johanna. Francisco and his family were the first people to build a permanent building in the town of Coulterville.

The Bruschi Brothers General Store was first constructed as a warehouse for Francisco Bruschi’s thriving mercantile business. Bruschi and his wife Rosa came to California by way of Panama, first arriving in San Francisco where Francisco taught German and French while learning the cobbler’s trade. Arriving in Banderita shortly after Coulter in 1850, the Bruschi’s put up a tent and opened for business. Francisco repaired boots for the miners while Rosa baked pies which sold for an expensive price. As business was good, the couple hired laborers to enclose their tent with stone walls and a roof, creating their first real building. The following year Bruschi built a second store, this one of bricks hauled in from Stockton. Expanding their business to include mining supplies, Francisco then began to deliver supplies to the miners with the aid of a pack train of burros. Fancied up with red tassels and silver bells, Francisco’s pack train was easily distinguishable from his competitors and could be heard jingling down the mountain trails. Bruschi built his third and largest store sometime prior to 1857, and as business was thriving, it became necessary to build a warehouse for his merchandise. After one of the frequent fires gutted his first three buildings, Bruschi converted the warehouse into a store and conducted business there until his death. The warehouse survived the fire due to its thick adobe walls and the layer of dirt above the ceiling, which prevented the flames from entering the building. Only the wooden roof was lost to the flames.

From "The Call of Gold" by Newell D Chamberlain:
Just after George Coulter erected his tent store on Maxwell's Creek, which was the start of the town of Coulterville in 1850, a young man and his wife walked int ot he store. His name was Francisco Bruschi. they had married five months previously in Connecticut, and then started for California via the overland route. Arriving at Bear Valley on the stage, they had walked to Maxwell's Creek over a rough trail that has since become the Mother Lode Highway. Bruschi carried a compressed-air rifle , manufactured in 1838, which shot a fourty-four caliber bullet and penetrated a one inch board at a distance of seventy-five feet. This rifle has since been donated to the Yosemite National Park museum.
Francisco first started a shoe-making shop, and, in the following year, a general merchandise store, which in 1936 s still being operated by his two bachelor sons. Their card reads, "We speak six languages, English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Chinese." One of the sons, Demetrio, always known as Demet, was born in 1859, and when quite young, attended a Chinese school in Coulterville for two years.

Mariposa Gazette, 7 October 1893
Our esteemed townsman, Mr. F. Bruschi, is still very low. He has been in a critical condition for many months, and his friends have very little hope of his recovery.

Mariposa Gazette, 28 October 1893
DIED
BRUSCHI - In Coulterville, Oct. 23, 1893. Francisco Bruschi, a native of Italy, aged 65 years. Mr. Bruschi was one of the pioneer merchants of Coulterville, and was a highly respected citizen. He had been an invalid for several years, and for months had been daily expecting death. He leaves a widow and a large family of children to mourn his love.

His stone gives a death of 1896, and should be 1893.

California Pioneer and Immigrant Files
Francisco "Francis" Bruschi
Born about 1835, information lost in fire, Genoa, Italy
Wife Rosa Castagnetto [sic}, married in CT