Antiliar wrote:St. Louis is probably one of the oldest Families but the info before the 1940s is very confused. Some people think there were separate Families operating in the 1920s, but I think it's more likely they were crews. I also don't have photos of most of them.
An early boss may have been Antonino Triolo. He appeared on a 1910 passenger manifest with Toto D'Aquila. He was born in 1860 and first arrived from Borgetto in 1906. Appears to have moved back to Italy.
What they have in Wikipedia for the bosses may be correct:
Boss (official and acting)[edit]
1912-1923 — Dominick Giambrone — fled; murdered, 1934.[10]
1923-1927 — Vito Giannola[2][11]
1927-1937 — Frank Agrusa[12] Born in Cinisi, Sicily, Italy.
1937-1943 — Thomas Buffa[13]
1943-1950 — Pasquale Miceli
1950 — Vincent Chiapetta[14]
1950-1960 — Anthony "Tony Lap" Lopiparo — was the son of a St. Louis mobster, he died in 1960.[3]
1960-1980 — Anthony "Tony G." Giordano — as boss he declared independence from the Kansas City family.[1] Imprisoned 1975-1977, he died on August 29, 1980 from cancer[3][15]
Acting 1975-1977 — Vincenzo "Jimmy" Giammanco — was Giordano's nephew[1]
1980-1982 — John "Johnny V." Vitale. — he died on June 5, 1982[3]
1982-1997 — Matthew "Mike" Trupiano, Jr. — was Giordano's nephew from Detroit; he died in 1997[1]
1997–2014 — Anthony "Nino" Parrino[4] died November 3, 2014.
Underboss[edit]
1912-1923 — Vito Giannola — became boss.
1923-1927 — Alfonse Palazzolo — murdered.
1927-1937 — Thomas Buffa — became boss.
1937-1943 — Pasquale Miceli — became boss.
1943-1950 — Vincent Chiapetta — became boss.
1950-1980 — John "Johnny V." Vitale — semi-retired from 1960, afterly became boss.
1980-2000s — Joseph "Uncle Joe" Cammarata — semi-retired, deceased in 2013.
2000s-present — Vincent "Vince" Giordano
Consigliere[edit]
1950-1960 — Ralph "Shorty" Caleca — semi-retired, deceased in 1988.
1960-1982 — Joseph Pisciotta — semi-retired, deceased in 2012.
1982-1997 — Anthony "Nino" Parrino — became boss.
1997–present — Giacomo "Jackie" Parrino
Chris wrote:Didn't Frank Coppola boss the group at point in the 30's or 40's? I seem to remember one St. Louis expert telling me this as well as another earlier boss being a Sansone, however his defendants threatened legal action if he ever ID'd him as such. I wish I was still in contact with this expert. He was a university professor and that is all I remember.
Here's Puparo's list on St Louis. Said researcher claims Puparo got most of his stuff from him but I'm not sure if he meant first hand or second, he did say that he shared some things online only to have it cirulated and distorted: http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/b ... er-history
And Limey carries Coppola as a U/B.
And has a Sansone-Antonio listed from the 1930's: 1892-1968 USA 1930-60's Capo. The researcher I spoke with claims in either an FBI file or court case- I disremember which- there was a Sansone listed as boss after Coppola I believe. http://mafiamembershipcharts.blogspot.c ... -1930.html
I came across one Napolitan Camorrista (connected very early on with Pellegrino Marano) who was arrested in 1895 in NYC, he was previously in St Louis. Were all these early groups in the 1920's- in St Louis Sicilian dominated? There were The Green Ones, Pillow Gang and the Russo Gang. They could have all been one group like you said. Also, in Mafia by Ed Reid I seem to recall a fictional chapter of the Giannola brothers in Sicily plotting their move to America, you remember that?
Great info. I don't know much about St. Louis except who the major players were and that Jack Licavoli and his family came from there. Do we have any St. Louis experts/researchers here?
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
JCB1977 wrote:Great info. I don't know much about St. Louis except who the major players were and that Jack Licavoli and his family came from there. Do we have any St. Louis experts/researchers here?
I contacted one author wrote Gangs of St Louis and his site is here: http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id178.htm, I emailed him and included a link to this forum. See if he responds.
JCB1977 wrote:Great info. I don't know much about St. Louis except who the major players were and that Jack Licavoli and his family came from there. Do we have any St. Louis experts/researchers here?
I contacted one author wrote Gangs of St Louis and his site is here: http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id178.htm, I emailed him and included a link to this forum. See if he responds.
nice
"I figure I’m gonna have to do about 6000 years before I get accepted into heaven. And 6000 years is nothing in eternity terms. I can do that standing on my head. It’s like a couple of days here."
You can disregard some of the post 1997 stuff. Trupiano was the last recognized Boss as far as I know. You can maybe say that Nino Parrino took over the remnants after that for a while but there was no Consiglieri after that or UnderBoss after Cammarata.
Pogo
It's a new morning in America... fresh, vital. The old cynicism is gone. We have faith in our leaders. We're optimistic as to what becomes of it all. It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don't need pessimism. There are no limits.
Pogo The Clown wrote:You can disregard some of the post 1997 stuff. Trupiano was the last recognized Boss as far as I know. You can maybe say that Nino Parrino took over the remnants after that for a while but there was no Consiglieri after that or UnderBoss after Cammarata.
Pogo
I figured that much, however I'm thinking of holding off on the St. Louie chart. Unless we get an expert on that city I don't want to release absolute regurgitated shit. With every chart I've made I've brought something - not always by me - new to the table. Which is really why I make them. Hopefully we can get some St. Louis experts in here because the 1920's were a confusing time. There were many so-called "Bosses" and as a researcher I don't want to rely on wikipedia. That city goes back to at least 1870 and is probably second Family to New Orleans, that Family deserves better than a whip-up job.
Did St Louis and Detroit and (going back earlier) New Orleans have multiple families? It sounds preposterous but I do remember, New Orleans was the NYC of the Americas before and after the civil war until about 1870's and we'll probably never know the layout which began in the 1850's. If you ask me I'd argue that each city was probably one group. But I've been thought myself correct on many of my guestimates only to be proven completely wrong upon actually looking into it or being pitted against someone more woven on the particular subject. So to be very clear single family-single city but that it's just an 'educated' guess.
Based on your expertise Pogo, what other families can we do? Colombo and Philly for sure. Are there any others?
I have to repeat that everyone before Pasquale Miceli is speculation. Dan Waugh was pretty certain of some other guys, like Tom Buffa down to Giambrone being bosses. As for the Sansones, I think it was Gary Mormino who when doing research for his book "Immigrants on the Hill," tried to contact them and was threatened with legal action. As for Coppola, I think it's possible he was a Detroit guy who traveled around a lot. If he was a boss in St. Louis it had to be for a short time.
Chris Christie wrote:That city goes back to at least 1870 and is probably second Family to New Orleans, that Family deserves better than a whip-up job.
I wonder if the Birmingham family might have preceded the St. Louis family.
Chris Christie wrote:
Based on your expertise Pogo, what other families can we do? Colombo and Philly for sure. Are there any others?
What about California? LA, SF & SJ.
Seems like LA would be pretty easy but I'm not sure about the other 2 families.
Antiliar wrote:As for the Sansones, I think it was Gary Mormino who when doing research for his book "Immigrants on the Hill," tried to contact them and was threatened with legal action. As for Coppola, I think it's possible he was a Detroit guy who traveled around a lot. If he was a boss in St. Louis it had to be for a short time.
I think that may have been then gentleman I was in correspondence with. I'll try and contact him, he knew his stuff.
johnny_scootch wrote:What about California? LA, SF & SJ.
Seems like LA would be pretty easy but I'm not sure about the other 2 families.
There's more to LA than what's on the internet and we wish to keep that private for now. San Francisco goes back to the 1880's and it's spotty at best. San Jo is a family I know nothing about.
Looking at information from the Kefauver testimony, it said that in the 1940s John Vitale was the boss, but that he operated under the discretion of Tom Buffa. At a certain point Vitale stepped down and was replaced by an unnamed undertaker. The FBI identified the undertaker as Pasquale Miceli and said he the boss before Giordano. So was Vitale really the boss and Buffa sort of a senior adviser like Ricca and Accardo? I don't know.
The way I understood it was that St. Louis was always a glorified crew of Detroit and/or Chicago but that that was always changing. Went to Law School in St. Louis and worked on The Hill throughout my time there. Got pretty close with my (completely unconnected but well informed) restaurant owner and he told me a lot about things that I've been unable to find elsewhere.
Also, this is my first post and I'm very happy to be here.
Because St. Louis is so old, Chicago and Detroit may have started out with their help. Since the St. Louis Family, for whatever reason, was always pretty small, other Families overshadowed it, even Kansas City. Since the Commission formed, St. Louis reported to Chicago but still ran as an independent Family. By the 1990s it died out.
FMazola wrote:The way I understood it was that St. Louis was always a glorified crew of Detroit and/or Chicago but that that was always changing. Went to Law School in St. Louis and worked on The Hill throughout my time there. Got pretty close with my (completely unconnected but well informed) restaurant owner and he told me a lot about things that I've been unable to find elsewhere.
Also, this is my first post and I'm very happy to be here.
The book by Daniel that Antiliar was involved with names a lot of mobsters but never really establishes a family or succession of bosses. There was one guy arrested at the 1928 Cleveland meeting that little is known about. I was doing some research when I first moved here and didn't have a job but now that I'm working(and recently promoted) it's hard to find the time.
