Anthony Casso's wife

[DonPeppino386]

Even the though the spelling is slightly different, is there any familial connection between Casso's wife Lillian Delduca and Genovese member Generoso Del Duca? I have read that Lillian had family members in the life and immediatly thought of Generoso (1886-1960)

[PolackTony]

I think there’s a very good possibility that they were related.

Generoso Del Duca was born 1886 in the comune of Lauro, Avellino province, Campania.

Lillian DelDuca was born in 1941 in BK. Her father was Phillip DelDuca, born in 1911 in BK to Pasquale Del Duca and Filomena Napoli. Pasquale DelDuca was born about 1879 and stated on later documents that he entered the US in 1903. This matches a Pasquale Del Duca, born about 1880, in Lauro, Avellino, who arrived in NYC in April of 1903. I’m not sure how closely related they were, likely cousins of either a closer or more distant degree (Generoso’s father was named Giovanni and Pasquale’s was named Filippo). I would also presume that Pasquale and Generoso knew each other in Brooklyn, as in 1917 Generoso lived at 148 Hudson Ave, across from the Navy Yard, while Pasquale lived a few blocks away on Adams St, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Lauro was not a large place and Del Duca is not a super common surname there.

The spelling thing is irrelevant here, as it was very common that two-word Italian surnames (e.g., Di Giovanni, De Angelis, Lo Iacono, etc.) would be spelled as one word after immigration to the US (in general, spelling variations after immigration were very common, due to errors from English-speaking record keepers in the US and local dialect usage, illiteracy, or desire to assimilate on the part of immigrants).

[newera_212]

I'm straying off topic I guess, but this is still about Casso's wife...

Was she really getting directly extorted by a Colombo guy after Casso was locked up and cooperating? What's the story and reasoning behind that? I remember it coming from Casso and author Phil DeCarlo so I always took it with a small grain of salt. Thought it was weird and almost improbable she'd randomly be an extortion victim, unless she either had dealings with the Colombo guy herself, or Casso did in the past and fucked him over or something. Casso framed it as his family was being targeted now that he wasn't around... which is great in my opinion... if anything the Casso relatives probably weren't targeted enough (fuck 'em) . but it just seems unlikely to me. Another incomplete picture by Casso.

[B.]

Nice work, Tony. Generoso Del Duca had a brother named Pasquale who was a made member and captain but obviously younger than this one.

Casso's father was allegedly a Genovese associate and they were close to captain Sal Celembrino so there could be something to it.

[PolackTony]

Nice work, Tony. Generoso Del Duca had a brother named Pasquale who was a made member and captain but obviously younger than this one.

Casso's father was allegedly a Genovese associate and they were close to captain Sal Celembrino so there could be something to it.

Yeah, I recall that Mike Casso was said to have been a Genovese associate and that Salvatore Celambrino was supposedly Anthony’s godfather, though Phillip Carlo butchered his name as “Sal Callinbrano”. Generoso’s brother Patsy I believe was the Pasquale Del Duca born about 1890 in Lauro.

On that note, has anyone previously confirmed Celambrino’s ancestry? He was born in 1903 in Brooklyn and I believe that his father was Agostino Celambrini from Marigliano, Terra di Lavoro (the original Caserta province, split into different provinces under Mussolini’s crackdown on the old Camorra; Marigliano being put into the new Napoli province), who subsequently moved to Chicago, where he lived near Taylor and Leavitt and worked as a construction foreman. Agostino Celambrini seems to have remained in Chicago until at least the 1940s, remarrying another woman, but then returned to NYC where he died in 1966 in Ozone Park.

Ruggiero Boiardo was also from Marigliano and lived by Taylor St as a kid before his mother relocated their family to Newark. As I’ve discussed before, there were major colonies from the old Terra di Lavoro in Chicago, Brooklyn, and NJ (Nola, Acerra, Marigliano, Scisciano, Maddaloni, Roccarainola). While Lauro, the hometown of the Del Ducas, was, and remains, in Avellino province, it is a short distance from the Nola district of the old Terra di Lavoro.

[B.]

I posted about it in a Pittsburgh thread but in the 1960s Celembrino traveled to Pittsburgh with an informant and met with the local leadership. On the way back he insisted on driving as he told the informant he had been a "wheelman" for Al Capone in Chicago.

There's a tendency to assume Capone's Chicago-based Genovese decina was made up of guys who stayed permanently in Chicago but we have the reference too to Davey Petillo having been made by Capone in Chicago so he appears to have returned to New York as a Genovese member rather than staying in Chicago and transferring to the local Family. Be interesting if Celembrino was another inducted into the Genovese Family in Chicago who returned to NYC since he stated himself he had been close to Capone there.

Celembrino and the DelDucas were closely connected, possibly having roots in the same crew, and Toddo DelDuca reportedly financed some of Capone's operations in Chicago so there are definitely some recurring Chicago/Capone connections with these guys.

[AlexfromSouth]

I think there’s a very good possibility that they were related.

Generoso Del Duca was born 1886 in the comune of Lauro, Avellino province, Campania.

Lillian DelDuca was born in 1941 in BK. Her father was Phillip DelDuca, born in 1911 in BK to Pasquale Del Duca and Filomena Napoli. Pasquale DelDuca was born about 1879 and stated on later documents that he entered the US in 1903. This matches a Pasquale Del Duca, born about 1880, in Lauro, Avellino, who arrived in NYC in April of 1903. I’m not sure how closely related they were, likely cousins of either a closer or more distant degree (Generoso’s father was named Giovanni and Pasquale’s was named Filippo). I would also presume that Pasquale and Generoso knew each other in Brooklyn, as in 1917 Generoso lived at 148 Hudson Ave, across from the Navy Yard, while Pasquale lived a few blocks away on Adams St, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Lauro was not a large place and Del Duca is not a super common surname there.

The spelling thing is irrelevant here, as it was very common that two-word Italian surnames (e.g., Di Giovanni, De Angelis, Lo Iacono, etc.) would be spelled as one word after immigration to the US (in general, spelling variations after immigration were very common, due to errors from English-speaking record keepers in the US and local dialect usage, illiteracy, or desire to assimilate on the part of immigrants).

It would be great if you can do the same run down for Casso' familly and roots, etc?

[PolackTony]

I think there’s a very good possibility that they were related.

Generoso Del Duca was born 1886 in the comune of Lauro, Avellino province, Campania.

Lillian DelDuca was born in 1941 in BK. Her father was Phillip DelDuca, born in 1911 in BK to Pasquale Del Duca and Filomena Napoli. Pasquale DelDuca was born about 1879 and stated on later documents that he entered the US in 1903. This matches a Pasquale Del Duca, born about 1880, in Lauro, Avellino, who arrived in NYC in April of 1903. I’m not sure how closely related they were, likely cousins of either a closer or more distant degree (Generoso’s father was named Giovanni and Pasquale’s was named Filippo). I would also presume that Pasquale and Generoso knew each other in Brooklyn, as in 1917 Generoso lived at 148 Hudson Ave, across from the Navy Yard, while Pasquale lived a few blocks away on Adams St, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Lauro was not a large place and Del Duca is not a super common surname there.

The spelling thing is irrelevant here, as it was very common that two-word Italian surnames (e.g., Di Giovanni, De Angelis, Lo Iacono, etc.) would be spelled as one word after immigration to the US (in general, spelling variations after immigration were very common, due to errors from English-speaking record keepers in the US and local dialect usage, illiteracy, or desire to assimilate on the part of immigrants).

It would be great if you can do the same run down for Casso' familly and roots, etc?

It would be great if you can do the same run down for Casso' familly and roots, etc?

Not sure if anyone has previously layed out Casso's genealogy, but here is what I have.

The surname was originally Cuozzo and was changed after immigration to the US. Anthony Salvatore Casso was born in Brooklyn on May 21st, 1942 to Michael Casso and Michelina "Margaret" Cuccurullo. Michael Casso was born in 1911 in Brooklyn to Michele Cuozzo and Raffaela Traboscio, both from the comune of Padula (A Parula in Napuletan') in the Vallo di Diana region of Salerno province, along the border with Potenza, Basilicata. Michele and Raffaela married around 1899 in Padula and Michele arrived in NYC in 1906, bound for a "cousin", Vincenzo Padula, who lived on Carroll St in Brooklyn; Raffaela joined him in Brooklyn with their firstborn son, Francesco Cuozzo, born in 1902 in Padula, in 1910. The Cuozzos/Cassos settled in Park Slope, at 646 President St, between 4th and 5th Aves. In the 1920s, Michele Cuozzo managed a number of bowling alleys in Brooklyn, and in 1928 he opened the Subway Bowling Academy, at 214 5th Ave (at President St). Later documents had Michele's occupation as "building janitor", so he was likely the super at 646 President; Michele died in Brooklyn in 1956, while Raffaela had passed in 1946 (there were other Cuozzos from Padula who settled in both Brooklyn and Chicago who I believe were cousins of Michele Cuozzo).

In 1936, Michael Casso (living with his parents at 646 President) married Margaret Cuccurullo (living at 614 Lincoln Pl, near Eastern Pkwy and Befored Ave in Crown Heights). Margaret was born Michelina Cuccurullo in 1911 in Hoboken to Antonio Cucurullo and Lucia Rescigno, both also from Salerno province. Though Margaret was born in NJ, the Cuccurullos lived in Brooklyn, where Antonio was a baker; at various times they lived at Lorimer and Forst in Williamsburg and Hudson Ave and DeKalb in Downtown Brooklyn. On his 1922 naturalization petition, Antonio Cuccurullo stated that he was from Salerno and arrived in NYC in 1906, while his wife Lucia Rescigno was born about 1881 and was presumably also from Salerno province, as she and Antonio were married before emigrating to the US. The surnames Cuccurullo and Rescigno are both very strongly concentrated in Northern Salerno province around the vicinity of comuni like Nocera Inferiore, Angri, and Pagani, an area that sent many migrants to Brooklyn and had a major influence on the mafia in both Brooklyn and Chicago (with men from Capone, Frank Nitto, and Joe Ferriola to the Scarpas and Persicos, among others, having ancestry from the cluster of comuni in this section of Salerno).

In 1940, Michael and Margaret Casso lived at 643 President St, across the street from his parents. In 1950, they lived on the next block up, at 719 Union St between 4th and 5th; Michael Casso worked as stevedore loading ships on the Brooklyn waterfront. While it has been said that Michael Casso was a Genovese associate, I have no info myself on any criminal history for him. Anthony's older brother, Michael Casso, Jr (b. 1936), however, was one of 22 men arrested for illegal weapons possession in a 1955 NYPD investigation of an "arsenal" of 102 firearms stolen from an Egyptian freighter.

Also very interesting to note that in 1930, among the Cuozzo/Casso family's neighbors in 646 President St was the family of Domenico Fuschetto (changed to "Fischetti" in the US), a subway laborer born about 1865 in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino, who had lived in the neighborhood since the 1890s. I believe that Domenico was a cousin of Nicola Fuschetto of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, father of Chicago LCN members Charles, Joseph, and Rocco Fischetti. The latter, famous, Fischettis grew up the next block south of President, at 584 Carroll St (between 4th and 5th), where their father Nicola was, like Michele Cuozzo, a building super. Recall that Michele Cuozzo arrived in the US in 1906, bound for his "cousin" Vincenzo Padula, who was living on the 500 block of Carroll St and a neighbor of the Fischettis, again underscoring the longstanding ties between families from Campania in the old South Brooklyn and surrounding neighborhoods (also underscored by the recollections of Al D'Arco stating that his family knew relatives of the Fischettis and Capones).

[PolackTony]

I posted about it in a Pittsburgh thread but in the 1960s Celembrino traveled to Pittsburgh with an informant and met with the local leadership. On the way back he insisted on driving as he told the informant he had been a "wheelman" for Al Capone in Chicago.

There's a tendency to assume Capone's Chicago-based Genovese decina was made up of guys who stayed permanently in Chicago but we have the reference too to Davey Petillo having been made by Capone in Chicago so he appears to have returned to New York as a Genovese member rather than staying in Chicago and transferring to the local Family. Be interesting if Celembrino was another inducted into the Genovese Family in Chicago who returned to NYC since he stated himself he had been close to Capone there.

Celembrino and the DelDucas were closely connected, possibly having roots in the same crew, and Toddo DelDuca reportedly financed some of Capone's operations in Chicago so there are definitely some recurring Chicago/Capone connections with these guys.

I had forgotten about the “wheelman” comment that Celambrino had made coming back from Pittsburgh, thanks for the reminder. Also of note, I recall a wiretap where Mike Clemente asked Del Duca how his “uncle in Chicago” was doing. As noted above, the Del Ducas were from Lauro, Avellino, which borders comuni like Quindici and Bracigliano, forming one of these “triangle” clusters of comuni that seems to have been a notable network in the mafia in Brooklyn, Springfield MA, and Chicago (e.g., the Springfield Genovese crew was historically closely linked to this area, and current Chicago members Mike Sarno and Solly DeLaurentis also have ancestry from there).

[PolackTony]

As I wrote above, Anthony Casso’s paternal grandparents, the Cuozzos, were from Padula, Salerno, which also happened to have been the hometown of famed NYPD Lieutenant Joe Petrosino, notoriously assassinated by the mafia while conducting an investigation in Palermo in 1909. Again, Michele Cuozzo listed Vincenzo Padula, living on Carroll St in Brooklyn, as his contact when he arrived in the US in 1906. On his WW1 draft card, a Vincenzo Padula who may match the same individual (then living on Withers St in Williamsburg), stated that his closest relative was a John Petrosino.

[AlexfromSouth]

I think there’s a very good possibility that they were related.

Generoso Del Duca was born 1886 in the comune of Lauro, Avellino province, Campania.

Lillian DelDuca was born in 1941 in BK. Her father was Phillip DelDuca, born in 1911 in BK to Pasquale Del Duca and Filomena Napoli. Pasquale DelDuca was born about 1879 and stated on later documents that he entered the US in 1903. This matches a Pasquale Del Duca, born about 1880, in Lauro, Avellino, who arrived in NYC in April of 1903. I’m not sure how closely related they were, likely cousins of either a closer or more distant degree (Generoso’s father was named Giovanni and Pasquale’s was named Filippo). I would also presume that Pasquale and Generoso knew each other in Brooklyn, as in 1917 Generoso lived at 148 Hudson Ave, across from the Navy Yard, while Pasquale lived a few blocks away on Adams St, at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Lauro was not a large place and Del Duca is not a super common surname there.

The spelling thing is irrelevant here, as it was very common that two-word Italian surnames (e.g., Di Giovanni, De Angelis, Lo Iacono, etc.) would be spelled as one word after immigration to the US (in general, spelling variations after immigration were very common, due to errors from English-speaking record keepers in the US and local dialect usage, illiteracy, or desire to assimilate on the part of immigrants).

It would be great if you can do the same run down for Casso' familly and roots, etc?

It would be great if you can do the same run down for Casso' familly and roots, etc?

Not sure if anyone has previously layed out Casso's genealogy, but here is what I have.

The surname was originally Cuozzo and was changed after immigration to the US. Anthony Salvatore Casso was born in Brooklyn on May 21st, 1942 to Michael Casso and Michelina "Margaret" Cuccurullo. Michael Casso was born in 1911 in Brooklyn to Michele Cuozzo and Raffaela Traboscio, both from the comune of Padula (A Parula in Napuletan') in the Vallo di Diana region of Salerno province, along the border with Potenza, Basilicata. Michele and Raffaela married around 1899 in Padula and Michele arrived in NYC in 1906, bound for a "cousin", Vincenzo Padula, who lived on Carroll St in Brooklyn; Raffaela joined him in Brooklyn with their firstborn son, Francesco Cuozzo, born in 1902 in Padula, in 1910. The Cuozzos/Cassos settled in Park Slope, at 646 President St, between 4th and 5th Aves. In the 1920s, Michele Cuozzo managed a number of bowling alleys in Brooklyn, and in 1928 he opened the Subway Bowling Academy, at 214 5th Ave (at President St). Later documents had Michele's occupation as "building janitor", so he was likely the super at 646 President; Michele died in Brooklyn in 1956, while Raffaela had passed in 1946 (there were other Cuozzos from Padula who settled in both Brooklyn and Chicago who I believe were cousins of Michele Cuozzo).

In 1936, Michael Casso (living with his parents at 646 President) married Margaret Cuccurullo (living at 614 Lincoln Pl, near Eastern Pkwy and Befored Ave in Crown Heights). Margaret was born Michelina Cuccurullo in 1911 in Hoboken to Antonio Cucurullo and Lucia Rescigno, both also from Salerno province. Though Margaret was born in NJ, the Cuccurullos lived in Brooklyn, where Antonio was a baker; at various times they lived at Lorimer and Forst in Williamsburg and Hudson Ave and DeKalb in Downtown Brooklyn. On his 1922 naturalization petition, Antonio Cuccurullo stated that he was from Salerno and arrived in NYC in 1906, while his wife Lucia Rescigno was born about 1881 and was presumably also from Salerno province, as she and Antonio were married before emigrating to the US. The surnames Cuccurullo and Rescigno are both very strongly concentrated in Northern Salerno province around the vicinity of comuni like Nocera Inferiore, Angri, and Pagani, an area that sent many migrants to Brooklyn and had a major influence on the mafia in both Brooklyn and Chicago (with men from Capone, Frank Nitto, and Joe Ferriola to the Scarpas and Persicos, among others, having ancestry from the cluster of comuni in this section of Salerno).

In 1940, Michael and Margaret Casso lived at 643 President St, across the street from his parents. In 1950, they lived on the next block up, at 719 Union St between 4th and 5th; Michael Casso worked as stevedore loading ships on the Brooklyn waterfront. While it has been said that Michael Casso was a Genovese associate, I have no info myself on any criminal history for him. Anthony's older brother, Michael Casso, Jr (b. 1936), however, was one of 22 men arrested for illegal weapons possession in a 1955 NYPD investigation of an "arsenal" of 102 firearms stolen from an Egyptian freighter.

Also very interesting to note that in 1930, among the Cuozzo/Casso family's neighbors in 646 President St was the family of Domenico Fuschetto (changed to "Fischetti" in the US), a subway laborer born about 1865 in Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino, who had lived in the neighborhood since the 1890s. I believe that Domenico was a cousin of Nicola Fuschetto of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi, father of Chicago LCN members Charles, Joseph, and Rocco Fischetti. The latter, famous, Fischettis grew up the next block south of President, at 584 Carroll St (between 4th and 5th), where their father Nicola was, like Michele Cuozzo, a building super. Recall that Michele Cuozzo arrived in the US in 1906, bound for his "cousin" Vincenzo Padula, who was living on the 500 block of Carroll St and a neighbor of the Fischettis, again underscoring the longstanding ties between families from Campania in the old South Brooklyn and surrounding neighborhoods (also underscored by the recollections of Al D'Arco stating that his family knew relatives of the Fischettis and Capones).

Thank you, great info. Where did you get all that info?

[NYNighthawk]

Wasn't the rumor in Phil Carlo's book that not only was that Colombo guy extotring Casso's wife each week at her shop but he also began banging her - against her wishes? Lillian was a good looking woman!

[newera_212]

Wasn't the rumor in Phil Carlo's book that not only was that Colombo guy extotring Casso's wife each week at her shop but he also began banging her - against her wishes? Lillian was a good looking woman!

jesus...lol. I don't remember reading or hearing about it being that bad - just the extortion. Holy shit. I'm all for Casso's family being harassed, ostracized from normal society and LCN society, being lightly extorted, made to feel a little scared, evicted from their home (like that Kaplan guy tried to do to Casso's kid), basically experiencing some karma for the lifetime of ill gotten gains they've all enjoyed - but forcible rape is way too far. If that's true... I mean I'm sure it wasn't true...but if that's even just the rumor, that's really horrible.

There's a shitload of cool info in this thread. Even though it's not my bag personally, the level of skill and class the research/geology crew have on here is top notch and second to none. All of you. It's truly impressive (and appreciated)

[SonnyBlackstein]

There's a shitload of cool info in this thread. Even though it's not my bag personally, the level of skill and class the research/geology crew have on here is top notch and second to none. All of you. It's truly impressive (and appreciated)

+++++1