Visiting Pittsburgh 1963

[JCB1977]

JCB -- what was Michael Traficante's heritage? The Altoona / Johnstown member informant seemed to be Sicilian or at least heavily favored the Sicilian side of things based on what he said to the FBI. Wondering who would have been Sicilian in that crew circa late 1960s.

There are a few Michael Traficante’s in Altoona. When I get in front of my computer tonight, I will run some searches to confirm which one it is.

[PolackTony]

Gabriel & Sam Mannarino's Parents:

Their parents, Giancinto Ruggerio and Domenica, were Italian immigrants who first settled in Pittsburgh and then moved to New Kensington sometime before 1914. Giancinto and his wife operated a small grocery store near where they lived in the integrated, predominately immigrant and black residential neighborhood in the downtown flats along the Allegheny River.

Thanks for the info on the name change. Were the parents from Cosenza province, or elsewhere in Calabria?

Check out the Pittsburgh Members Roots/Ancestry thread...I have Mannarino's complete family history posted

Giacinto aka George (Rugiero) Mannarino was born February 02, 1876 in Amantea, Cosenza, Calabria, Italy,

Nice, thanks! I had suspected that they were from Amantea.

[B.]

I'm thinking the Johnstown / Altoona member informant was Sam Fashion. The informant was said to be supervising Johnstown / Altoona rackets at the time and JCB has said Fashion was by then overseeing things for Regino who was often out of the area. More incriminating to me is that the member informant was clearly Sicilian as he told the FBI how the organization went downhill by inducting non-Sicilians -- Sam Fashion's father was from Villarosa, so he was definitely Sicilian.

Michael Andolina was another Sicilian member in Johnstown who came from Villarosa and died in late 1968. I'd need to check if the CI was still talking after 1968 but I don't think it's him.

I still haven't found Michael Traficante's ancestry.

[Stroccos]

I'm thinking the Johnstown / Altoona member informant was Sam Fashion. The informant was said to be supervising Johnstown / Altoona rackets at the time and JCB has said Fashion was by then overseeing things for Regino who was often out of the area. More incriminating to me is that the member informant was clearly Sicilian as he told the FBI how the organization went downhill by inducting non-Sicilians -- Sam Fashion's father was from Villarosa, so he was definitely Sicilian.

Michael Andolina was another Sicilian member in Johnstown who came from Villarosa and died in late 1968. I'd need to check if the CI was still talking after 1968 but I don't think it's him.

I still haven't found Michael Traficante's ancestry
.

Interesting , do you have the informant number? Or link to the file so we can check it out ?

[B.]

I'm thinking the Johnstown / Altoona member informant was Sam Fashion. The informant was said to be supervising Johnstown / Altoona rackets at the time and JCB has said Fashion was by then overseeing things for Regino who was often out of the area. More incriminating to me is that the member informant was clearly Sicilian as he told the FBI how the organization went downhill by inducting non-Sicilians -- Sam Fashion's father was from Villarosa, so he was definitely Sicilian.

Michael Andolina was another Sicilian member in Johnstown who came from Villarosa and died in late 1968. I'd need to check if the CI was still talking after 1968 but I don't think it's him.

I still haven't found Michael Traficante's ancestry
.

Interesting , do you have the informant number? Or link to the file so we can check it out ?

He provided other info as well that makes it clear he's a member but in the above he states explicitly he's head of the Altoona operations.

Is it known whether Sam Fashion or anyone else with the crew was having health problems circa 1968? That would help confirm/narrow it down.

[Stroccos]

I'm thinking the Johnstown / Altoona member informant was Sam Fashion. The informant was said to be supervising Johnstown / Altoona rackets at the time and JCB has said Fashion was by then overseeing things for Regino who was often out of the area. More incriminating to me is that the member informant was clearly Sicilian as he told the FBI how the organization went downhill by inducting non-Sicilians -- Sam Fashion's father was from Villarosa, so he was definitely Sicilian.

Michael Andolina was another Sicilian member in Johnstown who came from Villarosa and died in late 1968. I'd need to check if the CI was still talking after 1968 but I don't think it's him.

I still haven't found Michael Traficante's ancestry
.

Interesting , do you have the informant number? Or link to the file so we can check it out ?

He provided other info as well that makes it clear he's a member but in the above he states explicitly he's head of the Altoona operations.

Is it known whether Sam Fashion or anyone else with the crew was having health problems circa 1968? That would help confirm/narrow it down.

Traficante was having health issues in august of 67

[B.]

Good to know. Maybe someone can verify his heritage to see if he was Sicilian.

[PolackTony]

Good to know. Maybe someone can verify his heritage to see if he was Sicilian.

I don’t believe that he was. I have him as Michael John Traficante, born 1907 in Rome, NY (family relocated to Altoona soon after). I have his parents as Angelo Traficante, born in Rionero in Vulture, Potenza, Basilicata, and Caterina “Dandamo” [sic], who, according to her 1928 Altoona death certificate, was born in “Naples” (which of course could be Napoli proper or somewhere else in Campania).

Important to note also that as of 1967, the FBI had a report that cited a CI as claiming that Traficante controlled the majority of numbers operations, as well as a pinball machine company, in the Altoona area. Maybe I’m wrong, but by 1968, Sam Fashion (though he was from Altoona originally) was based in Johnstown. For this reason, the 1968 CI here seems to fit Traficante better. Perhaps he learned the history of the organization from older Sicilians and thus had a Sicilian-centric narrative despite not being Sicilian himself (eg, Teddy DeRose in Chicago had a similar outlook and wasn’t even Italian, let alone Sicilian).

[B.]

Yeah the remark suggests the CI was Sicilian but doesn't confirm it. It's an interesting comment from someone in a Family that had been bringing mainlanders in since the 1910s and had so many of them.

[Antiliar]

This doesn't exactly fit for 1963, but it's useful Pittsburgh info nonetheless.

In 1903 when Giuseppe Morello was arrested for the Barrel murder case, he revealed that DePrimo was introduced to him by an Ignazio "Mesquale" of Pittsburgh. The surname "Mesquale" looks like a phonetic spelling, so I did a search for similar names. The name that came up was Ignazio Mastrilli, who arrived in the U.S. from Trabia in 1894 (the Limas and several other early Pittsburgh Sicilian Mafia members came from Trabia). He initially lived in Manhattan, but by the 1910 census lived in Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh is located) and was listed in the 1913 Pittsburgh City Directory as a shoemaker. He died in 1927. His wife's maiden name was Sanzeri, which could have been a corruption of Sunseri. The Sunseris were an important family in Pittsburgh. There was also a Joseph Sunseri who shot down a couple of Black Handers in Pittsburgh in 1907.

[JoelTurner]

This doesn't exactly fit for 1963, but it's useful Pittsburgh info nonetheless.

In 1903 when Giuseppe Morello was arrested for the Barrel murder case, he revealed that DePrimo was introduced to him by an Ignazio "Mesquale" of Pittsburgh. The surname "Mesquale" looks like a phonetic spelling, so I did a search for similar names. The name that came up was Ignazio Mastrilli, who arrived in the U.S. from Trabia in 1894 (the Limas and several other early Pittsburgh Sicilian Mafia members came from Trabia). He initially lived in Manhattan, but by the 1910 census lived in Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh is located) and was listed in the 1913 Pittsburgh City Directory as a shoemaker. He died in 1927. His wife's maiden name was Sanzeri, which could have been a corruption of Sunseri. The Sunseris were an important family in Pittsburgh. There was also a Joseph Sunseri who shot down a couple of Black Handers in Pittsburgh in 1907.

Where were these Sunseris from?

Vincenzo Troia, his son Joseph, and bodyguard Frank Longo were killed at Anthony Sunseri's store in Newark. He was from San Giuseppe Jato.

[PolackTony]

This doesn't exactly fit for 1963, but it's useful Pittsburgh info nonetheless.

In 1903 when Giuseppe Morello was arrested for the Barrel murder case, he revealed that DePrimo was introduced to him by an Ignazio "Mesquale" of Pittsburgh. The surname "Mesquale" looks like a phonetic spelling, so I did a search for similar names. The name that came up was Ignazio Mastrilli, who arrived in the U.S. from Trabia in 1894 (the Limas and several other early Pittsburgh Sicilian Mafia members came from Trabia). He initially lived in Manhattan, but by the 1910 census lived in Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh is located) and was listed in the 1913 Pittsburgh City Directory as a shoemaker. He died in 1927. His wife's maiden name was Sanzeri, which could have been a corruption of Sunseri. The Sunseris were an important family in Pittsburgh. There was also a Joseph Sunseri who shot down a couple of Black Handers in Pittsburgh in 1907.

Where were these Sunseris from?

Vincenzo Troia, his son Joseph, and bodyguard Frank Longo were killed at Anthony Sunseri's store in Newark. He was from San Giuseppe Jato.

There were Sunseris in Pitt who were produce wholesalers from Trabìa, so it would make sense if the wife of Ignazio Mastrilli was also.

I’m not 100% certain but believe that the Giuseppe Sunseri from the 1907 shooting incident was from Valledolmo.

[Antiliar]

This doesn't exactly fit for 1963, but it's useful Pittsburgh info nonetheless.

In 1903 when Giuseppe Morello was arrested for the Barrel murder case, he revealed that DePrimo was introduced to him by an Ignazio "Mesquale" of Pittsburgh. The surname "Mesquale" looks like a phonetic spelling, so I did a search for similar names. The name that came up was Ignazio Mastrilli, who arrived in the U.S. from Trabia in 1894 (the Limas and several other early Pittsburgh Sicilian Mafia members came from Trabia). He initially lived in Manhattan, but by the 1910 census lived in Allegheny County (where Pittsburgh is located) and was listed in the 1913 Pittsburgh City Directory as a shoemaker. He died in 1927. His wife's maiden name was Sanzeri, which could have been a corruption of Sunseri. The Sunseris were an important family in Pittsburgh. There was also a Joseph Sunseri who shot down a couple of Black Handers in Pittsburgh in 1907.

Where were these Sunseris from?

Vincenzo Troia, his son Joseph, and bodyguard Frank Longo were killed at Anthony Sunseri's store in Newark. He was from San Giuseppe Jato.

There were Sunseris in Pitt who were produce wholesalers from Trabìa, so it would make sense if the wife of Ignazio Mastrilli was also.

I’m not 100% certain but believe that the Giuseppe Sunseri from the 1907 shooting incident was from Valledolmo.

The Joseph Sunseri that matched the age given in one of the articles that I found was from Trabia. This one also matches the one who died in Los Angeles in 1923. I'd be interested in the one that you found from Valledolmo.

I couldn't find much for the alleged Black Hander, Felippo Rei except that he was a 33 yo married fruit dealer who previously lived in Buffalo. I wouldn't be surprised if his name was originally Raia.

[motorfab]

At least 2 of Joseph Sunseri's brothers were also mafiosi in New Orleans: Salvatore was prosecuted for the murder of David Hennessy in 1891 and Filippo who died in 1914 had Charles Matranga, Vincenzo Moreci and Vincent Marciante as pallbearers during his funerals

Other Italian names were among the pallbearers, but I don't know if they were mafiosi: Joseph DiCarlo, Major Arturo Dell'Orto, Commodore Antonio Paterno & Jack Loicanao. Most of these names were part of an Italian-American association of which Sunseri & Moreci were members.

According to Filippo's obituary, his brother Joseph lived indeed in Los Angeles and the Sunseris were from Trabia

[PolackTony]

At least 2 of Joseph Sunseri's brothers were also mafiosi in New Orleans: Salvatore was prosecuted for the murder of David Hennessy in 1891 and Filippo who died in 1914 had Charles Matranga, Vincenzo Moreci and Vincent Marciante as pallbearers during his funerals

Other Italian names were among the pallbearers, but I don't know if they were mafiosi: Joseph DiCarlo, Major Arturo Dell'Orto, Commodore Antonio Paterno & Jack Loicanao. Most of these names were part of an Italian-American association of which Sunseri & Moreci were members.

According to Filippo's obituary, his brother Joseph lived indeed in Los Angeles and the Sunseris were from Trabia

Great info, thanks for following up on Sunseri.