THE BLACK HAND FORUM

Antiliar wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:33 pm

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:08 pm Vito Giannola was living in Chicago by 1909, when his wife joined him from Cinisi. Her father is listed as Salvatore Badalamenti in Cinisi.

She arrived with Procopio Catariniccchia (age 24) and Benedetto Fiordimondo (age 52, wife's maiden name Evola), both from Cinisi. Both were arriving to relatives at the same address on Clark street, Salvatore Vitale (Fiordimondo's nephew) and Benedetto Palazzolo (Catarinicchia's cousin). Vito Giannola was also living on Clark street at a different address, where Onorata was headed to. Seems possible if not likely Onorata Badalamenti Giannola was related to one or both of the two men she was with, given she is a young woman traveling from Cinisi with them and relatives typically traveled together.

So we're seeing a lot of the usual mafia-connected names from Cinisi connected to the Giannola/Gianolas... Badalamenti, Evola, Palazzolo, Vitale. Maybe the Palazzolo and Vitale mentioned here can be connected to Paolo Palazzolo and Onofrio Vitale, though they were Indiana / Calumet City figures. These are also just common names from Cinisi, mafia or not.

We can't be sure the informant's older mafia relatives were paternal relatives given the redactions. He could well have been referring to relatives of his mother.

Since PolackTony linked this thread it's relevant again. Before the thread ended there was confusion over a post about Riberesi, but notice the name Catariniccchia, which is a name linked to the DeCavalcante Family and Birmingham. The name is slightly misspelled with three C's in a row, so may actually be Caternicchia. Although the person is from Cinisi, it's not unrealistic to consider that this person or his parents were originally from Ribera.

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:08 pm Vito Giannola was living in Chicago by 1909, when his wife joined him from Cinisi. Her father is listed as Salvatore Badalamenti in Cinisi.

She arrived with Procopio Catariniccchia (age 24) and Benedetto Fiordimondo (age 52, wife's maiden name Evola), both from Cinisi. Both were arriving to relatives at the same address on Clark street, Salvatore Vitale (Fiordimondo's nephew) and Benedetto Palazzolo (Catarinicchia's cousin). Vito Giannola was also living on Clark street at a different address, where Onorata was headed to. Seems possible if not likely Onorata Badalamenti Giannola was related to one or both of the two men she was with, given she is a young woman traveling from Cinisi with them and relatives typically traveled together.

So we're seeing a lot of the usual mafia-connected names from Cinisi connected to the Giannola/Gianolas... Badalamenti, Evola, Palazzolo, Vitale. Maybe the Palazzolo and Vitale mentioned here can be connected to Paolo Palazzolo and Onofrio Vitale, though they were Indiana / Calumet City figures. These are also just common names from Cinisi, mafia or not.

We can't be sure the informant's older mafia relatives were paternal relatives given the redactions. He could well have been referring to relatives of his mother.

B. wrote: ↑Fri Apr 23, 2021 11:28 am Yeah, meant that for another thread. Just a case of mafia madness.

If a mod sees this they can move it to the Angiulo / DeCavalcante thread.

PolackTony wrote: ↑Fri Apr 23, 2021 12:35 am

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:18 pm A Ribera colony existed in NYC by 1892. A group of Carubias and Gallettas arrived to NYC that year, both surnames that produced Riberesi members of the DeCavalcante NY faction. Others from Ribera also arrived in NYC that year and throughout the 1890s.

Pre-1900s immigration data is lacking in detail, so the colony may have existed before 1892, this is just what I could find. Doesn't guarantee there were mafia members in this colony yet, but there are familiar surnames.

Cross-post?

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:18 pm A Ribera colony existed in NYC by 1892. A group of Carubias and Gallettas arrived to NYC that year, both surnames that produced Riberesi members of the DeCavalcante NY faction. Others from Ribera also arrived in NYC that year and throughout the 1890s.

Pre-1900s immigration data is lacking in detail, so the colony may have existed before 1892, this is just what I could find. Doesn't guarantee there were mafia members in this colony yet, but there are familiar surnames.

SolarSolano wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:40 pm Weren't there also two brothers named Giannola in Detroit mob in the early 1900s?

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:16 pm Sure thing. Let me know if you find any more on the DeColas... looks like the undertaker Fred DeCola died in 1926. His son is the one married a Jeanne Magnafichi.

B. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:49 pm I think it's cool Tony revisited it, as there could always be something we missed, but yeah it's going to take quite a bit to shake the idea that it's Gianola.

I'm still hoping we can find out if Gianola had some relatives in the mafia:

- Father was Vito Giannola and mother was Onorata Badalamenti, both mafia-connected names from Cinisi.

- Family was still using the original Giannola spelling as of 1920 and 1940 census. However, the death of young son Vito in 1925 shows they were using the "Gianola" spelling by then. The elder Vito was also buried under the "Gianola" name in 1943. So it looks like they used the two spellings intermittently during the same period but they settled on "Gianola" for birth/death records.

- Vito Giannola was naturalized in Chicago under the original Giannola spelling and his naturalization witnesses were Louis DeCola and James Rich. I see there was an undertaker Fred DeCola who was tied with the Gennas and their funerals were held at his parlor. Fred had a younger brother named Louis but I can't confirm if it's the same one, but it looks like a relative of the same DeColas either way. Their father came from Termini. Looks like a younger DeCola relative married a Magnafichi. Given the DeCola/Genna connection, interesting we see the DeColas then connected to Vito Giannola. Curious about James Rich... was he a non-Italian or an Italian who changed his name? He was a neighbor of the Giannolas and DeCola on Morgan street.

- Vito Giannolas around the same age who arrived to New Orleans, NYC, and St. Louis were related to familiar names, i.e. Palazzolo, Bommarito, Manzella, and Impastato. I couldn't find any Vito Giannolas who arrrived direct to Chicago... very possible Leonard's father Vito passed through one of those cities first.

- Vito's 1920 census record says he came to the US in 1900, but census-collected immigration info is often inaccurate. The closest I could find is one who came in 1902 to New Orleans and was the one related to Impastatos. Many Impastatos from Cinisi were connected to the mafia here and in Sicily. If this is the right one, that's an area to investigate further.

- Vito Giannola's father was Leonardo Giannola, like his son Leonard.