by B. » Tue Feb 25, 2025 10:51 pm
I found the testimony from Leonardo Messina and like Scagghiuni mentioned he does indeed say that the American Families began as decine of their original Sicilian Families -- their paesi, as he says, and uses the Castellammaresi, Alcamesi, and Palermitani as examples. He says they then developed their own local, autonomous structure and were not beholden to Sicily but still part of the same wider organization and worked together in matters of international concern, as we already know.
Keep in mind Messina was a high-ranking member in San Cataldo who came from a long line of important members there. San Cataldo produced many important American mafiosi and I'm sure the older generations in San Cataldo were well-aware of what their paesani were part of in the US, so he was in a better position to hear these kinds of anecdotes than someone in Catania for example where fewer US connections existed. San Cataldo also neighbored Montedoro which essentially produced the Pittston Family and Sancataldesi were part of that Family too.
We have already long-concluded that American Families started as some form of offshoot of their original Sicilian hometown Families, it being obvious the original Families were compaesani-based with a Family identity tied to their hometown, but Messina confirming this understanding from within the Sicilian mafia and also commenting that they began as remote decine of Sicilian Families is a great addition. This is very close to what I already believed -- that the original American mafiosi were still formal affiliates of their original Sicilian borgata -- but again great to hear it from a multi-generation Sicilian mafioso.
The development of the Santa Ninfa and Siculiana decine in Venezuela as two recognized Families much later on was probably the exact same process even though Venezuela in the mid-to-late 20th century was a much different environment than the United States in the later 1800s and early 1900s.
But of course the truth is these guys were just random poor Italian immigrants who got together through bootlegging and then Luciano organized them into a fine-tuned national organization in a matter of months.
I found the testimony from Leonardo Messina and like Scagghiuni mentioned he does indeed say that the American Families began as decine of their original Sicilian Families -- their paesi, as he says, and uses the Castellammaresi, Alcamesi, and Palermitani as examples. He says they then developed their own local, autonomous structure and were not beholden to Sicily but still part of the same wider organization and worked together in matters of international concern, as we already know.
Keep in mind Messina was a high-ranking member in San Cataldo who came from a long line of important members there. San Cataldo produced many important American mafiosi and I'm sure the older generations in San Cataldo were well-aware of what their paesani were part of in the US, so he was in a better position to hear these kinds of anecdotes than someone in Catania for example where fewer US connections existed. San Cataldo also neighbored Montedoro which essentially produced the Pittston Family and Sancataldesi were part of that Family too.
We have already long-concluded that American Families started as some form of offshoot of their original Sicilian hometown Families, it being obvious the original Families were compaesani-based with a Family identity tied to their hometown, but Messina confirming this understanding from within the Sicilian mafia and also commenting that they began as remote decine of Sicilian Families is a great addition. This is very close to what I already believed -- that the original American mafiosi were still formal affiliates of their original Sicilian borgata -- but again great to hear it from a multi-generation Sicilian mafioso.
The development of the Santa Ninfa and Siculiana decine in Venezuela as two recognized Families much later on was probably the exact same process even though Venezuela in the mid-to-late 20th century was a much different environment than the United States in the later 1800s and early 1900s.
But of course the truth is these guys were just random poor Italian immigrants who got together through bootlegging and then Luciano organized them into a fine-tuned national organization in a matter of months.