Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[PolackTony]

I haven't looked them up, but I wonder of Joseph Serritella was related to some of the other better-known Serritellas, or if Vitantonia Parrillo Bagnolia was related to Republican politician William Parrillo, the father of Don Parrillo.

I haven’t delved that deep into them yet either. There were a ton of Serritellas from Ricigliano (and a few from neighboring comuni like Muro Lucano, Potenza) in Chicago, of course. Same with Bagnuolas, Parrillos, Iacovellis, Alfieris, and all those other typical “Richie” surnames. They put even the Aiellos to shame.

[Antiliar]

Parrillo Serritella Pacelli Prignano Tortoriello Genealogies

This is from a combination of my research and family trees found on Ancestry.com that I have not completely verified. Numbers in parenthesis refer to generations.

(1) Matteo Parrillo
+ Brigida Galante
(2) Pasquale Parrillo (1856, Salerno, Salerno-Mar 31, 1938, Chicago)
+ Rose Catharine Baraglia (1866-1940)
(3) Antonia Parrillo Palumbo (1893-)
(3) Bridget Parrillo Malpede (1897-1964)
(3) Catherine Parrillo Malpede (1899-1961)
(3) William J. Parrillo (Mar 10, 1903-1952)
+ Josephine Pappano (1903, Castelfranco Emilia, Modena-Mar 12, 1964, Chicago; dau of Daniel Pappano and Lucy Russo)
(4) William Parrillo
(4) Donald W. Parrillo (Dec 15, 1930, Chicago-Mar 4, 2020, Michigan City, IN)
(4) Robert Parrillo
(4) Richard Parrillo
(4) Diane Parrillo

(3) Charlotte (Lottie) Parrillo Tomaino (1905-1986)
(3) Matia Parrillo (1909-1910)
(3) Vincenzo (James) Parrillo (1911-1985)
(3) Dorothy Ann (Dolly) Parrillo Buffardi (1915-2004)

(1) Giuseppe Serritella
+ UNK
(2) Vito Serritella (Dec 1842, Ricigliano-Oct 18, 1913, Chicago)
+ Vitella Catena (Nov 6, 1842, Ricigliano-Nov 7, 1923, Chicago)
(3) Vincenzo (James) Serritella (1873, Carbonara-1952, Chicago)
+ Angelina Pacelli (1878-1953)
(4) Vitella (Della) Serritella (1893-1983)
+ William Pacelli (Aug 4, 1887, Ricigliano-Jan 11, 1937, Chicago)
(4) Carmino (Carmen) Serritella (1895-1930)
(4) Donato (Daniel) Antonio Serritella (1897-1967)
(4) Louis Serritella (1900-1952)
(4) Lottie Serritella (1902-1961)
(4) Frances Serritella (1904-1981/1904-2005)
(4) William Vincenzo Serritella (1907-1977)
(4) Anthony Louis Serritella (1910-1990)
(4) Joseph C. Serritella (1912-2005)
(3) Vitantonia Serritella (1884-1941)
(3) Joseph Serritella


(1) Vito Pacelli (b. Ricigliano)
+ Angela Serritella (Jan 30, 1846, Ricigliano-Apr 26, 1923, Chicago)
(2) Giuseppe (Joseph) Pacelli (Apr 16, 1860, Ricigliano-Nov 12, 1940, Chicago)
+ Mariangela Tortoriello (1860-1948)
(3) William Pacelli (Aug 4, 1887, Ricigliano-Jan 11, 1937, Chicago)
+ Vitella (Della) Serritella (Aug 23, 1893, Illinois-Nov 14, 1983, Chicago)


(1) Giovanni Serritella (Before 1775-Before 1880)
+ UNK
(2) Vito Serritella (Feb 12, 1790, Ricigliano-Feb 2, 1872, Ricigliano)
+ Anna Maria Mangone (1794, Ricigliano-1870, Ricigliano)
(3) Sebastiano Serritella (1820, Ricigliano-Apr 2, 1901, Ricigliano)
+ Maria Meccia (Apr 20, 1823, Ricigliano-Bef 1928)
(4) Angela Serritella (Jan 30, 1846, Ricigliano-Bef 1951)
+ Vito Pacelli
(5) Giuseppe (Joseph) Pacelli (Apr 19, 1860, Ricigliano-Nov 12, 1940, Chicago)
+ Mariangela Tortoriello (1860-1948)
(6) Angela Pacelli (1885-1939)
+ Antonio Iacullo (1885-1967)
(6) William Pacelli (Aug 4, 1887, Ricigliano-Jan 11, 1937, Chicago)
+ Vitella (Della) Serritella (1893-1983)
(6) FNU Pacelli
(4) Vito Serritella (1848-Bef 1953)
(4) Antonio Serritella (Feb 25, 1851, Ricigliano-Jun 30, 1923, Chicago)
+ Lucia Parrillo (1857-1907)
(5) Maria (Mary) Serritella (1880-1953)
(5) Giovanna Francesca Serritella (1884-1885)
(5) Francesco (Frank) Anthony Serritella (1886-1950)
+ Lucia Sacco (1892-1933)
(5) Vitella Marie Serritella (1888-1889)
(5) Anthony Donato Serritella (1889-1913)
(5) Vitella (Della) Serritella (1890-1978)
+ Sebastian Pascenti (1889-1959)
(5) Rose (Concetta) Serritella (1894-1988)
(5) Sebastiano Benjamin Serritella (1896-1971)
(5) Vito (William) J. Serritella (Aug 12, 1898, Chicago-Dec 7, 1990, Carol Stream, IL)
+ Rouhitella (Lottie) Fannelli (1900-1982)
(4) Lucia Serritella (1860-Bef 1965)
(4) Giuseppe Serritella (1863-Bef 1968)
+ Costanza Bagnolo (1870-?)
(3) Gerardo Serritella (Feb 26, 1841, Ricigliano-Aug 26, 1912, Chicago)
+ Maria Iandola (1850-1925)
(3) Vito Serritella (1842, Ricigliano-1914)

(1) Vito Tortoriello
+ Lucia LNU
(2) Antonio Tortoriello (Jan 1856, Ricigliano-Nov 1, 1937, Berwyn)
+ Vitantonia (Antonietta) Prignano (Abt 1850, Ricigliano-Jul 8, 1924, Chicago)
(3) Rose Chiodo
(3) Minnie Leonardo
(3) Jennie M. Tortoriello (1898, Chicago-)
+ Charles Carmine Pacelli (Sep 16, 1890, Chicago-Oct 1977, Palatine, IL)
(3) Lucia Parrillo (Jan 29, 1886, Chicago-Nov 17, 1955, Chicago)
+ Pietro Pilono Parrillo (Feb 2, 1878, Italy-May 14, 1936, Chicago; son of Vito Parrillo and Rose Meccia)
(3) Vito (Victor) Tortoriello (Apr 18, 1883, Chicago-Nov 5, 1960, Chicago)
+ Mary
(4) Anthony Tortoriello
(4) Louise Tortoriello
(4) James Vincent (Mugsy) Tortoriello (May 30, 1911-Nov 24, 1984, Deerfield Beach, FL): Aiuppa street crew associate
(3) Pasqualina Camera

(1) Carmino Prignano (Ricigliano)
+ Rosa Veneri (Ricigliano)
(2) Vitantonia Prignano (Abt 1850, Ricigliano-Jul 10, 1924, Chicago)
+ Antonio Tortoriello

(1) Vincenzo Prignano (Ricigliano)
+ Margaret Tortorelli (Ricigliano)
(2) Pasquale Prignano (Jan 10, 1860, Ricigliano-Oct 12, 1937, Chicago)
+ Faustina (Florence) Laurino (Mar 12, 1868, Ricigliano-Jan 21, 1924, Chicago; dau of Costantino Laurino and Francesca Serritella)
(3) James Prignano (1889-)
(3) Anthony (Albert) J. Prignano (Aug 23, 1891, Chicago-Dec 29, 1935, Chicago): Alderman
(3) Frances Prignano (1894-1964)
+ Stephen Malato (1869-1951)
(3) Margaret Prignano (1899-1992)
+ Joseph Martoccio
(3) Constantine (Daniel) Prignano (1904-1923)
(3) Nettie Donato Prignano (1905-1972)
+ Peter Maurino

(1) Antonio Pacella (May 1856, Italy-Chicago)
+ Felicita
(2) James Pacella
(2) Charles Pacella
(2) William Pacella
(2) Patrick Pacella
(2) Anna Pacella

[Antiliar]

I'm adding the information supplied by B and PolackTony on Nicola Diana here along with additional information I found.

- Diana was born in 1891 and did live in Chicago but I haven't done a deep dive. That's an intriguing new name.

From what I can see, Diana may just have been a Riberese civilian. His brothers Giovanni and Giuseppe also settled in Chicago, but I don’t see any of them ever mentioned in connection to mafia-type activities, and Nicola doesn’t seem to have been as well off as Bacino and DeGeorge. He was born in 1891 in Ribera and arrived in NYC bound for Chicago, where Giovanni was already living. In 1917, he was living in Joliet and working as a laborer. He joined the army infantry during WW1 and in 1918 was stationed in Macon, GA, where he filed his petition for US citizenship. In 1921, he married Maria Scafidi of Altavilla Milicia in Chicago. In 1930, they lived in Cicero, while in the 1940s they lived in Logan Square on the NW Side; Nicola worked as a door-to-door dry good salesman at the time. He died in 1958 in Maricopa, AZ. His son Vincent Diana, who also married a Scafidi woman who arrived from Palermo, moved to Phoenix as well.

Though there were a number of Riberesi in Chicago, I’m not aware that they ever formed a paesani/religious society or club. There were like 100 other Sicilian societies, but maybe the Riberesi in Chicago aligned themselves with the Societies for Sambuca or Burgio, both of which remain active today.

Also there is a reference to a Nicola Diana in a Chicago Lithuanian newspaper from 1940.

Here is a very poor Google translation:

• 1931 in time of controversy
canteen at 11851 Michigan
avenue was shot dead by police officer Joseph Isaacs from Kensington precinct. For batting
Northside police arrested 48 of that near-forgotten incident
Nicola Diana from Chicago
1148 North Kedzie avenue. Per
nine last year Diana
where it hid.

Hard to make sense of it, but it seems to indicate Diana was involved in a violent incident in 1931 and was arrested for it in 1940. I'm not sure what the bit about the police officer killing someone is referring to or what actual crime Diana was accused of but it would seem to be something violent given the statute of limitations allowed for his arrest 9 years later. Our Nicola Diana would have been 48 at the time this was published so the "48" is no doubt a reference to his age.

Here is the original clipping, maybe you can make more sense of it given your abilities:



Whatever happened, it adds to the possibility he was a mafioso along with his involvement with Bacino, DeGeorge, and DeCavalcante leaders in the Ribera Club.

1931 is also a significant year for obvious reasons.

I misread the part about who was injured in the Sciara shooting -- thanks for clarifying it was the wife.

With mafia marriages, it appears arrangements via parents and/or mafia superiors were common. Melchiorre Allegra talked about how his friend was inducted into the Alcamo Family and the Alcamo bosses immediately arranged for him to marry the daughter of the San Giuseppe Jato boss, no doubt a political alliance. Like you said it may have played out much differently when a mafioso married an outsider.

Great points about Sciara's legal issues being a factor. This is the first I've heard Leonardo Caruana transferred to the Bonannos. Transfers require the approval of both Families, so interesting if he transferred back to Siculiana without the approval of his superiors but it reflects the disregard that faction had for Violi.

- Diana was born in 1891 and did live in Chicago but I haven't done a deep dive. That's an intriguing new name.

From what I can see, Diana may just have been a Riberese civilian. His brothers Giovanni and Giuseppe also settled in Chicago, but I don’t see any of them ever mentioned in connection to mafia-type activities, and Nicola doesn’t seem to have been as well off as Bacino and DeGeorge. He was born in 1891 in Ribera and arrived in NYC bound for Chicago, where Giovanni was already living. In 1917, he was living in Joliet and working as a laborer. He joined the army infantry during WW1 and in 1918 was stationed in Macon, GA, where he filed his petition for US citizenship. In 1921, he married Maria Scafidi of Altavilla Milicia in Chicago. In 1930, they lived in Cicero, while in the 1940s they lived in Logan Square on the NW Side; Nicola worked as a door-to-door dry good salesman at the time. He died in 1958 in Maricopa, AZ. His son Vincent Diana, who also married a Scafidi woman who arrived from Palermo, moved to Phoenix as well.

Though there were a number of Riberesi in Chicago, I’m not aware that they ever formed a paesani/religious society or club. There were like 100 other Sicilian societies, but maybe the Riberesi in Chicago aligned themselves with the Societies for Sambuca or Burgio, both of which remain active today.

Looks like he had an uncle Giuseppe who used the spelling D'Anna (like the D'Annas/Dannas from Agrigento in Pueblo and Lucchese Families) and lived in NYC. The D'Anna/Danna name is much more common in that part of AG so could be the original name.

The Dannas of Pueblo were cousins of Frank Bacino, another early Colorado mafioso. Bacino was from Lucca Sicula like the Dannas, and like we've talked about before Phil Bacino had relatives from Burgio/Lucca area. Be interesting if Nicola Diana has any connection to these Dannas and/or Phil Bacino was related to Frank Bacino.

Great job on this! I was able to find some more info on the incident. Diana was arrested in 1940 for the 1931 murder of CPD cop Joseph Isaacs, who was killed in a Far Southside cafe at 119th and Michigan Ave. This location was not far from Burnham and Calumet City, where Bacino took hold. Police had been searching for 9 years for Diana, as a car linked to the killing was traced back to him. He was also stated at the time of the murder to be living in a “Capone Hotel”; in 1930, Diana was living in Cicero, not too far from Capone’s HQ at the Hawthorne Hotel (later controlled by Joey Aiuppa).

When Diana was finally located and arrested in 1940, he was in the company of a 37-year-old Emanuel Cammarata (not sure yet who he was; there were Cammaratas in Chicago from Termini and Corleone. Diana’s wife Maria Scafidi was from Altavilla Milicia, so it would be unsurprising if Diana was linked in to people from around Termini) and was arrested at North Ave and Wolcott in Wicker Park. This happens to have been the same block where Riberese Chicago boss Pasquale LoLordo was living when he was murdered. Other guys who were connected to both the Calumet City area and the Wicker Park area immediately around the vicinity of LoLordo’s home were Vincenzo D’Angelo (also Riberese), Snakes Gervasi, and Onofrio Vitale. All three were of course murdered in the 1940s, likely connected to the “Cheese War”. When Diana was arrested, he was reported as living on Kedzie near Division in Humboldt Park (my home turf, directly to the west of Wicker Park). Jim DeGeorge lived a couple of blocks away, as did Snakes Gervasi when he was murdered in 1944. When he was arrested in 1940, Diana claimed he had been in Italy at the time of the murder, and an eyewitness to the Isaacs murder was unable to identify him as involved, so he seems to have been let off. The papers reported that Diana was an olive oil salesman, which matches the “door-to-door dry goods salesman” that I found as his occupation in one document for him. So it’s definitely the same guy, and he was clearly connected to the mafia. Given that almost all the other guys listed as belonging to the Ribera orphanage committee were mafia members, I think it’s a strong inference that Diana may have been a sleeper made guy.

Good catch on the Danna/D’Anna thing as well, that makes a lot of sense and is absolutely a surname linked to mafiosi from that area of Agrigento, as you point out. Posted a photo of Diana in the Mugshots thread.

Amazing.

Emanuele Cammarata was Joe Profaci's cousin from Villabate who was arrested at the 1928 Cleveland meeting with Lolordo and Bacino. The age matches. He lived in NJ and was probably part of the Newark Family before transferring to the Colombos. Mysteriously murdered in Florida in the 1970s.

Big find there, as it links Cammarata to Chicago like his cousin Profaci and it's an odd coincidence he was at the meeting with Bacino in 1928 then found with Diana in 1940. It's also another New Jersey connection along with Diana's involvement with Bacino in the Ribera Club. Question is why Cammarata was linked to the Chicago Riberesi on two different occasions spanning 12 years. Cammarata worked for Profaci's olive oil company so he and Diana were both in the same business.

A mafia-linked cop killer on an orphanage committee dominated by ranking mafiosi. Really didn't expect something like this would surface so quickly.

Phil Bacino and Nicola Diana also went to Sicily together in 1948, the year after they joined the Ribera Club orphanage committee:



- Triolo is a female relative of Bacino, but interesting she came from the Bronx to travel with them. His mother was a Triolo and Cavita ID'd one of Bacino's criminal associates circa 1940 as an Andrew Triolo of Calumet City (b. ~1905). Bacino's relation to the Giacobbes also comes through the Triolos, as DeCavalcante captain Lorenzo Giacobbe's brother Carmelo married Bacino's maternal aunt and Bacino arrived to Carmelo Giacobbe in NYC from Sicily in 1923. Carmelo and Lorenzo Giacobbe's other brother Emanuele lived in the Manhattan apartment building owned by Domenico Arcuri of the Gambino Family.

- Landi is Diana's daughter. If he was a Chicago member it means they already had a member presence in Phoenix by the late 1940s. In 1972 the FBI identified a DeCavalcante member living in Arizona but it's unfortunately redacted in the report so I don't know if it was a Riberese.



This is the same Sicilian trip where Phil Bacino and his son John were photographed with Phil Amari and Fortunato Pope at a celebration for the opening of the Ribera orphanage:



- Always been curious about the unidentified two guys on the far left. It's hard to tell from the photo of Diana you found, but his age and weight certainly fit the guy on the far left and we know Diana was there. The facial features and hairline look different but hard to gauge based on what we have. The guy with glasses looks like an official given the papers, maybe the Ribera mayor or something, but can't rule him out completely.

- Joe Bonanno says in his book he went to a dedication ceremony for the Ribera orphanage with his friend Fortunato Pope in 1957, so I'm wondering if they had another event around ten years after the orphanage was established or if he confused the timeline and actually attended the 1948 orphanage event with Pope, Amari, and Bacino. The Ribera Club held a yearly fundraiser dinner for the orphanage so it's possible they had more than one event in Ribera.

Thread with info from Rotondo and Scarabino about the orphanage: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=8899

John Bacino died in 2020 and it says he was born in Hammond, Indiana in 1936: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/nw ... id=9208829

^ Note that John's daughter married a Grisafi. Along with Bacino's apparent relative Andrew Triolo, Cavita also identified a Joseph Grisafi of Calumet City (b. ~1905) as a criminal associate of Bacino in 1940.

Nicola Diana's brother Calogero also lived in Chicago, married to Rose Ciccarelli. Maternal uncle Antonino Gulino also lived in Chicago. Calogero died in Chicago in 1940.

There was another Calogero Diana from Ribera in Chicago who married Maria Addalia in 1913 but seems to be someone different. His mother was an Amari. There was a Calogero living in Elizabeth NJ by 1928, maybe this one as I can't track him in Chicago by then.

There were also Dianas from Ribera in Detroit.

Though there's reason to believe the true name is D'Anna and relatives used that spelling it also seems the Diana spelling was in use in Ribera going back generations. Probably not unlike the Guarraggi and Guarraci names which obviously share origin but the different spellings were in use going back to Sicily.

Note that Jim DeGeorge of Chicago is on the Ribera Club committee with NYC DeCavalcante member Pietro Galletta. Galletta was married to a cousin of his named DiGiorgi (her mother was a Galletta like him) and I found other interrelation between the DiGiorgis and Gallettas but I don't know if there's a direct connection between the mafia members.

Galletta was one of the first surnames I found to settle in the early 1890s Manhattan Ribera colony that produced what are perhaps the first DeCavalcante members. Another early name in the colony was Carubia, which produced member Antonio Carubia and possibly Marco Carubia, who JD said may have been misidentified as a Gambino Arcuri crew member given the close relationship.

Early Manhattan "Black Hand" leader Pellegrino Mule from Caltabellotta may have been connected to this colony. He was a mafia leader in his native hometown and was involved in a murder in Sciacca before coming to the US. Pasquale Lolordo married a Mule from Caltabellotta in NYC and other DeCavalcante figures came from there, including the NYC Marsala brothers (suspected members) and Farinas of NJ. The excerpt I posted earlier says men from Caltabellotta were also involved in the founding of the Ribera Club in 1923.

However the Gambino LoCiceros who came from Calamonaci (basically Ribera) intermarried with Caltabellotta, so you can't separate the Gambino Agrigento faction from this colony either.

The first man arrested for the murder of Officer Joseph Isaacs in October 1931 was Thomas Scupino of 1502 S. 51st Ave. in Cicero (another article gives an address of 1610 South 51st Court, Cicero). Scupino admitted being at the Spanish Tavern cafe at 11851 Michigan Ave. when Isaacs was shot, but denied that he was the shooter. One article describes him as a double of Al Capone. Apparently he didn't fit the description and the indictment was dropped.

Back in April 1930, Scupino was indicted as part of an alleged Communist group headed by Charles (Cyprian) Argento, his brother Vincent Argento, Joseph Almanza, and Frank LaCort. Sam Tornabene was their chief lieutenant. The alleged Communists ran a large bootlegging operation connected with Al Capone. They used a lodge at 2901 Wentworth Avenue in an area controlled by Johnny and Pepe Genaro. Argento was a partner in the Italian Importing and Manufacturing Company at 521 West 26th Street that had been seized in Milwaukee several months earlier. They operated stills in Cicero and Racine, Wisconsin.

On August 30, 1932, 37-hear-old Charles Argento, then an organizer for the Italian Master Bakers' Association, was shot and killed in his room in the Piccadilly Hotel in Chicago. Guests saw two men run down a fire escape and third man holding a gun fled through the lobby. During the search Julius Anschell, a bookkeeper for the Bakers' Association, told police he was one of the men who escaped through the alley. He said he was with James De George, a business agent of the association. Anschell claimed he and De George were in the room when Argento was shot, but didn't see anything and ran away because they panicked. Anschell was also Argento's ex brother-in-law, the brother of Argento's ex-wife Anne, whom he divorced two years earlier. He said that he was in De George's bakery at 1124 Grand Avenue when they got a call from Argento to meet him over unpaid dues. In going through Argento's effects they found a city vehicle tag belonging to Anthony D'Andrea, who they believed was Phil D'Andrea's brother.

Argento was born on March 11, 1895 in Canicatti to Salvatore Argento and Maria Loguidice. He had another brother, Giuseppe (Joseph), and a sister, Concetta.

[PolackTony]

Thanks for putting the Diana info together here, Anti. Thanks also for the info on Argento. Unsurprising that he was involved with Sam Tornabene, given the Canicatti origin. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that these guys may not have been sincere Communists, lol.

The first man arrested for the murder of Officer Joseph Isaacs in October 1931 was Thomas Scupino of 1502 S. 51st Ave. in Cicero (another article gives an address of 1610 South 51st Court, Cicero). Scupino admitted being at the Spanish Tavern cafe at 11851 Michigan Ave. when Isaacs was shot, but denied that he was the shooter. One article describes him as a double of Al Capone. Apparently he didn't fit the description and the indictment was dropped.

I wasn't able to find any further info on Scupino when I looked into him. Maybe you've had better luck. Importantly, in 1930, Nicola Diana was living at 1237 51st Ct in Cicero, so regardless of which address Scupino was actually living at, he was very close to Diana.

Looks like he had an uncle Giuseppe who used the spelling D'Anna (like the D'Annas/Dannas from Agrigento in Pueblo and Lucchese Families) and lived in NYC. The D'Anna/Danna name is much more common in that part of AG so could be the original name.

Agreed that Diana is likely to be a variant of D'Anna. FWIW, the records in Ribera for Nicola Diana and his brothers all use "Diana", so it wasn't changed upon arrival in the US, at least. There were D'Annas in Chicago from Ribera, but I don't see any direct connection to the Dianas.

Nicola had two brothers, Calogero "Charles" Diana (born 1889) and Giovanni "John" Diana (born 1897), who also emigrated to Chicago. Their parents were Vincenzo Diana and Grazia Gulino of Ribera. They had another brother named Giuseppe Diana, who may have remained in Ribera (he married a woman in Ribera whose mother was a Tallo, the same surname as Jim DeGeorge's wife Mary Tallo who was born to parents from Alessandria della Rocca in Downstate IL). An older brother named Francesco Diana remained in Ribera, where he married Rosaria Amari. Their son Calogero Diana (born 1886) was the other Calogero Diana living in Chicago who B already mentioned. He married a Riberese woman named Maria Addalia in Chicago in 1913. On his WW1 draft card, cousin Calogero was already living on the 1800 block of W North Ave in Wicker Park, where the Riberesi DiGiorgios, LoLordos, and D'Angelos settled within a block or two radius. Cousin Calogero and Maria remained in Chicago until the 1940s, at which point they decamped for Buffalo, where they were living in 1950 (this Calogero died in Arleta, CA, in 1970). When Giovanni Diana arrived in the US in 1913, father Vincenzo was already living in Chicago, where he died in 1929. Nicola arrived in 1914, and I believe brother Calogero arrived in 1920. Brother Calogero married Vincenza "Jennie" Salemi, also of Ribera. Their son Vincent was found shot to death in the street in Humboldt park in 1936. Brother Calogero died several years later in 1940, though I've seen no indication of foul play there. When Giovanni Diana was naturalized in 1927, his wtinesses were a Coniglio and a Salemi, further indicating the close social connections of the Dianas with other Riberesi in Chicago. In 1947, Giovanni's daughter Catherine was found murdered in a ditch near Benton Harbor (Berrien County, yet again), MI. At the time, the papers reported that Giovanni had been visiting Buffalo for two weeks at the time of the murder (perhaps visiting his cousin Calogero there). When Giovanni died in Chicago in 1962, his occupation was listed as business agent, indicating that he was a union official. I'd suspect that he was an official in the Hod Carriers' Union (LIUNA), as he had earlier been employed as a laborer for the city's Water Pipe Extension unit under the Bureau of Engineering, whose workers were in HCU/LIUNA. This could be significant, as his paesan' Vince Solano for years headed Local 1 of the LIUNA. Solano's family lived in Little Sicily and his father Vincenzo Solano died in 1920 (paternal grandparents from Sciacca), though his mother was from Calamonaci, which for all intents and purposes is Ribera anyway, and thus it's fully possible that his family was connected to this cluster of Riberese mafiosi. Who knows how connected the other Dianas were to the Outfit, though they seemed to have had some very bad luck with relatives getting killed and all.

While the LoLordo-connected Riberesi group clustered near the intersection of North Ave and Damen, over the following years a number of people from all of these families moved to the next neighborhood over, Humboldt Park, where they clustered in the blocks surrounding North Ave and Kedzie (this section of the neighborhood was heavily Jewish and Polish, unlike the southern part of Humboldt Park around Chicago Ave, which had a large concentration of Italians and was the base for the Cerone/Gagliano crew for years before they moved out to Elmwood Park). Apart from the Riberesi families mentioned here, non-Riberesi Onofrio Vitale (Cinisi) and Sam "Snakes" Gervasi (born in Tampa to parents from Vallelunga) were also both connected closely to the North/Damen and North/Kedzie areas. Both of those guys also decamped to Calumet City, along with Phil Bacino and Jim D'Angelo. D'Angelo, Vitale, and Gervasi were, of course, all murdered in the 1940s, likely part of the wave of murders in Chicago that followed from the apparent "Cheese War" internal rupture within the Outfit, in which Jim DeGeorge seems to have also taken part. For this reason, it's interesting that cousin Calogero Diana left Chicago for Buffalo in the '40s, could be that he need to get out of town. We also know that by 1948 at the latest, Nicola Diana had moved to Phoenix. Brothers Calogero and Giovanni Diana, however, remained living in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Several newspaper articles noted that Patsy LoLordo had operated a social club called the "Italian-American Citizens' Club" on North Ave at Wolcott, across the street from Tony Capezio's Circus Cafe. LoLordo was living on the next block of North Ave west of Wolcott when he was assassinated, of course. The location of the Circus Cafe would very strongly suggest that the LoLordo-Riberesi group was already closely allied with Capezio. Indeed, the papers had speculated that the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre was done in retribution for LoLordo's murder, and plotted by Joe LoLordo and Jack McGurn (who was also Agrigentino, of course) along with Capezio's partner Screwy Maddox/Johnny Moore. Joe LoLordo was arrested and questioned in relation to the massacre, but never charged, and, of course, subsequently left Chicago for Elizabeth. In 1935, it was reported that Jim D'Angelo was then the head of LoLordo's Italian-American Citizen's Club (the Digorgios had a grandmother who was a D'Angelo, so they were likely cousins). Not sure when the club ceased operating, but it's worth repeating in this context that when Nicola Diana was arrested in 1940 in connection with the 1931 Isaacs slaying, he was with Profaci's cousin Nello Cammarata at North Ave and Wolcott.

The Dannas of Pueblo were cousins of Frank Bacino, another early Colorado mafioso. Bacino was from Lucca Sicula like the Dannas, and like we've talked about before Phil Bacino had relatives from Burgio/Lucca area. Be interesting if Nicola Diana has any connection to these Dannas and/or Phil Bacino was related to Frank Bacino.

As we spoke about recently, Sam DiGiovanni had ties to Colorado, so it would be very interesting to confirm whether Bacino had ties there as well. Based on local vital records, I've confirmed that Phil Bacino's father Giovanni Bacino was indeed born in Burgio, to parents Luciano Bacino and Lucia Buscemi, also of Burgio. Looking through the records and family histories of these Riberesi, I've seen plenty of examples of marriages and movements between Ribera and comuni such as Burgio, Sciacca, Cattolica Eraclea, Calamonaci, Lucca Sicula, Caltabellotta, Alessandria della Rocca, and Sambuca, demonstrating how closely intertwined the community in this area of Agrigento were. This makes Phil Bacino's alleged relation to Tommaso and Giuseppe Bacino even more likely. We've covered these two before, but there's grounds to suspect that they may have been other lowkey, Sicilian Chicago members.

- Tommaso Bacino is the distant cousin from Burgio I mentioned -- he was much older (b. 1882) and arrived to a cousin named Cardinale in NYC. Giuseppe Cardinale was the name of a guy killed by Pellegrino Scaglia's faction (Scaglia is from Burgio) in Colorado. There were apparently Cardinales in Gary connected to Chicago mafia activity.

- The FBI has a Joe Bacino on their Dead List and describes him as Phil Bacino's cousin born in 1893. The only other Bacino they list except for him and Phil is Phil's wife (they commonly include spouses). He came from Burgio and headed to Chicago. No idea why they'd include him and note the relation to Phil Bacino unless he was involved in mafia circles

With Tommaso and Giuseppe Bacino being born in 1882 and 1893, they may have been too old to get properly documented when investigation ramped up. Joe Bacino might have headed to Canada at one point too and the Lolordos had relatives in Montreal with the name Lolordo, plus Nick Gentile went to Quebec around WWI with the Lolordos' cousin.

Ok, now I recall when you brought Tommaso Bacino up on one of the older Chicago threads. Agrigento birth records have him born 1882/09/22 in Burgio to Antonio Bacino and Maria Rosaria Radosta. This info matches his 1971 death record in Chicago. As you said, he arrived in 1903 bound for his cousin Giuseppe Cardinale in BK. In 1913, Tommaso married a Josephine Savino in Perry County, IL, adjacent to Williamson County. I haven't been able to confirm her origins, but based on her surname, she was most likely from the mainland; there were Savinos in Perry County from Torino, Piemonte. Their first child, Tony Bacino, was born 1915 in Willisville, Perry County. Then, in 1916 their next child Sarah Bacino was born in NYC. For his WW1 draft registration, Tommaso was living on 1st St in BK. Not sure what happened to Josephine, but in 1922 Tommaso remarried Maria DiGiorgi (!) of Chiusa Sclafani. They had four children together in the 1920s. In 1930, they lived at Grand and Morgan, while in his 1938 naturalization document, they lived near Division and Clybourn in Little Sicily. Tommaso Bacino died in Chicago in 1971.

Giuseppe Bacino (spelled "Baccino" in a number of US documents) would seem to have been the guy born 1893-1894 in Burgio, who arrived in NYC in 1912 bound for a Giovanni Pantaleo (same names keep popping up) in Chicago. He then settled in East Chicago, IN where he married Mary Woess in 1921. In 1935 he was listed in the Gary directory, but otherwise was listed as residing in East Chicago. He died 1984 in Munster, IN, and his death certificate listed Salvatore Bacino and Anna Aldalino as his parents.

I'll add that although Tommaso Bacino married Josephine Salvo in Perry County, IL, in 1913, on his WW1 draft card, they were living back in NYC again, where their second kid, Tony, was born. By 1920, Tommaso was living in Williamson County, Downstate IL near STL, where he was working as a coal miner. Some other Bacinos for Burgio lived in the same town: Herrin. Tommaso's first wife Josephine had died by this time, and in 1922 Tommaso remarried Maria DiGiorgi of Chiusa Sclafani. I don't know that she had any relation to the Ribera DiGiorgis, but this marriage also raises the possibility that Tommaso could've had links to people from Palazzo Adriano like the DiGiovannis. Interesting that Tommaso Bacino was already in Chicago by the 1920s, as that was just before Phil Bacino arrived there. Further, Joe Bacino living in East Chicago could well have played a role in Phil Bacino relocating in Cal City after Patsy LoLordo was killed. There were a bunch of other Bacinos from Burgio who settled in Chicago over the years, including people still emigrating to Chicago in the 80s/90s, and there are Bacinos in the Burgio Society today in Chicago.

Another interesting Phil Bacino fact. The first address that I have for him in Chicago was when he filed his naturalization petition in 1928. He was living with a Filippo Cusumano (also a witness, very likely a paesan') at 2321 W Ohio, in the Grand Ave Patch. This was the next block over from the building where Joey Andriacchi's family (Roti, Spina, etc), who were relatives of the Chinatown Rotis; the same building that Lombardo lived in most of his life after marrying Andriacchi's cousin Marion Nigro. I might start telling people that Phil Bacino was the original founder of the C-Notes.

[Antiliar]

Will have to look into the Nigro surname. The Nigro brothers of Kansas City played a big role in that city's Mafia.

[PolackTony]

Will have to look into the Nigro surname. The Nigro brothers of Kansas City played a big role in that city's Mafia.

Marion Nigro's father was from Calabria. I've discussed her genealogy and that of Joey A before, all Calabrese on both sides. His parents and her mother were from Simbario, Vibo Valentia, as with the other Rotis, Spinas, Andreacchis, Bertuccis, etc.

[Antiliar]

Marion Nigro, Joey Lombardo's wife, was Joe Andriacchi's first cousin and the granddaughter of Caterina Roti (later Catherine Spina). It looks like her father was Mariano Nigro of Marano Principato and Catherine Tassione of Simbario. Mariano's parents were Lugi Nigro and Gelsomina LNU.

Marion (Marano) Nigro of Kansas City, who was associated with the DiGiovannis and others, was from Marano Principato, Calabria. His parents were Giovanni (John) and Emilia Ruffalo Nigro, and he married Rose Sorrentino. Giovanni's parents were Pietro Nigro and Carolina Passerilli.

I think there's a possibility they were related.

[PolackTony]

I'll add that although Tommaso Bacino married Josephine Salvo in Perry County, IL, in 1913, on his WW1 draft card, they were living back in NYC again, where their second kid, Tony, was born. By 1920, Tommaso was living in Williamson County, Downstate IL near STL, where he was working as a coal miner. Some other Bacinos for Burgio lived in the same town: Herrin. Tommaso's first wife Josephine had died by this time, and in 1922 Tommaso remarried Maria DiGiorgi of Chiusa Sclafani. I don't know that she had any relation to the Ribera DiGiorgis, but this marriage also raises the possibility that Tommaso could've had links to people from Palazzo Adriano like the DiGiovannis. Interesting that Tommaso Bacino was already in Chicago by the 1920s, as that was just before Phil Bacino arrived there. Further, Joe Bacino living in East Chicago could well have played a role in Phil Bacino relocating in Cal City after Patsy LoLordo was killed. There were a bunch of other Bacinos from Burgio who settled in Chicago over the years, including people still emigrating to Chicago in the 80s/90s, and there are Bacinos in the Burgio Society today in Chicago.

Another interesting Phil Bacino fact. The first address that I have for him in Chicago was when he filed his naturalization petition in 1928. He was living with a Filippo Cusumano (also a witness, very likely a paesan') at 2321 W Ohio, in the Grand Ave Patch. This was the next block over from the building where Joey Andriacchi's family (Roti, Spina, etc), who were relatives of the Chinatown Rotis; the same building that Lombardo lived in most of his life after marrying Andriacchi's cousin Marion Nigro. I might start telling people that Phil Bacino was the original founder of the C-Notes.

As a correction. Tommaso Bacino’s first wife was named Josephine Savino (Salvo was a typo). I was unable to confirm her ancestry and her family may have been from Northern Italy. When Tommaso Bacino died in 1971, his obituary stated that one of sisters was Concetta Triolo. Not sure if she lived in IL or what, but the surname could be another link to Phil Bacino. The obit also stated that Tommaso was a member of the Società Burgio di M.S.

The Andrew Triolo who was stated to have been an associate of Phil Bacino was most likely the guy born in 1907 in Johnston City (surprise, surprise). In 1942, he was living in Cal City (surprise, surprise), but prior to that, he had lived on North Ave in Chicago (surprise, surprise). As of now I haven’t confirmed his ancestry, so I don’t know if he was a direct relative of Bacino, as the Triolo surname is found across that part of Agrigento.

[PolackTony]

Marion Nigro, Joey Lombardo's wife, was Joe Andriacchi's first cousin and the granddaughter of Caterina Roti (and Catherine Spina?). It looks like her father was Mariano Nigro of Marano Principato and Catherine Tassione of Simbario.

Marion (Marano) Nigro of Kansas City, who was associated with the DiGiovannis and others, was from Marano Principato, Calabria. His parents were Giovanni (John) and Emilia Ruffalo Nigro, and he married Rose Sorrentino. Giovanni's parents were Pietro Nigro and Carolina Passerilli.

I think there's a possibility they were related.

Huh, great work! When you wrote KC, I assumed Sicilian as there were so few non-Siggies with that family. They very well could be related. The people from Simbario, I strongly suspect, may have been connected to the Camorra, as Vibo Valentia later has been notorious for a large ‘Ndrangheta presence. Could be the case with the part of Cosenza province where Marano Principato was located as well, as a ton of Chicago members have ancestry from that area. All of these Calabresi certainly seemed to have taken to the mafia like a fish to water in Chicago, at the least. Given where the KC Nigros were from, I’d be surprised if they didn’t have some connection to Chicago. Anything come up?

BTW, Carerina Spina and Roti were the same woman, she remarried.

[B.]

Man that little reference to Nicola Diana on the Ribera Club opened up a portal. A lot of great new stuff. Yeah that is curious how Nicola Diana moves to Phoenix seemingly after the 1940s conflict involved DeGeorge. It's also after his 1940 arrest so the publicity as an accused cop killer could have been a factor.

When Giovanni Diana was naturalized in 1927, his wtinesses were a Coniglio and a Salemi, further indicating the close social connections of the Dianas with other Riberesi in Chicago.

A Coniglio from NJ was on the same committee as Nicola Diana in 1947.

I'll add that although Tommaso Bacino married Josephine Salvo in Perry County, IL, in 1913, on his WW1 draft card, they were living back in NYC again, where their second kid, Tony, was born. By 1920, Tommaso was living in Williamson County, Downstate IL near STL, where he was working as a coal miner.

Do you know where Josephine Salvo came from? Future Bonanno captain Angelo Salvo was born in that part of Southern Illinois and would be close to the DeCavalcantes in NJ. Family from Alessandria della Rocca where they returned before coming back to the US.

Cavita has also said there was a Salvo who was an important Springfield member. Haven't dug into his background, but the Springfield underboss was ID'd by Maniaci as Nick Campo who looks to be from Agrigento.

You told me elsewhere that Phil Bacino's father was in born in Burgio before coming to Ribera -- I suspected the family was from Burgio but didn't realize the connection was that immediate. You also said the Bacinos were related to Micelis from Burgio, obviously lends to speculation that Pasquale Miceli of Chicago / St. Louis connects to Bacino somewhere.

[Antiliar]

I didn't find any newspaper articles showing a direct Chicago connection, but we know that the KC and Chicago Families were close, and of course their associates the DiGiovannis lived in Little Sicily before moving to KC.

[PolackTony]

Nick Palermo was born in 1907 in Cook County (probably Melrose park) to Rosario "Ross" Palermo and Gelsomina Giuseppina "Josephine" Aiello. Rosario was from Rende, Cosenza, Calabria; Gelsomina was also from Cosenza province, possibly Rende or the nearby comune of Castrolibero, as other Calabrese Aiellos in Chicago hailed from these towns as well (Mike Sarno's maternal grandfather, for example, was an Aiello from Rende). This is, yet again, in the same cluster of comuni as Marano Principato, where many other Outfit-connected families hailed from. It's possible that Nick Palermo could have been a relative of Dominick Palermo of the Heights, as Dom Palermo's family was from San Fili, which directly borders Rende (I believe that Dom Palermo actually grew up by Taylor St before moving to the South Suburbs, via Brooklyn, later). By the time that Nick Palermo's younger brother Ercole "Joseph" Palermo was baptized in 1909, the Palermos were probably already living In Melrose Park, as he was baptized in the historic Italian parish of Our Lady of Mt Carmel in MP. On his WW1 draft card, Rosario Palermo and his family were living in MP.

While later accounts reported that Nick Palermo's son Michael married Accardo's daughter, Linda Lee Accardo, in 1961, from what I can tell, Michael Palermo was the son of Joseph Palermo and his wife Vita Mancino. In 1940, Joseph and Nick Palermo lived in neighboring apartments in MP, and 3-year-old Michael Palermo was Joseph's son, whereas Nick Palermo did not have a son named Michael. This is confirmed by a statement that Nick Palermo gave to the FBI in 1976, where he stated that his nephew was married to Accardo's daughter. Nick was married to Marie Rose Esposito, who I believe was born in 1908 in Franklin Park. Their daughter Jeanne (born 1939) married Frank De Legge, Jr in 1957. His father was, of course, Frank De Legge, Sr, whose sister Mary was married to Willie Daddono, who may have been Nick Palermo's capo (if Nick was indeed made). Nick told the G in 1976 that he had been opposed to his daughter marrying Frank, Jr, as he was a "bad kid" and was abusive to Jeanne and their children. The De Legges were vicious armed robbers and burglars working under Daddono, notorious for robbing a bank in the 1960s with Dick Cain, as well as robbing an IRS office, among numerous other crimes. De Legge, Jr was murdered in 1976, after having been relaesed from prison (I believe on the Cain bank robbery thing, not certain). Nick Palermo told the Feds that he had hoped that De Legge, Jr would "shape up" after his release from prison; apparently, he did not. Jeanne De Legge was receiving money after her husband's death from the Plumbers Union. Nick Palermo was best known as the owner of Mayo Plumbing in Melrose park, which he ran with his brothers Joseph and Gino Palermo. Their best-known job was installing the gold bathroom fixtures in Accardo's ostentatious River Forest mansion.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Nick Palermo and Joe Amato (who by then had probably taken over as capo of the Daddono crew) were splitting their time between Suburban Chicago and Tucson, AZ, where they both owned stakes in a housing development called Casas Adobes. These two may have been central figures in Chicago's moves to control AZ during this time period, though much remains unknown about this. Nick Palermo died in 1985 in Melrose Park.

[PolackTony]

Man that little reference to Nicola Diana on the Ribera Club opened up a portal. A lot of great new stuff. Yeah that is curious how Nicola Diana moves to Phoenix seemingly after the 1940s conflict involved DeGeorge. It's also after his 1940 arrest so the publicity as an accused cop killer could have been a factor.

When Giovanni Diana was naturalized in 1927, his wtinesses were a Coniglio and a Salemi, further indicating the close social connections of the Dianas with other Riberesi in Chicago.

A Coniglio from NJ was on the same committee as Nicola Diana in 1947.

I'll add that although Tommaso Bacino married Josephine Salvo in Perry County, IL, in 1913, on his WW1 draft card, they were living back in NYC again, where their second kid, Tony, was born. By 1920, Tommaso was living in Williamson County, Downstate IL near STL, where he was working as a coal miner.

Do you know where Josephine Salvo came from? Future Bonanno captain Angelo Salvo was born in that part of Southern Illinois and would be close to the DeCavalcantes in NJ. Family from Alessandria della Rocca where they returned before coming back to the US.

Cavita has also said there was a Salvo who was an important Springfield member. Haven't dug into his background, but the Springfield underboss was ID'd by Maniaci as Nick Campo who looks to be from Agrigento.

You told me elsewhere that Phil Bacino's father was in born in Burgio before coming to Ribera -- I suspected the family was from Burgio but didn't realize the connection was that immediate. You also said the Bacinos were related to Micelis from Burgio, obviously lends to speculation that Pasquale Miceli of Chicago / St. Louis connects to Bacino somewhere.

I'll add that although Tommaso Bacino married Josephine Salvo in Perry County, IL, in 1913, on his WW1 draft card, they were living back in NYC again, where their second kid, Tony, was born. By 1920, Tommaso was living in Williamson County, Downstate IL near STL, where he was working as a coal miner. Some other Bacinos for Burgio lived in the same town: Herrin. Tommaso's first wife Josephine had died by this time, and in 1922 Tommaso remarried Maria DiGiorgi of Chiusa Sclafani. I don't know that she had any relation to the Ribera DiGiorgis, but this marriage also raises the possibility that Tommaso could've had links to people from Palazzo Adriano like the DiGiovannis. Interesting that Tommaso Bacino was already in Chicago by the 1920s, as that was just before Phil Bacino arrived there. Further, Joe Bacino living in East Chicago could well have played a role in Phil Bacino relocating in Cal City after Patsy LoLordo was killed. There were a bunch of other Bacinos from Burgio who settled in Chicago over the years, including people still emigrating to Chicago in the 80s/90s, and there are Bacinos in the Burgio Society today in Chicago.

Another interesting Phil Bacino fact. The first address that I have for him in Chicago was when he filed his naturalization petition in 1928. He was living with a Filippo Cusumano (also a witness, very likely a paesan') at 2321 W Ohio, in the Grand Ave Patch. This was the next block over from the building where Joey Andriacchi's family (Roti, Spina, etc), who were relatives of the Chinatown Rotis; the same building that Lombardo lived in most of his life after marrying Andriacchi's cousin Marion Nigro. I might start telling people that Phil Bacino was the original founder of the C-Notes.

As a correction. Tommaso Bacino’s first wife was named Josephine Savino (Salvo was a typo). I was unable to confirm her ancestry and her family may have been from Northern Italy. When Tommaso Bacino died in 1971, his obituary stated that one of sisters was Concetta Triolo. Not sure if she lived in IL or what, but the surname could be another link to Phil Bacino. The obit also stated that Tommaso was a member of the Società Burgio di M.S.

The Andrew Triolo who was stated to have been an associate of Phil Bacino was most likely the guy born in 1907 in Johnston City (surprise, surprise). In 1942, he was living in Cal City (surprise, surprise), but prior to that, he had lived on North Ave in Chicago (surprise, surprise). As of now I haven’t confirmed his ancestry, so I don’t know if he was a direct relative of Bacino, as the Triolo surname is found across that part of Agrigento.

I noted the Coniglio on the orphanage committee, and there were Coniglios from Ribera in Chicago.

In regards to Pasquale Miceli, Phil's father Giovanni Bacino's paternal grandmother was Antonina Mule Miceli of Burgio. Not sure if or how she might connect to Pasquale Miceli, though it is certainly possible. I also note that A Vito Cusumano was claimed to have been an in-law of Miceli IN STL, and Phil Bacino was living with a Cusumano in 1928 by Grand Ave.

Another interesting thing. In 1929, when Pasquale Miceli was naturalized in Chicago, he stated that he was living at 903 S California, just to the West of the Taylor St neighborhood. In 1926, Giuseppe Lombardo, brother of Tony Lombardo, was killed when a still exploded on Elizabeth at Grand Ave (same block where Joey Lombardo grew up several years later). The building was owned by a Joe Cullotta (of Lascari), who lived on the 800 block of S California. Lombardo's body was identified by Giuseppe Coniglio (unconfirmed ancestry, most likely Agrigentino), who also lived near Cullotta on Polk st. In 1940, Mooney Giancana was living the next block up California, on the 700 block.

[PolackTony]

John Adolph Formusa was born in 1898 in Chicago to Pietro Formusa and Natale "Anna" Galluzzo of Termini Imerese (the "Formosa" spelling was used on several documents, but Formusa is the original spelling in Sicily). The family lived at Halsted and Erie, near where fellow Termitani the Morici brothers were based at Milwaukee and Halsted. By 1910, they lived at Grand and Peoria (where Tony Capezio lived in 1910), and by 1920 on Grand near Ada (across the street from the Accardos), with Johnny living in a different apartment in the same building. Formusa already had a connection to NW Indiana, as he married his first wife Marie in Lake County in 1918. In 1940, he maintained two addresses: one in Gary, IN, with his second wife Louise (married in Lake County, IN, in 1931) and another at an apartment in a building on Diversey at Clark in Lakeview, on the Northside of Chicago, where he stated that he was married but was the sole occupant. In 1940, Formusa was convicted on Federal narcotics charges in Indiana and sentenced to 2 years in Leavenworth. After his release, he stated that he was living with his parents at Latrobe and Augusta in West Humboldt Park on his WW2 draft card, but in 1950 was listed as living back in Gary with his wife. While it seems that Formusa preceded Tony Pinelli as "boss" of NW IN (whether as formal capodecina or just the guy in charge of that territory), it also seems that he was again in charge of Gary by the late 1950s, whether in fact or acting for Pinelli in CA, as the deputy sheriff of Porter County, IN informed the Senate Rackets Subcommittee in 1959 that Gaetano Morgano had told him that Formusa was his boss. FBI intel from the early 1960s stated that Formosa was the prostitution "kingpin" of Indiana and that over him was Giancana, further suggesting that Formusa may have been a captain. At this time, Formusa was on a wiretap at the Armory Lounge meeting with Giancana and Fifi Buccieri, discussing connections to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. FBI intel stated that an informant believed that Formusa was acting as manager of the Cal-Neva Lodge in Reno, NV, and meeting with Sinatra at his office there. Other intel stated that Formusa was personally close to both Sinatra and Paul D'Amato and associated with them in Vegas. Formusa was seen meeting with Giancana at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami and was also seen in Miami in the company of Genovese captain "Charlie the Blade" Tourine in the same city. In 1962, Formusa was hospitalized in a coma for several weeks following a stroke that he suffered while attending Manny Skar's Sahara Inn in West Suburban Schiller Park. It seems that Formosa's health remained poor after this and he died in 1972.

Interesting to note that Formusa may have had personal connections to Capezio and Accardo, given where he grew up. The Formusas seem to have been a rather important family, as Johnny's older brother Anthony became a physician in 1915. A likely relative was Vincenzo Formusa, also of Termini, who lived nearby at Erie and May. Vincenzo Formusa, who died in 1942, was a wealthy wholesale grocer (hmmm), one-time head of the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Chicago, Cavaliere of the Italian Crown, and founding executive committee member of the White Hand Society in 1907. Vincenzo's brother Giuseppe Formusa was a Monsignor in the church in Termini for decades. As their father was also named Pietro Formusa (and Formusa is not a terribly common surname in Termini), it's possible that they were uncles of Johnny Formusa's father Pietro.

Another thing to consider is that Pinelli, Gaetano Morgano, and Formusa were all Sicilians from the Northside of Chicago who wound up running Gary. One wonders if these guys had deeper mafia links to Gary, or if the Chicago admin simply put them in charge of Gary or gave it to them as a concession of sorts. I imagine that there's more to this story, as it's not an intuitive leap from the Northside of the city to Gary (one would expect Heights guys if anything).

As a side note, the Vincenzo Formusa mentioned above was the founder of V. Formusa Packing, Co. (i.e., Marconi Foods) which is still owned by the Formusa family today and is best known for their hot giardiniera.

[PolackTony]

A Calogero Montalbano in Chicago was indicted for the 1905 murder of Biagio Raia/Raio with a bunch of other guys, George Fiorenzo, Vito "Cape", Calogero Lucicero (LoCicero?) Giorgio Maggio, Pietro Merlo, and Michael Armato.

This Montalbano was from Sambuca and related to the Raias/Raios as well as fellow murder suspect Pietro Merlo (who he arrived to when he immigrated), suggesting a potential connection to Mike Merlo and showing this was inter-compaesani violence. Montalbano came to the US with Merlos and Raias as well. His brother Antonino was still living in Sambuca and I know the name Antonino Montalbano shows up in the early Chicago underworld so curious if he came to the US.

The alleged boss of Ribera in the 1940s/50s was a Francesco Montalbano, so the name shows up heavy in that part of Agrigento's mafia circles. The LoCiceros of the early Gambino Family were from just outside of Ribera and one of their sons married a Montalbano from nearby Caltabellotta, which made me curious about Calogero "Lucicero".

To update on some of these Agrigentini. There was also a Paolo Merlo from Sambuca, born ~1875 and married to a Rosaria Abate, also from Sambuca, who arrived at NYC bound for Chicago, where his brother Liborio Merlo was already living, in 1900. Liborio Merlo, in turn, was born ~1873 in Sambuca and probably was the guy with the same name who arrived at NOLA in 1895. Paolo and Rosario Merlo settled on W 18th St on the near southside, in the immediate vicinity of where Mike Merlo's family settled in the same years. Paolo Merlo took several trips back to Sicily. In 1907, he returned to Chicago accompanied by a Giuseppe Maggio, also of Sambuca, whose brother Giorgio Maggio was already living in Chicago. I think it's a strong possibility that this was the Giorgio Maggio who was involved in the 1905 Biaggio Raia murder. Raia's wife was a Josephine Merlo, though I still haven't been able to link her directly to any of the other Merlos (as a tangent, also interesting to note that there was a Catalanotto-Merlo family in Milwaukee from Ribera, though their Merlo side went back to Burgio as well). Worth noting also that Liborio Merlos seems to have relocated to KC sometime between 1903 and 1901 (so, around the time of the Raia murder, when Pietro Merlo also left Chicago), where he died in 1967. Paolo Merlo's son James Merlo (born in 1903 in Chicago) subsequently lived on Wentworth near 24th in Chinatown (basically, exactly where Mike Merlo had also lived around 1920). In 1940, James and his son Paul Tom Merlo stated that they were employed by "LaMantia Arrigo"; whatever that was, it was clearly owned by guys from Termini Imerese. By around 1950, James Merlo had moved to Calumet City. It seems that Paolo had returned to Sicily for some years, and then re-immigrated to Chicago in the 50s and joined his son in Cal City. When he died in 1963, his IN death certificate in Hammon stated that his father was "Jerome" (probably Girolamo) Merlo. The Pietro Merlo involved in the Raia murder, per parish records at the Blessed Assumption church when he married Antonina Sacco, also of Sambuca, wad the son of Francesco Merlo and Maria Rottola.

While all of these Merlos don't show any direct relations, Paolo Merlo was very likely connected to Pietro Merlo, at the least, via Giuseppe and Giorgio Maggio. In turn, Paolo Merlo and his family lived at two times in the immediate vicinity of where Mike Merlo had lived as well, which leads me to strongly suspect that they were linked. I'm still not sure who Mike Merlo's father Calogero Merlo's (I believe that he initially arrived in 1891 in NOLA) parents were. However, today at least, the Merlo surname does not seem to be at all common in Western Agrigento, with just a small handful of people with that surname in towns like Sambuca and Burgio. This strengthens my inference that all of these Merlos in Chicago (as well as the Ribera Merlos in NJ) could have been cousins of some sort, whether closer or more distant. The connections between Paolo Merlo's family and the Maggio brothers, as well as Cal City, could be important in that Phil Bacino's father-in-law was a Michele Maggio from Sambuca (that guy also had a brother in Chicago, Calogero Maggio, who was married to a Maria Sacco from Sambuca, just to bring the Saccos back into it).

As an update to Pasquale and Giuseppe LoLordo, turns out that while they were born in Ribera, their father Vincenzo Lo Lordo was from Siculiana. This makes perfect sense, as the Lo Lordo surname is much more common in Siculiana as compared to Ribera.

Time and again, once you delve into these Western Agirgentini, the same surnames keep popping up, and people always seem to have relatives from neighboring towns across the area.