New LCNBios Update

[johnny_scootch]

I always felt like Bonanno was purposefully leaving out the details of his initiation ceremony. In a lot of those shortened ceremonies we know about the person conducting them usually says something to the effect that there is supposed to be a gun and knife on the table but because of the way things are now we don’t have them. I can even remember one instance where the conductor told the initiates to pretend there was a gun and knife on the table. I can’t imagine that at the time Bonanno was made those circumstances existed.

[B.]

I reckon it's possible for one boss to conduct things different from the others, especially in that period, however most of the Bonannos came from the same area and affiliation. Even Schiro of Roccamena got his contacts through Camporeale. Perhaps Cast and Campo. did the ceremony differently.

Bill Bonanno described a typical ceremony but added that half of the US bosses cleared their schedules to attend the event. I'm not going to repeat my sentiments on many of his claims.

One thing that I've noticed is that we keep encountering ruling panels/committees. Massino early 2000's, Rastelli 1980's, Bonanno 1960's. We go further back and coincidentally Bonanno boss Seb. Di Gaetano placed Gen member Clemente onto a committee of one to ascertain if a certain member was an informant, 1911.

Schiro and his tenure remain interesting. For starters, he selected in Feb of 1912 to replace Di Gaetano by their own members, which implies he had some clout in the early days. Now what's interesting is that he constantly traveled between the US and Italy, all the while his group was pumping out members who went onto other cities to become boss there. It's never been clearly established who Schiro's underboss was, some speculation fell on Vito Bonventre (right name?) and Benny Gallo but its never been confirmed. Someone or something had to have held things together while Schiro played statesman.

Bonanno narrated the story as Magaddino and others leaving BK and as a result, the power falling on Schiro who relied on Steve. It really seems like the situation would be the other way around. But who Schiro was in 1912 might be very different from who he was and power he commanded in 1930. He lasted awhile, had to have done something right.

Magaddino talked about being a capodecina under a boss who had a mustache and refers to a "Frank" as a fellow capodecina at the time. He could be referring to Schiro, who had a mustache, and from what I remember he (surprise, surprise) talks disparagingly about this boss. Frank might be Garafolo (can't remember if there is a phonetic last name, but I got the impression it could be him) or Italiano (or any number of others). Would make sense that Magaddino had been a captain under Schiro if he was a figure of influence. We also know that Magaddino's rise to boss in Buffalo came much quicker than previously thought, so he may have had rank beyond soldier in Brooklyn as this transcript suggested.

Not really relevant, but speaking of traveling to Italy -- Magaddino traveled to Sicily in the mid-1930s with Joseph and Charles DiBenedetto. Joseph being the same one that served in both the Bonanno and Buffalo families. It's too bad he doesn't make reference to this trip on any of the public transcripts, though it may have been the same trip described by Joe Bonanno in his book, where he says Magaddino traveled to Sicily and offended their elder uncle Stefano Magaddino by joking about his red face.

--

We know Commission members were constantly busy, but the thing is, even though the Commission came later, bosses and their representatives were still traveling frequently both in the US and Italy, like you mentioned with Schiro, and attending assembly meetings. Given travel/communication time was slower, it is reasonable to think that the pre-Commission bosses were every bit as busy in politics as the Commission bosses, if not moreso, even though they were subordinate to the boss of bosses.

The boss of bosses must have been unbelievably busy with matters other than this own family most of the time as well, since he would have had all the commitments of a Commission member and more, especially given the growing/changing national mafia scene in the US and its ties to Sicily. It looks like D'Aquila used Joe Traina as his representative in national meetings when he couldn't attend (or didn't want to), so could be an indication Traina helped run D'Aquila's family as well, but we can't assume anything. Traina's position may have been better suited for intrafamily political meetings, while someone else (i.e. D'Aquila's underboss) may have been better suited to run the internal operations of D'Aquila's family in his absence. D'Aquila's larger commitments and the need for substitutes in his absence could also connect to Mineo somehow, but it's anyone's guess.

One of the only real inside looks we have of the boss of bosses is from Valachi's view into Maranzano's short reign. Maranzano had an underboss (Caruso) and at one point Valachi urged Maranzano to send Caruso to the meeting with Luciano/Genovese in his place, as Valachi correctly feared for Maranzano's life. So Caruso was seen as a suitable representative of Maranzano, which isn't much of a surprise given that he was underboss, but if nothing else it's an indication that even for the boss of bosses the pecking order immediately went from boss of bosses to underboss with no separate "acting boss". I believe Caruso became the Bonanno acting boss for a short period after Maranzano's death until Joe Bonanno was elected official boss, but that was only in the absence of an official boss.

Would be interesting to know exactly how the boss of bosses delegated his leadership and how that played out within his own family. Maranzano's "palace guard" seemed to be more than simply a crew of Bonanno members who reported direct to him, as he pulled some of them from other families and after his death they went to different families, but was that more the result of the post-war arrangement or did the boss of bosses have the authority to command men who were part of other families? Remember that Tommy Lucchese felt that Valachi belonged to Gagliano's group and told Valachi it was a mistake when he chose to remain with Maranzano. Would be interesting if some of the references to D'Aquila's "spies" could be comparable to Maranzano's "palace guard".

[B.]

Also speaking of Schiro, something you'll probably get a kick out of, CC...

I'm re-reading Fresolone's Blood Oath and when he gives the basic history of the US mafia in his own voice, he mentions how "Colo Schiro" [sic] ran the Bonanno family before Maranzano. Of course he's right, but I laughed at the idea of Fresolone knowing this on his own, especially given the egregious mistakes he makes like saying Lucky Luciano died a violent death and Nicky Scarfo murdering Chucky Merlino. Can't forget Jackie D'Amico being DeCavalcante boss, either. But hey, he knows the score on Schiro.

[Angelo Santino]

Also speaking of Schiro, something you'll probably get a kick out of, CC...

I'm re-reading Fresolone's Blood Oath and when he gives the basic history of the US mafia in his own voice, he mentions how "Colo Schiro" [sic] ran the Bonanno family before Maranzano. Of course he's right, but I laughed at the idea of Fresolone knowing this on his own, especially given the egregious mistakes he makes like saying Lucky Luciano died a violent death and Nicky Scarfo murdering Chucky Merlino. Can't forget Jackie D'Amico being DeCavalcante boss, either. But hey, he knows the score on Schiro.

Frank. I have no idea who that could be but there's alot of members, most even, from 1900-1920 who escaped scrutiny.

In Fresolone's defense, he was writing that book at a time when most people weren't as knowledgeable. At that time, Cola Schiro was an obscure name whom some even questioned whether or not he existed. I'm sure he read it somewhere, especially if he's interested in Mafia history as some guys have been known to be.

Another thing I notice is when members discuss the Castellamamarese War, what you read in books is very different than members have spoken about it. With the exception of Bonanno/Valachi I never heard it referred to as the Cast War personally, in fact one member summed it up: "There was war and then one day there wasn't." Given the very few murders who can attribute to the war, I've seen nothing to indicate that it was a 300's Battle with Maranzano and the Boys of the First Day running through Brooklyn shouting "No prisoners." Seems like alot of people, even then, were in the dark until around Dec when the lines were clearly formed.

I'd be curious to know what was going on in East Village where you had Bonannos, Genoveses and Gambinos who were asshole buddies for 20 years before the war started. Were things awkward or were they even aware of what was going on at the time? The mob wars we've been able to document show that most of the membership is neutral while the factions constitute a quarter or third. It seems a majority of members want nothing to do with the politics and instead go about their own activities. I'd argue it was the same for the so-called Cast War.

[Angelo Santino]

I always felt like Bonanno was purposefully leaving out the details of his initiation ceremony. In a lot of those shortened ceremonies we know about the person conducting them usually says something to the effect that there is supposed to be a gun and knife on the table but because of the way things are now we don’t have them. I can even remember one instance where the conductor told the initiates to pretend there was a gun and knife on the table. I can’t imagine that at the time Bonanno was made those circumstances existed.

I assumed that as well when Joe Bonanno covered it. But given the information over the course of the century showing how the traditional ceremony, at various points, wasn't deployed by the Bonannos does make us rethink what Joe originally said.

Bill Bonanno covered a traditional ceremony. He also said Roselli was the second Grassy Knoll Gunman so...

[B.]

Schiro and his tenure remain interesting. For starters, he selected in Feb of 1912 to replace Di Gaetano by their own members, which implies he had some clout in the early days. Now what's interesting is that he constantly traveled between the US and Italy, all the while his group was pumping out members who went onto other cities to become boss there. It's never been clearly established who Schiro's underboss was, some speculation fell on Vito Bonventre (right name?) and Benny Gallo but its never been confirmed. Someone or something had to have held things together while Schiro played statesman.

Another name I wonder about is Giuseppe Palermo/Salvatore Saracino.

Joe Bonanno described him as an important man with the Castellammarese in the "new world". Whether he was from Castellammare or Partanna, both hometowns along with Bonanno's words and the photo with Salvatore Bonanno make Palermo/Saracino a likely Schiro member. His presence at the 1928 Cleveland meeting would make him the lone Schiro representative and add to his importance as described by Bonanno. Wouldn't rule out the possibility that he was a high-ranking Schiro member, at least while he was out of prison.

[Antiliar]

Salvatore Saracino died in 1924. The Palermo in the 1928 Cleveland meeting was a different, much younger, guy. As to his birth location, it might have been the city of Trapani in 1863.

[B.]

Salvatore Saracino died in 1924. The Palermo in the 1928 Cleveland meeting was a different, much younger, guy. As to his birth location, it might have been the city of Trapani in 1863.

Ah, thank you for correcting that part. So the window of time for his "importance" would be pre-1910s and/or the early 1920s.

[Antiliar]

He was in federal prison from 1910 to around 1920, and then he was in poor health and lived with his nephew, so his time of importance was from around 1902/1905 when he arrived to late 1909.

[Angelo Santino]

He was in federal prison from 1910 to around 1920, and then he was in poor health and lived with his nephew, so his time of importance was from around 1902/1905 when he arrived to late 1909.

Nephew Frank "Toto" Minore, good Cast name, also amico nos.

[HairyKnuckles]

It´s a surprise to me as well. I think Bosco is an older guy, 80 plus something. It´s possible he was a skipper in between DeCicco and Pepitone, but stepped down due to illness or something. First time I´m hearing (reading) he was a captain. He may have transfered to another crew, or given a crew.

3 Bosco's were arrested in the latest Colombo round up on Staten Island. Looks like a father and his 2 sons.

Most likely not the same Bosco who is a Bonanno member.

[johnny_scootch]

It´s a surprise to me as well. I think Bosco is an older guy, 80 plus something. It´s possible he was a skipper in between DeCicco and Pepitone, but stepped down due to illness or something. First time I´m hearing (reading) he was a captain. He may have transfered to another crew, or given a crew.

3 Bosco's were arrested in the latest Colombo round up on Staten Island. Looks like a father and his 2 sons.

Most likely not the same Bosco who is a Bonanno member.

100% not the same Bosco.