Early Mafia History Discussion

[motorfab]

Thank you very much for clarifying this.

[scagghiuni]

concerning the sangiorgi report, there is an ignazio profaci member of villabate family, he's maybe the father of joe profaci?

[B.]

Looks like our discussion of how the Palermitani family split into two families has split itself into two threads. Perfect.

--

Ferrigno was either influential enough to be lumped alongside two powerful bosses by different sources or could have been a boss himself? I've seen nothing to indicate that beyond what I speculated above. And that would really cram up 1928-1930. If Mineo was boss of the Colombos and then transferred to boss of the Gambinos, this sets up Salvatore Di Bella and then Joe Profaci later. There's documented evidence that Mineo loomed over the Colombos in some form prior to 1930 by an informant. Maybe his murder along with Ferrigno's lead to DiBella holding it shortly during the war and then stepping down for Profaci? But like I said, there's been no source that ever called Ferrigno his own boss.

Ferrigno was living in the Bronx, but like Lupo, D'Aquila, and Carlo Gambino, he had ties to both the Bronx and Brooklyn. That lends itself to the idea that he was part of the future Gambino family, as the Mineo-Profaci side of things was focused in Brooklyn and there was little to no presence in the Bronx. But then his brother ends up in the Profaci family, so who knows for sure which way things flowed then.

Another name to throw in there is the Palermitano Giuseppe Peraino. His role gets muddied up because he worked with Frankie Yale and anyone who ever looked Yale in the eyes got labeled in contemporary LE and media reports as a Yale subordinate without much substance to it. Peraino's sons would end up in the Profaci family, but beyond that, Peraino's closest associates were from Carini and fairly recently I found some threads that indicate his Carinesi associates were connected or even related to the influential Carini faction of the Profaci family. Peraino traveled to Sicily in the late 1920s, too, along with his wife and younger children, visiting a relative in Palermo Centro.

At the time of his death, Peraino is described by all sources as a leader of some kind and available info points toward him being with the Mineo-DiBella-Profaci family. Following Peraino's murder, his adult son and brother-in-law were also murdered. This all transpires toward the end of the confusing period in question, after Mineo jumps to the D'Aquila family, DiBella becomes boss, and Profaci attends the 1928 Cleveland assembly possibly as a ranking representative of that group. It's not unheard of for people to hold high-ranking positions briefly, especially during periods of conflict (think of Scalise being boss only briefly before Mangano), so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Peraino had a high-ranking position in that family before his death.

While I can't connect him personally to Carini aside from his closest associates being from there, the Carinesi appear to have been the most influential groups of compaesani in the Profaci family aside from the Villabatesi, producing multiple captains and consiglieri. While limited, there is reason to speculate that this group had its roots under Peraino. Peraino's ties to Palermo Centro could lend itself to a Mineo connection, too.

The question is, why was Peraino killed? His murder doesn't get linked to the Castellammarese War or related conflicts and most contemporary reports don't seem reliable. The subsequent murder of his son and brother-in-law are another significant piece of the puzzle.

It's possible. Mangano was also someone of importance during that period and we have no idea of the relationship they had with Mineo at the time. It appears they were men of stature and D'Aquila's death didn't end their careers, that's for certain.

We do have a murky idea at least of where Mangano fit in with the Masseria-Mineo faction during the war, making it pretty clear he was one of the top loyalists to Mineo at the time. Whether that was just circumstantial and out of self-interest rather than a sign that he was personally close to Mineo is hard to say (as it often is in the mafia), but Maranzano continued to see Mangano as a major threat even after the war and had him at the top of his alleged hitlist along with the new leaders of Masseria's family. We know that Frank Scalise and Giuseppe Traina were not-so-secretly sympathetic to the Maranzano-Gagliano faction and in Scalise's case he was a full-blown spy for them, while Mangano is described as an unwavering loyalist on the Masseria-Mineo side.

Traina on the other hand appears to have kept a neutral stance on the surface, whatever position he continued to hold officially. The fact that he was not only selected by the assembly to form a "peace" commission in 1930 but also allowed to hand-pick all of the other commission members (who were mostly bosses) speaks volumes to me. Even though Traina was a D'Aquila man who seems to have been opposed to the Masseria-Mineo faction that killed his compare D'Aquila, he appears to have been seen as a trustworthy party to both sides of the war and long afterward.

That's interesting. I never knew that. I always hear Phil Mangano as a co-boss which we know isn't true. Speaks to Traina's importance and given that he was not under or consig after 1930 and we can conclude here, in this era post-20's, that "sostituto" wasn't occupied primarily by the under or the consig.

Joe Bonanno talked about how Commission meetings would be attended by an aide in addition to the boss, and I'd have to check, but I thought he said the boss could consult this aide. There is precedent with Traina and Mangano attending the 1928 meeting together, when Traina probably outranked Mangano. Based on the 1940 Treasury report, it appears that after the war Mangano and Traina continued this relationship where Traina was invited to participate in high-level matters as an "aide" (maybe more like senior counsel).

What's interesting is that there is evidence Traina was the national representative for the Philadelphia family under D'Aquila, Mangano, and Carlo Gambino, so beyond being a possible "aide" to Mangano on the Commission, he had a specific duty when it came to Philadelphia's affairs that did not change for at least 50 years (the first example is his involvement in Sabella's 1919 election, the last known example being the 1969 Philly induction that Traina approved). After Traina's death, we see John Gambino filling a similar role in the mid-late 1980s where he suggests Reds Pontani as Philly acting boss and might be responsible for pushing Stanfa as boss in 1990, too, then in 2010 he presides over the meeting with the Philly leadership.

In Valachi's FBI interviews, when they asked him about the consigliere position he said that sometimes the consiglieri are members of the Commission. This is sort of backed up by the Commission case of the 1980s, where it's clear that non-bosses not only participated in the Commission but even took an active role. Tony Salerno was not the official boss yet handled the Genovese family's Commission activities and we know underbosses Neil Dellacroce and Tom Santoro participated in the Commission alongside their bosses. In the 1960s, there are multiple reports that describe how Bonanno's acting boss John Morale had attended Commission meetings on his behalf. So Valachi is right that non-bosses could actively participate in the Commission.

Valachi also said that in 1931 the NYC families formed a separate "commission" consisting only of the consiglieri of the five families for handling disputes. I'd be curious if anyone else has ever mentioned this "commission of consiglieri". As Antiliar has shared, there was also apparently a "numbers commission" where each family had a representative to administer the then-thriving numbers operations in NYC. We know from Gentile's info that even during the days of the "boss of bosses", national assemblies would form commissions for specific purposes (which show that the boss of bosses wasn't just a micromanaging despot), so the idea of a "consiglieri commission" and "numbers commission" aren't that crazy and could be examples of an ongoing trend in the mafia to use specific commissions, pre-1931 and post-1931. With that in mind, the idea of the national Commission formed in 1931 isn't that revolutionary and we know they tried to put in place the first time before Maranzano even became boss of bosses.

If I remember right, Dr. Allegra completely overlooked the position of underboss and identified only capoprovincia, rappresentante, consigliere, capodecina, and soldato as positions in the Sicilian mafia. He said the consigliere served as "sostituto" for the rappresentante. I'd be curious when the earliest references to sottocapo/underboss show up

I don't recall if he did or not, I'm also curious when "underboss" came about. As it stands whoever decided to keep Consigliere but translate sottocapo created a neologism. An Agent either translated it or they were hearing members refer to "under boss." Maybe it came from Valachi? It's an interesting topic.

The issue with "sostituto" is that it's ambiguous like "boss." Boss can be applied to "crew boss" all the way up to Thee Boss, if a soldier's picked up discussing his immediate superior, it's likely "boss." With Sosituto, it was
1 used in 1890's Palermo being the second position in a Mafia Family. To be clear, San Giorgi who had the provincial leader as an informant, laid out the hierarchy of the Palermo groups as caporione, sostituto and affiliate. He didn't mention capodecina or any equivilant.

2 Giuseppe Traina. This appears to be more of a "delegate" role who spoke on behalf of D'Aquila. He was also a likely admin member. Was this just a case of people describing an under or consig going to speak in place of his boss or was "sostituto" a reserved role like

3 Gentile in Lower Manhattan. While assuming that for Mangano, he served like a backchannel to Mangano, his ear on the streets but was not a capo nor did it appear that he outranked them in the traditional sense.

So in 1890, 1920 and 1930 we see "sostituto" used but in slightly different contexts. It was likely the predecessor to "acting boss."

In Valachi's initial FBI interviews he used the word "sottocapo" to describe underboss. In my thread about that, I asked the same thing -- at what point did members themselves start using the term "underboss"? In the same way that the mafia has evolved to include "street bosses" and "ruling panels" (even when the official boss is on the street), I suspect that the sottocapo may have developed later than some of the other positions.

As the mafia became more well-known and bosses had to become more conscious of their activities and relationships, it's possible the sottocapo was created. Of course we're still talking over 100 years ago and this is just speculation, but it might explain why some early sources either gloss over the position or don't include it at all. Could be wrong and maybe they've always had it in some capacity but there is no doubt bosses used to be more hands on, including a boss of bosses like Morello, and the function of a true "sottocapo" is no different than a so-called street boss.

I agree "sosituto" makes the most sense as a form of "acting boss". It is a substitute when the official leader is unavailable. We tend to think of "acting boss" or "acting captain" as positions that only exist when a leader is semi-retired, in prison, or otherwise has some issue preventing him from running things. However, there are reported instances where an acting captain is appointed simply when the official captain is on a short vacation or just can't attend a meeting. It sounds like a "sostituto" was used the same way.

In the modern Sicilian mafia, we have seen the term "regente" used for the acting boss when a boss if imprisoned, so "regente" may be the modern version of "sostituto". Not sure if "regente" is only used for capomandamento or capoprovincia, but I believe it is used for any acting boss. Whether it's the term Italian LE has used or an actual term used by the mafia, maybe someone else can tell us, but it seems to be more or less synonymous with "sosituto".

Yes, and it's interesting that Buschetta claimed that the AM was founded by people from Agrigento, we have D'Arco, Rotundo and Staino claiming the DeCavs (Agrigento) are the oldest group... We've already disproven that this is not accurate, but like Beati Paoli or Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela it has staying power. It falls into The History of the history and while I can disprove it, I don't feel 'threatened' by it and in fact wish learn more of where this idea originated from. I'm trying to see a way for it to fit. We know NO was dominated by the Palermitans in 1850 and that's really the first wave of Southern Ital immigration. Who were the guys north of Philly again? Mafia but non-related to Philly. Where they from Ag? If I'm recalling right and I may not be, this group (demographic) was in the US since the 1870's and gradually shifted out of NY. Maybe the Agrigentese had more of a role in pre-1900's NY than what's documented that we can obtain? I'm throwing out speculations because I'm not trying to be dismissive over the claim, especially with how many members have recited it. (I wonder what our one source thinks on the matter, never asked them.)

I wouldn't necessarily say that D'Arco claimed it was the DeCavalcantes -- he only said NJ and it would make more sense if he referred to the Newark family given he said the Lucchese family was at some point affiliated with the NJ group (though we don't truly know if the DeCavalcantes were separate from Newark then). Corleonese Newark boss Stefano Badami came to the US with Tom Gagliano's brother-in-law Salvatore Pennino, himself a Corleonese mafioso whose sons would join the mafia in Corleone, and Badami told immigration authorities his arrival contact was Tom Gagliano, who is believed to have been the Reina underboss at the time. Whatever D'Arco got confused, we can see that the Newark boss Badami was closely tied to the Reina-Gagliano leadership when he arrived. More on that here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4545

I don't recall Gentile's exact words, but he implied he was assigned to be a mediator or authority over multiple Agrigentesi decine but didn't hold an official rank, not even capodecina. The question is, why would this particular group of paesani need to have their own defacto authority figure over the Sciacchitani/Agrigentesi crews? Along the lines of the claim that the US mafia had its roots in Agrigento, it makes me think of how the New Orleans family didn't have to answer to the Commission out of respect for being the first family, which shows that the US mafia did afford respect to certain groups for their historical significance. This is blind speculation, but maybe the Agrigentesi were more or less allowed to administer their own affairs in the Gambino family because of some similar historical significance? Maybe this is why the DeCavalcantes were also allowed to exist as a small, relatively independent group on the fringes of NYC?

I wouldn't rule out the possibilty that the Agrigentesi had a larger role in early New Orleans either, and that could reconcile the ideas that both Agrigento and New Orleans played a role in the birth of the US mafia. I have seen that many early Agrigentesi mafia figures arrived to the US via New Orleans, but I don't know if they stayed or what's known as far as Agrigento-born members in New Orleans. Salvatore Falcone of Utica was from Sciacca and married a Provenzano from New Orleans, the Provenzanos being an early NO mafia name. What we do know is Agrigento played a significant role in other early southern mafia families, including Birmingham, Tampa, and while not southern (but close enough), St. Louis. That suggests to me there was a foundation of Agrigentesi in NO that fanned out to those other southern-ish cities.

Something similar sort of plays out in Sicily when it comes to Agrigento province. A Sicilian mafia expert could correct me, but from what I've seen Agrigento was not immune the larger political conflicts of the island, but they come across much more insular and consumed with their own affairs than some of the other provinces.

[johnny_scootch]

Blurbs from Bill Feathers site


D’AQUILA-SALVATORE 1878 Palermo, Sicily / USA 1906

Alias – Tata

Relations – Jerome [Son], C.Zaccaria [B-in-Law]

Associates – G.Traina, V.LoCicero, S.LoPiccolo.

D’Aquila, who was born in Palermo in 1877, was probably an established Mafiosi by the time of his arrival in 1906. Within 5 years of entering the USA he was elected as Ignazio Lupo’s successor as head of the Palermitani [later Gambino] Family. His elevation may have led to a split, as an opposition faction, under Manfredi Mineo, allied to the Morello / Terranova + Castellammarese groups opposed him. This led to several killings in 1913-14, with D’Aquila emerging victorious. Before this conflict he had lived in East Harlem, but he moved to Brooklyn by 1915. He made several visits to Sicily, and was denied citizenship in 1914. He was elected as National head once it became obvious Morello + Lupo would remain jailed for years. With the Morello / Terranova faction weakened by a conflict with the Brooklyn Camorra, D’Aquila had some time to consolidate his position. In 1920 Giuseppe Morello was released from prison, and moved to regain his position. D’Aquila called a meeting of Family heads, and they condemned Morello, Lupo, and their supporters to banishment or death. Most of the condemned fled to Sicily to seek support from local Mafia leaders, but they backed D’Aquila. Returning in 1922, the condemned, using the Castellammarese “Good Killers” gang as gunmen, started a conflict with the D’Aquila forces. Leading the combined rebel faction was Joseph Masseria, a new power on the LES. The killings continued through 1922-23, until a compromise was reached and some of the rebels were allowed back into the organization. D’Aquila however would not forgive Masseria. He finally gained his citizenship in 1926, by which time he had moved to the Bronx, and listed his occupation as butcher. A serious conflict was raging in Palermo in the mid-1920’s, and D’Aquila was reported to have sent money and men to support one side. D’Aqulia’s enemies were gaining strength, and an alliance of Masseria, Morello and Mineo was formed. They moved against him in 1928, after D’Aquila had tried to move against the old Yale gangs rackets in South Brooklyn. D’Aquila was killed in the Bronx, and replaced as Family Boss by Mineo.

FERRIGNO-STEFANO 1900 ?

Alias – Fenucci

Relations – Bartolo [Bro], I.Dragna [in-law] Los Angeles

Associates – M.Mineo, G.Masseria.

Possibly born in USA, or arrived in 1922 from Sicily. Settled in Brooklyn and became associated with Manfredi Mineo. Only arrest record for him was in 1927 for Grand Larceny. In 1928 conflict broke-out in Brooklyn after the murder of Frankie Yale. Salvatore D’Aquila, the Family head, tried to move in on Yale’s old territory and, meeting resistance, killed one of Yale’s old gang. The remaining members turned to Joseph Masseria for protection, and he contacted his ally Mineo. Within days D’Aquila was killed, probably by members of his own Family. As Mineo, with Masseria’s support, succeeded to leadership of the Family, it is possible that Ferrigno was involved in D’Aquila’s murder. With the outbreak of the Castellamarese War, Masseria came to rely on Mineo’s support. In late 1930 a strategy meeting was held in Ferrigno’s Bronx apartment. Unknown to Masseria, the Castellamarese had staked-out Ferrigno’s home hoping to kill him. When Masseria failed to come out, they took the opportunity to kill Mineo and Ferrigno, when they left the meeting.

MINEO-MANFREDI 1880 Palermo / USA 1911.

Alias – Alfred / Al.

Relations : - S.Mineo [ ? ].

Associates – S.Ferrigno, J.Masseria.

Recent research has revealed Mineo to be an important early power, and possibly the founder of the future Colombo Family. Born in the city of Palermo, and an associate of Antonino Grillo the Capo of the Resuttana cosca. Arrived in NYC in 1911, and soon arrested for visiting a suspected counterfeiter. He settled on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn, and became a lemon importer. In 1912 a Secret Service informant stated that Mineo headed a faction, who in alliance with the Morello / Terranova and Castellammarese Families, opposed D’Aquila’s election as National Head. Several murders followed in 1913-14, before a truce was negotiated. Mineo was known to have made visits home to Sicily in 1915, 1922 + 1929, the year he was Naturalized. It is a matter of some debate if there were two separate Palermitani Families, or just one reunited after the 1913-14 conflict. Mineo is not mentioned during the 1921-23 D’Aquila – Morello / Masseria conflict. But sources like Gentile, Valachi + Bonanno agree that Mineo succeeded as Boss of the Family after D’Aquila’s murder in 1928. And that he was closely allied to the Masseria group. If this is correct, he must have left the future Colombo Family, then headed by Salvatore DiBella. Several clues point to his membership of this Family. Reports that he ordered Musacchia + Bonasera [future members] to kill another member in 1930, the fact that the brother of his close associate Ferrigno was a future member, and that a possible relative Salvatore Mineo [Charlie Lemons] was a future member. Mineo, and associate Stefano Ferrigno, were killed during the “Castellammarese War” in late1930.

DIBELLA-SALVATORE 1878 Palermo, Sicily / USA 1899.
Alias : - Salomon.
Relations : - Thomas [Son].
Associates : - G.Peraino + V.Mangano.
The early history of the Family is confusing, with several theories about it's origins. A mention in NARA records, and Bill Bonanno's memoirs, lead us to DiBella. They state that he was the Head of a Family in the mid-1920's, which may have existed since the 1910's. As DiBella was born in Palermo, it may have been an offshoot of the Palermitani D'Aquila Family, and previously headed by Manfredi Mineo. Another link is his 1911 Naturalization papers, witnessed by Vincent Mangano, a future Boss of that Family. What we do know about DiBella is that he was employed as a foreman on the Brooklyn docks [WW1 Registration], a position his son Thomas held later. They lived on Union Street, and he also ran a Laundry Drivers association [Newspaper 1929]. He seems to have stepped down as leader by the late 1920's, possibly succeeded by Joseph Peraino, and later by Joseph Profaci. DiBella died in 1934 [NYDI], but his son later became Family Boss.[1970's].

FERRIGNO-BARTOLO 1903 Palermo, Sicily / USA 19?
Alias : - Barioco Bartoluci.
Relations : - Stefano [Brother], N.Schiro [?].
Associates : - G.Anaclerio, S.Canepa, B.Coniglio [ Gam.]
Listed as a Profaci member on the Valachi charts, he could just as easily be a Gambino member, as all his listed associates are Gambino members. His brother Stefano was killed during the “Castellamarese War” with Manfredi Mineo, an early suspected leader of the Gambino’s. It is possible that Stefano was also a Profaci member, which could mean Mineo was too. His other intriguing family connection is his Mother’s maiden name of Schiro. Nicola Schiro was an early leader of the Bonanno Family. We have no entry date for Bartolo but we know he was in the USA by 1938, when his criminal record began with an arrest for Extortion. Later arrests include dealing in illegal Ration stamps [1944], and Narcotics dealing in 1951. Named in the FBN book as a butcher, operating in Manhattan. Never Naturalized, he died in 1985 [SSDI].

[thekiduknow]

I am learning so much from this thread, its really helping put a lot of what I read in the Informer Article and Critchley's book into clearer focus.

You see the buffer system more in the 1920's, like with Schiro who traveled alot. Somebody or some panel had to be in place. Benny Gallo is one contender, from Santa Ninfa.

Do you have any more info on Benjamin Gallo? He was described as a sort of successor to Vito Bonventre in Williamsburg after he was killed, but was he on the administration for the Schiro Family? If so why was he killed?

[thekiduknow]

I am learning so much from this thread, its really helping put a lot of what I read in the Informer Article and Critchley's book into clearer focus.

You see the buffer system more in the 1920's, like with Schiro who traveled alot. Somebody or some panel had to be in place. Benny Gallo is one contender, from Santa Ninfa.

Do you have any more info on Benjamin Gallo? He was described as a sort of successor to Vito Bonventre in Williamsburg after he was killed, but was he on the administration for the Schiro Family? If so why was he killed?

After a couple few google searches, it looks like a Vito/"Zito" Dachelli was arrested and charged with the murder, with an article saying that Gallo was trying to move into more advanced rackets, and Dachelli "stood in his way".

[Angelo Santino]

I'll get back to everyone tomorrow but short version
1) Sangiorgi, 99% of time it uses sostituto to describe the individual under caporione. I believe you that it's in there though.
2) Gallo, not much is known beyond that. One informant in the early 20's described him as the boss of the Williamsburgh Mob, he also owned a business in Little Italy, NYC with.... Antonino Cecala (who had gotten out of prison from the '10 trial.) Underboss, acting boss, on a panel? We don't know.
3) B., I'm running on 19 hours I'll respond later when my brain is working. There's some parts you're venturing into that I admitably am ignorant on.

[thekiduknow]

Interesting that he's described as the "Boss" of Williamsburg in the 20s, I assumed that Vito Bonventre was the capo/boss of the area. It makes me wonder where Bonventre was within the family. Bonanno describes him as the "second richest man in the family", but I'm not sure how that relates to rank, did he mean the second overall in the family, or just financially wise.

[scagghiuni]

If I remember right, Dr. Allegra completely overlooked the position of underboss and identified only capoprovincia, rappresentante, consigliere, capodecina, and soldato as positions in the Sicilian mafia. He said the consigliere served as "sostituto" for the rappresentante. I'd be curious when the earliest references to sottocapo/underboss show up.

allegra was made a member in 1916, the sangiorgi reports was written in 1898 but it dind't mention the rank of capodecina, anyway it was present among the agrigento group (fratellanza di favara) that sangiorgi investigated in the 1880s, so probably there is sure something missed

[B.]

I'll get back to everyone tomorrow but short version
1) Sangiorgi, 99% of time it uses sostituto to describe the individual under caporione. I believe you that it's in there though.
2) Gallo, not much is known beyond that. One informant in the early 20's described him as the boss of the Williamsburgh Mob, he also owned a business in Little Italy, NYC with.... Antonino Cecala (who had gotten out of prison from the '10 trial.) Underboss, acting boss, on a panel? We don't know.
3) B., I'm running on 19 hours I'll respond later when my brain is working. There's some parts you're venturing into that I admitably am ignorant on.

No worries at all, brother... that post was something like 3 huge cups of coffee while fasting through breakfast, so it might be a monster to tackle, haha.

[Angelo Santino]

If I remember right, Dr. Allegra completely overlooked the position of underboss and identified only capoprovincia, rappresentante, consigliere, capodecina, and soldato as positions in the Sicilian mafia. He said the consigliere served as "sostituto" for the rappresentante. I'd be curious when the earliest references to sottocapo/underboss show up.

allegra was made a member in 1916, the sangiorgi reports was written in 1898 but it dind't mention the rank of capodecina, anyway it was present among the agrigento group (fratellanza di favara) that sangiorgi investigated in the 1880s, so probably there is sure something missed

1 That's what I was thinking but I'm not sure... I have Sangiorgi in front of me and... sostituto. Even in the first "entry" where he lists the groups and leaders in Palermo he goes through each one listing Caporione and Sostituto. I'm not seeing sotto-capo used.

2 I used to assume that he overlooked capodecina but he had the former provincial boss equivalent in Siina providing him information. I'm not sure if he overlooked it or maybe they didn't have them in Palermo by that time. I've seen noting earlier in Palermo to confirm or deny a structure.

3 Capodecina or the equivilant was documented with the Fratellanza?

[Angelo Santino]

Ferrigno was living in the Bronx, but like Lupo, D'Aquila, and Carlo Gambino, he had ties to both the Bronx and Brooklyn. That lends itself to the idea that he was part of the future Gambino family, as the Mineo-Profaci side of things was focused in Brooklyn and there was little to no presence in the Bronx. But then his brother ends up in the Profaci family, so who knows for sure which way things flowed then.

That's a good point. But perhaps its possible he was "transferred" over, seems like Masseria had no issue with 'installing' bosses.

Another name to throw in there is the Palermitano Giuseppe Peraino. His role gets muddied up because he worked with Frankie Yale and anyone who ever looked Yale in the eyes got labeled in contemporary LE and media reports as a Yale subordinate without much substance to it. Peraino's sons would end up in the Profaci family, but beyond that, Peraino's closest associates were from Carini and fairly recently I found some threads that indicate his Carinesi associates were connected or even related to the influential Carini faction of the Profaci family. Peraino traveled to Sicily in the late 1920s, too, along with his wife and younger children, visiting a relative in Palermo Centro.

Yale worked with everybody, oddly he was called Lupo's lieutenant by Agent Palma before Lupo was released from prison where he'd been for 10 years.

At the time of his death, Peraino is described by all sources as a leader of some kind and available info points toward him being with the Mineo-DiBella-Profaci family. Following Peraino's murder, his adult son and brother-in-law were also murdered. This all transpires toward the end of the confusing period in question, after Mineo jumps to the D'Aquila family, DiBella becomes boss, and Profaci attends the 1928 Cleveland assembly possibly as a ranking representative of that group. It's not unheard of for people to hold high-ranking positions briefly, especially during periods of conflict (think of Scalise being boss only briefly before Mangano), so I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Peraino had a high-ranking position in that family before his death.

It's confusing and interesting at the same time.

While I can't connect him personally to Carini aside from his closest associates being from there, the Carinesi appear to have been the most influential groups of compaesani in the Profaci family aside from the Villabatesi, producing multiple captains and consiglieri. While limited, there is reason to speculate that this group had its roots under Peraino. Peraino's ties to Palermo Centro could lend itself to a Mineo connection, too.

I found some earlier Carinesi in Brooklyn on the same street/area Mineo was on, I think I shared it with you, they in 1910 were connected with Palermitan in the same area, I believe some Carinesi even had relatives in Palermo as its very close.

The question is, why was Peraino killed? His murder doesn't get linked to the Castellammarese War or related conflicts and most contemporary reports don't seem reliable. The subsequent murder of his son and brother-in-law are another significant piece of the puzzle.

That's a good question. I don't know hardly anything about Peraino. I learned more just now from what you wrote about him. Thank you.

We do have a murky idea at least of where Mangano fit in with the Masseria-Mineo faction during the war, making it pretty clear he was one of the top loyalists to Mineo at the time. Whether that was just circumstantial and out of self-interest rather than a sign that he was personally close to Mineo is hard to say (as it often is in the mafia), but Maranzano continued to see Mangano as a major threat even after the war and had him at the top of his alleged hitlist along with the new leaders of Masseria's family. We know that Frank Scalise and Giuseppe Traina were not-so-secretly sympathetic to the Maranzano-Gagliano faction and in Scalise's case he was a full-blown spy for them, while Mangano is described as an unwavering loyalist on the Masseria-Mineo side.

Interesting.

Traina on the other hand appears to have kept a neutral stance on the surface, whatever position he continued to hold officially. The fact that he was not only selected by the assembly to form a "peace" commission in 1930 but also allowed to hand-pick all of the other commission members (who were mostly bosses) speaks volumes to me. Even though Traina was a D'Aquila man who seems to have been opposed to the Masseria-Mineo faction that killed his compare D'Aquila, he appears to have been seen as a trustworthy party to both sides of the war and long afterward.

That it does. I mean usually before a boss is killed it's the people around him who get hit first and Traina didn't.

Joe Bonanno talked about how Commission meetings would be attended by an aide in addition to the boss, and I'd have to check, but I thought he said the boss could consult this aide. There is precedent with Traina and Mangano attending the 1928 meeting together, when Traina probably outranked Mangano. Based on the 1940 Treasury report, it appears that after the war Mangano and Traina continued this relationship where Traina was invited to participate in high-level matters as an "aide" (maybe more like senior counsel).
Almost makes me want to break down these meetings and look at who attended more. I never looked into the 1928 meeting.

What's interesting is that there is evidence Traina was the national representative for the Philadelphia family under D'Aquila, Mangano, and Carlo Gambino, so beyond being a possible "aide" to Mangano on the Commission, he had a specific duty when it came to Philadelphia's affairs that did not change for at least 50 years (the first example is his involvement in Sabella's 1919 election, the last known example being the 1969 Philly induction that Traina approved). After Traina's death, we see John Gambino filling a similar role in the mid-late 1980s where he suggests Reds Pontani as Philly acting boss and might be responsible for pushing Stanfa as boss in 1990, too, then in 2010 he presides over the meeting with the Philly leadership.

Interesting. Sorry I don't really have anything to add, in fact I'm learning.

In Valachi's FBI interviews, when they asked him about the consigliere position he said that sometimes the consiglieri are members of the Commission. This is sort of backed up by the Commission case of the 1980s, where it's clear that non-bosses not only participated in the Commission but even took an active role. Tony Salerno was not the official boss yet handled the Genovese family's Commission activities and we know underbosses Neil Dellacroce and Tom Santoro participated in the Commission alongside their bosses. In the 1960s, there are multiple reports that describe how Bonanno's acting boss John Morale had attended Commission meetings on his behalf. So Valachi is right that non-bosses could actively participate in the Commission.

Valachi also said that in 1931 the NYC families formed a separate "commission" consisting only of the consiglieri of the five families for handling disputes. I'd be curious if anyone else has ever mentioned this "commission of consiglieri". As Antiliar has shared, there was also apparently a "numbers commission" where each family had a representative to administer the then-thriving numbers operations in NYC. We know from Gentile's info that even during the days of the "boss of bosses", national assemblies would form commissions for specific purposes (which show that the boss of bosses wasn't just a micromanaging despot), so the idea of a "consiglieri commission" and "numbers commission" aren't that crazy and could be examples of an ongoing trend in the mafia to use specific commissions, pre-1931 and post-1931. With that in mind, the idea of the national Commission formed in 1931 isn't that revolutionary and we know they tried to put in place the first time before Maranzano even became boss of bosses.

What do you make of these claims? I took it as Valachi being confused or incorrect.

In Valachi's initial FBI interviews he used the word "sottocapo" to describe underboss. In my thread about that, I asked the same thing -- at what point did members themselves start using the term "underboss"? In the same way that the mafia has evolved to include "street bosses" and "ruling panels" (even when the official boss is on the street), I suspect that the sottocapo may have developed later than some of the other positions.

As the mafia became more well-known and bosses had to become more conscious of their activities and relationships, it's possible the sottocapo was created. Of course we're still talking over 100 years ago and this is just speculation, but it might explain why some early sources either gloss over the position or don't include it at all. Could be wrong and maybe they've always had it in some capacity but there is no doubt bosses used to be more hands on, including a boss of bosses like Morello, and the function of a true "sottocapo" is no different than a so-called street boss.

I agree "sosituto" makes the most sense as a form of "acting boss". It is a substitute when the official leader is unavailable. We tend to think of "acting boss" or "acting captain" as positions that only exist when a leader is semi-retired, in prison, or otherwise has some issue preventing him from running things. However, there are reported instances where an acting captain is appointed simply when the official captain is on a short vacation or just can't attend a meeting. It sounds like a "sostituto" was used the same way.

In the modern Sicilian mafia, we have seen the term "regente" used for the acting boss when a boss if imprisoned, so "regente" may be the modern version of "sostituto". Not sure if "regente" is only used for capomandamento or capoprovincia, but I believe it is used for any acting boss. Whether it's the term Italian LE has used or an actual term used by the mafia, maybe someone else can tell us, but it seems to be more or less synonymous with "sosituto".

It's possible.

I wouldn't necessarily say that D'Arco claimed it was the DeCavalcantes -- he only said NJ and it would make more sense if he referred to the Newark family given he said the Lucchese family was at some point affiliated with the NJ group (though we don't truly know if the DeCavalcantes were separate from Newark then). Corleonese Newark boss Stefano Badami came to the US with Tom Gagliano's brother-in-law Salvatore Pennino, himself a Corleonese mafioso whose sons would join the mafia in Corleone, and Badami told immigration authorities his arrival contact was Tom Gagliano, who is believed to have been the Reina underboss at the time. Whatever D'Arco got confused, we can see that the Newark boss Badami was closely tied to the Reina-Gagliano leadership when he arrived. More on that here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=4545

I never read the D'Arco book, so point take on NJ

I don't recall Gentile's exact words, but he implied he was assigned to be a mediator or authority over multiple Agrigentesi decine but didn't hold an official rank, not even capodecina. The question is, why would this particular group of paesani need to have their own defacto authority figure over the Sciacchitani/Agrigentesi crews? Along the lines of the claim that the US mafia had its roots in Agrigento, it makes me think of how the New Orleans family didn't have to answer to the Commission out of respect for being the first family, which shows that the US mafia did afford respect to certain groups for their historical significance. This is blind speculation, but maybe the Agrigentesi were more or less allowed to administer their own affairs in the Gambino family because of some similar historical significance? Maybe this is why the DeCavalcantes were also allowed to exist as a small, relatively independent group on the fringes of NYC?

Yeah, possible.

I wouldn't rule out the possibilty that the Agrigentesi had a larger role in early New Orleans either, and that could reconcile the ideas that both Agrigento and New Orleans played a role in the birth of the US mafia. I have seen that many early Agrigentesi mafia figures arrived to the US via New Orleans, but I don't know if they stayed or what's known as far as Agrigento-born members in New Orleans. Salvatore Falcone of Utica was from Sciacca and married a Provenzano from New Orleans, the Provenzanos being an early NO mafia name. What we do know is Agrigento played a significant role in other early southern mafia families, including Birmingham, Tampa, and while not southern (but close enough), St. Louis. That suggests to me there was a foundation of Agrigentesi in NO that fanned out to those other southern-ish cities.

Something similar sort of plays out in Sicily when it comes to Agrigento province. A Sicilian mafia expert could correct me, but from what I've seen Agrigento was not immune the larger political conflicts of the island, but they come across much more insular and consumed with their own affairs than some of the other provinces.

It's possible Agrigentesi were in NO that early on, but they were never larger or greater or more influential than the Palermitans. Unless a group of Maggiore-Amari-Caternicchios arrived in 1840 to St Phillips and Decatur it's hard to place them anywhere close to being founders. And problem with imm. that early on is we'll be lucky if we get "Sicily" on the manifest.

[scagghiuni]

If I remember right, Dr. Allegra completely overlooked the position of underboss and identified only capoprovincia, rappresentante, consigliere, capodecina, and soldato as positions in the Sicilian mafia. He said the consigliere served as "sostituto" for the rappresentante. I'd be curious when the earliest references to sottocapo/underboss show up.

allegra was made a member in 1916, the sangiorgi reports was written in 1898 but it dind't mention the rank of capodecina, anyway it was present among the agrigento group (fratellanza di favara) that sangiorgi investigated in the 1880s, so probably there is sure something missed

1 That's what I was thinking but I'm not sure... I have Sangiorgi in front of me and... sostituto. Even in the first "entry" where he lists the groups and leaders in Palermo he goes through each one listing Caporione and Sostituto. I'm not seeing sotto-capo used.

2 I used to assume that he overlooked capodecina but he had the former provincial boss equivalent in Siina providing him information. I'm not sure if he overlooked it or maybe they didn't have them in Palermo by that time. I've seen noting earlier in Palermo to confirm or deny a structure.

3 Capodecina or the equivilant was documented with the Fratellanza?

in the entry he says the 'sottocapo' replaced the 'caporione' when imprisoned, after that he use the word 'sostituito' that in italian it means somebody who replace another in his absence, so it could be a word used by sangiorgi in a generic sense but not the name of the rank who was probably 'sottocapo'... yes the fratellanza di favara had 'capodecinas' documented among its ranks like allegra confirmed in the 1930s (but he was made in 1916), so i think that rank was present also among palermo groups at the time of sangiorgi report, but in sicily that rank is not used in all the families but the largest only, several families are small over there so they don't have 'decinas'

[Angelo Santino]

If I remember right, Dr. Allegra completely overlooked the position of underboss and identified only capoprovincia, rappresentante, consigliere, capodecina, and soldato as positions in the Sicilian mafia. He said the consigliere served as "sostituto" for the rappresentante. I'd be curious when the earliest references to sottocapo/underboss show up.

allegra was made a member in 1916, the sangiorgi reports was written in 1898 but it dind't mention the rank of capodecina, anyway it was present among the agrigento group (fratellanza di favara) that sangiorgi investigated in the 1880s, so probably there is sure something missed

1 That's what I was thinking but I'm not sure... I have Sangiorgi in front of me and... sostituto. Even in the first "entry" where he lists the groups and leaders in Palermo he goes through each one listing Caporione and Sostituto. I'm not seeing sotto-capo used.

2 I used to assume that he overlooked capodecina but he had the former provincial boss equivalent in Siina providing him information. I'm not sure if he overlooked it or maybe they didn't have them in Palermo by that time. I've seen noting earlier in Palermo to confirm or deny a structure.

3 Capodecina or the equivilant was documented with the Fratellanza?

in the entry he says the 'sottocapo' replaced the 'caporione' when imprisoned, after that he use the word 'sostituito' that in italian it means somebody who replace another in his absence, so it could be a word used by sangiorgi in a generic sense but not the name of the rank who was probably 'sottocapo'... yes the fratellanza di favara had 'capodecinas' documented among its ranks like allegra confirmed in the 1930s (but he was made in 1916), so i think that rank was present also among palermo groups at the time of sangiorgi report, but in sicily that rank is not used in all the families but the largest only, several families are small over there so they don't have 'decinas'

Do you speak Italian? I do and even I ran into issues with this document because the words are dated. Even a word like "Fondo" which played a heavy role in Sangiorgi has a very different meaning today. I actually went and made use of an old Italian dictionary for assistance.

I want to believe Palermo already had decine as well. Seems like they would. But if we're being technical, Sangiorgi never identified them.

Have you read Relazione Mafiose? It's almost a sequel to the Sangiorgi in that it provides lists of members by affiliation. Many of whom have similar surnames and I believe a few are on both the 1898-9 Sangiorgi and the RM.

[Pogo The Clown]

Interesting that he's described as the "Boss" of Williamsburg in the 20s, I assumed that Vito Bonventre was the capo/boss of the area. It makes me wonder where Bonventre was within the family. Bonanno describes him as the "second richest man in the family", but I'm not sure how that relates to rank, did he mean the second overall in the family, or just financially wise.

Bonanno names him as a "Group Leader" (Caporegime) at the time he was killed.


Pogo