- I don't have enough info on the members from Cinisi versus other towns in Gary and CH to make a judgment. Like I wrote, I lean to Gary having it's own borgata, but I can't say it's definitely the case. I can't rule out that Palazzolo wasn't originally under CH. Perhaps after San Filippo and the other CH Mafia leaders were killed Palazzolo turned his crew into a borgata until he was killed in 1935. There are a lot of possibilities, but currently not enough evidence to confirm or refute. I wish we had something clear like Montedore in Pittston.B. wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 3:13 pmExcellent info!Antiliar wrote: ↑Sat Sep 12, 2020 2:13 pm Great write up, B.
I look forward to your investigation into Norristown and early Philadelphia, and maybe Utica. I suspected Utica was an early borgata considering that Joe Aiello spent so much time there, and there was a large community from Bagheria. I don't know if there was any connection to Zarcone and other Bagheresi. I think there are too many gaps in our information to discover any, but if anyone can, it will be you. On Connecticut, no, I don't see evidence for any local borgate there.
Regarding Matranga, I think Fratianno or author Ovid Demaris (remember that Demaris often paraphrases and rephrases things that Fratianno said to make a narrative) is mistaken on Calumet City. Fratianno makes a couple other mistakes with Chicago. For example, on page 76 of the hard cover edition of The Last Mafioso, he says that John Franzone was the Northside capo who ordered Dominic Galiano to kill Nick DeJohn in San Francisco in 1947. There was no John Franzone, he was James Franzone, and according to FBI docs he was a capo in the San Francisco Family. He was from Chicago, so that connection is correct. I lean to the belief that Gaspare Matranga was an early Northside capo before James DeGeorge. I also lean to the belief that Gary, Indiana was a separate borgata that was later absorbed into the Chicago Outfit.
It's funny that you mentioned Pasquale Enea. While I don't have access to it right now, I think the FBN or a book that used the FBN as a source like Ed Reid's Mafia, claimed he was a "boss of bosses." I don't know much about him, but he may have been someone who was more important than we realize.
Thank you for clarifying your take on Chicago and Matranga.
- If Gary was its own family, that lends itself to the theory of many more colony families existing in the US given Gary was close to other nearby families that were merged (Chicago and CH). Are you of the belief the Cinisi element in Chicago Heights was separate from Gary, where their compaesano Palazzolo appears to have been the leader? If so, it plays into one of my theories about the colonies, which is that compaesani in nearby colonies could be separate families despite the assumption they should be one. We see this with the Bagheresi in Madison and Milwaukee, and would fit with the idea of Toledo being a separate family of Terrasinesi even though it was near compaesani in Detroit. It could also explain why the Castellammarese in Endicott were with Pittston instead of their compaesani in Buffalo (whether or not they were ever a separate family as C.Morello thinks).
- Giovanni Zarcone could have a connection to Milwaukee consigliere Charles Zarcone. They were both from Bagheria / Santa Flavia area and I believe Charles' father was also named Giovanni, which would place his father (I think) in the same generation as the NYC/CT Giovanni. What's interesting about Bagheria is how there were prominent members from there in early NYC, but a couple of them were murdered in the first decade of the 1900s and from that point Bagheria has little to no presence in NYC, instead fanning out into many other US cities where they were dominant.
- While probably not a capo dei capi, I suspect Enea was important. He is mentioned as inducting a member with Cascio Ferro and he had marital ties to Buffalo boss Giuseppe DiCarlo, plus Enea appears to have been involved with the Petrosino murder -- the main conspirators of that murder all appear to have been high-ranking members. The arrows def point to him having stature.
- I looked into a relationship between Giovanni Zarcone and Charles and didn't find any biological relationship. This was several years ago, and many records are now available that weren't then, so it's possible to go back farther in time and possibly find one. At this point, however, the evidence isn't there.
- Yes, we know those facts about Enea, but I think there's more out there. There was a Pasquale Enea living in Milwaukee in 1908. I don't think it's the same person, but possibly a cousin.