B. wrote: ↑Wed Apr 14, 2021 3:43 pm
CC -- I just want it to be clear I wasn't pressing my Cascio Ferro / Lupo theory in this thread. I brought him into it to try and find clarification about Bisacquino's place in the Sicilian mafia since we spoke about that the other day.
The article was suggesting his role in the Sicilian mafia landscape shouldn't be thought of in the context of Corleone, which was less dominant in Sicily during Cascio Ferros' era (yet it was dominant in the USA, which would suggest to me it was always a factor in island-wide Sicilian mafia politics). However, I think the article deserves a little pushback as Bisacquino had to have had close interactions with Corleone, but if Cascio Ferro was even half as powerful as he is made out to be, Bisacquino may have been the dominant power in the region at the time.
What is of interest with Bisacquino is the DiLeonardos. Michael DiLeonardo said his great-grandfather Antonino was a mafia member in Sicily and we know Jimmy DiLeonardo was involved in high-level mafia issues by 1909 as evidenced by his letter to Cascio Ferro (presumably asking about the Petrosino situation). Michael also believes Cascio Ferro was responsible in some way for his great-grandfather and grandfather coming to the US. It's interesting with that in mind that the DiLeonardos ended up as top D'Aquila loyalists.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is the formation of the D'Aquila and Mineo families might not have been as simple as the Lupo family splitting. There may have been factions from other families who also joined the two Palermitani families, or at least D'Aquila. D'Aquila had a large Agrigento faction under him and we don't know how/when that happened. A similar question could be asked for all of the Bisacquino natives who ended up with the D'Aquila/Gambino family.
1 I think CF's affiliations in Sicily would mirror similar affiliations in the US. It's all connected... I think it's healthy to revisit things and I'm always down to discuss CF. If theories are true they'll withstand the test of time. And also like I said, when I review the SS of 1900-1910, I will review the CF references (I can even email them to you) with the idea that his affiliation was Palermitan.
2 The idea that you're stating is very possible, there was a large realignment of members in 1931 that Valachi witnessed and there's evidence of it happening in Palermo over the years. But we don't have evidence for it which is why we didn't state it. We could say probably. I mean, it's like Bagheria and Agrigento, maybe they started out as their own groups that later merged? It's possible, I just don't have anything that points to it. "The Murder of Giuseppe DiTrapani was ordered by Joe Morello, Joe Trovato and Domenico Pecoraro (1902)." Is there some significance to Dom Pecoraro of Bagheria? If he was Morello's under would Clemente have provided the info like that? It's in the back of my mind but it doesn't prove anything. If Gotti/Gigante occurred in 1887 and one informant stated "The murder of DeCicco was ordered by Chin Gigante, Vic Amuso and Anthony Casso of Brooklyn" we would have wondered if Casso possibly headed his own group or if all 3 men were part of one group.
3 Another thing to consider, is that the Morellos really didn't have much of a Brooklyn presence at the time, that didn't develop until later. We know that Jimmy DiLeonardo landed in Brooklyn which was Gambino dominant, maybe that played a part? CF was in the city on the east side which was Corleonese.
4 In terms of going different families, I think it was more common back then, especially when they didn't hold the capitalistic views it holds today. When members left or transferred, their bosses weren't shrugging over the loss of an earner in a Sopranos sense. Everyone knew everybody else and went into business together. So with this in mind, if I get along with everyone but I live in Brooklyn, wouldn't it make sense to have my representation through them rather than East Harlem? It wouldn't change anything or make me any new enemies.
Again, this is all speculation, we're way off the paved path, but I also enjoy bouncing back and forth ideas. I also appreciate your radar going off about something, so if you need any sources I can send over to assist, let me know. When I go through the SS, I'll send you CF stuff.
Mario Puzo was onto something with the Godfather.