Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[B.]

I think it's cool Tony revisited it, as there could always be something we missed, but yeah it's going to take quite a bit to shake the idea that it's Gianola.

I'm still hoping we can find out if Gianola had some relatives in the mafia:

- Father was Vito Giannola and mother was Onorata Badalamenti, both mafia-connected names from Cinisi.

- Family was still using the original Giannola spelling as of 1920 and 1940 census. However, the death of young son Vito in 1925 shows they were using the "Gianola" spelling by then. The elder Vito was also buried under the "Gianola" name in 1943. So it looks like they used the two spellings intermittently during the same period but they settled on "Gianola" for birth/death records.

- Vito Giannola was naturalized in Chicago under the original Giannola spelling and his naturalization witnesses were Louis DeCola and James Rich. I see there was an undertaker Fred DeCola who was tied with the Gennas and their funerals were held at his parlor. Fred had a younger brother named Louis but I can't confirm if it's the same one, but it looks like a relative of the same DeColas either way. Their father came from Termini. Looks like a younger DeCola relative married a Magnafichi. Given the DeCola/Genna connection, interesting we see the DeColas then connected to Vito Giannola. Curious about James Rich... was he a non-Italian or an Italian who changed his name? He was a neighbor of the Giannolas and DeCola on Morgan street.

- Vito Giannolas around the same age who arrived to New Orleans, NYC, and St. Louis were related to familiar names, i.e. Palazzolo, Bommarito, Manzella, and Impastato. I couldn't find any Vito Giannolas who arrrived direct to Chicago... very possible Leonard's father Vito passed through one of those cities first.

- Vito's 1920 census record says he came to the US in 1900, but census-collected immigration info is often inaccurate. The closest I could find is one who came in 1902 to New Orleans and was the one related to Impastatos. Many Impastatos from Cinisi were connected to the mafia here and in Sicily. If this is the right one, that's an area to investigate further.

- Vito Giannola's father was Leonardo Giannola, like his son Leonard.

[PolackTony]

Good info there. While there were Impastatos in Chicago, of course, I haven’t seen any linked to the mafia there or to old “Black Hand”-attributed crimes in the papers. I note that there were Impastatos with likely mob connections in KC and the STL area.

I note that there was a Vito Giannola from Cinisi of about the right age who arrived in NYC bound for NOLA in 1902 who listed an Impastato cousin. I assume that this is the same info that B. mentioned.

Not sure who “James Rich” was, as in the 1920 census at least there was no one by a similar name listed at that address on Morgan. Given the area, I would assume Anglicized Italian, of course (Vincenzo Ricci or something probably).

I wonder if Vito Giannola’s parents were originally from Partinico. In his death record, Vito’s parents are listed as “Leonard Giannola” and “Margaret Clementi”. I’m unable to locate any records for a Leonardo Giannola born in Cinisi that would be in the age range for Vito’s father, however. I do see a couple of Leonardo Giannolas born in Partinico in the 1840s. And then in 1862, a Leonardo Giannola marrying a Margherita Nazca (not Clementi, but at least the given name matches) in Partinico.

To add on to Needles Gianola’s links to the Northside, he was noted in some early 1960s intel as being in charge of the Townhall District in Lakeview (which I believe him and Frabotta were responsible for under Battaglia) as well as having a close personal relationship with Jimmy Allegretti.

[B.]

Vito Giannola was living in Chicago by 1909, when his wife joined him from Cinisi. Her father is listed as Salvatore Badalamenti in Cinisi.

She arrived with Procopio Catariniccchia (age 24) and Benedetto Fiordimondo (age 52, wife's maiden name Evola), both from Cinisi. Both were arriving to relatives at the same address on Clark street, Salvatore Vitale (Fiordimondo's nephew) and Benedetto Palazzolo (Catarinicchia's cousin). Vito Giannola was also living on Clark street at a different address, where Onorata was headed to. Seems possible if not likely Onorata Badalamenti Giannola was related to one or both of the two men she was with, given she is a young woman traveling from Cinisi with them and relatives typically traveled together.

So we're seeing a lot of the usual mafia-connected names from Cinisi connected to the Giannola/Gianolas... Badalamenti, Evola, Palazzolo, Vitale. Maybe the Palazzolo and Vitale mentioned here can be connected to Paolo Palazzolo and Onofrio Vitale, though they were Indiana / Calumet City figures. These are also just common names from Cinisi, mafia or not.

We can't be sure the informant's older mafia relatives were paternal relatives given the redactions. He could well have been referring to relatives of his mother.

[SolarSolano]

Weren't there also two brothers named Giannola in Detroit mob in the early 1900s?

[Villain]

I think it's cool Tony revisited it, as there could always be something we missed, but yeah it's going to take quite a bit to shake the idea that it's Gianola.

I'm still hoping we can find out if Gianola had some relatives in the mafia:

- Father was Vito Giannola and mother was Onorata Badalamenti, both mafia-connected names from Cinisi.

- Family was still using the original Giannola spelling as of 1920 and 1940 census. However, the death of young son Vito in 1925 shows they were using the "Gianola" spelling by then. The elder Vito was also buried under the "Gianola" name in 1943. So it looks like they used the two spellings intermittently during the same period but they settled on "Gianola" for birth/death records.

- Vito Giannola was naturalized in Chicago under the original Giannola spelling and his naturalization witnesses were Louis DeCola and James Rich. I see there was an undertaker Fred DeCola who was tied with the Gennas and their funerals were held at his parlor. Fred had a younger brother named Louis but I can't confirm if it's the same one, but it looks like a relative of the same DeColas either way. Their father came from Termini. Looks like a younger DeCola relative married a Magnafichi. Given the DeCola/Genna connection, interesting we see the DeColas then connected to Vito Giannola. Curious about James Rich... was he a non-Italian or an Italian who changed his name? He was a neighbor of the Giannolas and DeCola on Morgan street.

- Vito Giannolas around the same age who arrived to New Orleans, NYC, and St. Louis were related to familiar names, i.e. Palazzolo, Bommarito, Manzella, and Impastato. I couldn't find any Vito Giannolas who arrrived direct to Chicago... very possible Leonard's father Vito passed through one of those cities first.

- Vito's 1920 census record says he came to the US in 1900, but census-collected immigration info is often inaccurate. The closest I could find is one who came in 1902 to New Orleans and was the one related to Impastatos. Many Impastatos from Cinisi were connected to the mafia here and in Sicily. If this is the right one, that's an area to investigate further.

- Vito Giannola's father was Leonardo Giannola, like his son Leonard.

Thanks for this.

[B.]

Sure thing. Let me know if you find any more on the DeColas... looks like the undertaker Fred DeCola died in 1926. His son is the one married a Jeanne Magnafichi.

[Villain]

Sure thing. Let me know if you find any more on the DeColas... looks like the undertaker Fred DeCola died in 1926. His son is the one married a Jeanne Magnafichi.

I see there used to be another DeCola, named Charles, who at the age of 19 was shot to death during a shootout with the cops in 1945. In 1947, one 17 years old Salvatore DeCola was arrested regarding stealing cars. I dont know if those kids were like some type of farm team like the old 42s but we can notice that they came from the North Side, an area which was still under the rule of the old Mafia at the time.

Speaking about the North/West area, Dago Mangano used be one of the high level members from that same territory and used to be one of the bosses connected to farm teams such as the former 42s, and at first he belonged to the old Mafia and later joined the Capone faction. So i believe that some members like Gianola, Mundo, Mendino, Lainos, Clementis and Daddono started under the Mangano group and after his elimination in 44/45, some of them joined the Giancana group obviously because they all knew each other.

It is interesting that we also have the name Magnafichi, which obviously reminds us on Lee Magnafichi who in turn was member of the Accardo/Capezio/Cerone group from the North/West area and Elmwood Park. Before the problem occurred, Mangano and Accardo used to be quite close associates and theres great possibility that before or even when Capone already became boss, Accardo and Capezio were either still in close alliance with, or belonged to the Mangano group and later possibly broke off and formed their own crew.

[B.]

A Ribera colony existed in NYC by 1892. A group of Carubias and Gallettas arrived to NYC that year, both surnames that produced Riberesi members of the DeCavalcante NY faction. Others from Ribera also arrived in NYC that year and throughout the 1890s.

Pre-1900s immigration data is lacking in detail, so the colony may have existed before 1892, this is just what I could find. Doesn't guarantee there were mafia members in this colony yet, but there are familiar surnames.

[PolackTony]

Weren't there also two brothers named Giannola in Detroit mob in the early 1900s?

I believe there were three brothers — Gaetano, Salvatore, and Antonino Giannola. There were from Terrasini — along with many other Detroit mafiosi — which is of course right next to Cinisi, but we don’t know of any connection between these guys and Needles Gianola’s family. The story that I’ve read was that Antonino was the Detroit boss until he was murdered in 1919.

There was also another Vito Giannola (same name as Needles’s father) who was also from Cinisi and was murdered in St Louis in 1927 (I believe that we already touched in this earlier in the thread). This Vito has been alleged to have been the boss of the “Green Ones” mafia faction. I believe he was married to a Palazzolo (there were of course members with that surname in St Louis, Gary, and Detroit) and may have spent some time in Chicago before going on to St Louis.

[PolackTony]

A Ribera colony existed in NYC by 1892. A group of Carubias and Gallettas arrived to NYC that year, both surnames that produced Riberesi members of the DeCavalcante NY faction. Others from Ribera also arrived in NYC that year and throughout the 1890s.

Pre-1900s immigration data is lacking in detail, so the colony may have existed before 1892, this is just what I could find. Doesn't guarantee there were mafia members in this colony yet, but there are familiar surnames.

Cross-post?

[Villain]

A Ribera colony existed in NYC by 1892. A group of Carubias and Gallettas arrived to NYC that year, both surnames that produced Riberesi members of the DeCavalcante NY faction. Others from Ribera also arrived in NYC that year and throughout the 1890s.

Pre-1900s immigration data is lacking in detail, so the colony may have existed before 1892, this is just what I could find. Doesn't guarantee there were mafia members in this colony yet, but there are familiar surnames.

Cross-post?

I got confused too lol

[B.]

Yeah, meant that for another thread. Just a case of mafia madness.

If a mod sees this they can move it to the Angiulo / DeCavalcante thread.

[PolackTony]

Yeah, meant that for another thread. Just a case of mafia madness.

If a mod sees this they can move it to the Angiulo / DeCavalcante thread.

For a sec I was scratching my head wondering how Gianola was connected to the Riberesi lol.

[PolackTony]

Very interesting to note how these old networks and ties continue to rear their heads. Vito Salamone (of the Rosemont Casino fiasco) was born in Cinisi. On his Facebook account, he's friends with all sorts of Badalamentis, Giannolas, Manzellas, Vitales, etc -- some resident in Sicily and others in Chicago or other parts of the US (Detroit, Arizona, Florida, etc). Of course, these are all common names around the Cinisi area, but interesting to still see them popping up today in places like Chicago and Detroit. One has to ask how Salamone arrived in Chicago and got hooked up with the Outfit in the first place. I would bet that that old network never completely died.

[Antiliar]

Vito Giannola was living in Chicago by 1909, when his wife joined him from Cinisi. Her father is listed as Salvatore Badalamenti in Cinisi.

She arrived with Procopio Catariniccchia (age 24) and Benedetto Fiordimondo (age 52, wife's maiden name Evola), both from Cinisi. Both were arriving to relatives at the same address on Clark street, Salvatore Vitale (Fiordimondo's nephew) and Benedetto Palazzolo (Catarinicchia's cousin). Vito Giannola was also living on Clark street at a different address, where Onorata was headed to. Seems possible if not likely Onorata Badalamenti Giannola was related to one or both of the two men she was with, given she is a young woman traveling from Cinisi with them and relatives typically traveled together.

So we're seeing a lot of the usual mafia-connected names from Cinisi connected to the Giannola/Gianolas... Badalamenti, Evola, Palazzolo, Vitale. Maybe the Palazzolo and Vitale mentioned here can be connected to Paolo Palazzolo and Onofrio Vitale, though they were Indiana / Calumet City figures. These are also just common names from Cinisi, mafia or not.

We can't be sure the informant's older mafia relatives were paternal relatives given the redactions. He could well have been referring to relatives of his mother.

Since PolackTony linked this thread it's relevant again. Before the thread ended there was confusion over a post about Riberesi, but notice the name Catariniccchia, which is a name linked to the DeCavalcante Family and Birmingham. The name is slightly misspelled with three C's in a row, so may actually be Caternicchia. Although the person is from Cinisi, it's not unrealistic to consider that this person or his parents were originally from Ribera.