Early 1970s Chicago member informant

[PolackTony]

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.

Good catch. I don't see any link between these Catarinicchias and Agrigento, but it's always possible there was one in the deeper past. I found several ship manifests referring to who I believe was the same Procopio Catarinicchia (though it seems there was another one from Castelvetrano as well). As B mentioned, he arrived heading to Chicago in 1909, where his father Salvatore (Damiano Salvatore Catarinicchia, from Cinisi) was living (his mother was Serafina Vitale). Later, Procopio returned to the US headed for Plainfield, IL (near Joilet). By the 1920s, he was living with his wife Giovanna Giannola in Detroit. One of their sons, Damiano Catarinicchia, later moved to St Louis where he died in 2005. Could be that these people were connected, could also just be they were following well-established Sicilian Midwestern migration and settlement routes.

It's worth noting that the surname Catarinicchia (which to me seems to be the "proper" spelling in Sicily) is by far most common in Palermo province, or at least it is today. Currently, it doesn't seem to be very common at all in Agrigento. It is a well-established surname in Cinisi (as well as surrounding areas like Partinico, Alcamo), so I don't know if these people had any substantive connection to the Ribera "Caterinicchias".

Relatedly, I stumbled upon a FB group for Cinisi families. Unsurprisingly, people from Michigan and Illinois seem to dominate.

[Antiliar]

Yes, it could be much ado about nothing, or it could be a lead to a forgotten connection.