Gambino 1960's Chart (in progress)

[Angelo Santino]

Are these the Biondo bros Charles and John Joseph?

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[Angelo Santino]

Having issues locating a Louis D´Agostino (Nov 3, 1908?), any more identifiers such as where he lived or when he died?

[Angelo Santino]

Silesi Joseph Joe Rivers 9/12/1896 NYC 265 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 Little Italy Manhattan Antonino Silesi Grazia Capodecina

I've exhausted all efforts on this guy. His father was Antonino (1863-1943) and Grazia (1864-1959), both born in Italy and one census said they arrived in 1889. I can't find their immigration or manifest records to indicate where they came from. Antonino and Grazia were popular names from Palermo/Sicily more so than the mainland but that's not a definitive indicator.

[Angelo Santino]

This isn't the same Pietro Beddia, they were born a month apart, the right one was born in Italy and I believe I narrowed him down to Agrigento. But this other one listed his POB as Caltanissetta, Girgenti. Wot? I tried doing a search and don't believe Calt was ever part of the Agrigento province.

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[HairyKnuckles]

Are these the Biondo bros Charles and John Joseph?

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I´m not sure about Charles. I found a Charles Biondo in SSDI with the same DOB as in the registration card you posted but this Charles Biondo died in November 1994 which does not fit with the Charles Biondo listed on the FBI 1977 dead list.

John Joseph Biondo, in the second registration card you posted, looks to be the John Biondo who was a Gambino member. I know that he was active on lower Manhattan out of Hawaian Nights Social Club on Mulberry Street, moved to Milford Connecticut and later relocated to Florida.

I have a hard time connecting these two to Joseph Biondo, the Gambino underboss. I remember JD saying they were brothers but now I´m not sure if. I´ll see if I can dig up the name of Joseph Biondo´s father and take it from there.

[HairyKnuckles]

Silesi Joseph Joe Rivers 9/12/1896 NYC 265 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 Little Italy Manhattan Antonino Silesi Grazia Capodecina

I've exhausted all efforts on this guy. His father was Antonino (1863-1943) and Grazia (1864-1959), both born in Italy and one census said they arrived in 1889. I can't find their immigration or manifest records to indicate where they came from. Antonino and Grazia were popular names from Palermo/Sicily more so than the mainland but that's not a definitive indicator.

Have you tried a different spelling like Silese for example?

[HairyKnuckles]

Having issues locating a Louis D´Agostino (Nov 3, 1908?), any more identifiers such as where he lived or when he died?

D´Agostino died sometime around 1969-1972ish.

[Angelo Santino]

Closest matches for Anthony Gagliardi 1919/4/2

1919/4/30

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1921/4/4

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[Angelo Santino]

Silesi Joseph Joe Rivers 9/12/1896 NYC 265 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 Little Italy Manhattan Antonino Silesi Grazia Capodecina

I've exhausted all efforts on this guy. His father was Antonino (1863-1943) and Grazia (1864-1959), both born in Italy and one census said they arrived in 1889. I can't find their immigration or manifest records to indicate where they came from. Antonino and Grazia were popular names from Palermo/Sicily more so than the mainland but that's not a definitive indicator.

Have you tried a different spelling like Silese for example?

Yes.

Having issues locating a Louis D´Agostino (Nov 3, 1908?), any more identifiers such as where he lived or when he died?

D´Agostino died sometime around 1969-1972ish.

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Maybe this guy? Was he Jersey?

[B.]

There's a record indicating Joe Silesi's paternal grandmother came from Marineo, Palermo province. I can't confirm his father was born there or lived there but it's a potential lead. The Traina crew had some members from Marineo so it does show up in the Gambino Family (as well as the Lucchese/Genovese).

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Appears that Daniello and Dudu are the same guy. Daniello was the Brother in law of Joseph Bisogno, who was murdered later on.

Apparently the "Giaggio" (ph) identified is John Angelone, if I remember correctly. It was definitely a "John" who is identified elsewhere with the Gambino Family.

Hugo Bassi's father was Basilicatese and mother Palermo, employed by John Ingrassia.
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Wonder if it's the same Giovanni Ingrassia from Bath Beach / Bensonhurst who was on the ship with Jimmy DiLeonardo and Andrea Torregrossa when they went to Sicily. A Giuseppe Ingrassia would later be a member of the same crew as DiLeonardo and I've suspected Giovanni Ingrassia was with them given his name and neighborhood.

Fascinating.

Was it ever confirmed that Scalise was selling memberships and were they ever identified? I remember reading Valachi testifying about how these members were to be told that the organization had been disbanded but he never went into who.

The "selling" of membership may have been a matter of perspective.

Joe Valachi (who was very friendly with the Bronx Gambino faction) testified that certain associates would make Frank Scalise a partner in their business and he would essentially take control of the business and in turn propose them for membership. This isn't fundamentally that different from an associate partnering with a member and "earning" their way to membership rather than explicitly paying for membershp itself.

Freddy Santantonio's account sort of meshes with this, as he indicated some members were made for being earners / business reasons opposed to proving their ability in other ways (his breakdown of the different reasons members get made is interesting in general). This was likely a relatively new development for the traditional mafia, where members were made through blood relation, ruthlessness, and personal qualities opposed to pure capitalism, so some members likely questioned it.

From looking at different accounts, it seems that members who earned membership via crime and murder felt those who earned membership via "earning" essentially bought membership even though they didn't literally do that. What's interesting is it's the Palermitani who are accused of favoring business with regard to membership -- Pat Conte was rumored to have "bought" membership and he was a businessman, then Paul Castellano was accused of favoring business relationships within the Family over other factors. Fits Phil Leonetti's description of the Sicilian Angelo Bruno, too, telling the interviewer how the Sicilians in Philly were focused on business while the Calabrians had to earn their way into the Family via violence.

I'm sure there are different POVs on this and maybe some people did essentially purchase the button, but there was some nuance to the issue.

"Con... of judgement," aside from Consig, my mind also jumps to the position of sostituito that Gentile held under Mangano.

Re: Giuseppe SanFilippo -- I mentioned that to JD when he first published it, not surprised we both thought of it. It would make sense if this position was held by multiple people at different times rather than Gentile alone for a brief window of time. The idea seemed to have as much to do with giving the Sciacchitani autonomy in the family (sostituto = acting boss of this faction) as it did "rewarding" Gentile with defacto promotion so seems someone else would be given the duty when he left.

[CabriniGreen]

.

Fascinating.

Was it ever confirmed that Scalise was selling memberships and were they ever identified? I remember reading Valachi testifying about how these members were to be told that the organization had been disbanded but he never went into who.

The "selling" of membership may have been a matter of perspective.

Joe Valachi (who was very friendly with the Bronx Gambino faction) testified that certain associates would make Frank Scalise a partner in their business and he would essentially take control of the business and in turn propose them for membership. This isn't fundamentally that different from an associate partnering with a member and "earning" their way to membership rather than explicitly paying for membershp itself.

Freddy Santantonio's account sort of meshes with this, as he indicated some members were made for being earners / business reasons opposed to proving their ability in other ways (his breakdown of the different reasons members get made is interesting in general). This was likely a relatively new development for the traditional mafia, where members were made through blood relation, ruthlessness, and personal qualities opposed to pure capitalism, so some members likely questioned it.

From looking at different accounts, it seems that members who earned membership via crime and murder felt those who earned membership via "earning" essentially bought membership even though they didn't literally do that. What's interesting is it's the Palermitani who are accused of favoring business with regard to membership -- Pat Conte was rumored to have "bought" membership and he was a businessman, then Paul Castellano was accused of favoring business relationships within the Family over other factors. Fits Phil Leonetti's description of the Sicilian Angelo Bruno, too, telling the interviewer how the Sicilians in Philly were focused on business while the Calabrians had to earn their way into the Family via violence.

I'm sure there are different POVs on this and maybe some people did essentially purchase the button, but there was some nuance to the issue.[\B]


Great analysis. It makes sense. And explains how so many could get made so quick.

Also, going back to the Grecos with the lemons, I think the Palermo people were always pretty business focused, I think it intensified after the Greco- Cavataio conflict, that created the criminal diaspora, and has continued to evolve all the way up until the present day. More than ever they are business oriented...

[Angelo Santino]

"Con... of judgement," aside from Consig, my mind also jumps to the position of sostituito that Gentile held under Mangano.

Re: Giuseppe SanFilippo -- I mentioned that to JD when he first published it, not surprised we both thought of it. It would make sense if this position was held by multiple people at different times rather than Gentile alone for a brief window of time. The idea seemed to have as much to do with giving the Sciacchitani autonomy in the family (sostituto = acting boss of this faction) as it did "rewarding" Gentile with defacto promotion so seems someone else would be given the duty when he left.

It's possible, what was your takeaway from what Gentile described when he occupied that position?

From what was stated, Brooklyn-based Mangano put Gentile in this position due to his living in the city and shared heritage with the Little Italy and E39th St decine. When it comes to the actual position itself, it didn't appear that Gentile was Boss over Joe Parlapiano or Gaetano Trupia in the sense that they answered to him or that he could dictate their actions. My takeaway was that he served as a sort of "conduit" to Mangano, like the Gen Messsenger.

This would, like you stated, give the Sciaccatani autonomy via a conduit to Mangano rather than going through the administration and would also give Gentile a position of respect or placation. I say that because we only have Gentile's version of events and his life, I believe the events he described happened but I due at times, question his place in them. We've seen modern Mafiosi try to revise their own histories and Gentile could be guilty of that. Did he arrive to NY and enter the Gambinos as some seasoned Sicilian-American Mafioso who had previously traveled the country and held in high regard by many? Or was he seen as a bothersome peasant who needed a bone to be kept happy. For all we know, Mangano could have been making small talk and said something along the lines of "You guys from Girgenti are crazy. Keep me posted, Uncle Nick" and Gentile retold the story as him being placed in a special position. I don't know. And those who knew are dead.

But that is only one example of "sostituto," we've seen in it in the Sangiorgi used in place of underboss, we've seen Traina (from Gentile's perspective) arrive to a meeting in place of D'Aquila whose power seemed to transfer to Traina when it came to others feeling the weight of those decisions. Like with every rank, it seems open to interpretation and depends on who, where and what were those circumstances.



Glad you're back!

[bronx]

there was a joe ingrassia in that same crew, maybe son or nephew who was on manifest?

[B.]

It's possible, what was your takeaway from what Gentile described when he occupied that position?

From what was stated, Brooklyn-based Mangano put Gentile in this position due to his living in the city and shared heritage with the Little Italy and E39th St decine. When it comes to the actual position itself, it didn't appear that Gentile was Boss over Joe Parlapiano or Gaetano Trupia in the sense that they answered to him or that he could dictate their actions. My takeaway was that he served as a sort of "conduit" to Mangano, like the Gen Messsenger.

This would, like you stated, give the Sciaccatani autonomy via a conduit to Mangano rather than going through the administration and would also give Gentile a position of respect or placation. I say that because we only have Gentile's version of events and his life, I believe the events he described happened but I due at times, question his place in them. We've seen modern Mafiosi try to revise their own histories and Gentile could be guilty of that. Did he arrive to NY and enter the Gambinos as some seasoned Sicilian-American Mafioso who had previously traveled the country and held in high regard by many? Or was he seen as a bothersome peasant who needed a bone to be kept happy. For all we know, Mangano could have been making small talk and said something along the lines of "You guys from Girgenti are crazy. Keep me posted, Uncle Nick" and Gentile retold the story as him being placed in a special position. I don't know. And those who knew are dead.

But that is only one example of "sostituto," we've seen in it in the Sangiorgi used in place of underboss, we've seen Traina (from Gentile's perspective) arrive to a meeting in place of D'Aquila whose power seemed to transfer to Traina when it came to others feeling the weight of those decisions. Like with every rank, it seems open to interpretation and depends on who, where and what were those circumstances.



Glad you're back!

Thanks brother.

- I took "sostituto" in this case to mean not that Gentile was the final word, but more like a "street boss" or "consigliere" who could arbitrate issues as the first line of defense should something come up within the Sciacchitani crews. Then, like you said, he would serve as messenger to Mangano should it escalate. No way did Gentile have the authority to order a murder on his own, have someone shelved, etc.

What's significant is the Sciacchitani appear to have been snubbed when it came to official administration positions throughout their known history despite the statistical probability that one of them should be on the admin at some point, yet always had influential captains from Agrigento who were left to their own devices and even given their own semi-autonomous faction during that peak period from the 1920s-1940s. Gravano is the first admin member from Agrigento unless I'm blanking, which is crazy and he has no roots in this group.

What gives Gentile's self-serving tales some weight is when Francesco Coppola (fellow US journeyman mafioso who returned to Sicily) was interviewed by the Italian media in the early 1970s and asked about Nicola Gentile, Coppola highly praised him and said Gentile was a great advisor who young bosses like Luciano, Capone, and Anastasia would have learned from if they listened to him. Seems he really did have a reputation for skilled counsel.

[Angelo Santino]

Any further identifiers for Joseph Marchese who died before 1976? Name's too common.