Gambino 1960's Chart (in progress)

[Angelo Santino]

I wonder if Baltimore may have been it's own smaller family early on.

[Pogo The Clown]

I wonder if Baltimore may have been it's own smaller family early on.

We don't have any wise guys. All we got is locals busy tearing the Westside apart.


Pogo

[B.]

I've seen people speculate the crew started in the 1940s but like the Bonannos/Montreal, I think these things go back further than we know.

Ignazio Lupo and Jimmy DiLeonardo both had earlier ties to Baltimore so it was in their network and the network was mostly based around where mafiosi and compaesani lived. We can see both those guys had paesans in Baltimore later and Joe Gallo was used as the liaison who had paesani there.

More likely there were earlier members there who had a Family, reported to a NYC captain (like the Trenton members), or a decina was established early. I push back on the idea that they "sent" someone somewhere to "plant a flag" -- I think that's a rare exception and usually based on an outdated understanding of how these groups formed.

[Angelo Santino]

They may have been semi-legit like many of the earlier members of pittsburgh who were involved in the banana business which was a large industry there, I believe they were imported by way of Baltimore.

If a theoretical Baltimore Family was consolidated into the Gambinos it would have most likely occured around 1920 with the rest of the cities.

[B.]

They may have been semi-legit like many of the earlier members of pittsburgh who were involved in the banana business which was a large industry there, I believe they were imported by way of Baltimore.

If a theoretical Baltimore Family was consolidated into the Gambinos it would have most likely occured around 1920 with the rest of the cities.

Interesting thread: https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/topic/30000

Does anyone know anything about the sicilians in Baltimore in the 1890's? I have just found that my sicilian great-grandfather, his sister and possibly their brother lived there from 1890-1896. The family names are Catalano and Chiaramonte; they were fruit vendors. They all left for Pittsburgh by 1896. I read that Italians were frowned upon by Baltimore society at that time.

There were Catalano's, Chiaramonte's, Purpura's, Catanzaro's and Mascari's living in Baltimore from the early 1890s onward. Most, if not all of them, were from Termini Imerese, Sicily and most of them were fruit vendors. I know there were more sicilians in Baltimore; I only mention these five names because they're in my family.

[Angelo Santino]

Chiaramonte is another name that stands out.

Before 1900, Itals were in Mulberry Bend, an area south of what is Mulberry St. The slums were still wooden. Naturally people tried to move out from which is where the exodus into Jersey and other areas occured in that 1885-1900 range.

But from some quick looking into, Baltimore had an Italian population since the 1860s. In 1892 the Itals of the city created a statue of Columbus on druid hill, which indicates possibly a northern demographic initially like with many other cities. There was likely a southern influx later in the last 2 decades of the 19th century.

For sicilians, especially those from Palermo, fruit and wine was an exportable business. It was also an industry infested with mafia.

[B.]

Not sure where they sourced it, but the Wiki on Baltimore Italians says the first Sicilians came later in the 1800s from Cefalu and Palermo.

I've seen people from Cefalu in Baltimore during later decades so that fits and we know they had Palermitani. Don't see many mafia members in the US from Cefalu but there's a Family there. Termini is right down the coast.

The Pittsburgh ties are there later with the Calabrians... the Corbis and Gigliotti were ex-Pittsburgh and Tony Ripepi visited them in Baltimore. Could have had their own ties but looking like the Baltimore->Pittsburgh channel was open going back to the 1890s Sicilians. Would make sense Salvatore Catanzaro the "Banana King" kept doing business in Baltimore given the scope of his fruit empire.

--

Another question is Youngstown...

- Gentile and Charlie Cavallero (Agrigento) transferred to the Gambino Family in the 1930s after local trouble.

- Cavallero stayed in Ohio and might have transferred back to Pitt or Cleveland by the time he was killed in the 60s but was a Gambino member in Youngstown for a time.

- Joe Tamburello was living in Youngstown before Baltimore and his brother Nick was in deep with the local Youngstown Sicilian faction before he got deported in the 1940s, both tied to Agrigento. The Corbis also had a brother in Youngstown, probably a Pittsburgh associate.

Wondering if Cavallero was more than a one-off and there were other Gambinos in Ohio like the Tamburellos. DiLeonardo was told Toto D'Aquila and his grandfather had heavy ties to the Cleveland Family. We know geography isn't a barrier to long-distance membership if the right politics exist and Youngstown was an "open" city with members of at least three or four Families there at various times.

[Angelo Santino]

Not sure where they sourced it, but the Wiki on Baltimore Italians says the first Sicilians came later in the 1800s from Cefalu and Palermo.

I've seen people from Cefalu in Baltimore during later decades so that fits and we know they had Palermitani. Don't see many mafia members in the US from Cefalu but there's a Family there. Termini is right down the coast.

The Pittsburgh ties are there later with the Calabrians... the Corbis and Gigliotti were ex-Pittsburgh and Tony Ripepi visited them in Baltimore. Could have had their own ties but looking like the Baltimore->Pittsburgh channel was open going back to the 1890s Sicilians. Would make sense Salvatore Catanzaro the "Banana King" kept doing business in Baltimore given the scope of his fruit empire.

--

Another question is Youngstown...

- Gentile and Charlie Cavallero (Agrigento) transferred to the Gambino Family in the 1930s after local trouble.

- Cavallero stayed in Ohio and might have transferred back to Pitt or Cleveland by the time he was killed in the 60s but was a Gambino member in Youngstown for a time.

- Joe Tamburello was living in Youngstown before Baltimore and his brother Nick was in deep with the local Youngstown Sicilian faction before he got deported in the 1940s, both tied to Agrigento. The Corbis also had a brother in Youngstown, probably a Pittsburgh associate.

Wondering if Cavallero was more than a one-off and there were other Gambinos in Ohio like the Tamburellos. DiLeonardo was told Toto D'Aquila and his grandfather had heavy ties to the Cleveland Family. We know geography isn't a barrier to long-distance membership if the right politics exist and Youngstown was an "open" city with members of at least three or four Families there at various times.

gig.PNG

[B.]

First part plays into some descriptions of Patsy Corbi's background.

[Angelo Santino]

First part plays into some descriptions of Patsy Corbi's background.

I was thinking that this Gigliotti's relocation and transfer of affiliation happened around the same time as Gentile's

Second, that quote is reminiscent of the wording Joe Bonanno would use, "family without a father," very specific wording.

[B.]

Dave Iacovetti's Baltimore activities come in too. He came from Altoona PA and is said to have made a name for himself with the Gambino crew in Connecticut but he was married to a cousin of Jack Verilla who was a Pittsburgh guy in Altoona.

I assumed the ex-Pittsburgh guys in MD hooked up with the Gambino Family just because it was the only show in town but I'm not convinced there isn't some deeper tie between Pittsburgh and the Gambinos we don't know much about. Bazzano was aligned with Anastasia, Gentile and Cavallaro joined the Gambinos, and so many of these guys have Pittsburgh/Youngstown connections.

That report sounds like Romano was probably a member. "Family without a father" could be a figure of speech or could be a sign of a deeper history if they used to have a Family. There are similar descriptions of the Utica crew as a "family".

[B.]

Not directly related to the chart because he died in 1957, but fits the thread:

- Salvatore Tornabe (b. 1896) was an Apalachin attendee who everyone labels a Colombo member (often said to be a captain). Was employed by Joe Magliocco's company but I've never seen a source ID him as a Colombo.

- Tornabe was from Canicatti, Agrigento, like many Gambino members and lived in the Upper East Side. His house was on the same block as the Arcuri's social club, literally around the corner.

- The Colombos had almost no members from Agrigento and very few members in Manhattan, possibly none in Upper Manhattan where he lived.

- In the 1960s the FBI was told he was a deceased member but they didn't know which Family.

- He was arrested at Apalachin with Gambino captain Armand Rava.

Unless a member ID'd him with the Colombos, looks like he was most likely part of the Gambino Canicattesi/Sciaccichitani faction. Important enough to attend Apalachin, so wondering if he was part of the line of captains in the Trupia and Stincone group assuming their crews were connected. Trupia and Stincone were both part of the Canicatti Fraternal Order in Astoria alongside most of the known Gambino members from there. Trupia was ID'd by Gentile as a captain in the 1930s and died in the early 1940s, Stincone shows up as a captain in the early 1960s.

[Angelo Santino]

Not directly related to the chart because he died in 1957, but fits the thread:

- Salvatore Tornabe (b. 1896) was an Apalachin attendee who everyone labels a Colombo member (often said to be a captain). Was employed by Joe Magliocco's company but I've never seen a source ID him as a Colombo.

- Tornabe was from Canicatti, Agrigento, like many Gambino members and lived in the Upper East Side. His house was on the same block as the Arcuri's social club, literally around the corner.

- The Colombos had almost no members from Agrigento and very few members in Manhattan, possibly none in Upper Manhattan where he lived.

- In the 1960s the FBI was told he was a deceased member but they didn't know which Family.

- He was arrested at Apalachin with Gambino captain Armand Rava.

Unless a member ID'd him with the Colombos, looks like he was most likely part of the Gambino Canicattesi/Sciaccichitani faction. Important enough to attend Apalachin, so wondering if he was part of the line of captains in the Trupia and Stincone group assuming their crews were connected. Trupia and Stincone were both part of the Canicatti Fraternal Order in Astoria alongside most of the known Gambino members from there. Trupia was ID'd by Gentile as a captain in the 1930s and died in the early 1940s, Stincone shows up as a captain in the early 1960s.

Makes very good sense.

[HairyKnuckles]

Just adding my two cents here regarding Tornabe. He was later identified as a Gambino member. He is listed as a deceased member on a list dated Jan 1977. So you have something there B. I will take a closer look when I get home.

[HairyKnuckles]

Just adding my two cents here regarding Tornabe. He was later identified as a Gambino member. He is listed as a deceased member on a list dated Jan 1977. So you have something there B. I will take a closer look when I get home.

Yep, Tornabe listed as a deceased Gambino member Jan 1977.