Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[B.]

Yeah, Tony is killing it with these guys.

Nick DeJohn's father was Giovanni DiGiovanni, right age range to be a brother or cousin of Sam and Nicola of the Heights. Giovanni was business agent for the Hod Carriers after Tony D'Andrea and Mike Merlo witnessed Giovanni's wife's naturalization.

[PolackTony]

Yeah, Tony is killing it with these guys.

Nick DeJohn's father was Giovanni DiGiovanni, right age range to be a brother or cousin of Sam and Nicola of the Heights. Giovanni was business agent for the Hod Carriers after Tony D'Andrea and Mike Merlo witnessed Giovanni's wife's naturalization.

You’re right, of course, there were several Nick DeJohn’s born in Chicago around the same years. Funny thing was that I had previously posted his correct genealogy but this time around mixed him up with a different guy, Nick R DiGiovanni (given the Palazzo origin, quite possibly a cousin), who I had documented.

Per his 1947 death record in CA, Nick DeJohn was born 1909/08/15. The birth record for the Nicola DiGiovanni born in Chicago on that date has his father as Giovanni DiGiovanni and his mother as Pietrina “Luzesra” (Inserra). They were married in Chicago in 1907. The 1913 birth record in Chicago for son Anthony Di Giovanni states that both parents were born in “Palagio” (Palazzo Adriano). Nick DeJohn married Lena Zingarelli in 1927 in IN, and on his WW2 draft card gave his address at Sancramento near Bryan Mawr in the Budlong Woods area of the Northside. He stated that his work address was on Milwaukee Ave near Chicago Ave, presumably where his bakery was located. Lena Zingarelli I believe was born in NJ to Abruzzes’ parents (seems that the DiGiovannis liked Abruzzes’ women).

Thanks for catching the error, I’ve been looking into so many of these guys that I get my own info mixed up sometimes.

[PolackTony]

Salvatore "Sam DiGiovanni was born 1891 in Palazzo Adriano to Giuseppe Di Giovanni and Giuseppina Sulli (died in 1943 in Chicago Heights). In 1921, Sam married Angelina DiTomasso, who was born in the Heights to parents who I believe were Abruzzes'.

Sam DiGiovanni died in 1977 in Chicago Heights, while his younger brother Nicola "Nick" DiGiovanni died in 1979 in Homewood.

Nick DeJohn was born in 1908 in Chicago to Giuseppe Di Giovanni of Palazzo Adriano (too young to be the father of Sam DiGiovanni) and Antonina Lima. Documents for Antonina "Anna" state that she was born in Palermo, but there is a 1903 record of an Antonina Lima entering NYC that states her last residence was Palazzo Adriano. The Lima surname doesn't seem to be common in Palazzo, so she may have been born elsewhere. Nick DeJohn grew up near Diversey and Broadway, on the border of the Lincoln Park and Lakeview neighborhoods of the Northside.

This and everything else is top notch genealogical research.

Thanks, man. See corrected genealogy for DeJohn above. Found a document stating that his mother was also from Palazzo Adriano, as I recall that in the past it was uncertain where she was from (and if she was related to the other Inserras, which seems unlikely).

[PolackTony]

Also, if the two Nick DeJohns were related, one wonders if the fact that the other guy had a mother named Lima points to a connection to Tony Lima.

@B. I recall seeing that Merlo witnessed Pietrina Inserra’s naturalization. Given this fact plus his role in the Union, I think it’s quite possible that Giovanni DiGiovanni was a member as well. When I looked into DeJohn a while back, my impression was that Giovanni may have been a brother of Sam DiGiovanni, as you suspect as well. I might be mistaken, but I could’ve sworn that I once saw something stating that Giovanni’s father was also named Giuseppe, which is what led me to believe that, but I would need to verify that again.

[B.]

Was able to find some info on Ciro/Joe Gallo's brother-in-law in Chicago, Leo Ferraro. Surname stood out but he was from Palazzo like the Gallos, unlikely any connection to Frank Ferraro/Sortino. Leo ended up in the CA Bay Area like the Gallos and DeJohn.

Brings to mind Giuseppe Ferraro/Morici you guys were talking about based on relation to the Sinacore name. For whatever reason there are a lot of ties between Palazzo Adriano and that part of Trapani. DeJohn was allegedly related to Benevento from Partanna and Bonanno figure Benny Gallo was from Santa Ninfa but his traveling partner when he arrived was from Palazzo Adriano (and shared a surname with Ciro/Joe Gallo's mother from Palazzo). These ties seem to exist in Sicily and the US, haven't been able to explain it or if it's just a coincidence with people I've looked into. No idea where Ferraro/Morici was from but has me curious given he had relatives from Castelvetrano and Leo Ferraro was from Palazzo.

Sam DiGiovanni telling the FBI he lived in Colorado before Chicago fits with the Canzoneri uncle (who also shares Ciro/Joe's mother's surname) living in Pueblo and Illinois before NYC. Tony Canzoneri's family lived in Johnson City, Illinois before NYC and his sister married a Giambrone from Palazzo. Leo Ferraro's mother was also a Giambrone and Domenico Giambrone was a leading St. Louis mafioso from Palazzo. We also have Chicago associate Sam Canzoneri's family coming from Palazzo.

Tons of potential connections between US mafiosi from Palazzo but hard to directly connect them. We know Nick DeJohn hooked up with his paesan Ciro Gallo in SF at least, indicating Joe Gallo and bro-in-law Ferraro interacted with the DiGiovannis in Chicago.

[PolackTony]

Was able to find some info on Ciro/Joe Gallo's brother-in-law in Chicago, Leo Ferraro. Surname stood out but he was from Palazzo like the Gallos, unlikely any connection to Frank Ferraro/Sortino. Leo ended up in the CA Bay Area like the Gallos and DeJohn.

Brings to mind Giuseppe Ferraro/Morici you guys were talking about based on relation to the Sinacore name. For whatever reason there are a lot of ties between Palazzo Adriano and that part of Trapani. DeJohn was allegedly related to Benevento from Partanna and Bonanno figure Benny Gallo was from Santa Ninfa but his traveling partner when he arrived was from Palazzo Adriano (and shared a surname with Ciro/Joe Gallo's mother from Palazzo). These ties seem to exist in Sicily and the US, haven't been able to explain it or if it's just a coincidence with people I've looked into. No idea where Ferraro/Morici was from but has me curious given he had relatives from Castelvetrano and Leo Ferraro was from Palazzo.

Sam DiGiovanni telling the FBI he lived in Colorado before Chicago fits with the Canzoneri uncle (who also shares Ciro/Joe's mother's surname) living in Pueblo and Illinois before NYC. Tony Canzoneri's family lived in Johnson City, Illinois before NYC and his sister married a Giambrone from Palazzo. Leo Ferraro's mother was also a Giambrone and Domenico Giambrone was a leading St. Louis mafioso from Palazzo. We also have Chicago associate Sam Canzoneri's family coming from Palazzo.

Tons of potential connections between US mafiosi from Palazzo but hard to directly connect them. We know Nick DeJohn hooked up with his paesan Ciro Gallo in SF at least, indicating Joe Gallo and bro-in-law Ferraro interacted with the DiGiovannis in Chicago.

Yeah, I think that the DeJohn-Ciro Gallo thing is also another potential indicator that Giovanni DiGiovanni may have been a mafioso. I doubt that Nick DeJohn and the Heights DiGiovannis wound up in the Outfit due solely to criminal activities, the family was clearly a mafia connected mafia.

Good info on the apparent Palazzo-Trapani connections. I note that, today at least, there’s a road (SS188) that directly connects Palazzo to both Partanna and Santa Ninfa. As we discussed recently, possible that these modern roads reflect older roads already in place before (the road is very meandering, leading me to suspect it was old and not the product of modern engineering). While connections between Palazzo and both Corleone and the Burgio area in Agrigento would seem obvious due to geographic proximity, Palazzo may have been “closer” to Trapani than we would think, if these connections reflect underlying infrastructure. Need a road map of the area in the 1800s.

I’d doubt that Frank Ferraro was related to any of these other Ferraros, as from what I could tell he got the Ferraro thing from his brother in law, who I don’t believe was Sicilian.

[Antiliar]

Thanks, man. See corrected genealogy for DeJohn above. Found a document stating that his mother was also from Palazzo Adriano, as I recall that in the past it was uncertain where she was from (and if she was related to the other Inserras, which seems unlikely).

I just wanted to put out a general word of appreciation for your research skills. Yes, we all make mistakes, but we correct them and learn from them. We have so many great researchers here, B, of course, and Lennert, thekidyouknow, Ed, Angelo, Snakes, Scott B and Scott D, and many others. You're all appreciated.

[PolackTony]

Thanks, man. See corrected genealogy for DeJohn above. Found a document stating that his mother was also from Palazzo Adriano, as I recall that in the past it was uncertain where she was from (and if she was related to the other Inserras, which seems unlikely).

I just wanted to put out a general word of appreciation for your research skills. Yes, we all make mistakes, but we correct them and learn from them. We have so many great researchers here, B, of course, and Lennert, thekidyouknow, Ed, Angelo, Snakes, Scott B and Scott D, and many others. You're all appreciated.

Thanks, again, and coming from you it means a lot. Agreed. The fact that we all participate in this forum is very important. If we were all conducting research in isolation, we’d have all learned and understood much less about this subject. But further, without questioning and challenge from each other, errors (both of fact and interpretation) would easily take hold and propagate. I see the forum here as a collaborative form of peer-review.

Plus, we can learn from mistakes in many ways. The fact that Nick DeJohn may have had another relative whose mother was a Lima could very well turn out to be significant, for example. And even if not, it gives us a bit more insight into where some people from Palazzo were living, who they married, etc. While that may not be directly relevant to the mafia organization, it is relevant to the wider networks of social affiliation within which the mafia forms and operates.

[PolackTony]

Of course, there can also be a lot of variability in certainty here. For some guys, it’s relatively cut and dried when you know for a fact when they died and you’re able to find a death record stating birthplaces for both parents. In other cases, it’s much more difficult, due to name changes and spelling issues, multiple birthdates for guys born in Italy or born in Chicago before births had to be reported (I believe in 1916), poor records for people who entered via Louisiana (the bane of my existence), multiple guys with the same name born around the same time, BS ancestry.com family trees (many of them are really bad), and lack of solid demographic or personal info to build on. I’ve seen cases in the FBI’s files where they had problems verifying info on these guys, and have caught mistakes in their genealogical data as well.

In my experience, we actually have a leg up studying these Chicago guys, given that many birth and death records in Cook County record parents’ place of birth. Records in STL, for example, are a much bigger headache in my experience.

[B.]

Lima is a common name but with Trabia showing up heavy in the Chicago area something could be there. Lennert has incredible knowledge of the Limas so if there's a Chicago tie-in he might know.

Much respect, Rick -- we've all learned a ton from your work.

[Antiliar]

1875-1885 Palazzo Adriano marriage indexes:

image 2543

DiGiovanni - Palazzo Adriano indice 1875-1885 img 2543 of 2551.jpg

image 2544

DiGiovanni - Palazzo Adriano indice 1875-1885 img 2544 of 2551.jpg

[Antiliar]

BTW, in reference to the naturalization index card for Nick De John's mother, the address for Joseph DeLaurentis of 825 S. Racine is the same address Joseph Esposito gave for himself when he ran for office in 1922. DeLaurentis probably worked for Esposito.

[PolackTony]

BTW, in reference to the naturalization index card for Nick De John's mother, the address for Joseph DeLaurentis of 825 S. Racine is the same address Joseph Esposito gave for himself when he ran for office in 1922. DeLaurentis probably worked for Esposito.

Whoa. Good possibility then that this points to Solly D’s family back then. They were from Acerra Napoli and his grandfather was clearly a mobster on Taylor St. Seems to me that the ties between these Napolitani and the mafia were already well underway at this time.

[Antiliar]

BTW, in reference to the naturalization index card for Nick De John's mother, the address for Joseph DeLaurentis of 825 S. Racine is the same address Joseph Esposito gave for himself when he ran for office in 1922. DeLaurentis probably worked for Esposito.

Whoa. Good possibility then that this points to Solly D’s family back then. They were from Acerra Napoli and his grandfather was clearly a mobster on Taylor St. Seems to me that the ties between these Napolitani and the mafia were already well underway at this time.

Just did some followup. The Frank DeLaurentis killed in 1926 was reported to be a cousin of Joe Esposito. Mary DeLaurentis, Franks's aunt, said she was Diamond Joe's sister. The April 17, 1926, issue of the Tribune reported that Frank was a kinsman by marriage of Esposito.

[B.]

Amazing find.