The other "Gambino family": A very Chicago story

[Antiliar]

Frank Michael Gambino was born Sept 22, 1899 in Italy. His mother was Maria (Mary) Grazia (Geraci). Father was Giuseppe Gambino, born in 1877, and his parents were Francesco Gambino and Vicenza Duvo. There's a 1905 passenger manifest that could be Giuseppe Gambino who came from Torretta and moved to Philadelphia (however the 1910 census for them says he arrived in 1900).

Nice, I was actually about to post after looking into Frank M Gambino of Rockford. Seems very unlikely that he was the Taylor St Frank Gambino, as he was almost certainly too young (based on photo in the Trib of Frank Gambino) and in 1920 was living in Rockford and working in a factory.

There were Gambinos in Chicago from Torretta, however. There was actually a Francesco Gambino, born about 1863 in Torretta, who arrived in NYC in 1910 for Chicago bound for Chicago. Unable to confirm any later records in Chicago for this guy, though. Then, in 1914, another Francesco Gambino from Torretta arrived bound for Chicago, but this guy subsequently lived on May St in the Grand Ave Patch and stated that he was employed as a laborer, so again, unlikely to be the Taylor St Frank Gambino.

I didn't think the Rockford Frank Gambino was the same as the Chicago one, but wanted to add to what Cavita had. This is the primary reason I don't followup on a lot of early Chicago Mafia figures. The records are too scanty. It would be interesting to start a thread on members of just the Chicago Mafia (maybe including Chicago Heights) similar to the thread on the origins of the Outfit members.

[PolackTony]

Frank Michael Gambino was born Sept 22, 1899 in Italy. His mother was Maria (Mary) Grazia (Geraci). Father was Giuseppe Gambino, born in 1877, and his parents were Francesco Gambino and Vicenza Duvo. There's a 1905 passenger manifest that could be Giuseppe Gambino who came from Torretta and moved to Philadelphia (however the 1910 census for them says he arrived in 1900).

Nice, I was actually about to post after looking into Frank M Gambino of Rockford. Seems very unlikely that he was the Taylor St Frank Gambino, as he was almost certainly too young (based on photo in the Trib of Frank Gambino) and in 1920 was living in Rockford and working in a factory.

There were Gambinos in Chicago from Torretta, however. There was actually a Francesco Gambino, born about 1863 in Torretta, who arrived in NYC in 1910 for Chicago bound for Chicago. Unable to confirm any later records in Chicago for this guy, though. Then, in 1914, another Francesco Gambino from Torretta arrived bound for Chicago, but this guy subsequently lived on May St in the Grand Ave Patch and stated that he was employed as a laborer, so again, unlikely to be the Taylor St Frank Gambino.

I didn't think the Rockford Frank Gambino was the same as the Chicago one, but wanted to add to what Cavita had. This is the primary reason I don't followup on a lot of early Chicago Mafia figures. The records are too scanty. It would be interesting to start a thread on members of just the Chicago Mafia (maybe including Chicago Heights) similar to the thread on the origins of the Outfit members.

Of course, I just wanted to check in on the Rockford guy and rule them out as potential "Frank Gambino" candidates.

The way we've been doing the "Origins" thread as it is, we do have both earlier and later guys, which I think has worked out well.

[B.]

Don't want to distract from the main theme, but the Baltimore / possible Termini tie-in from the initial post brought this to mind...

- The Utica Lima/Aiello/Gambino clan were from Bagheria but a Frank Inserra from Termini married in via mafioso Domenico Aiello's sister. Inserra was a wealthy banana dealer who lived in Pittsburgh and Cleveland before Utica and he maintained ties to Baltimore. Whether Inserra was a covert mafia figure or not, the main guys from this clan (Pietro Lima, Domenico Aiello, Rosario Gambino, Salvatore Falcone) were mafia figures and Inserra fits the pattern of other figures from Termini given his business and the towns he was tied to.

- Raises a question too if the Chicago/STL and Utica Inserras were related. The mafia Inserra/Inserros of Chicago paternal side looks to be from Termini like Frank.

- Brings to mind Arrigo of the Banana Society -- you ID'd the Chicago member's family being from Termini like him. Seems Inserra wouldn't have been a stranger to Banana Society figures given his ties to Pitt, Cleveland, and his trade/hometown. There were Banana Society letters sent to Chicago.

- You found the Lima name in Chicago related to the DeJohns, probably from the same cluster of Palermo towns (Utica mafia leader Pietro Lima was Bagherese, the Banana Society ones were from Trabia, both towns would fit Chicago's colonies).

- We already talked about the Albany-based Battaglia of the Utica decina who was from Termini like the Chicago ones.

Utica can be definitively tied to Chicago through the infamous Joe Aiello, but seems to be a significant early network between Chicago-Wisconsin-Utica-Pittsburgh-Baltimore that is mostly undiscovered.

We knew members from Termini showed up in some places but I fully credit you with identifying the extent that it shows up in Chicago and calling attention to it. This Baltimore connection might fit in with that.

[PolackTony]

These are all good points. If I had to wager, as my educated guess, I’d say that the mafia probably started in Chicago in the 1880s as that’s when we see a cluster of Termitani being established in the city. By 1900, Giuseppe Morici is the first likely boss that we’ve identified, and I’d presume that the compaesani networks enabling the Moricis operations had been established for at least several years prior to 1900. It is abundantly clear that if one drew a rough triangle around Termini, Bagheria, and Ciminna, including Caccamo, it demarcates the primary core area for the majority of Sicilian Chicago area members and associates (and then that core axis also probably had close connections to towns like Marineo, Campofelice, Valledolmo). A bit later, Corleone (including Palazzo, PDG, etc) came in to the mix, along with areas of Trapani mainly around Marsala and Castelvetrano, western Palermo (mainly Cinisi), the Agrigentesi, and guys from Caltanissetta/Enna, with a few randos from Eastern Sicily, of course. Certainly the Termini/Bagheria etc (what I think of as the “Chicago triangle”) networks related closely to places like upstate NY, Pitt, and Ohio, while the Agrigentesi show links to downstate IL, Colorado, PA, etc (mining areas) and the Cinisesi to STL and Detroit. This is of course a simplification and there are a lot of cross-cutting connections and granular substructures at play, both in terms of how these networks interrelated in Sicily and how they intersected with patterns of settlement and migration within the US, which we still don’t fully understand (I mean, I don’t, at least). But we can identify some basic trends and I think that you’re spot on with the Termini connections across parts of the US. Baltimore, I suspect, was part of this. Though we’ve discussed it in the past, it remains unclear to me what exactly happened with the mafia in Baltimore, and I imagine that the Termitani must’ve had some network there in the 1890s and later. In terms of longer terms connections, worth noting again that Phil Alderisio was alleged to have had close connections with the “boss” of Baltimore (I.e., the capo of the Gambino decina there) in the 60s. Now, this may very well just reflect later racket operations between Chicago and the Gambinos (probably union stuff). But Alderisio was Battaglia’s guy, so it’s possible that these later connections to Baltimore could have partially echoed or reflected an older connection. Something at least worth thinking about and trying to look into.

Another fascinating thing is that, 140 years after I suspect that men from this part of Sicily may have founded the mafia in Chicago, we have the LoBues from Trabia identified as alleged Chicago members. Not that it reflects any latter-day occult Chicago-Termini mafia connection, mind you, but rather the fact that old patterns of migration and settlement shaped the ways that much later migrations from Italy to Chicago played out. Chain migration, but with deep and longstanding historical roots.

[PolackTony]

You're an excellent writer, and your detailed knowledge of the genealogy of Chicago's underworld figures is tops. You should be a contributor to the PBS show "Finding Your Roots."

Thanks for the kind words, Ed. I have nothing but the utmost respect for your research and writing, so it means a lot coming from you.

Speaking of “Find Your Roots”, it’s been very interesting when I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with some of the family members of Chicago guys, as they are generally still quite aware of the specific Italian origins of their families and can provide details and nuances not captured in these documents, of course.

[B.]

The Chicago origins thread has been enlightening to me because of the continuity in backgrounds with many people, even the non-siggies.

My opinion is there's more to learn by keeping all Chicago members / suspected members together.

[B.]

Re: Baltimore, I would need to dig through but one of the Gambino members' main interests was the cheese/pizza business and they were connected to the "usual suspect" cheese companies around the US. Can't remember offhand if they worked with Grande Cheese but they were at most one degree removed in that network of companies. One of the members involved in this through his Italian specialty business was from Sambuca. We'd learn a lot if we knew Grande's range of biz relationships when it was Chicago-owned.

[PolackTony]

Re: Baltimore, I would need to dig through but one of the Gambino members' main interests was the cheese/pizza business and they were connected to the "usual suspect" cheese companies around the US. Can't remember offhand if they worked with Grande Cheese but they were at most one degree removed in that network of companies. One of the members involved in this through his Italian specialty business was from Sambuca. We'd learn a lot if we knew Grande's range of biz relationships when it was Chicago-owned.

Those connections I think are well-worth further exploration.

I’ve wondered about Luigi Morici. Given the surname and the early major presence of Termitani in Baltimore, I thought he might have been from Termini. Morici arrived in Baltimore in 1920 from Southampton, UK and all of his documents just state that he was born in Palermo. Hard sometimes to tell if this means that a person was actually from Città di Palermo, or in fact somewhere else in Palermo province. But nothing that I’ve seen states anything beyond Palermo, so I don’t have any basis to conclude that he was actually from Termini. If he was from Palermo city, his connections to the Gambino family would certainly make sense.

Another connection to Chicago could’ve come from the Corbis, as they were from Catanzaro province and there were many Calabres’ in the Outfit. There were Corbis in Chicago as well, but they seem to have all been from Frosinone province, Lazio.

[B.]

On an old list I made a few years ago I had a Giuseppe Morici coming from Castelbuono, then Agostino, Antonio, and Filippo Morici being from Bagheria. Alberto Speciale (murdered 1925) arrived to future Milwaukee underboss Joe Gumino when he came to the US and was close to the Bagheria Morici brothers -- Speciale and Gumino were from Bagheria too. Not sure where I got Giuseppe's name but it was just a quick list of early Chicago mafia figures and I didn't do much verification of who was who.

No idea about Luigi but the name shows up all along the eastern Palermo coast.

[PolackTony]

On an old list I made a few years ago I had a Giuseppe Morici coming from Castelbuono, then Agostino, Antonio, and Filippo Morici being from Bagheria. Alberto Speciale (murdered 1925) arrived to future Milwaukee underboss Joe Gumino when he came to the US and was close to the Bagheria Morici brothers -- Speciale and Gumino were from Bagheria too. Not sure where I got Giuseppe's name but it was just a quick list of early Chicago mafia figures and I didn't do much verification of who was who.

No idea about Luigi but the name shows up all along the eastern Palermo coast.

Yes, there were a bunch of Moricis in Chicago from across Eastern Palermo province. Tom Hunt had Joe Morici as "a native of the Castelbuno-Termini area", which of course encompasses a number of comuni. My feeling after looking into the Moricis was that the Giuseppe Morici who was probably rappresentante ~1900 was the Giuseppe Morici born ~1855 in Termini, who was a "wholesale fruit merchant" (high suspicion job description there) at the time of his death in Chicago in 1925. I believe that this Giuseppe Morici may have arrived in the US at NOLA in 1883. Per his 1925 death record, his father was Joseph Morici and mother Antonina "Ceresi". In an account that I found on the internet written by a Morici descendant in Chicago, Michael Morici, these were Giuseppe Morici and Antonina Geraci. They had three sons -- Joseph, Frank, and Salvatore (Michael's grandfather), who came to Chicago.

It should be noted that at the time of the Salvatore DiGiovanni murder, Joe Morici was stated to have had a brother named Frank who was a saloon-keeper. In the 1900 census, there is a Joseph Morici (occupation "commission man", i.e., wholesaler) living on N Union in the eastern end of what was developing into the Grand Ave Patch, right by the corner of Grand and Milwaukee Ave where the Morici brothers were said to have operated and DiGiovanni was murdered. Living with Joseph was his younger brother, Frank Morici, occupation saloon-keeper, and their elderly parents "Joseph" and "Minnie". The son Joseph was listed as having arrived in the US in 1894, and his wife was listed as "Helen"; Giuseppe Morici's wife was Ignazia Mercurio (almost certainly from Termini herself as there were other Mercurios from there in Chicago. When she died in 1927 her obit stated that her husband Joseph was already deceased). In an 1897 birth record for a daughter who died in childhood, Salvatore Morici (died 1910 in Chicago) and his wife Antonina Demma (both from Termini; Antonina's mother was a Battaglia) were listed as living on the same block of N Union. Their daughter Josephine Morici subsequently married Vincenzo "Jimmy" Vinci, of the notorious Calabres' Vinci brothers operating in the Southside/Chinatown during the wars of the 1920s. Frank Morici I believe was the Francesco Morici who married Giuseppa Schillaci (there were Schillacis in Chicago from Termini) in 1902 and then died in 1906 (not sure if natural or homicide, not mentioned in the papers so far as I know). Father Giuseppe Morici I believe died in 1902.

In 1910 Giuseppe and Ignazio Morici were living a couple of blocks away at Halsted and Ohio (in the immediate vicinity of where several decades later Nick DeJohn was based), with Giuseppe's mother Antonina (father Giuseppe and brother Frank having died by then). Their children were also grown and out of the home. In 1900, their daughter Minnie Morici was about 16; she subsequently married Joseph Minardi, and under the name "Minnie Minardo" was the informant for Giuseppe Morici's 1925 death record (listing his wife as Ignazia Morici and his birthplace as Termini).

In the 1910 census, Giuseppe Morici gave his occupation as "liquor-store", and in 1911 the Tribune reported that a huge explosion from a bombing leveled several buildings at Grand Ave and Green St, one of which housed the business of Joseph Morici, liquor wholesaler. The Tribune reported that the bomb was placed in the doorway of Morici's store, as a warning to others to pay up to "the Camorra". In a subsequent article, however, the Tribune reported that Morici and partner Pietro "Misuraci" had been arrested for arson on suspicion that they had committed the bombing themselves. The article describes Morici as "one of the wealthy Italians of the northwest side" and states that he was the same Morici previously acquitted of murder (the DiGiovanni thing). "Misuraci" they stated had previously collected insurance for a fire at his Chicago business, then relocated to downstate Danville, IL, where he operated a fruit business with brothers named "Mascari", which was also bombed. "Misuraci" here would correspond to a Pietro Misuraca, who was born about 1871 and died in Chicago in 1918. In 1910 he was living as a lodger in a boarding house at Grand and Ohio (dead in the middle of Morici territory) and gave his occupation as "liquor merchant". No info on where he was born that I found, but given the surname, Terrasini/Cinisi could be a possibility (though there were also Misuracas in Chicago from Camporeale [some of whom later moved to Rockford] and Vicari as well). A possible clue, however, comes from a 1913 Tribune article discussing the murder of Gaspare Portuese on N Milton in Little Sicily. Apparently, "Casper" and his brother Antonio were hired by their brother-in-law Vincenzo Misuraca (married to their sister) to torch his building in Danville, but Gaspare allegedly told the authorities about it afterward and fled to Chicago where he was killed. In 1930, a Vincenzo Misuraca (born about 1869 in Castellammare), returned to Racine, WI after a trip to Sicily, and listed a Portuese as his relative back in Castellammare.

From the 1911 Trib article regarding the Morici/Misuraca bombing affair:


In a 1908 Tribune article regarding the "Black Hand" murder of Joseph Concello, the police raided the home of a "George Morici", stated to be a partner of Giovanni "Scardini" (there were Scardenos in Chicago from both Trabia, Bagheria, and Trapani province). I haven't been able to identify any records for a George or Giorgio Morici that might match this person, but there was a Girolamo Morici (who seems to have possibly gone by both "James" and "George"), born ~1882 in Campofelice di Roccella (where a number of Outfit figures trace their ancestry) and who died in 1933 in Chicago. His wife Giuseppa was a DiBella (sometimes given as Di Bella, other times as Lo Bello) from Trabia, it seems.

Another 1908 article identified Scardina's partner as a "Phillip Morici", alleged "Black Hand" leader. Unclear whether they had conflated "George" and Phillip" Morici, or if these were separate guys both affiliated with Scardina, but Filippo Morici matches the brother of Agostino and Antonino Morici. As B. noted, these Moricis were from Bagheria. Antonino and Agostino were major businessmen who operated grocery wholesaling and pasta manufacturing interests. In 1917, the Morici Bros Co purchased valuable land in the Near Westside industrial/commercial area from John Shedd (as in the Shedd Aquarium), head of Marshall Field & Co (Shedd was like a Rockefeller-tier magnate in Chicago) Then, in 1919, the Morici brothers were embroiled in a series of violent incidents involving the Gagliardo brothers (John and Michael, who ran a grocery wholesale business on W Randolph) and Pietro Montalbano (the Gagliardo's brother-in-law). All of these individuals were stated to have been "friends" and business partners, but then according to the Tribune, Montalbano and his buddy Joe Novello (aka, Sam Criminello, a highly appropriate name), began extorting the Gagliardos and Moricis, and the Gagliardos pressed charges, sending Novello/Criminello to prison. In September 1919, a car of gunmen opened fire on Agostino Morici and his wife's brother, Tony Culicchia, in the Westside West Garfield Park neighborhood where Morici lived. Several days after, John Gagliardo and Charles "Ramondy" (Raimondi, stated to have been one of the Gagliardos' salesmen, but listed on his 1919 death record as a "chauffeur", so likely Gagliardo's driver/bodyguard) were gunned down at the store of Peter Raineria on N Milton in Little Sicily. On his WW1 draft registration, John Gagliardo had stated that he was born in Bagheria and was employed by the A. Morici Co (and his 1919 death record stated that his mother's maiden name was Scardena). The Trib noted at this time that both Morici and Gagliardo had previously collected insurance when their businesses were bombed (shockingly). In 1911, the Tribune reported that a Joseph Gagliardo (secretary of local 233 of the Hod Carrier's Union) and his brother Frank were "members of the mafia" and leaders of "the Black Hand", suspected in the murder of Domenic Vaco (a delegate of the union local). In 1915, Joe Gagliardo was named business agent of the Hod Carriers when a bunch of union officials were indicted for conspiracy (going to show how far back mafia infiltration of labor unions went in Chicago). In 1929, a Giuseppe Gagliardo was arrested along with Andrea Aiello and Jack Costa, in what the Tribune called the Loop HQ of the "Northside gang" run by Bugs Moran and Joe Aiello (given the national alliances at play in this period, unsurprising that CPD reported that they found photos of Detroit gangsters at this office as well). The 1912 naturalization of a Giuseppe Gagliardo (born 1883), residing in Little Sicily, was witnessed by a Vincenzo Aiello and an Agostino Morici.

Amazingly, Antonino and Agostino managed to survive 7 more years of mafia warfare in Chicago (really, no small feat), before they were gunned down in January 1926 at Ogden and Lincoln in Lincoln Park (near Armitage and Lincoln; the section of Ogden Ave north of North Ave was removed in 1967). At the time of the Morici hit, the Trib noted that they had bailed out Novello/Criminello after he was jailed during the Montalbano/Gagliardo events (maybe this was part of their peace negotiation that kept them alive at that time). Per CPD and the Tribune, the Moricis were hit for refusing to contribute to the Scalise/Anselmi "Genna gang" defense fund (ostensibly the same reason that Harry Spingola had been clipped before them). CPD stated that they were searching for Montalbano and Novello as linked to the murder, but were unable to locate them.

Then there was also the "Joseph Morici, alias Ferrara" who was killed with Tony Lombardo in September 1928. His 1928 death record has him as Guiseppe Ferraro Morici, born 1895 to "Sedora" (Salvatore?) Morici and Teresa Ferraro in Italy and residing in Cicero at the time of his death. Haven't been able to confirm his place of origin. But on the Chicago Origins thread, Anti and I posted some info that supports Trapani province, as a Giuseppe Sanacaore, likely from Castelvetrano (died in Chicago in 1922), was stated to be his uncle by family according to the Tribune. Further, the informant for Giuseppe Sanacore's death record was an "A Montalbano", suggesting a possible link to Pietro Montalbano.

To tie this back into my above discussion centering on strife in the Taylor St Patch. A provisional theory that I'm working with is that by the late 1910s, there were (at least) two rival factions in the Chicago mafia, one centered on the old stronghold of the Little Sicily and Grand Ave neighborhoods (and dominated largely by men from Palermo province, Bagheria, Termini, etc), and a faction that had emerged south of those neighborhoods in the fast-growing Taylor St Patch. I believe that the Taylor St faction had a large component of Trapanese (the Gennas and their associates, Montalbano, Giuseppe Accardi, possibly the Gambinos) but had also strategically allied themselves with the mainlander groups via mafia member and Taylor St bigshot "Joe Diamante". Presuming that Esposito had major pull among the mainlanders, the Taylor St faction would have had a veritable army at their disposal. Given what we see with the violence surrounding the struggle for Alderman of the "Bloody 19th" Ward, it seems to me quite possible that the Genna/Taylor group backed rappresentante D'Andrea for the seat, while an opposition group composed of men from Termini seemed to have been backing longtime incumbent Johnny Powers. When D'Andrea is clipped, Mike Merlo takes the reigns and is able to smooth over some of these conflicts. But then when he dies of cancer, and Lombardo takes over, all hell breaks loose, and years of intense fighting resume. It is my belief now that what became the Capone faction evolved from the Genna/Esposito faction, and of course, the Aiello faction evolved from the group dominated by Bagheresi and Termitani. Not that compaesani networks completely defined or structured these factions (for example, I suspect that Montalbano's apparent henchman Novello/Criminello was probably from Altavilla Milicia), but they may have fed into a geographic/factional split that led to distinct blocs forming within the mafia, vying for control over not just racket operations and territories but also control of political offices and probably the Unione Siciliana (as a key instrument of political influence and patronage). This theory can provide a particular reading for what may have occurred with the Montalbano vs. Morici/Gagliardo conflict. While the Moricis had become major businessmen and thus possibly opened themselves up to extortion by their fellow mafiosi, they and the Gagliardos were Bagheresi who had previously operated businesses on the Near North/NW (Chicago Ave) but then were expanding their base of operations farther down into the Westside (Randolph, Washington), bordering the Taylor St Patch. By 1919, conflict had already erupted around Taylor St, linked by the Tribune and other sources to the D'Andrea/Powers split over political control of the 19th Ward. Montalbano was, of course, part of the Genna/Trapanese-led group.

[PolackTony]

Joseph was listed as having arrived in the US in 1894

This was a typo and should read "1884". As noted above, there was a Giuseppe Morici who arrived at NOLA in 1883 who may be the same guy.

Then there was also the "Joseph Morici, alias Ferrara" who was killed with Tony Lombardo in September 1928. His 1928 death record has him as Guiseppe Ferraro Morici, born 1895 to "Sedora" (Salvatore?) Morici and Teresa Ferraro in Italy and residing in Cicero at the time of his death. Haven't been able to confirm his place of origin. But on the Chicago Origins thread, Anti and I posted some info that supports Trapani province, as a Giuseppe Sanacaore, likely from Castelvetrano (died in Chicago in 1922), was stated to be his uncle by family according to the Tribune. Further, the informant for Giuseppe Sanacore's death record was an "A Montalbano", suggesting a possible link to Pietro Montalbano.

Some further things to note for Ferraro Morici. Outside of Palermo City, the comune in Sicily with the single highest prevalence of the Morici surname seems to be Castelvetrano. Further, Castelvetrano is also the comune with the highest prevalence of the Ferraro surname in Trapani province. This, along with the Sanacore and Montalbano links, makes me think that it is very likely that Giuseppe Ferraro Morici was indeed from Castelvetrano.

[aleksandrored]

Amazing article.

[PolackTony]

A year after Peppino's slaying, Sebastiana "Emma" Gambino married Francesco Pasquale Liparota, born 1888 in Sambiase, Catanzaro, Calabria. Not that Francesco Liparota of Sambiase (who was born 1901 to Saverio Liparota and Maria Teresa Falvo), though I would strongly suspect that they were related in some way. Liparota had arrived in the US in 1901, and at the time of his marriage in 1911 was living on Desplaines around the corner from where Salvatore Martino's grocery had been. On his 1901 passenger manifest, he stated that his "uncle" Gabriele Colao, living on Ewing St in the Taylor St Patch, was his contact. Gabriele Colao was apparently born in 1836 in Soveria Manelli, Calabria. While it is in Catanzaro province, Soveria is only several kilometers away from Colosimi, Cosenza, where Jim Colosimo was from. When Francesco Liparota died in Park Ridge in 1968, his parents were listed as "Charles" and "Mary" Liparota. These correspond to Pasquale Liparota (who went by "Charles" on some documents) and Maria Fato, both of Sambiase. Pasquale and Maria arrived with their daughter Rosina Liparota (born ~1892) on the same 1901 trip as Francesco and also stated that their contact was Gabriele Colao on Ewing st, their "uncle". Oddly, although Francesco was only ~13 and headed to the same "uncle" in Chicago, he was listed separately as traveling by himself. In 1910, the Liparotas (appearing as "Charles and Mary Labrado") lived on DesPlaines, with son "Frank" and two children born in Chicago -- Natalina "Dolly" and Salvatore. Daughter Rosina "Rosie" had married Fabio "James" Esposito (born ~1885 in Caserta, Campania to Giuseppe Esposito and Giovanna Catanese) in 1907, and the couple was living with the Liparotas in 1910. Francesco Pasquale Liparota, along with some others in his family, also used the "LaPorte" version of the surname in some documents. In January 1921, the Tribune reported that a "Frank LaPorte", with an address on S Sangamon in the Taylor St Patch, was one of four "mysterious armed men" that they apprehended, apparently on a mission. Also, worth noting that Frank and Emma seemed to have absconded from Chicago briefly in the early 1930s (whatever happened there) as their daughter June Liparota was born in Milwaukee in 1932, though they otherwise don't seem to have any connections to Milwaukee . By 1940, they were back in Chicago living at Sayre and Bloomingdale in the Italian Galewood neighborhood on the NW side.

In Matt Luzi's book, he underscores Frank LaPorte's strong connections to Milwaukee, presumably the deeper context for his close relationship to Frank Bompensiero. Luzi also includes a photo of LaPorte with a young boy, noting that this was the child of a paisan' in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee angle further strengthens my belief that LaPorte was related to the Francesco Liparota who married Emma Gambino.