It's probably a red herring for the guy who seems to most likely have been Vito Barone, but the main indicator apart from the name is also that the Pietro Barone born 1884 was a Taylor st guy and doesn't show any connection to Little Sicily. In 1917, Pete Barone (same birthdate, 1884/08/26, was living with his wife Mamie at Morgan and Polk (I used to sit outside and eat lunch in front of where his place used to be when I was a student at UIC way back when) in the Taylor st Patch, so his connection to Frank Bakes was no surprise. In one of their kid's documents, Pete Barone is listed as born in Palermo and his wife Mamie Cavallaro as born in Brooklyn. One thing also to note is that their son Mariano Barone was born 1912 in Memphis, so not surprising that I don't see a record matching them for 1910.B. wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 7:15 pmLooks like the Bakes-connected Barone was a red herring, though it's telling that the Sicilian Barones we're finding with mafia connections in Chicago were from Palermo province. Interesting Pietro Barone has the same DOB-DOD years as Giuseppe (1884-1932) but his wife was Maria "Mamie". Ciminna for Vito Barone would fit with the recently deceased boss DiSpenza and other important members. Pietro Barone (connected to the mob or not) being tied to the Bakes, who you said were from Termini, could indicate he was from that region as well.PolackTony wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 1:49 pm If "Vietro" Barone was actually named Pietro Barone, a good bet could be the Pietro Barone born 1893 in Sicily. His parents Salvatore Barone and Marianna Scimeca were from Altavilla Milicia, and in 1910 the family lived on Milton in Little Sicily. This guy died in Chicago in 1921.
Catalanotto's "lieutenant" was called "Vietro Barone" in 2 Tribune articles, but then another article from a bit later claimed that "Vito Barone" was the "chieftain" of Little Sicily who had been marked for death after Catalanotto's hit. While 22 was not too young back then to be a mafioso, it may have been too young to be a guy described as a "chieftain" in the neighborhood and a notorious "Black Hander" with a fearsome reputation (allegedly second only to Catalanotto himself) and well known to the police. A later article stated that Michele and Giovanni Catalanotto (the latter murdered in 1916) were charged along with Vito Barone for the murder of Antonina LoCascio; Barone's charges were dropped.
In 1911, a Vito Barone (address on Hobbie St in Little Sicily) and a Vito Ingraffia were arrested for the attempted "Black Hand" shooting of Joseph Sutero. So I'd put Vito Barone as probably born no later than about 1890. Vito Ingraffia may be the Vito Ingraffia born 1880 in Ciminna (died in Chicago in 1940). In 1917, he was a grocer on the Near North Side.
EDIT: The Tribune reported that Vito Barone was living on Hobbie (W 500 block, at Milton) in 1911. I looked through the 1910 census records for that block. There was no Vito Barone living there, but there was a Giuseppe Barone and his wife Antonina. This was the Giuseppe Barone born ~1884 in Ciminna, who married Antonina Passantino LaSpisa, also from Ciminna, in Chicago in 1906. Looks like this guy died 1932 in Chicago.
So, it could be that "Vito Barone" was actually Giuseppe Barone (as Anti has already stated, doesn't seem to be any record for a Vito/Vittorio/Victor Barone/Baroni/Baron that matches this guy). Or at least he was very likely a relative, as Sicilian compaesani tended to cluster in the same blocks and buildings in Little Sicily. Hobbie and Milton is also where the apparent Ciminnese Vito Ingraffia was reported to have been living in 1911.
The LaSpisa name stands out -- Gentile said Salvatore LaSpisa was a mafioso who killed D'Andrea and Merlo orderd LaSpisa's own murder in retaliation. Be interesting if Vito Barone (whether he is Giuseppe or a relation) was a marital relative of Salvatore LaSpisa.
Significant to me too that Pietro Catalanotto was from Villafranca, which is close to Merlo's hometown of Sambuca. That Sambuca/Villafranca/Burgio/Ribera element looks to have been powerful back in the mid-1910s well before Merlo became boss.
The LaSpisa thing I also thought was interesting, though I haven't yet looked into any connection to Salvatore LaSpisa (lotta names to follow up on, lol). And I agree that the Agrigentese element does seem to have been quite important, and apparently closely linked to the Termini area element. Maybe it's there and I just haven't seen it yet, but it seems to me that the Agrigentese element was mainly active in the same places that were strongholds for the guys from Termini-Bagheria (the "triangle") -- i.e., Little Sicily and Chinatown. Whereas the Trapanese element formed a major part of the Taylor St group, along with some guys also from the "triangle". The more of these people who we can identify and confirm, the better we can trace out those patterns and fill in some of the blanks.