Bonanno 1960s chart

[thekiduknow]

Pretty sure our Daguanno was Alberto Daguanno/D'Aguanno, born around 1905-1908. His WWII draft card, 1940s census, and his alien registeration have it as 1908, but passenger manifests have his birth year as roughly 1905/1906. His parents were Pietro Daguanno, and Elizabetta “Lizzie” Basirico. It does look like his family came from Paceco. In 1920, he arrived in the US with his mom and brother, and they were headed to his father's address at 135 Meserole St in Willamsburg Brooklyn.

An obit of his sister lists him as still alive in 1971.

Back to his drug arrest, he's described on one of those Senate committee reports as also associated with Cristofo Rubino, who hung around/was killed at the same democratic social club that DiGiovanna hung out at.

He was actually born in Marsala, his mother from was Paceco. He died there in 1977, so he it looks like he was deported. He may have been in Sicily in 1963, as he was sentenced to four years for that drug case.

[B.]

Awesome job. All the connections are there.

Do we know for sure Pino Daguanno was from Castellammare? I remember that was the assumption based on Ronsisvalle's info (which isn't 100% reliable) but I'm not sure if there was anything confirming it.

[thekiduknow]

I haven't looked into him yet, but I don't think Ronsisvalle said Pino was from Castellammare, just that Bonanno called the Buccellato's in Castellammare and they sent over the zips, Pino being one of them. Ronsisvalle came to the US after the split, so he would have heard that story after the fact, so could be that the Buccellato's sent gunmen from all of Trapani, rather than just CDG.

Edit: There is a Giuseppe D'Aquanno who was born in 1926, and died in 1989 in Brooklyn who was from CDG, but I'm not sure if he's the same one.

[PolackTony]

I haven't looked into him yet, but I don't think Ronsisvalle said Pino was from Castellammare, just that Bonanno called the Buccellato's in Castellammare and they sent over the zips, Pino being one of them. Ronsisvalle came to the US after the split, so he would have heard that story after the fact, so could be that the Buccellato's sent gunmen from all of Trapani, rather than just CDG.

Edit: There is a Giuseppe D'Aquanno who was born in 1926, and died in 1989 in Brooklyn who was from CDG, but I'm not sure if he's the same one.

D’Aguanno is one of those surnames that’s well distributed across Trapani province, represented equally in CDG, Trapani città, and Marsala/Mazara. So it’s hard to say just based on the surname where he likely came from.

[thekiduknow]

We can add Biaggio "Benny" Restivo as a caporegime in 1963. He and his brother Vincent operated Restivo Brothers Bakery at 487 Harman street. Before this I've only seen him described as a "former caporegime". Most likely he retired after DiGregorio became boss.

[thekiduknow]

I haven't looked into him yet, but I don't think Ronsisvalle said Pino was from Castellammare, just that Bonanno called the Buccellato's in Castellammare and they sent over the zips, Pino being one of them. Ronsisvalle came to the US after the split, so he would have heard that story after the fact, so could be that the Buccellato's sent gunmen from all of Trapani, rather than just CDG.

Edit: There is a Giuseppe D'Aquanno who was born in 1926, and died in 1989 in Brooklyn who was from CDG, but I'm not sure if he's the same one.

D’Aguanno is one of those surnames that’s well distributed across Trapani province, represented equally in CDG, Trapani città, and Marsala/Mazara. So it’s hard to say just based on the surname where he likely came from.

Thanks for the info. A good clue might be if the Buccellatos controlled only CDG, or if they could pull gunmen from other parts of Trapani.

[B.]

The Buccellatos were leading members in CDG for at least 70 years by the 1960s (probably longer) and the 1896 investigation showed the Family was working close with guys from different Trapani towns. I'm sure they knew guys all over but if they were able to recruit guys from other towns to help Bonanno that'd be big.

Wonder how much substance there was to what Ronsisvalle heard.

[PolackTony]

The Buccellatos were leading members in CDG for at least 70 years by the 1960s (probably longer) and the 1896 investigation showed the Family was working close with guys from different Trapani towns. I'm sure they knew guys all over but if they were able to recruit guys from other towns to help Bonanno that'd be big.

Wonder how much substance there was to what Ronsisvalle heard.

My impression has been that the CDG/Alcamo and Marsala/Mazara-area networks were distinct, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have some close ties. The Bonannos also had guys from Partanna, which is within the Mazara region, and I think that also tells us something.

[Angelo Santino]

[B.]

Didn't realize Bagheria used the name Fratuzzi like Corleone did. When the Corleonesi were running Sicily much later guys like Provenzano used Bagheria as their base of operations. Not surprised it was used by multiple Families, like Fratellanza.

My impression is Castellammare has been the mafia's main political base in Trapani province going back to the 1800s. The 1896 investigation showed even guys who lived closer to Trapani citta were in the Castellammarese leadership's orbit and then Maranzano is provincial representative in the 1920s. Seems they've more often than not been the dominant force in the province with an exception being the Corleonesi kneecapping them and moving the power to Alcamo. We can see now the power is back in Castellammare under Domingo.

Might tell us something about why Castellammare was so important in the US, though Sicilian mafia politics didn't always show up in the US they provided early influence the extent of which we still don't know. Question is the role Camporeale played in the Sicilian mafia during the 1800s when it was part of Trapani.

Like Tony said, the southern part of the province has sort of its own network centered around Marsala/Castelvetrano/Mazara, though we do see Marsala and Mazara show up in traces w/ the Bonannos. The Campobello di Mazara guys in Philly might have been lined up with Sabella there. You do have Santa Ninfa / Salemi / Partanna showing up as an influential faction in the Bonanno Family and Desimone from Salaparuta was aligned with Schiro nationally. Vita is a weird one too as the Bonannos had maybe a couple guys from there but the Newark/Lucchese NJ crew and Varios didn't end up with them though the Newark underboss Monaco was from Vita and apparently a core supporter of Maranzano.

What's interesting to me about Trapani province is the mafia is just as dominant as the other provinces but there are fewer Families there than Agrigento and Palermo provinces. It's crazy how many tiny villages in those provinces have their own distinct Families.

[Angelo Santino]

[B.]

Vito Scavuzzo was a pentito inducted into the Vita Family by the early 1930s. He said Vita and Calatafimi were one Family at that time under boss Vito Musso and it was called the "Rosignolo" Family because the region used to be the Rosignolo fiefdom (we see this trend around Sicily of Families using historic names for districts / regions / villages). Bonanno member Vincenzo Morsellino was from Calatafimi and was a cousin of Newark/Lucchese member Settimo Accardi and Bonanno member Michael Adamo, both from Vita, so there was interrelation between mafiosi from Calatafimi / Vita along with Scavuzzo ID'ing these villages as one Family.

Scavuzzo also ID'd Michele Agosta as the boss of Santa Ninfa and said he was very close to "Rosignolo" boss Vito Musso. Musso was also close to the Family in Montelepre (John DiBella, Giuseppe Saputo, and Phil Candella's hometown) and identified Montelepre figures with surnames that would later be linked to Salvatore Giuliano's bandit group (Giuliano himself was related to Montelepre mafia leaders), including the father of Giuliano's top aide Gaspare Pisciotta (who along with Buscetta ID'd Giuliano as a made member). He ID'd a Candela as one of the Montelepre names, suggesting a link to Phil Candella.

No question the Trapani (and Palermo border) network we see later in the Bonanno Family and rest of the US was well-established in Sicily. These relationships weren't coincidental or new.

What's interesting to me is how Calatafimi / Vita were once one Family called "Rosignolo" but appear to have split later according to the mandamento map and even belong to different mandamenti. Sort of like Castelvetrano disbanding due to Fascist pressure in the 1930s according to Allegra, then obviously regrouping and becoming the most powerful Family in the region in recent decades.

The Calatafimi / Vita situation also shows that Families splitting (i.e. Lucchese/Genovese and Gambino/Colombo) isn't exclusive to the early US. I know you've found similar evidence of this happening in Palermo.

Makes you wonder too if other Families were defined earlier on by historic fiefdoms and then split. I don't know when the Rosignolo fiefdom was dissolved but it could tell us the Family formed there when it was in place.

[PolackTony]

Great maps. There was also a report of "partiti" in Mazara del Vallo going back to ~1800, which I believe may be the earliest known reference to an apparent mafia organization in Trapani province (?).

For the island-wide map, do you think it would make sense to also include the "Sacra Unione" that was reported to have been active over a wide area based in what is now Enna province in the 1820s-30s?

[PolackTony]

Vito Scavuzzo was a pentito inducted into the Vita Family by the early 1930s. He said Vita and Calatafimi were one Family at that time under boss Vito Musso and it was called the "Rosignolo" Family because the region used to be the Rosignolo fiefdom (we see this trend around Sicily of Families using historic names for districts / regions / villages). Bonanno member Vincenzo Morsellino was from Calatafimi and was a cousin of Newark/Lucchese member Settimo Accardi and Bonanno member Michael Adamo, both from Vita, so there was interrelation between mafiosi from Calatafimi / Vita along with Scavuzzo ID'ing these villages as one Family.

Scavuzzo also ID'd Michele Agosta as the boss of Santa Ninfa and said he was very close to "Rosignolo" boss Vito Musso. Musso was also close to the Family in Montelepre (John DiBella, Giuseppe Saputo, and Phil Candella's hometown) and identified Montelepre figures with surnames that would later be linked to Salvatore Giuliano's bandit group (Giuliano himself was related to Montelepre mafia leaders), including the father of Giuliano's top aide Gaspare Pisciotta (who along with Buscetta ID'd Giuliano as a made member). He ID'd a Candela as one of the Montelepre names, suggesting a link to Phil Candella.

No question the Trapani (and Palermo border) network we see later in the Bonanno Family and rest of the US was well-established in Sicily. These relationships weren't coincidental or new.

What's interesting to me is how Calatafimi / Vita were once one Family called "Rosignolo" but appear to have split later according to the mandamento map and even belong to different mandamenti. Sort of like Castelvetrano disbanding due to Fascist pressure in the 1930s according to Allegra, then obviously regrouping and becoming the most powerful Family in the region in recent decades.

The Calatafimi / Vita situation also shows that Families splitting (i.e. Lucchese/Genovese and Gambino/Colombo) isn't exclusive to the early US. I know you've found similar evidence of this happening in Palermo.

Makes you wonder too if other Families were defined earlier on by historic fiefdoms and then split. I don't know when the Rosignolo fiefdom was dissolved but it could tell us the Family formed there when it was in place.

As with the Trapani/Western Palermo network, I believe there's a good chance that the families around Mazara/Castevetrano had similarly close ties to the mafia in Agrigento comuni near the provincial border (Sambuca, Menfi, etc.). When looking into come Castelvetranese families I saw some indication of ties to comuni in Agrigento. The fiefdom thing is interesting. There are several layers of structures like that I think -- old fiefdoms, road systems, seasonal migration routes from the wheatfields to the coast and back, pasture routes, and the areas within which different brigand groups operated. Multiple and overlaying structures like these I'm sure played a significant role in defining specific families as well as the connections for inter-family and intra-/inter-regional networks.

[B.]

Be great to see an old map of Sicily to see how roads / paths connected early on -- I'd guess the roads today are in similar if not the same places. We could probably learn more about the early networks from that than geographical proximity alone though they're both important.