As a follow-up, the Calabrese brother's mother Josephine Canone was born in Chicago to Raffaele Ignoffo Cannone of Monreale and Rosaria Minecci Millonzi of Montemaggiore Belsito. Some documents give Rosaria's birthplace as "Mariali" (a corruption of Murriali, the Sicilianu name for Monreale), like her husband, but this is false as she was definitely from Montemaggiore Belsito. Chicago had a large settlement of Monrealesi.PolackTony wrote: ↑Mon Nov 08, 2021 10:42 pm
Frank Calabrese Sr and Nicholas Calabrese were born in Chicago to James Calabrese (born in Chicago to parents from Mola di Bari, Bari) and Josephine/Sophie Canone (born in Chicago to parents from Omtemaggiore Belsito, Palermo).
The Cannones lived at 1160 W Grand (Grand and Racine) in the Grand Ave Patch (Nick Nitti lived at the same corner at the time; in the same building as the Cannones also lived some Partipilos who may have been relatives of Joe Lombardi of the EP crew). When Raffaele was naturalized in 1924, one of the witnesses was Stefano Mesi of Montemaggiore Belsito, who lived at Grand and May. Worth noting that Luigi Mesi, the father of Sam and Phil Mesi, was also from Montemaggiore Belsito and those Mesis lived nearby at Grand and Noble, so some relation is likely.
James Calabrese (parents Francesco Calabrese and Rosa Buonorata, of Mola Di Bari) also grew up on Racine at Grand Ave. Nicola Nitti, Sr was one of the witnesses to Francesco Calabrese's 1922 naturalization. Nicola Nitti were from Triggiano, Bari, where the De Fronzos were from (their paternal grandmother was also a Nitti from Triggiano), as well as Pasquale Spilotro and the father of Joe Lombardi (EP Joe Lombardi). The father of Outfit associate Vito James Nitti was also from Triggiano. Nicola Nitti married Maria Catania in Chicago in 1910. She was born in 1892 in Louisiana to Salvatore Catania of Termini Imerese and Mattea Bivona of Contessa Entellina; the family moved to Chicago after and lived on Ohio St in the Grand Ave Patch.
Nicola and Maria's son Nick Nitti, Jr was the famous Nick Nitti of the travel agency, who was observed traveling to Italy in the '60s with Accardo, Genovese member Gaetano "Tony Goebbels" Ricci, and Paul Ricca's sister Emily De Lucia. I personally suspect that the Nitti Travel Agency may have been an important conduit that gave legal cover to some of Chicago's connections back to Italy. This may be relevant considering that in later decades the Sacra Corona Unita was operating in Chicago with the Outfit and partnered with the EP crew. Nick Nitti, Jr was also the grandfather of reputed current Outfit member Jason Nitti. His son Nick Nitti (mother was Yolanda Micaletti; grew up on Grand Ave, parents from Napoli and Catania province, Sicily) married Rosa Cerone (they, in turn, had another son named Nick Nitti, restauranteur and brother of Jason Nitti). Rosa Cerone's grandfather, Luigi Cerone, was from Muro Lucano, Potenza, and likely related to Jackie Cerone's father Giovanni Cerone. In possible relation to Nick Nitti, Jr having close ties to Italy, the FBI specifically identified Jack Cerone, Jr as the pointman between the Chicago Outfit and Italian mafia affiliates in Chicago in the 80s/90s.
Speaking of Jack P Cerone Jr, longtime labor attorney. Jack Jr was the owner of II Jack's, an Outfit-connected restaurant at Grand and Wood that was reportedly Willie Messino's hangout (I used to live around the corner as a kid; even my mother always said that place was mobbed up). Jack Jr took sole control of II Jack's after buying out his former partner George Colucci (they were paesani, as the Coluccis were also from Potenza). In 2012, Jack Jr filed suit against the State of Illinois after he was hit with back tax penalties on II Jacks. Jack Jr was represented in the case by the Law Office of Anthony Pinelli. Tony Pinelli, Jr, who died in 2019, was, naturally, the son of Tony Pinelli and Louise DeGeorge.