Random historic info

[B.]

I don't now much about the Carbonari, but this account suggests "some" mafiosi joined the Carbonari in order to profit/exploit/use it to their advantage. That makes more sense to me than the mafia being a direct product of the Carbonari, as my impression is the mafia already existed before or simultaneous to the development of the Carbonari.

[B.]

- Attorney General of Trapani says there were "brotherhoods" (fratellanza) that included seven "parties" (partiti) under one leader. Leader could be anying from a landowner to a priest.

- Might try to help officials or ruin them. Had an agreement with criminals, with mediators who could attempt to get stolen goods back.

- High magistrates protected the "brotherhoods". Could not find witnesses to crimes even when committed openly.

- Public had been aware of this and "up in arms" since 1820.

[PolackTony]

Very interesting account there, in both excerpts.

[Antiliar]

B and Tony, you both make good points. My contention is that the Carbonari influenced the Mafia, perhaps more than just influenced, but influenced at the very least. I think it's possible that some Sicilian members of the Carbonari engaged in criminality or even took part in or formed criminal gangs that led to the creation of the Mafia, but we don't have enough evidence to confirm or refute this hypothesis. Several scholars take this view (I think Letizia Paoli is one of them).

It could also be true that some Masonic vocabulary was "in the air" in Sicily during this period, but someone or some group had to put it in the air. The two groups most likely to have put these terms in the air were the Freemasons and the Carbonari. For reasons I explained I think of the two it was more likely to have been the Carbonari, although they would have gotten them from the Freemasons. That's my opinion based on my reading of the evidence, although I'm not beholden to it.

[B.]

I'm very open to any interpretation of the Carbonari -- I'm very ignorant of the Carbonari itself and its practices. Thought it was interesting these authorities felt "some" mafiosi joined them, which is closer to what we see later with "some" mafiosi joining the freemasonry when it was to their advantage. I could see the Carbonari or freemasonry influencing the mafia during its formative stages either way, as we know the mafia takes influence just as it gives influence.

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With the Trapani Attorney General seeming to use the terms fratellanza and partiti in 1838, we know those terms were in use by the mafia in the late 1800s (Scagghiuni was recently talking about the term partiti). This would backdate them to the 1820s-1830s.

Not sure what he means by around seven "partiti" (parties) within the fratellanza having nothing in common except for the same leader, though partiti could refer to different branches of the membership which would make sense given Sicilian mafia members may have nothing ostensibly in common except membership.

[Antiliar]

Someone pointed out that on a 1939 passenger manifest for Nicolo Schiro his traveling companion was Frank Lo Medico of the Detroit Outfit (Conte di Savoia, April 27, 1939). It suggests that he maintained some of his OC contacts even after stepping down as boss.

BTW, I'm uploading a new resource link in the "Researching the Mafia" thread.

[B.]

Great detail. Along with him corresponding via letter with Frank Desimone of LA until his death there are def indications Schiro wasn't totally out of the loop.

[B.]

1920's...

Salvatore Romano is "a leader" after getting out of prison. He was a Gambino connected with Crocivera and Giamlombardo in the early 1900's.
romano leader.PNG

D'Aquila's name finally surfaces as being unmentioned for 10 years. The SS knew who he was but it appears he and those around him kept out of things..
daquila1.jpg
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Useless but still interesting passage - Villabate, Birmingham, Mangano
villabate mangano birmingham.jpg

Charles LaGaipa- Chicago Fratellanza, recommendation laters, John DeLeo
lagaipa chicago.jpg

lagaipa chicago 2.jpg

"Joe Messari (Masseria) is now a member of the Fratellanza -
lagaipa chicago lombardo.jpg

D'Aquila is President of the Fratellanza, Yale Morello Lagaipa mentioned.
lagaipa yale daquila.PNG

Sounds like LaGaipa is NOT a member by this time (1923)
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D'Aquila's family mentioned.
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One of the accounts of Charlie Luciano's early narcotics supplier says his name was "Big Nose Charlie" and another calls him "Cherry Nose". If Luciano did receive drugs from "Big Nose Charlie", this must be Calogero LaGaipa who used that nickname and was a longtime drug trafficker.

[PolackTony]

Pellegrino Mule was an early NYC "black hand" leader w/ his son during this period, came from Caltabellotta, Agrigento where he was said to have been active before the US. NYC and NJ DeCavalcantes also came from there. Pasquale LoLordo married a Mule from Caltabellotta and lived in NYC before Chicago. Interesting given the LoCiceros were basically from Ribera and Joe Arcuri was the DeCavalcante liaison.

Not just a Mule from Caltabellotta — her name was Pellegrina Mule. Haven’t confirmed a connection to Pellegrino but given the way that names tend to be passed on within families I’d think it’s a very good bet that there was a relation.

[B.]

Reposting from an older thread but relevant here:

Some interesting comments from a later interview with Harry Riccobene.

On early US families:
They "headed small families from their particular town or region. Western Sicily had their tradition and eastern Sicily had their own," recalled Riccobene. "It was very provincial."

Philadelphia boss history:
The first boss, he said, was in the late-1800s and there were others after him. He couldn't remember their names.

Inducting other Sicilians and non-Sicilians:
After the war, Avena opened Mafia membership to Sicilians "from different parts of Sicily" instead of only the boss's village. Though immigrants from Italy were eligible under new mob rules, none were chosen.

In other parts, he seems to suggest non-Sicilians weren't made until later. This conflicts with other sources who said a number of the prominent non-Sicilians were made by the 1920s, but Riccobene was a made member back then so his word has weight.

This also makes three separate interviews spanning decades where Riccobene mentions there being more small families, and as he says in this interview they were based along compaesani lines.

[B.]

Valachi on the Newark Family and the books allegedly being closed early on:

[Antiliar]

Calderone also said there was a rule against using insanity to get out of charges. Said a man of honor was expected to accept his fate with dignity. This changed by the maxi trial where many people tried to use insanity. Maybe the scope of the trial and charges forced them to use any tool available.

Reminds me of Emmanuele Polizzi who feigned insanity to get out of the murder trial of Chief David Hennessy in New Orleans in 1891.

[Antiliar]

Just a quick note - John Misuraca of the Colombos referred to the Cosa Nostra as "the club" and "the organization." This was in 1962/63.

[B.]

Maybe some historical insight into the DeCavalcante's CT faction



- Johnny Grande as an important DeCavalcante figure in CT who appears to have predated some of the later names. The reference to these CT figures reporting to a boss in Trenton could be a reference to Sam DeCavalcante, as he previously lived in Trenton and still spent time there (one of his nicknames was "Trenton Sam").

- The "Jacobi" reference likely refers to Lorenzo Giacobbe, identified by Anthony Rotondo as an earlier captain and the father of later member Joe. Records show Lorenzo Giacobbe spent time living in Connecticut very early on here there was a Riberesi colony, later returning to NYC as part of the Manhattan "old faction". This report would indicate he maintained a relationship to the area and I suspect the later DeCavalcante CT faction were locals recruited by the early Riberesi element. Frank Cocchiaro's brother would move to CT and work as a musician.

The CT faction makes sense if it grew out of an early Ribera colony. At least one later DeCavalcante member in CT was from Agrigento but most of the big guys weren't even Sicilian.

Question is still why a small clannish Family in NJ and NYC would name both an underboss and captain in CT despite having few members there and the leaders not coming from Ribera or Sicily. Curious if Johnny Grande's heritage can be found.

[B.]

Something I overlooked before -- it says Frankie Yale was a "first lieutenant" to Lupo "at one time". What do you make of that given Yale was later a Genovese capodecina?

- I'm convinced Lupo was boss of his own Family, but someone could make the argument this is evidence Lupo/Morello were one Family. However Clemente refers to people specifically as Morello members, including Yale, and based on the language used in these reports I don't think he'd refer to Yale as a "first lieutenant" to Lupo if Lupo was simply a subordinate of Morello. I personally think Clemente would have said Yale was a "lieutenant" of Morello if that was the case, much as he refers to Yale by this time as a Morello member.

- He says too that Yale was "at one time" a lieutenant to Lupo. Yale was still certainly a "first lieutenant" at the time of this report, so this could be interpreted to mean Yale was originally with the Gambino Family and transferred. We know Gentile was with both the Bonannos and Gambinos, while Valachi transferred between the Luccheses, Bonannos, and Genovese. It wasn't unheard of pre-1931 for NYC members to transfer between Families if there was a reason and we know the Gambinos were inducting mainlanders and giving them ranking positions in the 1920s.

- "First lieutenant" is a weird term too. Yale was an important capodecina but we know the SS translated mafia terminology to terms they could more readily understand, like "gang" instead of Family. I assume this reference is saying Yale was once a capodecina under Lupo. However Yale wouldn't have been a member when Lupo was actually boss I don't think unless they did make mainlanders much earlier than we realized.

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And as a side note, very interesting in one of those excerpts that Gambino member Mangiapone said he had to keep it a secret from his boss D'Aquila if he engaged in counterfeiting. The "no counterfeiting" rule likely went into effect as a result of the catastrophe of Morello and Lupo's incarceration, so it indicates counterfeiting was much like the drug rule where members still engaged in it but had to keep it a secret from their boss.