Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[B.]

About Abbate/Agrusa. So he wasn't a STL boss?

I honestly don’t know if he ever held a rank in STL. Antiliar or B may know better than me.

Never seen anything. I've only taken an interest in very specific parts of STL, don't really know their org history. I don't think he's ever been mentioned by a solid source as a boss that I know of though.

He was well-traveled in the Midwest and obviously important.

[Dwalin2014]

About Abbate/Agrusa. So he wasn't a STL boss?

I honestly don’t know if he ever held a rank in STL. Antiliar or B may know better than me.

Never seen anything. I've only taken an interest in very specific parts of STL, don't really know their org history. I don't think he's ever been mentioned by a solid source as a boss that I know of though.

He was well-traveled in the Midwest and obviously important.

But if Agrusa wasn't a boss, then who was in the late 20s - first 30s? If I remember correctly, in the book by Daniel Waugh "Gangs of St. Louis", he was described as boss, although I am not sure how reliable the information is. Anyone else read this book?

[B.]

I haven't read Waugh's STL book but from his Detroit book I know he does great research into people/places but tends to assign ranks to people without solid insider evidence. Can't comment on his research into STL but something to consider.

[PolackTony]

In the mid-1960s, the FBI confirmed that Tancredi Tortora was living in Acerra, were he operated a produce business with his brothers. Upon interview, Tortora identified a photo of Roselli as his old friend, who he stated was really Filippo Sacco. Tortora denied that Roselli had been involved in either the Chicago narcotics case or the Charlando murder (which Tortora claimed he was only involved in as a neighborhood brawl). He stated that in 1923, he and Roselli had travelled from Boston (where Tortora stated that he had originally met Roselli) to Buffalo and Detroit. Tortora returned to Chicago and then relocated to LA, from whence he asked “Eugenio Taddeo” [phonetic] in Chicago to pay Roselli’s train fare to CA as well. Tortora stated that in CA he and Roselli worked as bootleggers for Tony D’Acunto.

As there seems to be no record in Chicago corresponding to “Eugenio Taddeo”, I strongly suspect that this was Aniello Taddeo, a major Avillines’ bootlegger killed in Melrose Park in September 1925 in a war for control of the liquor racket in that area (we know otherwise that MP was the center of serious Napolitan’/Camorra bootlegging activity and violence in this period, evidently with close connections to Taylor St). Reputed Taddeo loyalists Lazzaro Clemente and James Campanille were also slain in Melrose Park, in 1924 and 1926, respectively, in apparent bootlegging conflicts with rival operations. Campanille’s birthplace was given only as Naples, but Taddeo and Clemente were both from Cervinara, Avellino, where Joe Valachi’s father, Domenico Villacci, was from, as well as deported Lucchese member Saverio Valente. Cervinara also borders the Roccarainola/Tufino area of Napoli province where Vito Genovese was from.

Piscopo stated that he had first met Roselli via Tony D’Acunto, allegedly Roselli’s uncle. Tortora told the FBI that both he and Roselli called D’Acunto “uncle” out of respect but that there was no relation. Supposedly, Tony D’Acunto had lived in Chicago before relocating to LA around 1917 (a 1903 naturalization petition for an Antonio D’Acunto in Chicago gives no birthdate or place of origin). An LA WW1 draft card has Anthony D’Aconto, born in 1876, married to a Jane, and working as a real estate broker. This would correspond to a 1917 wedding announcement in Pasadena for Antonio D’Acunto and Jane Hart. The announcement stated that Antonio was Baron D’Acunto, a wealthy broker and nobleman originally from Sorrento, Napoli (I had previously guessed that D’Acunto was an immigrant from Minturno, Lazio, but that doesn’t seem to be correct). The alleged deference paid by Tortora and Roselli to D’Acunto would seem to have been well-warranted. Antonio D’Acunto died in LA in 1930.

After reviewing the FBI's interview in the 60s with Tancredi Tortora in Acerra (and his brother Parigi Tortora, who had also lived in the US), it's clear that the Eugenio Taddeo who paid for Roselli's trip from Chicago to LA was actually based in LA rather than Chicago. Tortora stated that Taddeo was a pimp who operated a couple of houses of prostitution in LA, and was in his 30s in the early 20s when Totroa and Roselli relocated to LA. This matches a Eugenio Taddeo who was born about 1890 and died in 1950 in LA County. The info from Taddeo's death corresponds to a Eugenio Taddeo, born 1890-91 in Altavilla Irpina, Avellino, who arrived in NYC in 1907. Altavilla Irpina is near Cervinara, so it would still be a possibility that Eugenio was connected to Melrose Park political fixer and "bootleg king" Aniello Taddeo. In 1917/18, Eugenio Taddeo was living in San Fran, and stated that he worked as a barber. 1920 shows him living in Stockton, 1923 in LA, while in 1930 he was in San Joaquin. WW2 draft card shows him living in LA, where he owned a liquor store and was married to a Carmela DeRose. Another thing to note is that on his 1950 death record, it states that Eugenio Taddeo's mother's maiden name was "Fisquete". This was clearly Fischetti. The Fischetti's were born in Brooklyn to Avellinesi parents, of course.

Tortora was also clear that Antonio D'Acunto was a bootlegging boss in LA at the time. While the above-cited newspaper from 1917 stated that D'Acunto was a baron from Sorrento, Tortora stated that he believed that Tortora was Avellines' and had been connected to Brooklyn. Would seem that there was a good possibility that there had been a Camorra organization in LA, and guys like Roselli and Piscopo may have been remnants of it who wound up being recruited by the LA outfit. The Roselli saga would seem to point to traces of a Camorra network connecting Brooklyn, Boston, Chicago, and CA.

***

Aniello Taddeo, as stated above, was from Cervinara and entered the US at Boston in 1921, initially bound for Brooklyn before relocating to Chicago. There were other Taddeos from Cervinara in Melrose Park as well, who presumably were related to Aniello in some capacity. One was a Giuseppe Taddeo, who was the informant on Aniello's 1925 death record; he also entered the US bound for Brooklyn. Another was Constantino Taddeo, who was born in 1872 in Cervinara and was living in Melrose Park by around 1900. In 1910, Constantino reported that he was a "farmer"; as Melrose Park was still largely rural, this wasn't unusual, with many Italians setting up small produce gardens that supplied the truck farm market in Chicago (hence the much-coveted "Melrose peppers", said to have been carried from the slopes of Monte Vesuvio to Melrose Park). Notably, one of his employees recorded as living with Constantino and his family in 1910 was Cuono Montana, of Acerra Napoli (as a reminder, Tortora was Acceres' and connected to a Taddeo from Avellino as well). Cuono Montana was likely a relative of the infamous Acceres' Montana bootlegging clan in Melrose Park -- e.g., possible Chicago member Mauro Giovanni Montana aka Joe Montana, Jr, and his alky kingpin father Giovanni "Joe" Montana. As a side note, the Joseph Montana who was shot to death in Melrose park in 1927 seems to have been the brother of Giovanni Montana; turns out his wife was Rose Catinella, niece of old-time Corleonese Chicago mafioso Leandro Catinella.

Constantino Taddeo was also the grandfather of cartoonishly corrupt Melrose Park Mayor Constantino August "Auggie" Taddeo (busted in 1999 for extorting kickbacks from the Melrose Park Village Attorney). Auggie Taddeo was born in 1932 in Melrose Park to Felix Taddeo (son of Constantino Taddeo and Vincenza Scudiera of Acerra) and Josephine Portaguerra (born in MP, apparently to parents from Castelvetere, Avellino). It was reported to the FBI that Joey Aiuppa was Auggie Taddeo's godfather and that the latter owed everything to Aiuppa as Aiuppa paid for his law school and Taddeo was known to be an incompetent attorney. In 1982, Auggie Taddeo was hit with a contempt charge for refusing to testify after being compelled with immunity in a Cook County Grand Jury targetting Aiuppa. Felix Taddeo has been alleged to have been a gambling operator and enforcer for Aiuppa, and his brother David Taddeo took a number of pinches in the 1920s-40s on Melrose Park armed robbery and gambling charges. Auggie Taddeo became MP Mayor in 1972 when previous Mayor Jack LaSpisa died; Taddeo remained in office until he left in '98, dogged by allegations of misconduct.

Additionally, in 1973 a CI told the FBI that Auggie Taddeo was made, suggesting that Aiuppa was his godfather in more ways than one:



Not sure who the CI was here, (CG 6890-PC) but they subsequently reported in 1973 that Auggie Taddeo attended a meeting at the SAC Club in Melrose Park with Aiuppa, Nicoletti, and Bucky Ortenzi.

[Antiliar]

I don't know if there was a Camorra organization in L.A., but if there was it's likely that Albert Marco was at least affiliated with it. He was considered a gang boss and a pimp and was a partner of Charlie Crawford. Alberto Marco's real name was Mario Albori and he was born in Trieste, but his last residence in Italy was Fiorenza. He allegedly was a big brothel owner or pimp in Seattle before moving to L.A., although he was naturalized in L.A. in 1916. I think Tortora mentioned that he and Rosselli once met in Marco's saloon, so there could be more to that story.

[PolackTony]

In 1957, FBN agents busted a major Chicago heroin ring under Joseph Bruno and Carlo Urbinati. Urbinati seemingly earned his alleged nickname "Joe Bananas" when two narcotics agents were shot and seriously wounded in a shootout when attempting to apprehend Urbinati at the Triangle Inn tavern in River Grove (Urbinati was also wounded; him and tavern owner Dominick Argentine were subsequently captured and charged in the shoot out). As I've noted previously, Carlo Urbinati was born in 1917 in Chicago to Marchegiano parents. His sister Margaret Urbinati was the second wife of Salvatore "Sam" Marcello, and thus the stepmother of Jimmy Marcello and mother of Mickey Marcello. The Urbinatis settled in the Taylor St Patch and in 1920 lived on Polk near Oakley. In 1939, Carlo married Grace English, younger sister of Sam and Chuckie English. In 1950, Carlo and Grace lived at 3414 W Polk in the Homan Square neighborhood on the Westside; Carlo was employed as a vehicle tester of the City of Chicago. FB documents stated that Urbinati operated one of the main heroin distribution rings in the 1950s, based out of his tavern, the Derby Lounge, on Mannheim Rd in Elmwood Park. Urbinati was partnered with Chicago heroin dealer John Tanno, and Pasquale "Buck" Clemente was named as one of the heroin "runners" for their operation, supplied by NYC. In 1958, Urbinati was sentenced to 5 years for the deop charges; associate Tommy Matas pled to three counts of selling heroin to undercover agents. Though Matas (apparently a Croatian guy from Armour Square; may have been associated with Mike Condic, who was also heavily involved in dope distribution during this time) tried to shoulder the sole blame for the operation, the Feds stated at the sentencing hearing that Urbinati was the head of the ring and that Bruno was the main supply connection to NYC. Urbinati was released in 1962, and then did 30 days probation for his role in the FBN shootout (Argentine was charged as the actual shooter, apparently). In 1963, Urbinati was alleged to have been working in the policy racket with his brother-in-law Chuckie English; Urbinati died in Chicago in 1968.

Joseph Bruno (alias "Joe Giardini") was born in 1912 in Boston, though I haven't yet been able to confirm his ancestry. FBN documents stated that Bruno was a longtime heroin (supplying black operations on the Southside) and bootleg alcohol distributor and extortionist in Chicago, who had taken a number of pinches over the years on illegal alcohol charges (he was incarcerated in Leavenworth in 1950). In 1955, Bruno was hauled befoe a Senate hearing on illicit drugs and refused to testify, resulting in a citation of contempt. At this hearing, it was noted that Bruno had been surveilled meeting with Lucchese member (later acting boss) Ettore "Eddie" Coco in Chicago. Later FBN documents stated that Bruno was known to NYC-base agents as dealing in kilogram quantity purchases of heroin there, and Bruno was stated to have been a prime conduit in the 1950s between Lucchese traffickers Eddie Coco, John Ormento, and Frankie Carbo and Chicago-based heroin distribution operations; it was claimed that Bruno was also supplied by the Cotroni France-Canada group in Montreal, and we've seen elsewhere that Giuseppe "Pepe" Cotroni had other racket connection to Chicago. Federal sources referred to Bruno as the largest heroin supplier to Chicago in the 1950s, responsible for supplying Chicago operations as well as operations in Cleveland, STL, and New Orleans, and one of the largest heroin distributors in the Midwest. Bruno was alleged to have previously worked with Chicago heroin distributor Charles LaPaglia; when these two reputedly had a falling out, Bruno teamed up with Urbinati and Tanno. Bruno was also linked by the FBN to a number of other known heroin dealers in Chicago, including Mike Condic, Frank Panatera, Joe Coduto, Joe Iaccullo, Tony Dichiarente, Armando Piemonte, Carlo Fiorito, and Teddy DeRose. Following his 1958 conviction for the heroin ring and sentencing to two concurrent 8-year terms, I'm not sure what happened to Joseph Bruno.

Worth noting that in 1957, Bruno was surveilled using the Montclair Funeral Home (Chicagoans will know this as one of the main Italian funeral homes in Chicago, where many connected families have had their funerals over the decades) on Belmont ave near the border with Elmwood Park as his apparent base of operations; Bruno was reportedly a close associate of Montclair owner Vincent Lucania, who the FBN was unable to connect to the heroin trade. Now, this is obviously an interesting surname, though I haven't been able to confirm any connections to the more famous Lucanias. Vincent Lucania was born in 1917 in Chicago to Giuseppe Lucania and Rosa Cali. While Rosa was from Villafrati, Giuseppe Lucania was from Castronovo di Sicilia, which borders Lercara Friddi where Charlie Lucky was born. Additionally, a number of family trees assert genealogies that put Giuseppe Lucania's father, also named Giuseppe Lucania (born about 1853; died in Chicago in 1913, parents given at this time as Giuseppe Lucania and Cristina Caruso) as born in Lercara Friddi and the elder brother of Lucky's father Antonino Lucania. As stated, I haven't been able to either confirm or disconfirm these genealogies myself, so who knows. Geographically, it's certainly at least possible. The Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home, so far as I know, is still owned by the Lucania family.

[PolackTony]

Calogero Joseph "Charlie" Nicosia was born in 1916 in River Forest to Salvatore Nicosia and Carmella Bartolotta, both of Canicattì, Agrigento. Charlie's parents had previously lived in Pittston and Berwick, PA, and Buffalo (recall that the Canicatessi linked to the major 1930 Chicago/WI bootlegging ring under Toto LoVerde, the Argentos, and Giuseppe Almanza -- which included some Nicosia relatives -- had close ties to Buffalo and Pittston as well) before arriving in Chicago around 1908, living first on Gault Ct in Little Sicily and then relocating to Forest Park and later Oak Park. Salvatore worked his way up from carpenter to owning a construction contracting firm.

I'm not sure if the FBI carried Charlie Nicosia officially as a Chicago member, but he has clearly been identified as such by Joe Fosco, who has stated that Nicosia was like a surrogate father to him. Nicosia worked as a securities expert in the IL States Attorney's office, and along with Romie Nappi was considered a close partner of Pat Marcy in the 1st Ward Democractic organization and a key political fixer for the outfit for years. Fosco has claimed that Nicosia would engage in high-level meetings with the outfit's leadership, and his counsel was valued by men such as Accardo. In the 1950s, Charlie Nicosia, along with his likely cousin Sam Nicosia, Jr, of Berrien county, MI, was named as a member of the Committee of the Italo-American National Union (the "Unione") under President Joe Imburgio Bulger. In 1965, Charlie Nicosia was held by police and questioned in STL regarding an alleged meeting between "hoodlum" leaders in Chicago and STL (theorized by investigators to be related to Giancana's sudden departure from the US and Buster Wortman's failing health). Nicosia was in the company of Pat Marcy, Tony Tisci (former assistant to mobbed-up Chicago Congressman Frank Annunzio) and Tony Esposito (secretary of Vince Solano's LIUNA Local 1001 and brother of labor bigwig Frank "Frankie X" Esposito, who the Chicago outfit attempted to execute via car bomb in Miami in 1962); they had recently attended the Governor's Ball at the IL State Capitol in Springfield and then drove to STL. In 1968, the FBI stated that Marcy, Nicosia, and Tony Esposito were meeting with Johnny Roselli at a Palm Springs hotel. Mobbed-up Williow Spring PD Chief Michael Corbitt later claimed in his book that Nicosia was a major political corruption operative for the outfit, and that Corbitt used to make payment drops to Nicosia in the early 80s. Older brother Giuseppe "Joe" Nicosia seems to have also been connected, with FBI documents in the 1960s pointing to links to both Pat Marcy and Tony Pinelli.

In 1937, Charlie Nicosia married Frances Trubiano (i.e., Tropiano; born in Chicago to parents from Teggiano, Salerno). In the 1940s and 50s, Charlie and Frances lived on Princeton Ave on the Southside, and Charlie stated that he worked as an employee of Cook County (not sure if he was already in the SA's office by then). The Nicosias later moved to Elmwood Park. Charlie Nicosia died in 1990.

Interestingly, Fosco has claimed that Charlie Nicosia and Sam Carlisi were cousins. I wasn't able to confirm any familial or marriage link thus far, but they were both Canicatessi and thus may well have considered themselves "cugini" even if there was no direct tie.

[PolackTony]

In March of 1926, a man in his 20s was found shot and grievously wounded, apparently dumped out of a vehicle near Grand Ave and Racine at the hme of Dr Anthony Formusa (born in Chicago to parents from Termini Imerese, Dr Formusa seems to have been the brother of presumed Chicago member and possible later Gary capodecina Johnny Formusa). Dr Formusa reported that he had received a mysterious phone call notifying him that someone had been shot and left at his home, but was unable to identify any suspects. Several days later, Cerone succumbed to his wounds at Mother Cabrini Hospital, refusing to name his assailants. Although he used an alias when police attempted to question him, he was subsequently identified as Donato "Daniel Thomas" Cerone. While his family lived near Grand and Racine, at the time he was killed Cerone lived at 3001 W Washington Blvd, and his girlfriend stated that though he was officially unemployed, he had previously worked as an investigator for the City sanitation district and an employee of the CPD's Chicago Ave district station. Investigators told the press that Cerone's shooting was due to a conflict within "the mafia". 5 days after Cerone died, Samoots Amatuna was executed on Taylor St.

Donato Cerone was born about 1901 in Muro Lucano, Potenza, to Giovanni Cerone and Maria Antonia Gallella. In 1911, Donato, who had been living with relatives in Muro Lucano, joined the rest of his family in Chicago. Donato's younger brothers, Frank "Skippy" Cerone (born 1913 in Chicago) and James "Tar Baby" Cerone (born 1919 in Chicago) were later Chicago members. Eldest brother Luigi Cerone (born 1887 in Muro Lucano) was the great-grandfather of reputed current Chicago member Jason Nitti. The Cerone brothers' father Giovanni was also the first cousin of the Giovanni Cerone who was the father of Jack Cerone Sr; Jack Cerone was thus their second cousin.

Donato Cerone's slaying came within a month of the killings of Orazio Tropea and his apparent erstwhile friend Vito Bascone (as well as a number of other apparent mafia-related slayings; while the Morici brothers, who were killed in January 1926, it should be noted, lived near Donato on W Washington Blvd). Bascone was found shot to death in a surburban quarry in February, on the heels of Tropea's murder. Police received information from Bascone's widow that Bascone has been a friend of Angelo Genna and a close friend of Orazio Tropea; as such, investigators were working off the theory that Bascone had been murdered by allies of recently slain Genna brother-in-law Henry Spingola, while also entertaining the possibility that Bascone and Tropea may have had a falling out and that Bascone could've been murdered in retaliation for Tropea's murder. Either way, Bascone was legally a fish dealer (reputedly working as a local distributor for a Joe Tocco of Boston), though named as a major bootlegger and a "power in the councils of the Chicago Mafia". He was also noted as a prominent opera aficionado, amateur opera singer (presumably, he even composed a bit of trunk music himself), and close friend of the famed tenor Raffaele Attilio "Tito" Schipa, who was with the Chicago Opera Company for over a decade before joining the Met in NYC in 1932.

Bascone was born about 1882 in Castelvetrano, and arrived in Brooklyn in 1907 with his wife, Anna Graffeo, also of Castevetrano. After a couple of years in BK, they relocated to Chicago around 1910. The Bascones initially lived at Genna Ground Zero at Blue Island and Taylor. By the 1920s, they had moved to the area around 54th and Kedzie in the Gage Park area on the SW Side, where a colony of Trapanesi had settled, centered around the Gennas. Wife Anna Bascone had siblings that settled in Chicago, Brooklyn, and Birmingham.

[B.]

Will need to keep an eye out for Graffeos / Bascones in Alabama.

[Antiliar]

Wow, Tony. You've been busy. Great writeups.

[PolackTony]

5 days after Cerone died, Samoots Amatuna was executed on Taylor St.

CORRECTION

Just noticed that this was still in the above post on Donato Cerone; this is not correct and I had thought I’d removed it before posting and now it’s too late to edit.

Donato Cerone died March 15, 1926, while Salvatore “Samuzzo”’Amatuna (born 1898 in Pozzallo, Ragusa) died November 13, 1925.

[PolackTony]

Interesting that Gnolfo's alias was Abbatte:

DATE OF OFFENSE: MAY 31, 1930
Victim Name: Gnolfo, Philip, "Abalte"
Address: Peoria St.
Case Number: 10048
Case Description: Gnolfo, Philip, alias Abatte - Age 41 - Shot to death at 9:45 AM, 5/31/30, while driving his auto south in Peoria St. between 18th and 19th Sts., by five unknown men in another machine who drove alongside and emptied shotguns into his car. Two other men with him, Carmi Guelvi of Toledo and Jos. Fiannaca of Rochester, NY, were wounded. 21 Dist.

At the time of his murder, police told the papers that Gnolfo had been a member of the “Genna gang” and an associate of Orazio Tropea who fled Chicago in 1926 for Rockford (his apparent address when he was killed was still in Rockford), and that he had just recently returned to Chicago to retake his old bootlegging interests (unlikely; not an opportune time to set up shop in Chicago, to say the least). Gnolfo had been acquitted for a 1915 murder in Greensburg, PA (makes sense, given that he was Villarosano) and was a suspect in three Chicago murders, including Genna BIL Henry Spingola. Police believed also that Gnolfo was an Aiello guy and that he had imported his two wounded companions just the day before the shooting to Chicago as bodyguards. Various papers gave different garbled versions of their names. A more plausible name for “Guelvi” was “William Carnido”. This could match some Caronitos from Agrigento who settled in Cleveland. Joseph Fianacca would match a Giuseppe Fiannacca in Rochester, who I believe was most likely from Realmonte, Agrigento. Fiannacca told CPD that he was an olive oil salesman in Chicago on business. The three men were driving near Peoria and 19th St, south of the Taylor St Patch, when another vehicle pulled up alongside them and filled their car with shotgun slugs.

One article on the Gnolfo hit cited investigators as stating that all three men had been present at a meeting in Cleveland a year before, in which Aiello and a number of men from Rockford had also been alleged to have been present. Would seem like they were referring to the Hotel Statler meeting, unless the Aiello group had another meeting in Cleveland some time in early 1929 (if so, that would’ve been right around when Joe Giunta got whacked).

Several days after the killing, police were investigating reports that Gnolfo had been responsible for operating a blast furnace that the “Aiello gang” was allegedly using as a crematory for its victims. After “loyal Capone gang” affiliate Thomas Somnerio (Sommario, born in Chicago Heights to a family from Crotone and Cosenza Calabria) was gunned down June 4th, investigators stated that they had info that Sommario’s killing was a reprisal for Gnolfo, as Sommario was allegedly responsible for the Gnolfo hit with Jack McGurn. Police also stated that Gnolfo was believed to have been responsible for the murder of McGurn’s stepfather.

As noted above, Filippo Gnolfo, aka "Abbate", born ~1887 in Villarosa, was a reputed Aiello supporter murdered in May of 1930, right around the same time that fellow alleged Aiello man Girolamo Intravaia (1928 Statler meeting attendee) seems to have also been murdered.

Gnolfo was also linked to the violence in and around Taylor St in 1926. On March 6, 1926 (3 days before Donato Cerone was shot), a man initially identified as "C. La Cognata" living on the 1100 block of S Racine, was shot to death while riding in a car with three men at 22nd (Cermak Rd) and Keeler in the South Lawndale neighborhood. Another vehicle pulled up next to them and opened fire from as many as five sawed-off shotguns; "La Cognata" was killed instantly with his head nearly blown completely off, while two of his companions were wounded. It subsequently came out that "La Cognata" was actually Giuseppe Calabrese. Calabrese was born ~1892 in Calascibetta and was married to Francesca Blando, also of Calascibetta. At the time of his killing, they lived at Taylor and Racine. According to investigators, the vehicle that Calabrese and his companions were riding in belonged to Filippo Gnolfo, who had been targeted in a series of failed shooting attempts and whose garage had recently been torched. They thus believed that Gnolfo had sent some of his men out to move his car to a safehouse, but his guys wound up making a trip out to Cicero. Gnolfo, a wholesale grocery salesman, lived one block south of Calabrese, at Lexington and Racine. Police believed that the attack against Gnolfo were retaliation for the murder of Henry Spingola, as Gnolfo had been stated to have been in hiding since Spingola was whacked. Gnolfo admitted to investigators that he had been a close personal friend of Orazio Tropea.

The driver of Gnolfo's car, also wounded in the shooting, was named as Ralph Cavalieri, and lived on DeKoven St. This was clearly Carmine "Ralph" Cavalieri, born in 1902 in Rende, Cosenza, Calabria.

Passenger Concetto Lallone also took some buckshot to the head in the attack but survived. Lallone was born in 1896 in Calascibetta and arrived in Chicago with his wife Carmella Blando, sister of Calabrese's wife (their surname was sometimes given as Brandi/Branni, which would reflect local dialetto pronunciation). In 1927, Lallone was naturalized with one of his witnesses being Carmelo La Cognata (the name that Calabrese was either using as an alias or who the papers mixed up with Calabrese initially), who lived on the same block of Racine (1100 S) as Gnolfo. La Cognata was born about 1883 in Santa Croce Camerina, Ragusa -- he would seem to be an outlier, but bear in mind that Samuzzo Amatuna was from Pozzallo, Ragusa. Carmelo LaCognato was later killed in what was thought to have been an accidental shooting by 19-year-old Joseph Castaldo (not sure if this was the same Joe Castaldo later affiliated with Elmwood Park, or a relative, or unrelated); the two were allegedly inspecting a pistol when it went off.

Concetto Lallone, after surviving Chicago's bloody series of mafia wars, died in a work accident in 1936 and was buried alongside his cumpari Giuseppe Calabrese in Mt Carmel. At the time of the accident, Lallone was accompanied by his nephew, named as Thomas Blando. I think that there is a very strong chance that this was Gaetano "Guy/Tom" Blando who along with his son Dominick Blando was an apparent affiliate of the Elmwood Park crew many years later. Gaetano Blando was born in 1917 in Chicago to Domenico Blando and Maria Santo Stefano. Maria was born in Calascibetta but Domenico gave Calascibetta and Gangi, Palermo (very near the border with modern Enna province, then Caltanissetta) on different documents. As noted above, sisters Francesca and Carmella Blando were from Calascibetta, and their father was Gaetano Blando, also the name of Domenico Blando's father. Further, father Gaetano Blando matches a birth record in Gangi, so it would seem that all of these Blandos were one family.

Now, here's something else. Recall the "Michael Blando" who was an alleged partner of Antonino Spano "Il Cavaliero" and was murdered following Spano's hit in August of 1926. Spano, as has been mentioned a number of times, was a Taylor St Marsalese who reputedly betrayed the Gennas with Amatuna and Tropea; after the latter was killed, Spano fled to Chicago Heights and partnered with then-boss Filippo Piazza, until both were murdered soon after (my guess is that without Tropea, Spano may have transferred into the Heights Family or at least got protection from Piazza; Piazza's murder and the subsequent takeover of the Heights Family by Chicago may thus have been a consequence of or related to the war on Taylor St). "Blando's" actual surname was DelBuono, and his father was Giuseppe DelBuono of Calascibetta. His younger brother, Salvatore DelBuono, who afterward went by Sam Faragia (their mother's surname), was, of course, married to Mooney's kid sister Mary Annette Giancana (their descendants are the Faragias and Celozzis, the later of car dealership fame and alleged Joe Fosco death threat infamy). Given the "Blando" thing and shared peasani background, very possible that the DelBuonos were related to the Blandos; at the very least they were part of the same mafia faction on Taylor St.

The name of the fourth man in the car with Cavalieri, Calabrese, and Lallone, who was unwounded in the attack, was given as "Tony Ponetti". Given the strong Calascibetta connections here, I think it's a good chance that this may have been Tony Pinelli. We know that later, Pinelli -- as apparent capodecina of the Gary crew -- had strong connections to the Pittsburgh outfit, including boss John LaRocca, who was from Villarosa. If Pinelli started out working for the Villarosene Filippo Gnolfo, then this could have been part of the context of those later ties (there were also plenty of other Villaroseni in Chicago as well, of course). Now, before moving to Chicago, Gnolfo had also lived in PA. In 1914, his eldest child Jean Gnolfo was born in 1914 in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, PA (just to the east of the Pittsburgh metro area). By 1917, they were living in Chicago. At the time of the Calabrese murder, the Trib reported that when Gnolfo was previously seized (along with Calabrese and Cavalieri) in mass raids by Federal agents of Chicago "Sicilian" gangsters (some of the men seized and described as "Sicilians" were, of course, Mainlanders, such as Cavalieri), it turned out that he was a suspect in a 1915 murder in Greensburg, PA (also in Westmoreland County, and had fled PA after that. Gnolfo's wife was Caterina Sallomi, who I believe was also from Villarosa. Interesting to note that another woman named Maria Colaianni from Calascibetta was married to a Charles Sollami from Villarosa in Chicago -- later Chicago member Carlo Colianni was himself born Calogero Colaianni in Calascibetta and was a brother of Maria Sollami (in 1930, Colianni was living with Charles and Maria). There were also Sollamis who settled in Latrobe, PA.

[B.]

Great connections with the Calascibetta / Villarosa stuff. Very overlooked compaesani network we're only now starting to map out.

[cavita]

These posts remind me of Chicago gangster Tommy Abbott who opposed Capone and was a northsider. I have seen newspapers state his name was possibly Abbate or Abbatini. Research into him has confounded me simply because I can't find his real name. I don't even know if his first name is really Tommaso or Gaetano. He disappeared in the Fall of 1930 most likely murdered. Some reports said he was living a life of luxury in Mexico and another stated he was at the bottom of a water filled quarry in Summit, Illinois. I would find it very interesting if his last name was Abbate.

[PolackTony]

These posts remind me of Chicago gangster Tommy Abbott who opposed Capone and was a northsider. I have seen newspapers state his name was possibly Abbate or Abbatini. Research into him has confounded me simply because I can't find his real name. I don't even know if his first name is really Tommaso or Gaetano. He disappeared in the Fall of 1930 most likely murdered. Some reports said he was living a life of luxury in Mexico and another stated he was at the bottom of a water filled quarry in Summit, Illinois. I would find it very interesting if his last name was Abbate.

You know, we went back and forth a while back when I was also trying to figure out WTF this “Tommy Abbott” was, and I was never able to really get anywhere with him either. Thanks for bringing him back up again in this light, because I think that I may have a couple of clues now. In 1913, a Gaetano Abate, born in 1872 in Villarosa, arrived in Chicago, where he stated that his brother Filippo Abate was living near Taylor and Blue Island. Gaetano’s wife back in Villarosa was a Giacoma Solami. I’m thinking that this guy was too old to be “Tommy Abbott”, but it may also be clue as to why Filippo Gnolfo used the “Abbate” alias.

As you note, the papers stated that “Abbott’s” real name was Abbate, Abbotini, etc etc (even his wife they variously referred to as Lillian or Irene). Investigators also seemed to have been confused as to his true allegiances; while in 1930 they stated that he was known to be linked to the Aiello-Moran group, in 1929 it was also reported that “Tommy Abbott” was suspected of being the guy who put the victims of the SVD Massacre “on the spot” to get whacked. Later called a Northside gangster, in 1928 he was referred to as a “Westside racketeer”. In that light, it was also noted in 1929 that “Abbott’s” arrest record claimed that he had been Samuzzo Amatuna’s driver in 1925. Now, we know that later Lucchese NJ capodecina Giuseppe Abate had worked under Amatuna in 1925 and was arrested with Amatuna that same year under the alias “Pino Massei”. Abate later told investigators that he moved to Atlantic City in 1934. Was “Tommy Abbott” actually Giuseppe Abate, and instead of being killed fled Chicago for NJ? If not, given that they both apparently worked for Amatuna, they would’ve known each other well.