Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[PolackTony]

Here's an interesting guy:

- Joseph Romano of Youngstown was described as the Sicilian facton's leader before surviving a 1960 shotgun attack then moved to Chicago. He spent time in Sharon PA after that where he associated with "members" previously involved with Sal Marino who by then was in San Jose.

- It looks like this is a Joseph Romano born in Altavilla Milicia in 1900 and living in Youngstown circa 1950 but died in Chicago in 1969. His wife was the sister of Angelo LaMantia of Chicago, who in turn was married to the sister of Milwaukee member Vito Aiello. The Aiellos' mother was the sister of Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene and their father Isidoro Aiello was a likely Milwaukee member.

Anyone familiar with Romano or seen other references to him? He appears to have been a Pittsburgh member but was obviously tied in with the Milwaukee and Chicago Families. He apparently spent the last 9 years of his life in Chicago.

Agreed that he's an interesting case.

Haven't seen any other mention of Joe "Stoneface" Romano apart from the same Youngstown FBI files that we discussed recently, which don't mention anything beyond what you've summarized here. Hopefully, JCB knows more about him.

Given that he was Miliciotto, totally unsurprising that Romano would have close connections to Chicago still later in life. Angelo LaMantia is another guy that I suspect was a possible Chicago member under Aiello who then transferred to Milwaukee (we know from Gavin that he was named as one of the guys allegedly running Milwaukee's Racine interests in the early 30s, IIRC).

Joseph "Stoneface" Romano was very close to Charles "Cadillac Charlie" Cavallaro in Youngstown. Back in the 1960's, there was a war between the Calabrian faction in Youngstown headed by Dominic Mallamo and Paul Romeo and the Sicilians and Neapolitans. Romano was shot in his front yard on June 4, 1960 which was about 2 years prior to the Cavallaro bombing death. By the time this happened, Sal Marino was already in California. Marino's key lieutenants in Sharon-Farrell PA were John Scardina and his brother, Philip, also very close to John LaRocca. They assumed control of Marino's rackets which at the time, was undr New Kensington and Kelly Mannarino. The daily take in the late 50's and early 60's from numbers was $2k per day where John Scardina delivered to Kelly Mannarino weekly on Sundays.

Thanks for the further info on Romano, great stuff bro.

[PolackTony]

Minor figure whose ancestry points to important social/paesani connections surrounding the Chicago “outfit”.

In 1965, SW Side resident Pasquale “Patsy” Accettura, alias “Tony Greco”, was busted by the Feds for his role in a IL to Alabama car theft ring under car thief Richard “Dickie” Buonomo. Co-defendants included car dealers in AL who were charged with selling vehicles stolen in Northern IL; Accettura and Carmen Apicella were described by LE and the Chicago press as “lieutenants” for Buonomo in the operation, said to have been responsible for the selling of hundreds of stolen cars from coast to coast. In 1967, Accettura was convicted on multiple counts of Interstate Transport of a Stolen Vehicle and sentenced to 5 years. Long before his sentence was done, however, Accettura died in 1968, at 39 years old (nothing was reported in the papers regarding any foul play, so he may have died of natural causes).

Pasquale Accettura was born in 1929 in Chicago to Rocco Accettura of Ceglie del Campo, Bari (where Joey Lombardo and Vito Spillone also had ancestry), and Anna Rosa Antonetti, born in Queens to parents for Gesualdo, Avellino (the hometown of Gambino member Nicola “Nicky Nelson” Melillo). The Accetturas lived at Spaulding and Chicago Ave in Humboldt Park, to the immediate west of the Grand Ave Patch where many Baresi initially settled. Rocco, who worked in a street repair crew for the City Streets and Sanitation Department (a patronage job typically gained via having family connections) had his 1925 naturalization witnessed by Nicola Nitti, patriarch of the Nitti family, who was from neighboring Triggiano, Bari (father of the Nick Nitti of travel agency fame and great grandfather of reputed current Chicago member Jason Nitti).

Rocco Accettura was likely a cousin of Nicola “Nick” Accettura, born in 1897 in Ceglie del Campo, who arrived in Chicago in 1920. While not linked to any criminal activity that I’ve seen, Nick Accettura was a power in the IANU (“Unione Siciliana”) who served for over 30 years as President of the Franklin Park Lodge of the “Unione”. In 1959, Nick Accettura was reported as holding a top leadership position in the Chicagoland branch of UNICO, a nationwide Italian fraternal and philanthropic organization, along with mobbed up Melrose Park attorney Bernardo Bruno and outfit-controlled Elmwood Park Mayor Elmer Conti.

Another possible cousin was Michael Accettura, born in 1903 in Chicago to parents from Ceglie del Campo; he married Angeline Marino, sister of Pietro Marino, the father of later Chicago member Louie Marino.

[JoelTurner]

Joseph Aiuppa was related by marriage to San José member Joseph Chiana. His brother James was married to Mary Chiana.

- This is their 1950 census record:

(https://www.ancestry.ca/discoveryui-con ... 6688:62308)

- In 1940, Mary Chiana, along with her mother and brother Joseph, lived with the Aiuppa family in Melrose Park, IL. This was before their marriage.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... -L9MB-37L2?)

- The Chiana family was from Campobello di Mazara, Trapani and lived in Tunis, Tunisia (where both kids were born) before moving to the US.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 3A24VL-2QR)

- Her father Giuseppe Chiana was a gunner for Sam Accardi; per his obituary he moved to California in ~1938.

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110402785)

[Antiliar]

Great find, Joel

[PolackTony]

Joseph Aiuppa was related by marriage to San José member Joseph Chiana. His brother James was married to Mary Chiana.

- This is their 1950 census record:

(https://www.ancestry.ca/discoveryui-con ... 6688:62308)

- In 1940, Mary Chiana, along with her mother and brother Joseph, lived with the Aiuppa family in Melrose Park, IL. This was before their marriage.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... -L9MB-37L2?)

- The Chiana family was from Campobello di Mazara, Trapani and lived in Tunis, Tunisia (where both kids were born) before moving to the US.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903 ... 3A24VL-2QR)

- Her father Giuseppe Chiana was a gunner for Sam Accardi; per his obituary he moved to California in ~1938.

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110402785)

Excellent find, thanks for posting, Joel.

Jimmy Aiuppa and Mary Antoinette Chiana married in 1946 in Modesto, where the Modestos lived at that time. After the marriage, the couple lived in Villa Park, IL, as noted in the 1950 census.



I note that Giuseppe Chiana was neither on the 1935 arrival with his wife and kids, or living with them in 1940 in Melrose Park with the Aiuppas? Do you know when he entered the US? I’m wondering if he did so with an alias, as some of these guys did.

Given his origin in Trapani, a connection to Settimo Accardi could certainly make sense. I note that Giuseppe Chiana had an apparently aborted entry to the US in 1905 (he was crossed off the passenger manifest), stating that he was headed to a cousin named Giuseppe Accardo in Bristol, PA.

Now, the connection to the Aiuppas is less obvious, given that both parents, Simone Aiuppa and Rosalia Squardo, were from Lascari. Giuseppe Chiana’s wife was Maria Crisarà, also of Campobello, and when she arrived with kids Joseph and Mary Antoinette in 1935 from Tunisia, she was headed to her brother, Giuseppe Crisarà, who had been living in Melrose Park from about 1910. Giuseppe Crisarà and his wife Provvidenza Oliva, also from Campobello, lived on the 900 block of 22nd Ave in MP, a few doors down from where Maria and the Chiana children were living with the Aiuppas in 1940. Presumably, the Aiuppas and Crisaràs had known each other for years, as both families had been in Melrose Park for decades (I also note that there were a number of people from Campobello di Mazara with the surname La Chiana, which I believe was the original version; so both sides of the family may have had relatives in Chicago).

If anyone is interested, here’s a photo of Jimmy Aiuppa from his senior year at Proviso Township HS in 1942 (he served in Europe in the Army Air Force for a few years before returning and marrying Mary Chiana). So far as I know, Jimmy was not involved in any explicit criminal activities, though the FBI in the early 60s noted that him and brother Sam Aiuppa were officers in a possibly mobbed-up finance company in Melrose Park.

[JoelTurner]

Thanks for all the info that you dug out! I really wouldn’t have found the Crisarà connection and I couldn’t figure why they would move to Melrose Park.

1) Further down in their wedding announcement it’s noted that Mary Chiana graduated from schools in New York and Chicago. I’m guessing they were in NY at sometime between 1935-40.

(https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120743422)

2) I couldn’t find when exactly Giuseppe Chiana immigrated to the US. In addition to the 1905 attempted entry, there’s another one in 1912 which also appears to be crossed off.

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JJY8-8QQ)

3) I think Giuseppe Chiana may have lived in Missouri before moving to California.

- This record matches his birthdate and is in Kansas City, MO

(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FY4-2FKG)

- In 1926, there was a Joseph Chiana who got pinched for liquor in St Louis, MO. He had a grocery at 3140 Chouteau Ave.

(https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/140620481/)

[B.]

Good work. Anthony Maggio of the San Jose Family was from Campobello di Mazara too and the Maggios lived in the Bristol / Trenton area before Philly.

[JoelTurner]

Good work. Anthony Maggio of the San Jose Family was from Campobello di Mazara too and the Maggios lived in the Bristol / Trenton area before Philly.

Anthony Maggio and Joseph Chiana co-owned Masson Cheese Corp.

[B.]

There you go.

[PolackTony]

In 1946, 24-year-old Sam Carlisi married 20-year-old Susanna "Suzanne" Gallina at St. Margaret's Church in St Louis, MO. Suzanne was born in 1926 in St Louis to Francesco "Frank" Gallina -- born in 1883 in Carini -- and Rosina Pietrina Di Maggio Gucciardo of Siculiana. Frank Gallina, who died in 1943, owned and operated a tavern on market St in STL. His brother James Gallina also owned a tavern on Market St and was arrested in 1942 for killing a drunken patron in a fistfight outside of the bar. Another brother, Matteo Gallina, made the STL papers in 1930 for engaging in a shootout with mafioso Salvatore "Sam" Randazzo. When Frank Gallina -- noted as a member of the Loggia Iccari, a St Louis Carinese fraternal society -- died, his funeral was held at then STL rappresentante Pasquale Miceli's funeral home. I think there's a good possibility that Frank Gallina could've been connected to the mafia in STL.

in 1947, Frank's widow Rosina remarried Giuseppe LoPresti of Siculiana in Chicago; when she was naturalized in 1958 in Chicago under the name Pietrina LoPresti (it seems that her maiden name was Di Maggio but she had been married to a Gucciardo from Siculiana prior to marring Frank Gallina), she and Giuseppe lived in Morton Grove in the north suburbs. Joe LoPresti died in 1963. while it may be a longshot, I wonder if there could've been any relation to Montreal-based Bonanno member Giuseppe LoPresti, as the Lo Presti surname is not common in the younger Giuseppe LoPresti’s hometown of Cattolica Eraclea but is more common in neighboring Siculiana.

As B. has noted before, in 1968 Frank Bompensiero reprted to the FBI that he had taken a trip to Chicago with STL boss Tony Giardano to discuss a Teamsters loan with Phil Alderisio. The meeting was set up via a non-Italian associate from East STL, who brought Bomp and Giardano to meet Aiuppa at the Towne Hotel in Cicero; Aiuppa then brought Bomp and Giardano to meet with Alderisio. We know that Aiuppa had ties in his younger days to Jonny Moore/Claude Maddox, who was originally from STL. But Carlisi's close familial tie to STL adds another likely layer to the Aiuppa crew connections to STL. Thus, it's possible that via Carlisi, Aiuppa had connections to both Buffalo and STL (apart from connections that Aiuppa himself had, of course).

[NorthBuffalo]

In 1946, 24-year-old Sam Carlisi married 20-year-old Susanna "Suzanne" Gallina at St. Margaret's Church in St Louis, MO. Suzanne was born in 1926 in St Louis to Francesco "Frank" Gallina -- born in 1883 in Carini -- and Rosina Pietrina Di Maggio Gucciardo of Siculiana. Frank Gallina, who died in 1943, owned and operated a tavern on market St in STL. His brother James Gallina also owned a tavern on Market St and was arrested in 1942 for killing a drunken patron in a fistfight outside of the bar. Another brother, Matteo Gallina, made the STL papers in 1930 for engaging in a shootout with mafioso Salvatore "Sam" Randazzo. When Frank Gallina -- noted as a member of the Loggia Iccari, a St Louis Carinese fraternal society -- died, his funeral was held at then STL rappresentante Pasquale Miceli's funeral home. I think there's a good possibility that Frank Gallina could've been connected to the mafia in STL.

in 1947, Frank's widow Rosina remarried Giuseppe LoPresti of Siculiana in Chicago; when she was naturalized in 1958 in Chicago under the name Pietrina LoPresti (it seems that her maiden name was Di Maggio but she had been married to a Gucciardo from Siculiana prior to marring Frank Gallina), she and Giuseppe lived in Morton Grove in the north suburbs. Joe LoPresti died in 1963. while it may be a longshot, I wonder if there could've been any relation to Montreal-based Bonanno member Giuseppe LoPresti, as the Lo Presti surname is not common in the younger Giuseppe LoPresti’s hometown of Cattolica Eraclea but is more common in neighboring Siculiana.

As B. has noted before, in 1968 Frank Bompensiero reprted to the FBI that he had taken a trip to Chicago with STL boss Tony Giardano to discuss a Teamsters loan with Phil Alderisio. The meeting was set up via a non-Italian associate from East STL, who brought Bomp and Giardano to meet Aiuppa at the Towne Hotel in Cicero; Aiuppa then brought Bomp and Giardano to meet with Alderisio. We know that Aiuppa had ties in his younger days to Jonny Moore/Claude Maddox, who was originally from STL. But Carlisi's close familial tie to STL adds another likely layer to the Aiuppa crew connections to STL. Thus, it's possible that via Carlisi, Aiuppa had connections to both Buffalo and STL (apart from connections that Aiuppa himself had, of course).

I would wonder if Roy Carlisi from Buffalo would have been at that wedding with Sam Carlisi or a young Al Tournabene. Have you ever looked at any specific research on the third brother Al Carlisi?

Great post. Wonder why Alderisio would have been in the mix with the Teamsters loan or perhaps he was the liaison to other families? I was not aware he was quite as involved in the labor rackets. I remember a story where Aiuppa had gotten upset at Joe Lombardo for threatening Morris Shenker, who was close to Giordano.

[PolackTony]

Joseph Vincent/Placido DiVarco was born 1911 in Chicago to Vincenzo DiVarco of Campofelice di Roccella, Palermo province and Francesca Tornabene of Lascari, Palermo province.

Frank Leo Demonte was born 1927 in Chicago to Anthony DeMonte, born in New Orleans, and Margaret DiVarco, born in Chicago. Anthony DeMonte's parents were Francesco De Monte and Maria Diadora Macaluso, both from Palermo province. Maria's family seems to have been from Campofelice di Roccella (also worth noting that her mother was a Nuccio). Margaret DiVarco was the daughter of Andrea Di Varco, brother of Vincenzo DiVarco, thus she was Joey Caesar's 1st cousin. Margaret's mother was Rosa Cutaia, who was also from Campofelice.

As a correction, the DiVarcos were from Campofelice di Fitalia, not Campofelice di Roccella (ancestry.com indexed "Campofelice" as Roccella, which in the DiVarco case is wrong). While CdR borders Lascari, where Caesar DiVarco's mother was from, there were multiple links between immigrants from Lascari and the CdF/Mezzojuso/Vicari region.

Vincenzo DiVarco, Joseph Vincent "Caesar" DiVarco's father, was born about 1884 in Campofelice di Fitalia to Placido Di Varco (hence Caesar's baptismal name was Placido) and Margherita Cutaia. As noted above, Vincenzo's older brother Andrea DiVarco was the father of Margaret DiVarco, wife of Anthony "Tony Mack" DeMonte, and mother of Frank DeMonte; Caesar DiVarco was thus the first cousin once removed of Frank DeMonte.

In September of 1916, Vincenzo DiVarco was shot and gravely wounded at his tavern at Oak and Milton, Little Sicily's notorious "Death Corner". The shooting was alleged to have stemmed from a dispute over a card game and before Vincenzo succumbed to his wounds, he identified Filippo Scaletta as his shooter. Scaletta -- who may have been born in 1878 in Mezzojuso -- was subsequently convicted of the murder. After being released from prison in 1930, Filippo Scaletta was found shot to death in Cicero in 1934 in what investigators believed was a reprisal killing for the murder of Vincenzo DiVarco 18 years before.



When Casar DiVarco was baptized at San Filippo Benizi Parish in 1911, his godparents were Giulio Tornabene, of Lascari, and his wife, Rosalia Badalamenti, of Cinisi; the couple had married in 1903 in NOLA before settling in Chicago. Giulio was the brother of Francesco Tornabene, father of Francesca Tornabene DiVarco (Francesco and Giulio were the sons of Antonino Tornabene and Francesca Macaluso of Lascari). Thus, Giulio Tornabene was Caesar DiVarco's baptismal godfather and great-uncle.



One of Giulio Tornabene and Rosalia Badalamenti's kids was Luigi/Louis Roland Tornabene, born in 1913 in Chicago. This was the same Louie Tornabene who was well-known as a Loop gambling operator and associate of Gus Alex in the 1950s and '60s. In 1964, Louie Tornabene was noted as the operator of the Santa Fe Hotel at Polk and State as well as Eddie Foy's Lounge on S Wabash. When Louie was a kid, the family lived in the old Italian colony in the South Loop near Clark and Polk, later moving out to the Southside Auburn Gresham neighborhood near 85th and Wood (Dick Cain grew up in the same area). Louie Tornabene was thus the first cousin once removed of Caesar DiVarco. While the Feds listed Louie Tornabene as a Chicago member in the late 1960s, this designation was based solely on an identification attributed to Lou Fratto in 1967. As Fratto made a number of dubious or likely false identifications (or, at least, the FBI attributed these identifications to Fratto, who was conveniently deceased), and his own membership is a matter of debate, I don't think there is good reason to believe that Louie Tornabene was ever made. He seems to have fallen off the map in terms of activity after the 1960s, without any mentions in the papers again until he died in Chicago in 1983, apart from a Mike Royko piece in 1972 noting Louie’s appearance in court as a car salesman who had been accused of pulling a gun on a prospective customer to rob him of $25. Brother Tony Tornabene was also noted by FBI sources as an associate of Gus Alex.

While Louie Tornabene came up around the Loop and Southside, Frank Cleo "Frankie T" Tornabene was an associate of the Northside crew. Like Louie Tornabene, Frankie T was noted in the papers as involved in local Chicago machine politics corruption in the 1950s, but was better known for his long involvement in the vice racket on the Northside. For example, Frankie T was busted in 1966 for running a prostitution ring with Ben Policheri, brother of Northside crew member Jimmy "Allegretti" Policheri; at this time, it was noted that Frankie T was the proprietor of the Kitty-A-Go-Go Lounge on Sheridan Rd near Wilson in the Northside Uptown neighborhood. In 1968, Frankie T was busted again for what was billed as a major vice ring supplying prostitutes for visiting conventioneers in Chicago (possibly the infamous '68 DNC Convention in Chicago). Clearly, this was the family trade, as in 1989 Frank Tornabene Jr was pinched for participating in a strip club prostitution ring with Thomas Campione, a veteran co-defendant from Frankie T's 1968 bust. Frank Tornabene Sr was born in 1926 in Chicago Santo Tornabene and Rosaria "Sarah" Scimeca. Santo was born in 1901 in Slidell, LA, to Francesco Tornabene of Lascari and Francesco's second wife, Giovanna Dispenza of Campofelice di Fitalia (he was thus the half-brother of Francesca Tornabene DiVarco, whose mother was Francesco Tornabene's first wife, Eleanora Maggio of Lascari), while Rosaria was born in 1907 in Louisiana to a family likely from Ciminna. Frankie T was thus a first cousin of Caesar DiVarco as well as a first cousin once removed of Louie Tornabene. It has been erroneously reported on the internet that Frank Tornabene was a brother of Pizza Al; this was of course not the case, as the Carlisi-Tornabene clan of Cicero/NY was from Canicattì/Ravanusa, Agrigento. While Ken Eto ID’d Frank Tornabene as an associate of the Solano crew in ‘83, like Louie Tornabene he seems to have largely fallen off the map after the ‘60s.

Frances DeMonte, sister and aunt, respectively, of Northside crew members Anthony "Tony Mack" and Frank DeMonte, married Antonino Tornabene of Lascari (the DeMonte surname was originally Damante and Frances and Tony's parents, Francesco Damante and Maria Diadora Macaluso seem to have been from Palermo Città, though I suspect that Maria Diadora's family was originally from Campofelice di Fitalia; her mother was a Nuccio, which could well connect to the Nuccios from neighboring Vicari, including Dom "Libby" Nuccio's family). They lived in Harvey, IL, and Antonino had been a bootlegger in the Harvey/Hazel Crest area of South Suburban Cook County, near Chicago Heights, along with his brothers Salvatore and Rosario Tornabene. Salvatore, born 1903 in Lascari, was reported as one of the operators for the huge IL/WI bootlegging ring in 1930, based out of Cicero and Chinatown under Totò LoVerde and the Argento brothers (the latter from Canicattì, like the Carlisi-Tornabenes). Salvatore was murdered in Hazel Crest in 1935, a short time before the slaying of apparent Gary Family boss Paolo Palazzolo (who was from Cìnisi, and we've seen know that the Lascari Tornabenes had ties to Cìnisi themselves). These Tornabene brothers were the kids of Salvatore Tornabene and Eusebia Barreca of Lascari; while the exact connection to the other Lascarese Tornabenes isn't yet clear to me, that they were very likely cousins is supported by the apparent use of the given name "Giulio" in both branches. It should also be noted that Francesca Tornabene DiVarco's father and her half-siblings lived in Gary -- a number of other Tornabenes from Lascari lived around the IN/IL state line "Calumet region", likely relatives. One was Pasquale "Charles" Tornabene of Lascari; he was married to Anna Barcia, sister of possible Accardo mentor Johnny Barcia -- Pasquale and Anna lived in both Gary and Chicago; the Barcias were from Mezzojuso, bordering Campofelice di Fitalia, and we've seen these connections between Lascari and the CdF area pop up several times now.

Worth noting again here that Antonino San Filippo, politician and boss of the Chicago Heights Family slain in 1924, was also from Lascari.

Refresher on the South Suburban Tornabenes:
viewtopic.php?p=239299#p239299

[B.]

Deep history with those factions. Great job.

Looks like Vincenzo DiVarco was no stranger to the mafia long before his son was a name.

[Antiliar]

Great write up on the connections and relationships of several well-known North Siders going back to the turn of the century in Sicily, Louisiana and Gary. When we look at FBI reports we see just a crew of criminals operating in certain concentrated locations, but we miss out on the familial, historical and social networks that link them together. We've learned so much more about the Outfit and the old Greater Chicago Mafia by exploring their genealogies.

Just to add that genealogical research isn't easy, especially in going through old handwritten Italian records that can be challenging to read. But once we have those names we can realize the deeper connections in old newspaper articles and see things that we were previously unaware. It's great that we now have a crew of forum members who take the time to do genealogical research from Tony and myself, Lennert and Dave C., Scott D., Eric and Angelo, Jimmys Barber and Buccellato, Joel Turner, Nash, and several others. I especially appreciate Tony's many contributions to Chicago.

[B.]

This thread has all the info but it'd be cool to see a chart that breaks down all of the blood and marital relationships of Chicago members in simple fashion, including the older generations who can't be confirmed as members but were involved in underworld activity (i.e. DeLaurentis, DiVarco, and many more).

It's another aspect of Chicago that is misrepresented in my opinion. They had the same sort of relationships we expect of any mafia Family. They also had guys who didn't have those connections but the same can be said for NYC, Philly, and most cities.

Be great to see too the percentages of members from each Italian region.