Evolution of US Mafia Families + More Families Discussion

[cavita]

Great info on Musso being in Williamson County. I don’t really have any further info to add to that discussion apart from what we’ve already discussed in the Chicago threads. It could’ve been a Family, a faction or outpost of STL or one of the other IL Families. Based on all of the people who settled there or at least lived there for a time, I personally believe there was mafia activity there, but just don’t know what that meant in terms of formal affiliation.

While they were obviously way closer to STL and Springfield (and that far Southern area of IL, aside from being geographically far, might as well be in a different country from Chicago in cultural terms), the Sicilians there had close links to Chicago. As one example, I have encountered claims that the Chicago Burgio Società was originally founded in Johnston City before relocating to Chicago in the early 20th century. Miceli was very likely affiliated with it, I’d think.

Far South IL, despite being in IL, is culturally “the south” (it borders Kentucky and was settled by Anglo-Southerners from Kentucky, VA, etc, unlike Northern IL which was originally settled by Yankees from NY). We know that there was a very bloody “war” between “Italian bootleggers” and the Klan, which led to widespread public violence (even the mayor of Marion was assassinated). I think that like Birmingham, it wasn’t fertile ground for the mafia to take root enough to persist behind the initial generation of Italian colonists.

Another area that could’ve had an early colony Family was Peoria and Ladd/Bureau Counties. We’ve talked about Giuseppe “The Crow” Corso before, and there was a Sicilian colony in that area. In later years, the area had definite activity connected to the Chicago and Rockford Families. Maybe they were always an outpost like that, but I think they had at least the conditions present for an early Family to form.

Definitely think Peoria too- that was a larger type city, many Italians, lots of crime and a hotbed for vice, especially gambling and prostitution.

[PolackTony]

Great info on Musso being in Williamson County. I don’t really have any further info to add to that discussion apart from what we’ve already discussed in the Chicago threads. It could’ve been a Family, a faction or outpost of STL or one of the other IL Families. Based on all of the people who settled there or at least lived there for a time, I personally believe there was mafia activity there, but just don’t know what that meant in terms of formal affiliation.

While they were obviously way closer to STL and Springfield (and that far Southern area of IL, aside from being geographically far, might as well be in a different country from Chicago in cultural terms), the Sicilians there had close links to Chicago. As one example, I have encountered claims that the Chicago Burgio Società was originally founded in Johnston City before relocating to Chicago in the early 20th century. Miceli was very likely affiliated with it, I’d think.

Far South IL, despite being in IL, is culturally “the south” (it borders Kentucky and was settled by Anglo-Southerners from Kentucky, VA, etc, unlike Northern IL which was originally settled by Yankees from NY). We know that there was a very bloody “war” between “Italian bootleggers” and the Klan, which led to widespread public violence (even the mayor of Marion was assassinated). I think that like Birmingham, it wasn’t fertile ground for the mafia to take root enough to persist behind the initial generation of Italian colonists.

Another area that could’ve had an early colony Family was Peoria and Ladd/Bureau Counties. We’ve talked about Giuseppe “The Crow” Corso before, and there was a Sicilian colony in that area. In later years, the area had definite activity connected to the Chicago and Rockford Families. Maybe they were always an outpost like that, but I think they had at least the conditions present for an early Family to form.

Definitely think Peoria too- that was a larger type city, many Italians, lots of crime and a hotbed for vice, especially gambling and prostitution.

Yup. I’ve mentioned before that I saw a 1950s report from the IL Crime Commission that highlighted areas of the stated “infested” with OC. Unsurprisingly, Chicagoland and Winnebago County. But, they had Ladd and Bureau County right there with them too, but not Sangamon County (Springfield).

Another thing to consider is that the FBI was receiving intel that what was quite possibly a Calabrian Camorra organization persisted in Kenosha until the 1980s, independent from Chicago and Milwaukee LCN, which we know had a presence and members there going back at least 50 years by that point. Who knows if the info was accurate, but we need to be cautious about thinking we really know what was happening in all of these places, all the more so if we’re talking 1900-1930 era.

[Angelo Santino]

Norristown

Rosario Montalbano

Via Celeste Morello's interview with her alleged mafioso uncle in Norristown:

- All of Morello's attempts to steer the conversation with Montalbano directly toward the mafia were politely evaded by Montalbano and he spoke in generalities about those aspects of his life.

- Celeste Morello's uncle Rosario Montalbano left Sciacca in 1923 after he learned that he may have been on a list of individuals suspected of mafia involvement by the Mussolini government. Montalbano's father told him he would likely never see him again when he left for the US. Montalbano spent three years living on Mott street on the Lower East Side and then Brooklyn, but refused to elaborate or explain anything about his years in NYC or involvement there. Morello suspected Montalbano was inducted into the mafia in NYC. After NYC his final destination was Norristown, where he married a first cousin.

- The Montalbanos owned extensive land in Sciacca and were well-off, though they were farmers. Rosario told Morello that his father carried a gun in Sciacca, while Rosario proudly carried two guns on him. He felt that because the Schiacchitani carried guns rather than knives, it made them superior. Interestingly, Montalbano was in favor of Mussolini cracking down on non-mafia "gangsters" and criminals but his attitude appears to have been different concerning mafiosi. Morello says Harry Riccobene had a similar attitude toward Mussolini's actions in 1920s Sicily.

- The Montalbanos were intermarried with the Morellos from Sciacca. Morello says she had relation to mafia figures from Monreale as well as Sciacca but not sure where Monreale fits in. Harry Riccobene told her he was familiar with some of her mafiosi relatives but that they were part of "North Jersey", though he didn't specify which family. I wonder if he was just humoring her or if he had actually heard of her relatives?

- If Riccobene really did know of Morello's relatives, did he mean that her Norristown relatives were part of "North Jersey", or did he mean that he knew some other mafia relatives of hers in North Jersey, separate from Norristown? I don't mean to go out too far on a limb, but could the remaining Norristown mafiosi been assigned to the DeCavalcantes? I still think the D'Aquila/Gambino family would be the most obvious landing spot but given what a mystery the DeCavalcantes and Norristown both are, it is worth considering what Riccobene meant if he was telling her the truth.

In 1898 Clemente was arrested in NYC with several people, one whose last name was a Montalbano. It needs more looking into but there might be a link. Both Clemente and the Frautos were from Corleone while others were from surrounding villages of the Sicilian interior.

Given that Norristown had a Sciaccatani colony since the 1870's/80's, I'm wondering if NYC or Brooklyn (separate cities until 1898) had a colony or demographic there? We know that Little Italy, E 39th and E80th to an extent were there by the 1900's but I don't know how early they were in Brooklyn. It wouldn't surprise me if there were some in Red Hook. The Bensonhurst/Bath Beach area didn't take off until after the 1900's when it became a secondary neighborhood formed by Italians wishing to leave the city and own land because they bitched about paying rent (unheard of in Sicily at the time).

To coincide with Norristown, many Naps opted for Newark in the 1870's to leave Mulberry Bend (the premiere Italian colony in NYC consisting of wooden tenements. It's conditions would lead to housing reforms and the colony moved north to Mulberry/Elizabeth/Mott street. In 1890 it was mostly Irish, by 1893 there were only a few old Irish couples living there.

Also, south Jersey appears to have gotten its start in the 1870's with grapes. By 1880 I want to say there was a Belmontesi population there.

Another thing I discovered or previously overlooked is how early on Staten Island is connected in all this. In 1884 Antonino Flaccomio murdered Carmelo Faraci in Staten Island due to a feud over a woman, both families were intermarried. Later on one police expert who had knowledge of the mafia in New Orleans concluded that Faraci and Flaccomio were both mafia members. They were linked to Lanzerotti who was the Secretary of the Garibaldi Republican Wide Awake Club, the President was Charles LaFata and the VP was Michele Chiaramonti who later moved to New Orleans and was linked to the Mafia there. All parties in question were associated with Giovanni Bettini who settled permanently in NY in 1877. Bettini would be linked to Gaetano Russo of NO, the Flaccomio murder of 1888 and Nick Taranto in 1896.

[Angelo Santino]

Forgot I made this awhile back. We can identify which Palermo families influenced the Gambinos.

Mineo isn't on there but he can be linked to the group of Antonino Grillo, that's either San Lorenzo or Resuttana. I disremember.

D'Aquila was Palermo Centro and we don't have alot of intel on the groups there prior to the 1910's. Closest group would have been Olivuzza but there could have been a separate Family in downtown.

Palermo - NY connection.jpg

Update- wow, must have been awhile ago, it's embarrassingly outdated. The LoCiceros were from Agrigento and Madonia was from Lercara Friddi. I think there was a Filippo LoCicero in Villabate and then I seen the name in NY and put a question mark next to it. Anyways, consider it a lead and part of the discussion.

Isodoro Crocivera was documented in the Sangiorgi report in 1898 as well as an early Mafioso in New York in the 1900's which further cements things.

[PolackTony]

Given that Norristown had a Sciaccatani colony since the 1870's/80's, I'm wondering if NYC or Brooklyn (separate cities until 1898) had a colony or demographic there? We know that Little Italy, E 39th and E80th to an extent were there by the 1900's but I don't know how early they were in Brooklyn. It wouldn't surprise me if there were some in Red Hook. The Bensonhurst/Bath Beach area didn't take off until after the 1900's when it became a secondary neighborhood formed by Italians wishing to leave the city and own land because they bitched about paying rent (unheard of in Sicily at the time).

Do you mean did NYC or Brooklyn have a Sciaccatani colony pre-1900? If so, absolutely yes. From data that I have for Sicilian arrivals to the US pre-1900, where they gave comune of origin, those from Sciacca were a large component for those going to NYC and the single largest component by far among those heading to Brooklyn (which, as you note, were distinct cities prior to 1898, of course). Given that the prime hubs for immigration from Sciacca were NYC/Brooklyn, Boston, and Norristown, one would imagine also that there were going to be a lot of people with very strong ties to New York at various times in the Norristown colony.

[B.]

There were also mafia-connected Montalbanos in Ribera / Caltabellotta including a boss. One of the Gambino Family's LoCicero sons from Calamonaci married a Montalbano. The name does show up in different places like the early Chicago member Pietro Montalbano from Castelvetrano. There was an early Corleone Family member in Sicily named Saverio Montalbano so Clemente's associate might be Corleonese like him.

You don't see Corleone guys in the US associate that heavily with Agrigento that I can think of. You'd expect there to be more. In early Chicago you likely had members from both but I don't know what is available about specific relationships. Joe Masseria was seen as a Sciacchitano and was close to the Morello-Terranovas though Masseria seems to have been mostly a loner in his own Family as far as Agrigento or Trapani heritage go and his association with a faction of Corleonesi seems like a circumstantial one-off.

Re: LoCicero in Villabate, a possible NYC connection is Profaci captain Calogero LoCicero who came from Villabate in the 1920s and immediately started associating with what he termed mustaches.

[PolackTony]

You don't see Corleone guys in the US associate that heavily with Agrigento that I can think of. You'd expect there to be more.In early Chicago you likely had members from both but I don't know what is available about specific relationships.

Almost nothing on these early relationships, apart from neighborhood proximity (e.g., Leandro Catinella in the Near South Side where Merlo was then based, the Nicolosis and Olivieris in Little Sicily). But then, there were Sicilians from all over in these neighborhoods. Same with what I would presume were early links between Corleonesi and Agrigentini in Rockford.

[PolackTony]

There were also mafia-connected Montalbanos in Ribera / Caltabellotta including a boss. One of the Gambino Family's LoCicero sons from Calamonaci married a Montalbano. The name does show up in different places like the early Chicago member Pietro Montalbano from Castelvetrano. There was an early Corleone Family member in Sicily named Saverio Montalbano so Clemente's associate might be Corleonese like him.

Yeah, while Montalbano is a common surname in Sciacca, it’s also found all over both Agrigento and Palermo in many comuni, so it’s not really even suggestive of a particular origin, let alone diagnostic.

[Angelo Santino]

Given that Norristown had a Sciaccatani colony since the 1870's/80's, I'm wondering if NYC or Brooklyn (separate cities until 1898) had a colony or demographic there? We know that Little Italy, E 39th and E80th to an extent were there by the 1900's but I don't know how early they were in Brooklyn. It wouldn't surprise me if there were some in Red Hook. The Bensonhurst/Bath Beach area didn't take off until after the 1900's when it became a secondary neighborhood formed by Italians wishing to leave the city and own land because they bitched about paying rent (unheard of in Sicily at the time).

Do you mean did NYC or Brooklyn have a Sciaccatani colony pre-1900? If so, absolutely yes. From data that I have for Sicilian arrivals to the US pre-1900, where they gave comune of origin, those from Sciacca were a large component for those going to NYC and the single largest component by far among those heading to Brooklyn (which, as you note, were distinct cities prior to 1898, of course). Given that the prime hubs for immigration from Sciacca were NYC/Brooklyn, Boston, and Norristown, one would imagine also that there were going to be a lot of people with very strong ties to New York at various times in the Norristown colony.

Any idea where those colonies were? I don't have much info on them in Brooklyn, our early info comes from Gentile who was in NYC and didnt cover BK, just because he didnt mention them doesn't mean they weren't there.

I built a map based off of 1911 records of Italian immigration for NYC, I'll send it to you.

[Angelo Santino]

There were also mafia-connected Montalbanos in Ribera / Caltabellotta including a boss. One of the Gambino Family's LoCicero sons from Calamonaci married a Montalbano. The name does show up in different places like the early Chicago member Pietro Montalbano from Castelvetrano. There was an early Corleone Family member in Sicily named Saverio Montalbano so Clemente's associate might be Corleonese like him.

You don't see Corleone guys in the US associate that heavily with Agrigento that I can think of. You'd expect there to be more. In early Chicago you likely had members from both but I don't know what is available about specific relationships. Joe Masseria was seen as a Sciacchitano and was close to the Morello-Terranovas though Masseria seems to have been mostly a loner in his own Family as far as Agrigento or Trapani heritage go and his association with a faction of Corleonesi seems like a circumstantial one-off.

Re: LoCicero in Villabate, a possible NYC connection is Profaci captain Calogero LoCicero who came from Villabate in the 1920s and immediately started associating with what he termed mustaches.

Well, arguably, Masseria (and Luciano) became members during the stage where neighborhood recruitment was fully in place. Based off of origins alone, both Masseria and Luciano should have gone Gambino, in fact Masseria's relatives were members in CL under Lonardo who was an ally of D'Aquila. I consider both Luciano and Masseria products of the Lower East Side, which was an area were every group had members living and working, very different than Palermitan Red Hook or Corleonese E 106th up in Harlem.

It's the areas like Elizabeth or E11 up to E13th that I'm curious about, especially during the C-War. I have to wonder how much the members living in that area actually knew? It's not like Maranzano sent out a memo that they were going to start hitting Masseria loyalists. These diverse areas had members of different families who lived and worked next to each other for 20 years. Shame we didn't have wiretaps back then.

--
Not relevant but...

Clemente's "group" in 1898 included people from the interior (mountain men) around Corleone. Among this cluster was Cascio Ferro of Bisacquino, following Clemente's arrest, CF then is seen in Morello's orbit almost daily. But then CF is anything but normal- born in Bisacquino, father from Sciacca, grew up in Palermo. All I can say is that there were other Bisacquinese such as Giuseppe Boscarini who were with the Corleonese. I'm trying to find if anything more clues us to CF's NY's affiliation, regardless of where it points to. From what I see, still points Corleonese and that's not me trying to fit him in. But the "guilt by association" fallacy argument still resonates.

The letter, Salvatore Brancaccio is like Salvatore "Tony" Brancato. He was arrested with Taranto in 1896, served time, got out, became an informant and was still committing crimes, another informant told the SS that Brancato was the "Chief of the black hand" in 1903 or 4. He wasn't boss, the informant wasn't a member so Brancato could have been soldier or capodecina.

As we know, Taranto was Messinese as well Giovanni Bettini, Bettini goes back to the Flaccomio murder, he "knew" the suspects and one person listed him as a suspect himself in the murder. He was also connected to Gaetano Russo, one of the first Mafiosi in New York.

Another connection is that one law enforcement officer stated that both Flaccomio and the Faracis were mafia members, when he and Carmelo Faraci had a problem in 1884, they went to visit a Valerio Lanzerotti to mediate. Lanzerotti was the secretary of the Garibaldi Republican Wide Awake Club, the President was Chares G. LaFata and the VP was Michele Chiaramonti, who was a "brigand" in Palermo and part of a "counterfeiting gang" in New York.

[B.]

What about Luciano's origins would have pointed him to the Gambinos? Lercara Friddi is part of the Palermo interior that fits the Morello and Genovese and there were other Genovese members from Lercara like the Dolces and Cacciatore.

The best organizational data we have on Cascio Ferro is Giuseppe Morello's letter where he says Cascio Ferro and Pasquale Enea (Palermo) were involved in member inductions together. I don't know what other evidence exists about Enea's associations but he was related to the DiCarlos of Buffalo. If we could find more evidence of his affiliation, it would directly inform Cascio Ferro's as well.

There are Cascio Ferro's Corleonese criminal associations and close relationship with Morello which could point that way, but his origins and other associations have to be considered too. When his house in Sicily was raided after the Petrosino member they found evidence of a relationship to a Riccobono in NYC and the letter from Vincenzo DiLeonardo -- the former was likely Gambino-affiliated and the latter definitely was. His welcome dinner included multiple Palermitani and in a photograph he took with Carlo Costantino (Bonanno) and Morello, there was also a guy from Sciacca named Maniscalco.

His father came from Siculiana and in addition to living in Bisacquino, Vito lived in Sambuca in Agrigento and the family had lived in Villafranca near Burgio in AG. There's his Palermo birth too like you said.

Without hard organizational intel, we have to look at his criminal and social connnections which show ties to both the Morellos and future Gambinos, plus his personal background which lends itself to the Gambinos. Wish we could say for sure.

[Antiliar]

Lucky grew up in the East Village area on East 10th Street and East 14th Street where Saverio Virzi was the dominant power, and he was friends with Joe Biondo and Steve Armone. So he could have easily gone the Gambinos back when D'Aquila was in charge. But he ended up apparently forming his own crew there under Masseria.

[B.]

Ah, if Luciano's "origins" referred to his NYC origins I understand but I took it to mean heritage as Masseria's Menfi identity as a "Sciacchitano" via Gentile lends itself to Gambinos.

[Angelo Santino]

Lercara Friddi is one of those cities are connected to both Corleone and Palermo in terms of mafia links. LF was even mentioned in the Sangiorgi report. Benedetto Madonia (from LF) was a member, we don't have any intel on his affiliation. But for some reason, it appeared he had an issue with Lupo and was looking for Morello to mediate, he came in and was killed. Could mean Madonia was a Lupo member and there was some internal friction (this was around the time Lupo became boss, maybe Madonia got "three-capo'd?" Or he was with Morello and involved in some unbeknownst dispute involving Lupo and Morello sided with his future brother in law over his own member? There's simply not enough info either way.

With Luciano, he was very close to Joe Biondo from an early age, I want to say they lived together at one point? Michael DiLeonardo has stories of older members who met Luciano, he was apparently on good terms with the Gambinos.

Something else to consider, Tony raised this point, is the importance of Sicilian transportation routes. For instance, Corleone and Bagheria might have been more easily accessible to each other than other towns in closer proximity. Both Corleone and Bagheria referred to mafia as Fratuzzi, and in America, Morello and Domenico Pecoraro (Bagheria) were in close proximity daily. And there was also a Giovanni Pecoraro from Piana dei Greci who was with Morello. It was rumored that they were cousins but it's never been confirmed. It leads me to suspect that D. Pecoraro was under Morello but I'm not married to it. There's alot to this we don't know and it'd be disingenuous to try and make things fit.

[Angelo Santino]

Lucky grew up in the East Village area on East 10th Street and East 14th Street where Saverio Virzi was the dominant power, and he was friends with Joe Biondo and Steve Armone. So he could have easily gone the Gambinos back when D'Aquila was in charge. But he ended up apparently forming his own crew there under Masseria.

I wonder/speculate if the Gambinos were harder to "get into" at the time. I base that on Palermo being a port city and hence membership from Palermo flowed into the Gambinos, 20 streams into one lake.

The genovese, may have been more open to those without a mafia pedigree- snobs VS the slobs, and as long as rules were followed, personal character (Lucianos involvement w hookers) might have been less of a factor with the newly formed Gens.

Not saying any of this in the definitive, just speculating.