Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[PolackTony]

1928 Hotel Statler meeting attendee Girolamo "James" Intravaia was born around 1890-1893 in Monreale and arrived in Chicago in 1913, settling near Larrabee and Division in Little Sicily. As noted before, Intravaia was reputed to have been a key supporter of Joe Aiello and was disappeared/presumed murdered in 1930 (legally declared dead in 1938, around which time his wife Angelina DiCarlo moved with their kids back to her hometown of Santa Flavia, where she remained, though son Vincenzo "James" Intravaia returned to Chicago later and became a CFD fireman in the 1950s). In January of 1919, CPD received a call of a body found at Locust and Milton in Little Sicily. The cadaver was Giuseppe Intravaia, who was killed with one shot to the head. As neighbors reported hearing no shots, it was presumed that Intravaia was killed elsewhere and dumped at the location. Giuseppe Intravia was born around 1893 in Monreale, and may have entered the US in 1915 via Detroit. On his WW1 draft card, he stated that he lived near Division and Orleans and was employed by the Randall & Co. merchant shipping firm in the Loop. Given their hometown and near residence in Chicago, we can presume that these two Intravaias knew each other and were probably cousins (Girolamo's father was Vincenzo Intravaia, while Giuseppe's father was listed as also named Giuseppe Intravaia on his death record, though it's unclear to me if that is accurate).

Also worth noting that Girolamo Intravaia's 1926 naturalization was witnessed by Unione Siciliana leader Constantino Vitello (of Grotte) and Giuseppe Romano (possibly the same Romano who was President of the Maria SS Lauretana di Altavilla Milicia Society).

[Antiliar]

You're on a roll, Tony. Great research. I appreciate the correction on Frank Ferraro. We're after the truth, not scoring points. I especially like the additional context of the pre-1931 murders.

[PolackTony]

You're on a roll, Tony. Great research. I appreciate the correction on Frank Ferraro. We're after the truth, not scoring points. I especially like the additional context of the pre-1931 murders.

Thanks, brother. I had also been thrown off by those family trees that had Ferraro's dad from Agrigento, so I'm glad that it was able to be corrected, as he is one of the very few guys known with ancestry from Ragusa (and as we now see, may have had a relative who was involved early on).

[PolackTony]

As noted above, Giovanni Gurrieri was shot to death at Princeton and 23rd Pl in Chinatown in February of 1922. On December 8th, 1922, reputed "Black Hand" leader Giuseppe Maggio was found dead at Princeton and 23rd Pl (apparently in almost the exact spot where Luigi Cascio was also found murdered in 1919) with four bullets to the back of his head. Maggio lived around the corner, at 245 W 24th St (also around the corner from where Mike Merlo lived in 1918, on Wentworth near 24th St'in 1920, Merlo lived at 26th and Wentworth). CPD ruled out robbery, as Maggio was found to have had a revolver and $500 in his pocket. Maggio was stated to have been notorious as the "King of the Black Handers" and the papers referred to his murder as "the assassination of the king". Investigators attributed his slaying to an ongoing "fierce vendetta" between rival "Black Hand" groups, which they alleged had taken the lives of two of Giuseppe Maggio's "brothers", Nicola and Stefano Maggio, who were both killed in separate incidents in March of 1922.

Giuseppe Maggio was born in Sambuca Zabut sometime around 1865. A 1907 passenger manifest recorded Giuseppe returning from Sambuca to Chicago, where he stated that he had previously resided, along with Paolo Merlo of Sambuca, who had also lived in Chicago previously. Giuseppe stated that his contact in the US was his "brother" Giorgio Maggio, living in Chicago. This was very likely the same Giorgio Maggio who was a suspect in the 1905 Little Sicily slaying of Biagio Raia of Sambuca, along with fellow Sambucesi Pietro Merlo and Calogero Montalbano (Raia's wife was a Giuseppina Merlo, while I was able to confirm that Concetta Merlo, wife of Raia murder suspect Calogero Montalbano, was the sister of Pietro Merlo, fellow Raia murder suspect). Paolo Merlo and his wife Rosaria Abbate, also of Sambuca, settled at 18th and Clark, the same block where Mike Merlo arrived with his father Calogero Merlo from Louisiana (also in the immediate area of Jim Colosimo's vice district). Giorgio Maggio, in turn, had returned to Chicago from a stay in Sambuca in 1906, and listed his "brother", Antonino Michele Maggio, as his contact, living on the 1700 block of S Clark (again, that same section around Clark and 18th). It is unclear to me whether Giuseppe and Giorgio Maggio were actually brothers or just cousins, as Giuseppe's 1922 death record does not give the names of his parents. Giorgio Maggio was born about 1868 in Sambuca to Filippo Maggio and Diana Amodeo, and died in Chicago in 1937.

Nicola Maggio was shot and mortally wounded on March 11, 1922, when two men opened fire on him with revolvers in front of his home on Wentworth and 23rd St. Nicola Maggio later died at the hospital, and when queried as to the identity of his shooters replied with a shrug. Investigators reported that Nicola Maggio was a close friend of Angelo Genna, and believed that the March 16 murder of Paolo Notte, a tavern owner shot to death in front of his family near 22nd and Wells, two blocks from where Nicola Maggio was shot. CPD reported that before he died, Notte told them that he was killed by "Genna [...] who runs a pool room in Taylor St". I believe that Paolo Notte was from Casteltermini and had initially arrived in the US to STL before relocating to Chicago. Police arrested Angelo Genna at his Italian American Educational Club (the Gennas were educated in the production of clandestine alcohol and the effective use of firearms), while brother Tony Genna was also detained and questioned. Angelo Genna was later indicted by a grand jury for Notte's murder but evidently not convicted. The slayings of Nicola Maggio and Paolo Notte were among approximately 30 slayings in the past year that CPD believed stemmed from the feud that erupted after the Gennas killed Paul Labriola.

Nicola Maggio was born about 1874 in Sambuca to Martino Maggio and Paola Fiorenza, and had been living in Chicago since at least 1905 when he married Rosa Merlo of Sambuca. Also named in connection with the 1905 Raia murder were brothers Giorgio and Audienzo Lorenzo Fiorenza of Sambuca; their grandfather was Paolo Fiorenza, and they were likely relatives of Nicola Maggio; Audienzo Fiorenza lived at 20th and Wells in Chinatown, near the location where Notte was murdered. Despite the reporting in the papers, I suspect that Nicola and Giuseppe Maggio were more likely to have been cousins than brothers.

The other supposed Maggio "brother" murdered in 1922 was Stefano "Steve" Maggio, who was killed when two men opened fire on him on Racine near Randolph on the Near Westside, on March 27. Steve Maggio lived around the corner on the 1200 block of W Randolph, and police were told by an informant that Maggio was "the leader of a band that sought to rule the Italian nightlife district", and that men loyal to a rival "band" connected to Agostino LoNero killed Maggio in revenge for Maggio having killed LoNero in 1918. In July of 1918, Maggio and his alleged partner Francesco DePalma had opened fire on a group of men at a Grand Ave soft drink parlor, wounding 5 and killing LoNero. All of the men seem to have been Barese, with LoNero likely being from Triggiano, Bari. Stefano Maggio was born in 1885 in Carbonara di Bari, arriving in Chicago in 1913. Thus, Stefano was not related at all to Giuseppe and Nicola Maggio, and his murder seems more likely to have been connected to a feud between rival factions of the Barese underworld (Bari, including towns like Carbonara and Triggiano heavily tied to Chicago, having long had a very active "Società di Mala Vita", parallel to the Neapolitan and Calabrian Camorra, which included an alleged number of leaders who fled to the US when Italian law enforcement began cracking down on branches of the Società in Puglia).

On September 8th of 1922, however, Rocco Maggio, very likely a relative of Stefano Maggio, was shot three times in front of a pool hall near Taylor and Halsted but survived his wounds. Rocco Maggio was born in 1896 in Carbonara di Bari, and a Michele Gramarusto, an alleged "Black Hander" also from Carbonara, was subsequently identified by investigators as a suspect in Rocco Maggio's shooting. Rocco Maggio, aka "The Scourge" was himself an infamous extortionist and murderer, convicted in 1925 for the 1924 murder of Francesco LaMacchia of Carinaro, Caserta, along with Maggio's alleged partner Paolo DiFranco. I'm not 100% certain but believe that DiFranco was Sicilian, possibly from Altavilla Milicia, which could point to close collaborations between Sicilians and Baresi which would be an important dynamic of the mafia in Chicago in coming decades, particularly in the Grand Ave neighborhood (as previously discussed, around this time the Chicago papers also identified a group of Baresi from Grand Ave as loyalists of Joe Aiello, with several of them fleeing Chicago and then getting arrested for an armed robbery and murder in Los Angeles). Another interesting link is that it was reported that in 1925, a woman named Raffaella Albergo was arrested for collaborating with Rocco Maggio in receiving stolen merchandise. She was reported to have been the widow of a Giuseppe Albergo, who had tried to stop his wife from making payments to Rocco Maggio and was then allegedly murdered by Maggio. This was the same Raffaella Albergo who subsequently remarried Salvatore Cataudella and lammed it to NYC with him (he was also a person of interest in a murder), as her husband Giuseppe Albergo was found hacked to death by a hatchet-wielding assailant in his Taylor St grocery store in December of 1922. Salvatore Cataudella and Raffaella Albergo, as I discussed recently, were the paternal grandparents of current Chicago member Sal Cataudella. It was also reported that Maggio was arrested in 1925 in the company of LaMacchia's widow, and it seems that he had a pattern of killing or terrorizing the husband or families of girls and women in order to kidnap them or use them in his extortion rackets.

Rocco Maggio was convicted of the LaMacchia murder and sentenced to life, but his conviction was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court, on grounds that prejudicial evidence had been introduced in his trial. In January of 1929, Maggio was shot twice but again survived. At this time it was reported that he was facing charges of murder, assault, rape, kidnapping, and extortion in 1929, with immigration authorities having issued a deportation order two years previously that for some reason was never executed. Maggio was stated to have been terrorizing Italian communities in Chicago and North suburban Highwood in his extortion drives. Even his in-laws were victims, as it was reported that he kidnapped his "child bride", Isabella LaMarca, born in 1912 in Corato, Bari, and held her captive until her parents agreed to marry her to him. Her parents, Vito LaMarca and Angelina DiPalma, lived in the Grand Ave Patch, but operated a grocery store at 849 W Taylor St that Rocco Maggio used as his HQ (this was where he was shot previously in 1922). In July of 1929, Rocco Maggio was identified as the leader of a "ring of extortionists" terrorizing the Italian community of Elmwood Park and the NW side of Chicago (given Raffaella Albergo's apparent involvement, this ring was also alleged to have included a woman, Teresa Bruno, who also reported that Maggio had forced her husband to leave her and the US on pain of death). Upon his arrest, detectives expressed shock that Maggio, who the papers likened to a "feudal lord" ruling over whole swaths of Chicago's Italian community, was still on the street, as he had previously been sentenced to life. Maggio was reported to have replied: "the big court, they say the case no good [...] the witnesses, they no come no more". Maggio was also facing bigamy charges, after it was revealed that he had married a woman in Ceglie del Campo, Bari, in 1919 (later Chicago figures Joey Lombardo, Vito Spillone, and Johnny Campanelli had ancestry from Ceglie del Campo). Somehow, even though Maggio's charges included rape and murder, he got himself bonded out (I guess some things in Cook County don't change, lol). An uproar ensued in the papers, as CPD was "hunting" Maggio to bring him back in for detention, as reports came to CPD that Maggio was running around Chicago intimidating potential witnesses for his trial. Maggio was finally apprehended a month later at Vito LaMarca's grocery store, but, with a team of high-priced lawyers, managed to get himself bonded out again. A month later, on October 30th, 1929, his long reign of terror finally caught up with him, as a gunman entered the LaMarca grocery store and shot Rocco Maggio to death in front of his wife and mother-in-law. Maggio's 17-year-old widow, Isabella LaMarca, subsequently remarried Paolo Rizzo of Vittoria, Ragusa, the hometown of Frank Ferraro's family (interesting that Raffaella Albergo, also connected to Maggio, married a Ragusano, Salvatore Cataudella of Pozzallo, after Maggio murdered her first husband).

I was not able to confirm Rocco Maggio's parents' names, so I could not match them to Stefano Maggio. If not brothers, I'd think they were cousins and likely part of the same apparent Barese organization.

[motorfab]

Great research here, I've always been intrigued by Rocco Maggio, who to me was quite a mysterious figure in the Chicago underworld of those years. Thanks for that Tony

[CabriniGreen]

1928 Hotel Statler meeting attendee Girolamo "James" Intravaia was born around 1890-1893 in Monreale and arrived in Chicago in 1913, settling near Larrabee and Division in Little Sicily. As noted before, Intravaia was reputed to have been a key supporter of Joe Aiello and was disappeared/presumed murdered in 1930 (legally declared dead in 1938, around which time his wife Angelina DiCarlo moved with their kids back to her hometown of Santa Flavia, where she remained, though son Vincenzo "James" Intravaia returned to Chicago later and became a CFD fireman in the 1950s). In January of 1919, CPD received a call of a body found at Locust and Milton in Little Sicily. The cadaver was Giuseppe Intravaia, who was killed with one shot to the head. As neighbors reported hearing no shots, it was presumed that Intravaia was killed elsewhere and dumped at the location. Giuseppe Intravia was born around 1893 in Monreale, and may have entered the US in 1915 via Detroit. On his WW1 draft card, he stated that he lived near Division and Orleans and was employed by the Randall & Co. merchant shipping firm in the Loop. Given their hometown and near residence in Chicago, we can presume that these two Intravaias knew each other and were probably cousins (Girolamo's father was Vincenzo Intravaia, while Giuseppe's father was listed as also named Giuseppe Intravaia on his death record, though it's unclear to me if that is accurate).

Also worth noting that Girolamo Intravaia's 1926 naturalization was witnessed by Unione Siciliana leader Constantino Vitello (of Grotte) and Giuseppe Romano (possibly the same Romano who was President of the Maria SS Lauretana di Altavilla Milicia Society).

Literally EXACTLY where I grew up...

[PolackTony]

Robert Bellavia was born in 1939 in Chicago. I believe that his parents were Charles Bellavia and Anna Madeline Nocco. Charles Bellavia was born in 1911 in the area of Nanty-Glo in the coal mining country of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Francesco Bellavia and Giusepinna Turco of Villarosa, Enna. In 1930, the Bellavias were still living in Blacklick next to Nanty-Glo, but around 1935 they relocated to Chicago, where Francesco died in 1937 (Giuseppina died in Chicago in 1962). Anna Nocco was born in 1914 in Chicago to Luigi Nocco, of Santa Maria, Napoli, and Giovanna Mercurio, of Vairano, Napoli. The Noccos lived at 845 W Arthrington in the Taylor St Patch, where Charles and Anna/Anne lived after they married. Charles Bellavia died in 1952, while Anne died in 1994.

I'm pretty sure that this is the correct genealogy, but if I'm correct then Robert Bellavia had a younger brother named Charles (I believe he was the Charles Bellavia arrested for theft charges in relation to the 1983 federal and local LE investigation of Outfit-related gambling and auto theft operations).

A younger brother of Charles Bellavia was Rocco “Rocky” Bellavia, born in 1918 in Cambria County, PA. Rocky Bellavia was murdered at his home in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the Northside in 2002 in a non-mob related robbery. His wife was Maria Theresa LoBianco, born in Chicago in 1920 to Giuseppe LoBianco and Maria Teresa DeVito of Altavilla Milicia. Giuseppe LoBianco was the contact listed by Minetto Clemente Oliveri when the latter arrived in Chicago from Altavilla Milicia in 1922 (Oliveri had listed LoBianco as his brother-in-law and stated that his wife back in Altavilla was Rosa DeVito, likely the sister of LoBianco’s wife). Oliveri was made in Altavilla and presumably transferred to Chicago, as he was arrested with a group of men including Sam Aiello, Joe Caminiti, and Tony Calafiore in an apparent safehouse of Joe Aiello supporters in February 1928 (the Tribune had him as “Oliver Clementi”). Oliveri subsequently moved to Racine with his paesani Angelo LaMantia and Johnny Masina. In the 1960s, LA CIs identified Oliveri as a “retired” Milwaukee member residing in San Diego, where sources stated that Oliveri had relocated following a 1930s “gang war” in Racine (Masina was murdered in Racine in 1931, at which point LaMantia fled to Youngstown and then Philly). Due to allegedly having been involved romantically with another member’s wife, Oliveri was shelved and no longer part of the mafia network after moving to SD.

[cavita]

Robert Bellavia was born in 1939 in Chicago. I believe that his parents were Charles Bellavia and Anna Madeline Nocco. Charles Bellavia was born in 1911 in the area of Nanty-Glo in the coal mining country of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Francesco Bellavia and Giusepinna Turco of Villarosa, Enna. In 1930, the Bellavias were still living in Blacklick next to Nanty-Glo, but around 1935 they relocated to Chicago, where Francesco died in 1937 (Giuseppina died in Chicago in 1962). Anna Nocco was born in 1914 in Chicago to Luigi Nocco, of Santa Maria, Napoli, and Giovanna Mercurio, of Vairano, Napoli. The Noccos lived at 845 W Arthrington in the Taylor St Patch, where Charles and Anna/Anne lived after they married. Charles Bellavia died in 1952, while Anne died in 1994.

I'm pretty sure that this is the correct genealogy, but if I'm correct then Robert Bellavia had a younger brother named Charles (I believe he was the Charles Bellavia arrested for theft charges in relation to the 1983 federal and local LE investigation of Outfit-related gambling and auto theft operations).

A younger brother of Charles Bellavia was Rocco “Rocky” Bellavia, born in 1918 in Cambria County, PA. Rocky Bellavia was murdered at his home in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the Northside in 2002 in a non-mob related robbery. His wife was Maria Theresa LoBianco, born in Chicago in 1920 to Giuseppe LoBianco and Maria Teresa DeVito of Altavilla Milicia. Giuseppe LoBianco was the contact listed by Minetto Clemente Oliveri when the latter arrived in Chicago from Altavilla Milicia in 1922 (Oliveri had listed LoBianco as his brother-in-law and stated that his wife back in Altavilla was Rosa DeVito, likely the sister of LoBianco’s wife). Oliveri was made in Altavilla and presumably transferred to Chicago, as he was arrested with a group of men including Sam Aiello, Joe Caminiti, and Tony Calafiore in an apparent safehouse of Joe Aiello supporters in February 1928 (the Tribune had him as “Oliver Clementi”). Oliveri subsequently moved to Racine with his paesani Angelo LaMantia and Johnny Masina. In the 1960s, LA CIs identified Oliveri as a “retired” Milwaukee member residing in San Diego, where sources stated that Oliveri had relocated following a 1930s “gang war” in Racine (Masina was murdered in Racine in 1931, at which point LaMantia fled to Youngstown and then Philly). Due to allegedly having been involved romantically with another member’s wife, Oliveri was shelved and no longer part of the mafia network after moving to SD.

As a side note, I've seen a newspaper article which stated that John Masina came to Racine from Pittsburgh approximately two years before his murder.

[PolackTony]

Robert Bellavia was born in 1939 in Chicago. I believe that his parents were Charles Bellavia and Anna Madeline Nocco. Charles Bellavia was born in 1911 in the area of Nanty-Glo in the coal mining country of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Francesco Bellavia and Giusepinna Turco of Villarosa, Enna. In 1930, the Bellavias were still living in Blacklick next to Nanty-Glo, but around 1935 they relocated to Chicago, where Francesco died in 1937 (Giuseppina died in Chicago in 1962). Anna Nocco was born in 1914 in Chicago to Luigi Nocco, of Santa Maria, Napoli, and Giovanna Mercurio, of Vairano, Napoli. The Noccos lived at 845 W Arthrington in the Taylor St Patch, where Charles and Anna/Anne lived after they married. Charles Bellavia died in 1952, while Anne died in 1994.

I'm pretty sure that this is the correct genealogy, but if I'm correct then Robert Bellavia had a younger brother named Charles (I believe he was the Charles Bellavia arrested for theft charges in relation to the 1983 federal and local LE investigation of Outfit-related gambling and auto theft operations).

A younger brother of Charles Bellavia was Rocco “Rocky” Bellavia, born in 1918 in Cambria County, PA. Rocky Bellavia was murdered at his home in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the Northside in 2002 in a non-mob related robbery. His wife was Maria Theresa LoBianco, born in Chicago in 1920 to Giuseppe LoBianco and Maria Teresa DeVito of Altavilla Milicia. Giuseppe LoBianco was the contact listed by Minetto Clemente Oliveri when the latter arrived in Chicago from Altavilla Milicia in 1922 (Oliveri had listed LoBianco as his brother-in-law and stated that his wife back in Altavilla was Rosa DeVito, likely the sister of LoBianco’s wife). Oliveri was made in Altavilla and presumably transferred to Chicago, as he was arrested with a group of men including Sam Aiello, Joe Caminiti, and Tony Calafiore in an apparent safehouse of Joe Aiello supporters in February 1928 (the Tribune had him as “Oliver Clementi”). Oliveri subsequently moved to Racine with his paesani Angelo LaMantia and Johnny Masina. In the 1960s, LA CIs identified Oliveri as a “retired” Milwaukee member residing in San Diego, where sources stated that Oliveri had relocated following a 1930s “gang war” in Racine (Masina was murdered in Racine in 1931, at which point LaMantia fled to Youngstown and then Philly). Due to allegedly having been involved romantically with another member’s wife, Oliveri was shelved and no longer part of the mafia network after moving to SD.

As a side note, I've seen a newspaper article which stated that John Masina came to Racine from Pittsburgh approximately two years before his murder.

Thanks for the reminder on that. Given that Angelo LaMantia later told police that he was in Youngstown for a period after leaving Chicago but before moving to Wisconsin, it makes sense that Messina (“Masina”) was likely in that area with him also. My presumption is that Messina was in Chicago and likely left when LaMantia fled, as seems to have occured with Joe Romano, who also went to Racine and then left to Youngstown when Racine got hot. I haven’t been able to 100% prove this, but the only other Messinas in the US I’ve seen from Altavilla were all closely connected to Chicago (which is expected anyway, as the great majority of Altavillesi in the US settled in Chicago). The obstacle is that I have not yet been able to confirm Messina’s arrival in the US, or if his real name was even Giovanni Messina, so I suspect that he entered illegally. Pietro LaMantia lammed it out of Sicily in 1926 following a murder that he allegedly committed in Tèrmini Imerese, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Messina had a similar story.

[cavita]

Robert Bellavia was born in 1939 in Chicago. I believe that his parents were Charles Bellavia and Anna Madeline Nocco. Charles Bellavia was born in 1911 in the area of Nanty-Glo in the coal mining country of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Francesco Bellavia and Giusepinna Turco of Villarosa, Enna. In 1930, the Bellavias were still living in Blacklick next to Nanty-Glo, but around 1935 they relocated to Chicago, where Francesco died in 1937 (Giuseppina died in Chicago in 1962). Anna Nocco was born in 1914 in Chicago to Luigi Nocco, of Santa Maria, Napoli, and Giovanna Mercurio, of Vairano, Napoli. The Noccos lived at 845 W Arthrington in the Taylor St Patch, where Charles and Anna/Anne lived after they married. Charles Bellavia died in 1952, while Anne died in 1994.

I'm pretty sure that this is the correct genealogy, but if I'm correct then Robert Bellavia had a younger brother named Charles (I believe he was the Charles Bellavia arrested for theft charges in relation to the 1983 federal and local LE investigation of Outfit-related gambling and auto theft operations).

A younger brother of Charles Bellavia was Rocco “Rocky” Bellavia, born in 1918 in Cambria County, PA. Rocky Bellavia was murdered at his home in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the Northside in 2002 in a non-mob related robbery. His wife was Maria Theresa LoBianco, born in Chicago in 1920 to Giuseppe LoBianco and Maria Teresa DeVito of Altavilla Milicia. Giuseppe LoBianco was the contact listed by Minetto Clemente Oliveri when the latter arrived in Chicago from Altavilla Milicia in 1922 (Oliveri had listed LoBianco as his brother-in-law and stated that his wife back in Altavilla was Rosa DeVito, likely the sister of LoBianco’s wife). Oliveri was made in Altavilla and presumably transferred to Chicago, as he was arrested with a group of men including Sam Aiello, Joe Caminiti, and Tony Calafiore in an apparent safehouse of Joe Aiello supporters in February 1928 (the Tribune had him as “Oliver Clementi”). Oliveri subsequently moved to Racine with his paesani Angelo LaMantia and Johnny Masina. In the 1960s, LA CIs identified Oliveri as a “retired” Milwaukee member residing in San Diego, where sources stated that Oliveri had relocated following a 1930s “gang war” in Racine (Masina was murdered in Racine in 1931, at which point LaMantia fled to Youngstown and then Philly). Due to allegedly having been involved romantically with another member’s wife, Oliveri was shelved and no longer part of the mafia network after moving to SD.

As a side note, I've seen a newspaper article which stated that John Masina came to Racine from Pittsburgh approximately two years before his murder.

Thanks for the reminder on that. Given that Angelo LaMantia later told police that he was in Youngstown for a period after leaving Chicago but before moving to Wisconsin, it makes sense that Messina (“Masina”) was likely in that area with him also. My presumption is that Messina was in Chicago and likely left when LaMantia fled, as seems to have occured with Joe Romano, who also went to Racine and then left to Youngstown when Racine got hot. I haven’t been able to 100% prove this, but the only other Messinas in the US I’ve seen from Altavilla were all closely connected to Chicago (which is expected anyway, as the great majority of Altavillesi in the US settled in Chicago). The obstacle is that I have not yet been able to confirm Messina’s arrival in the US, or if his real name was even Giovanni Messina, so I suspect that he entered illegally. Pietro LaMantia lammed it out of Sicily in 1926 following a murder that he allegedly committed in Tèrmini Imerese, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Messina had a similar story.

I think the Racine group, especially around that time period, deserves a deeper dive. It may flesh out the Milwaukee, Madison and even Chicago LCN a little better.

[PolackTony]

Robert Bellavia was born in 1939 in Chicago. I believe that his parents were Charles Bellavia and Anna Madeline Nocco. Charles Bellavia was born in 1911 in the area of Nanty-Glo in the coal mining country of Cambria County, Pennsylvania. His parents were Francesco Bellavia and Giusepinna Turco of Villarosa, Enna. In 1930, the Bellavias were still living in Blacklick next to Nanty-Glo, but around 1935 they relocated to Chicago, where Francesco died in 1937 (Giuseppina died in Chicago in 1962). Anna Nocco was born in 1914 in Chicago to Luigi Nocco, of Santa Maria, Napoli, and Giovanna Mercurio, of Vairano, Napoli. The Noccos lived at 845 W Arthrington in the Taylor St Patch, where Charles and Anna/Anne lived after they married. Charles Bellavia died in 1952, while Anne died in 1994.

I'm pretty sure that this is the correct genealogy, but if I'm correct then Robert Bellavia had a younger brother named Charles (I believe he was the Charles Bellavia arrested for theft charges in relation to the 1983 federal and local LE investigation of Outfit-related gambling and auto theft operations).

A younger brother of Charles Bellavia was Rocco “Rocky” Bellavia, born in 1918 in Cambria County, PA. Rocky Bellavia was murdered at his home in the Roscoe Village neighborhood on the Northside in 2002 in a non-mob related robbery. His wife was Maria Theresa LoBianco, born in Chicago in 1920 to Giuseppe LoBianco and Maria Teresa DeVito of Altavilla Milicia. Giuseppe LoBianco was the contact listed by Minetto Clemente Oliveri when the latter arrived in Chicago from Altavilla Milicia in 1922 (Oliveri had listed LoBianco as his brother-in-law and stated that his wife back in Altavilla was Rosa DeVito, likely the sister of LoBianco’s wife). Oliveri was made in Altavilla and presumably transferred to Chicago, as he was arrested with a group of men including Sam Aiello, Joe Caminiti, and Tony Calafiore in an apparent safehouse of Joe Aiello supporters in February 1928 (the Tribune had him as “Oliver Clementi”). Oliveri subsequently moved to Racine with his paesani Angelo LaMantia and Johnny Masina. In the 1960s, LA CIs identified Oliveri as a “retired” Milwaukee member residing in San Diego, where sources stated that Oliveri had relocated following a 1930s “gang war” in Racine (Masina was murdered in Racine in 1931, at which point LaMantia fled to Youngstown and then Philly). Due to allegedly having been involved romantically with another member’s wife, Oliveri was shelved and no longer part of the mafia network after moving to SD.

As a side note, I've seen a newspaper article which stated that John Masina came to Racine from Pittsburgh approximately two years before his murder.

Thanks for the reminder on that. Given that Angelo LaMantia later told police that he was in Youngstown for a period after leaving Chicago but before moving to Wisconsin, it makes sense that Messina (“Masina”) was likely in that area with him also. My presumption is that Messina was in Chicago and likely left when LaMantia fled, as seems to have occured with Joe Romano, who also went to Racine and then left to Youngstown when Racine got hot. I haven’t been able to 100% prove this, but the only other Messinas in the US I’ve seen from Altavilla were all closely connected to Chicago (which is expected anyway, as the great majority of Altavillesi in the US settled in Chicago). The obstacle is that I have not yet been able to confirm Messina’s arrival in the US, or if his real name was even Giovanni Messina, so I suspect that he entered illegally. Pietro LaMantia lammed it out of Sicily in 1926 following a murder that he allegedly committed in Tèrmini Imerese, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Messina had a similar story.

I think the Racine group, especially around that time period, deserves a deeper dive. It may flesh out the Milwaukee, Madison and even Chicago LCN a little better.

Agreed. Rockford also, given that LaMantia and Messina in Racine were said to have been working with Giovingo faction, who were also reputedly aligned with the Aiello faction in Chicago.

[B.]

Outstanding on the Maggios.

Phil Bacino's wife was a Maggio from Sambuca, her father being Michele. Be interesting if he connects. I believe you previously found there was interrelation between these Maggios and Springfield figures.

[PolackTony]

Outstanding on the Maggios.

Phil Bacino's wife was a Maggio from Sambuca, her father being Michele. Be interesting if he connects. I believe you previously found there was interrelation between these Maggios and Springfield figures.

Yeah, Phil's wife was Giovannina "Jennie" Maggio, born in 1911 to Michele Maggio and Giovanna "Jennie" Giglio of Sambuca. The earliest address that I have for them is in 1917 in Calumet City (then called West Hammond, IL). The parents entered the US around 1907 and presumably lived in Little Sicily initially, as all of their children were baptized at San Filippo Benizi Parish. None of the info that I have for them ties them directly to the other Maggios from Sambuca (of which there were many in Chicago, as well as from towns like Menfi and Santa Margherita). I even checked the baptismal records, which did not connect to the other Maggios by cumpari relationships either (interesting to note that the Maggios had Little Sicily people from Vicari and Caccamo as co-godparents though). Michele Maggio's father was apparently named Calogero, and while he had a son named Joseph, none were named George, Nick, Martin, or Phillip, so we don't see the kind of recurring given names that we would expect if he was a cousin of the other Maggios discussed above.

The Maggios were in CC way before Phil, so his marriage to Jenny in 1933 may be what caused Phil to move there (the earliest that I believe we can place him in CC otherwise would be his alleged role in the murder of Calumet City tavern owner John Nickels in 1935, as I haven't ever been able to find a record for Phil in the 1930s so far as I can recall).

Interesting to note also that Jennie Maggio's brother, Sylvester Maggio, married Francesca Bacino, who was born in Ribera in 1931 and emigrated to the US in 1955. Neither her nor Phil's obituaries mentioned each other, but she was likely a niece or cousin of Phil.

I've mentioned it before, but Giovanni "Johnny Apes" Monteleone immigrated to the US with his mother, Mariantonia Sicalo, in 1924, arriving in NYC bound for his father Agostino Monteleone, who was listed as then living at 319 State St in Hammond, IN, on the shipping manifest. But, there wasn't a 319 State St in Hammond; this address would have actually been in Calumet City, which was called West Hammond until 1924 (the two towns are literally across the street from each other, State Line Ave). Now, Michele Maggio and his family lived at 324 State Line Ave at this time, so they were neighbors of Johnny Apes's father, and, presumably, he was there because of the Maggios (the block wasn't an Italian colony or anything). So we can connect Bacino and Johnny Apes via the Sambuca paesani network. On the ship with Mariantonia and Little Apes was a youth named Stefano Maggio, headed for Chicago where his brother Giacomo Maggio was living in Little Sicily (their parents were Salvatore Maggio and Francesca Rinaldo). Another thing to note is that the Giorgio Maggio discussed previously had a daughter named Diana Maggio who married a Pietro Maggio who arrived in Chicago from Sambuca in 1911 and was naturalized in Hammond in 1925 (he arrived on a ship full of Sambucesi bound for Chicago, including a Calogero Maggio who was probably a cousin of Phil's father-in-law and other surnames that Ive already noted, like Rinaldo and Abbate).

By 1930, the Monteleones were living at 233 W 25th St in Chinatown (between Wentworth and Princeton). Father Agostino Monteleone was, unsurprisingly, employed as a laborer for the Streets Department of the City of Chicago (the precursor to Streets and San). A next-door neighbor, at 235 W 25th, was Pietro Maggio, I believe the same one noted above. Later, the Monteleones lived around the corner, at 2414 S Princeton. Interesting to note here that Agostino's parents, Giovanni Monteleone and Grazia Berbiglia of Sambuca, and brother Vito Montelone, born 1899 in NOLA, all wound up moving to Newtown, MA, as the Boston area also had a colony from Sambuca, along with a large and longstanding Sciaccatanu colony.

[PolackTony]

In a 1919 article, the Tribune claimed that "Mike Lisandrello" was a member of the "Gloriana gang", along with the Dom Nuccio who was later a member of the Northside crew, and stated that police suspected the Gloriana boys were involved in the Gagliardo/Raimondi hit, as the hit happened in front of the home of alleged member Frank Giardinello (as stated in the "Gambinos" thread, the murders took place at a grocery store owned by a Peter Raineria).

Has anyone confirmed Charles Gloriana's origins? I have a "Charles Gloriano", born 1895 who in 1917 lived at Oak and Townsend (in 1919, per the Tribune, Charles Gloriana was 24 and lived at Oak and Townsend). This info, however, seems to point to a Vincenzo Glaviano, born 1895 in Palazzo Adriano to Antonino Glaviano and Caterina Fazio, who arrived together in 1898 in NYC bound for Chicago. In 1910, the family, still using the Glaviano spelling, was living on Gault Ct in Little Sicily with Caterina's father Paolo Fazio. In 1922, "Charles Glavana" married Rose Locacciato, born in Chicago to parents who seem to have been from Vicari. In 1930, Charles and Rose Gloriana were living in LA (funny how so many guys decided to leave Chicago for more hospitable weather around 1930). By 1940, they were back in Chicago, living near Wieland and North Ave in the Near Northside Old Town neighborhood (WW2 draft card states that he was born in "Palaccio"). The CA death index has Charles Gloriana, born April 1895, as deceased in LA in 1976.

Maybe someone has better info than me, but from what I've seen I think this was the guy.

Following up on an older post. "Charles Gloriana" was indeed Vincenzo Glaviano, born 1895 in Palazzo Adriano to Antonino Glaviano and Caterina Fazio. The family arrived in the US at NYC in 1898, bound for Chicago, where their paesan' Giovanni Compagno of Palazzo lived on Gault Ct in Little Sicily, where the Glavianos settled (one of his sons, Francesco Compagno, later married Charles Gloriana's sister, Anna Glaviano). Charles's wife, Rose LoCacciato, was born in 1901 in Chicago to parents from Vicari, which is significant given that Dom Nuccio and Michelangelo Lisciandrello were both alleged to have been linked to the "Gloriana Gang".

On his WW2 draft card, Charles Gloriana, gave Anna Franzone as his "sister". She was actually his sister-in-law, Anna LoCacciato, wife of Joseph Franzone, elder brother of Chicago member Jimmy Franzone and longtime employee of the City of Chicago.

Another guy to note was Vincenzo Accardo, who was an alleged Aiello gunman arrested in 1930. His address was given as 816 N Milton, and a Vicenzo Accardo living at that address had been denied a naturalization document, which gave his birth year as 1897. In 1942 Vincenzo Accardo was naturalized. He was born 1897 in Gibellina, Trapani and married Rose Lisciandrello of Campofelice di Roccella (stated as such on Vincenzo's naturalization document). Rose was born 1905 and was the daughter of Michelangelo "Mike" Lisciandrello and Caterina Gualtieri. These were also the parents of brothers Joseph ("Ruffy"), Sam, and Frank ("Hot Dog") Lisciandrello, and in 1920 the family lived on N Milton in Little Sicily. Caterina had arrived in the US in 1906 with young son Giuseppe and infant daughter Rosa, bound for Chicago where her husband Michelangelo Lisciandrello lived. Sam and Frank were born later in Chicago. There is a record for a Michelangelo Lisciandrello from Campofelice who arrived in NYC in 1905. When Michelangelo died in 1920, his occupation was "grocer" and he lived at 816 N Milton, the same address that Vincenzo Accardo gave when he was arrested in 1930. Vincenzo Accardo died in Chicago in 1982.

In a 1919 article, the Tribune claimed that "Mike Lisandrello" was a member of the "Gloriana gang", along with the Dom Nuccio who was later a member of the Northside crew, and stated that police suspected the Gloriana boys were involved in the Gagliardo/Raimondi hit [1919], as the hit happened in front of the home of alleged member Frank Giardinello (as stated in the "Chicago Gambinos" thread, the murders took place at a grocery store owned by a Peter Raineria).

As noted above, Michelangelo "Mike" Lisciandrello was a Little Sicily grocer from Vicari, alleged to have been connected to Gloriana, accused of selling the stolen alcohol from the Glorana boys' hijackings from his store, and the 1919 murders of Giovanni Gagliardo and Charles Raimondi. His wife, Caterina Gualiteiri, was actually from the small neighboring village of Campofelice di Fitalia, rather than Campofelice di Roccella (Chicago had colonies from both comuni, and it can be difficult to parse them sometimes as many documents will just state "Campofelice, Palermo"), and daughter Rosa Lisciandrello, who later married Vincenzo Accardo of Gibellina, was born 1905 in Campofelice di Fitalia (confirmed by birth records). In August of 1920, Mike Lisciandrello was shot when one of his kids was emptying ashes behind their building on Milton Ave and was accosted and slapped by the wife of Filippo Celano, a neighbor who was a City employee from Cacamo. Mike Lisciandrello and 19-year-old Joe "Ruffy" Lisciandrello rushed out and Mike fired a shotgun into the Celano residence. Filippo Celano returned fire and fatally wounded Mike Lisciandrello. Gagliardo, a wealthy wholesale produce merchant from Bagheria previously connected to the Morici brothers, had gone to the police after being extorted and threatened by the notorious Pietro Montalbano of Castelvetrano in 1918 (Montalbano was on parole for shooting a cop and apparently need some income), reportedly telling CPD that he knew he was marked for death for reporting the incident. In September of 1919, Gagliardo and his drive Raimondi were shot to death on the 900 block of N Milton, one block up from Lisciandrello's store; "Gloriana gang member" Francesco "Frank Giardinello" Guardinelli, of Mezzojuso or neighboring Campofelice di Fitalia was later charged with setting up the hit on Gagliardo and Raimondi, but charges dropped due to lack of evidence.

As also noted previously, Vincenzo Accardo of Gibellina was reported in the papers as an Aiello gunman when he was arrested at the Lisciandrello's address at 826 N Milton in 1930. While he lived quietly after that, working as a painter, he seems to have been a very well-connected guy, as the witnesses on his 1931 naturalization were Sam Gerage, a clerk for the City of Chicago, and Gennaro "Jerry" Alterio, a clerk for the Cook County Board of Review from Baucina.

As a reminder, Charles Gloriana and fellow "Gloriana gang member" Carl Moretti were accused of killing Merle Bucker, an employee of the Downey-Farrell Co. (a margarine manufacturer), in an armed robbery of the company's payroll in Cotober 1919; at the time of the murder, the two had recently been convicted on a slew of other charges, including robbery, burglary, and possession of illegal weapons, but somehow managed to get themselves released on bond awaiting sentencing (lol). CPD had a number of witnesses from the Bucker scene who identified Gloriana, but later they failed to show up for trial and the majority were reported to have left employment at Downey-Farrell. After repeated delays and hearings, the case was stricken from the court's docket by the Cook County States Attorney's office, despite a court order to proceed with the case. For a bunch of thugs, the defendants had impressive representation, as their defense attorney was Rocco DeStefano, an important leader in Chicago's Italian community from Trivigno, Potenza, and at the time on the Supreme Council of the Unione Siciliana under President Tony D'Andrea (it helps to have friends in high places). These guys were good at somehow wiggling out of trouble, as also evidenced by the 1922 incident where CPD was shocked to find "Gloriana gang members" Victor "Vito" Rizzo (born 1894 in Altavilla Milicia) and George "Sharkey" Carson hanging out in a Near Northside poolroom on Vine St when they were supposed to be serving 3-to-20-year sentences in the penitentiary.

Dom Nuccio was alleged in the press to have been a "Gloria gang member" in several incidents. In 1919, he was arrested with several other "members" for a series of robberies and burglaries. In June of 1921, he was arrested for the murder of Paolo Torina, an alleged "Black Hander" from Ciminna who had lived in Pittsburgh for several years before relocating to Chicago. Torina had been in front of the Clybourn Inn, a Little Sicily Hotel located at Clybourn and Division when three men rushed out of the hotel and opened fire on him. As it turns out, the hotel was owned by Giovanni Celano of Caccamo, who I believe was a brother of the Filippo Celano who killed Mike Lisciandrello. Even more interesting, is that Paolo Torina's 1915 naturalization, filed in Chicago, was witnessed by Gregorio Conti, Pittsburgh rappresentante who was himself also murdered in 1919.

[B.]

It looks like Paolo Torina is Gentile's "Paolinello". He was a Palermitano involved with a group of young robbers in Chicago, the rest of which Gentile said were murdered on D'Andrea's orders. Paolinello escaped his own death sentence by hiding out in Pittsburgh where he was made and committed a murder for Gregorio Conti with Gentile. He was also assisted in Chicago by Domenico Catalano from Ciminna and received protection from Chicago Heights boss Filippo Piazza from Caccamo, with further help from Milwaukee boss Vito Guardalabene of Porticello.

I've suspected Paolinello was from Ciminna like Catalano as an FBI summary of Gentile's info says Catalano was a "countryman" of Paolo, which would be translated from paesano. So here we have a Paolo from Ciminna who was close to Conti and lived in both Pittsburgh and Chicago. He can be connected to a Caccamese in Chicago as well, like Paolinello's tie to Piazza.

Gentile doesn't give an exact date for the Paolinello situation that I can recall but it had to be the second half of the 1910s and would fit Torino spending "several years" in Pittsburgh around that time. He does say after D'Andrea lifted the death sentence that Paolinello requested permission to remain in Chicago for a time to visit relatives. Would make sense if he eventually returned back there and if he was murdered it explains why we haven't found any trace of him.

He arrived to Chicago from Ciminna in 1912 and his 1915 naturalization was filed in Chicago, so his trajectory went Chicago>Pittsburgh>Chicago between 1915 and 1921. It is really looking like this is Paolinello. Interesting his murder happened right after D'Andrea's. Even though D'Andrea initially wanted to kill Paolinello, Gentile says at the meeting where the death sentence was lifted that D'Andrea took a liking to Paolinello. However the timing almost makes you wonder if Torina was involved in D'Andrea's murder and was another member, along with Giuseppe LaSpisa, killed in retribution. LaSpisa was from Ventimiglia which neighbors Ciminna and was also killed in June 1921, the same month you said Nuccio was arrested for the Torina murder. Gentile says explicitly that LaSpisa was killed for the D'Andrea murder and you'd think he'd mention "Paolinello" if he was involved but Gentile randomly leaves many things out.

Interesting too is that Paolo Torina arrived to Chicago with a Calogero DiSpenza from Ciminna who was heading to his brother Rosario DiSpenza. I assume this is the Chicago boss, which makes sense as Domenico Catalano was close to DiSpenza and possibly related to him and we know "Paolinello" was in turn close to Catalano. It fits that "Paolinello" had connections of this magnitude given the protection and support he received from national leaders in Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, and Chicago Heights despite being a young petty criminal. Wouldn't be surprised if Paolo Torina was himself a relative of the DiSpenzas.