Merlos
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Merlos
How are Michele Merlo (and others Merlos) from Elizabeth and rappresentante Michele Merlo from Chicago related? I tried to find information on the forum, but found nothing except that both are of Agrigento origin (Chicago's Merlo from Sambuca Zabut and Elizabeth's Merlos from Ribera). There are many connections between Elizabeth and Chicago, given that Phil Bacino from Chicago was Elizabeth likely boss. Were the Merlos related?
Re: Merlos
No known relation but maybe something could be found if we traced their ancestry far back enough. Some of the Ribera guys like Bacino had deeper ancestry in Burgio and many of those Agrigento towns had interrelation.
My personal belief is that the modern DeCavalcante Merlos' ancestors Michele and Giuseppe Merlo were early leaders of the DeCavalcante Family, one of them likely being boss based on what Charlie Stango said about Joe Merlo's family being the 'root of the tree' who 'started this whole thing' when they 'came from Sicily to here'. Michele and Giuseppe Merlo were the first confirmed Riberesi to live in Elizabeth by 1907 and were followed by relatives the Riggis (John's grandfather and great-uncle) a short time later and the colony grew much larger in the 1910s and 20s. Michele and Giuseppe were then part of the committee that founded the Elizabeth Ribera club in 1923 and we know the top DeCavalcante leadership played important roles in the club for generations so that would complement Stango's comments. If that's true, Michele or Giuseppe Merlo of Elizabeth would have been a contemporary boss at the same time Michele Merlo from Sambuca was boss of Chicago.
My research indicates the DeCavalcantes likely formed in Manhattan and Phil Bacino was probably a member of the DeCavalcantes after arriving in NYC in the early 1920s but I'm not sure how long he spent there. He joined his relatives the Giacobbes when he came to NYC and we know they were powerful DeCavalcantes with cousins in the Ribera Family plus Phil's brother Luciano Bacino became one of the leaders in Ribera by the 1940s so his clan was significant on both sides of the ocean. Pasquale LoLordo was in NYC for much longer and I strongly believe he was a DeCavalcante before moving to Chicago, much as his brother Joe became one after leaving Chicago for Queens and eventually becoming a captain.
My personal belief is that the modern DeCavalcante Merlos' ancestors Michele and Giuseppe Merlo were early leaders of the DeCavalcante Family, one of them likely being boss based on what Charlie Stango said about Joe Merlo's family being the 'root of the tree' who 'started this whole thing' when they 'came from Sicily to here'. Michele and Giuseppe Merlo were the first confirmed Riberesi to live in Elizabeth by 1907 and were followed by relatives the Riggis (John's grandfather and great-uncle) a short time later and the colony grew much larger in the 1910s and 20s. Michele and Giuseppe were then part of the committee that founded the Elizabeth Ribera club in 1923 and we know the top DeCavalcante leadership played important roles in the club for generations so that would complement Stango's comments. If that's true, Michele or Giuseppe Merlo of Elizabeth would have been a contemporary boss at the same time Michele Merlo from Sambuca was boss of Chicago.
My research indicates the DeCavalcantes likely formed in Manhattan and Phil Bacino was probably a member of the DeCavalcantes after arriving in NYC in the early 1920s but I'm not sure how long he spent there. He joined his relatives the Giacobbes when he came to NYC and we know they were powerful DeCavalcantes with cousins in the Ribera Family plus Phil's brother Luciano Bacino became one of the leaders in Ribera by the 1940s so his clan was significant on both sides of the ocean. Pasquale LoLordo was in NYC for much longer and I strongly believe he was a DeCavalcante before moving to Chicago, much as his brother Joe became one after leaving Chicago for Queens and eventually becoming a captain.
Re: Merlos
Thanks for the answer. The Agrigento network is very interesting and mysterious. Could Pasqualino LoLordo even be the boss of the DeCavalcante family? Given his influence and connections, I wouldn't be surprised. I also wonder if Bacino was a member of Chicago or Chicago Heights, and if he was a member of Chicago Heights, whether his transfer to the DeCavacalcante family was related to the debacle and merger of Chicago Heights.
Re: Merlos
Can't rule anything out. They were both well-connected Riberese in deep with DeCavalcante figures so easy to think they were with them but the org at that time is a mystery. Same for Chicago Heights and in many ways Chicago itself. I feel pretty confident that Bacino was affiliated in some way with the DeCavalcantes then the Chicago Family and don't think he was a Chicago Heights member... who can say for sure though.
Here is the list of Ribera Club founders:
Based on the patterns we see later in the club, at least several of these names must have been DeCavalcante leaders. You have Amari, who became boss later, then the Merlo brothers who we have reason to think were early leaders. Some of these other names were probably important as well.
A Ribera colony surfaces in Manhattan around 1891/1892 (or earlier, those are just the earliest records I can find) that included Gallettas and Carubas, both surnames of important members that later show up in what an informant called the "old faction", the Family's Manhattan-Queens crew. Gerry Angiulo, Charlie Stango, and Anthony Rotondo all believed the DeCavalcantes were one of the oldest if not the oldest Family in the US or at least the NYC-NJ area. D'Arco was told a New Jersey Family was the first but didn't say whether this was the DeCavalcantes. Their origins must trace back to NYC, though. Even though the Ribera Club wasn't formed in Elizabeth until 1923 when most Riberesi moved there, there was a more informal Ribera Club that met at different locations in NYC before that.
Here is the list of Ribera Club founders:
Based on the patterns we see later in the club, at least several of these names must have been DeCavalcante leaders. You have Amari, who became boss later, then the Merlo brothers who we have reason to think were early leaders. Some of these other names were probably important as well.
A Ribera colony surfaces in Manhattan around 1891/1892 (or earlier, those are just the earliest records I can find) that included Gallettas and Carubas, both surnames of important members that later show up in what an informant called the "old faction", the Family's Manhattan-Queens crew. Gerry Angiulo, Charlie Stango, and Anthony Rotondo all believed the DeCavalcantes were one of the oldest if not the oldest Family in the US or at least the NYC-NJ area. D'Arco was told a New Jersey Family was the first but didn't say whether this was the DeCavalcantes. Their origins must trace back to NYC, though. Even though the Ribera Club wasn't formed in Elizabeth until 1923 when most Riberesi moved there, there was a more informal Ribera Club that met at different locations in NYC before that.
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PolackTony
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Re: Merlos
To be clear, Phil Bacino was definitely a Chicago member, though I’m assuming that you’re asking if he could have been a Chicago Heights member prior to that Family being absorbed by Chicago.
We don’t know when he was made, though he was 21 when he immigrated in 1923, so I’d think it’s likely that he was either made in Ribera or in NYC by the “DeCav” Family after arrival. We can place him in Chicago in 1928 at the earliest, when he submitted his naturalization papers and was living on the Westside not far from where his paesani the LoLordos, DeGeorges, and Dianas were based. We know that LoLordo was the boss (whether acting or official) of Chicago following the murder of Tony Lombardo in late 1928, so we can assume that after arriving in Chicago Bacino transferred to that Family. He married Jennie Maggio in 1933, and her family had been living in Calumet City for years; presumably, Bacino moved to Cal City around this time and was confirmed living there by 1935 when he was acquitted for shooting and killing a club owner there (the papers did not note that he had recently moved to the town, so I’d think he had been there for several years). We don’t exactly when the Chicago Heights Family was dissolved, though the best bet would be that it occured when boss Filippo Piazza was killed in 1926 (again, just an assumption as we don’t know for sure and actually only know from Gentile that it was a separate Family as of the late 1910s still).
I don’t see any reason to suspect that Bacino would’ve ever been a Chicago Heights member, as we have no evidence that he lived in that area when we know that this Family still existed, and presumably would have had no reason to head there when he first arrived in the Chicago area, as his Riberese paesani were based on the North and West sides of Chicago. Possible that the Maggios may have been connected to the Heights Family, but then we don’t know if Calumet City was ever part of the Heights Family territory either (or if Chicago, the Heights, and Gary all had overlapping operations in that area). Cal City directly borders Chicago and the neighboring town of Burnham was controlled by Chicago-based interests going back to Johnny Torrio.
We don’t know when he was made, though he was 21 when he immigrated in 1923, so I’d think it’s likely that he was either made in Ribera or in NYC by the “DeCav” Family after arrival. We can place him in Chicago in 1928 at the earliest, when he submitted his naturalization papers and was living on the Westside not far from where his paesani the LoLordos, DeGeorges, and Dianas were based. We know that LoLordo was the boss (whether acting or official) of Chicago following the murder of Tony Lombardo in late 1928, so we can assume that after arriving in Chicago Bacino transferred to that Family. He married Jennie Maggio in 1933, and her family had been living in Calumet City for years; presumably, Bacino moved to Cal City around this time and was confirmed living there by 1935 when he was acquitted for shooting and killing a club owner there (the papers did not note that he had recently moved to the town, so I’d think he had been there for several years). We don’t exactly when the Chicago Heights Family was dissolved, though the best bet would be that it occured when boss Filippo Piazza was killed in 1926 (again, just an assumption as we don’t know for sure and actually only know from Gentile that it was a separate Family as of the late 1910s still).
I don’t see any reason to suspect that Bacino would’ve ever been a Chicago Heights member, as we have no evidence that he lived in that area when we know that this Family still existed, and presumably would have had no reason to head there when he first arrived in the Chicago area, as his Riberese paesani were based on the North and West sides of Chicago. Possible that the Maggios may have been connected to the Heights Family, but then we don’t know if Calumet City was ever part of the Heights Family territory either (or if Chicago, the Heights, and Gary all had overlapping operations in that area). Cal City directly borders Chicago and the neighboring town of Burnham was controlled by Chicago-based interests going back to Johnny Torrio.
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Re: Merlos
One of the founders of the Ribera Club, Joseph Carlino, has the same last name as Leo Carlino. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but Leo Carlino comes from Burgio, with which the origins of many mafiosi from the Agrigento network are connected. Carlino was part of the Agrigento decina of the Bonanno family, which was headed by Coletti and Caruso. These things don't give me peace, there's clearly something there. There are astonishingly many connections between Chicago, DeCavalcante, the Bonanno and Gambino Agrigento crews. Natives of Caltabellota were involved in the founding of the Ribera Club and the DeCavalcante family, Pasqualino LoLordo's wife was a Mule from Caltabellotta, and Pellegrino Mule was an early figure in the Agrigento network in New York. Mule could have been a member or even a leader of the Agrigento crew of the Gambino family, or he could have been a member/boss? early DeCavalcante when they were based in Manhattan. The LoChicheros of the Gambinos intermarried with natives of Caltabelotta, so in any case the Mule and LoChicheros must be related somehow. In the context of all this, B's version that the DeCavalcante family comes from the LoCichero's crew of the Gambino family seems plausible. But can all these connections be explained differently? There was also the mysterious Brooklyn crew of the Lucchese family, also from Agrigento, led by Salvatore Curiale. How the Agrigentini ended up in the Lucchese family, as well as in the Bonanno family, is a mystery. Al D'Arco said that this decina existed back in the days when there was only one family in Brooklyn. Could there have been a single New York Agrigento family that was then divided, like the Newark family later? If this is true, which is not a fact, this family could be the same La Chiesa that Al D'Arco spoke about, supposedly the first LCN family in the USA?/New York. The diversity of participants in this network is interesting; they are both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Something must have caused the Agrigentini to split between Elizabeth, Bonanno, Gambino and Lucchese. Or the collapse of the united Agrigento family in the USA or the collapse of the Gambino's Agrigento crew. There is something here that we don’t really know anything about yet.
Re: Merlos
I don't necessarily think the DeCavalcante Family came from the LoCicero crew of the Gambinos, only that there would be obvious connections between them as the LoCiceros were from Calamonaci (essentially Ribera) and operated in the same Manhattan neighborhoods as DeCavalcante members. The Arcuris appear to be the heirs of the LoCiceros and they served as liaisons to the DeCavalcantes for decades and mingled closely together.
The idea that the DeCavalcantes were part of an NYC Family and later split off was a popular theory on the boards many years ago that I entertained as well but there is no evidence of it and it's just a way of reconciling the total lack of info on their early history. On the other hand, we have at least three and maybe four high-level sources inside and outside of the DeCavalcante Family who said they were among the earliest Families. This perspective might not be 100% accurate but has to be acknowledged especially given we don't have any counterevidence. The idea that they split off from the Gambinos because of their strong relationship also has to be reconciled with the fact that the Genovese Family was their Commission avugad.
My best guess is that the DeCavalcantes were a singular Family primarily from Ribera and neighboring towns that existed in NYC very early on then shifted their base to Elizabeth while maintaining a presence in Manhattan-Queens via the "old faction" crew. They were never mentioned by early sources but even the FBI didn't become aware of them until the 1960s and Greg Scarpa didn't know of their existence until a couple years after he started cooperating. We have Louis LaRasso too telling DeCarlo that the Family deliberately didn't introduce their members to other Families aside from a handful of top leaders. They don't seem to have engaged in any local NYC-NJ or national politics until Sam DeCavalcante inserted himself into the Bonanno affair and most of their members were not explicitly criminal so they wouldn't have surfaced as "gangsters" earlier on. I imagine we'd have similar questions about Rockford or Madison if we didn't have sources like Maniaci who cleared up details about their history and continued existence.
The idea that the DeCavalcantes were part of an NYC Family and later split off was a popular theory on the boards many years ago that I entertained as well but there is no evidence of it and it's just a way of reconciling the total lack of info on their early history. On the other hand, we have at least three and maybe four high-level sources inside and outside of the DeCavalcante Family who said they were among the earliest Families. This perspective might not be 100% accurate but has to be acknowledged especially given we don't have any counterevidence. The idea that they split off from the Gambinos because of their strong relationship also has to be reconciled with the fact that the Genovese Family was their Commission avugad.
My best guess is that the DeCavalcantes were a singular Family primarily from Ribera and neighboring towns that existed in NYC very early on then shifted their base to Elizabeth while maintaining a presence in Manhattan-Queens via the "old faction" crew. They were never mentioned by early sources but even the FBI didn't become aware of them until the 1960s and Greg Scarpa didn't know of their existence until a couple years after he started cooperating. We have Louis LaRasso too telling DeCarlo that the Family deliberately didn't introduce their members to other Families aside from a handful of top leaders. They don't seem to have engaged in any local NYC-NJ or national politics until Sam DeCavalcante inserted himself into the Bonanno affair and most of their members were not explicitly criminal so they wouldn't have surfaced as "gangsters" earlier on. I imagine we'd have similar questions about Rockford or Madison if we didn't have sources like Maniaci who cleared up details about their history and continued existence.