Blog - 'A Sicilan Message'

[nash143]

Wonderful. Can add DiMinno now to the list of music professionals who were LCN members: Chicago symphony member Giuseppe Priola, music teacher and high school band leader Russell Andaloro of the Bonanno Family, and possibly more. Giovanni Ruisi is a potential early Bonanno member who was a professional musician as well.

Also another fully NYC-based Pittston member. Amazing there were so many. It's not surprising John Cappello told Scafidi that Bufalino belonged to NYC considering how connected/present they were in NYC.

Not surprised Salvatore Bufalino headed the Montedoro paesani club. Harry Horrowitz recently found multiple Buffalo paesan societies too were dominated/led by LCN members and their relatives. It's a "trend" we see around the entire country in virtually every city with a mafia branch.

I added a link to your page on my "resources" list, meant to do that a while back.

Thanks B, much appreciated. I’ll return the favour when I next update the site.

[nash143]

Would like to read about Polizzis (Angelo (Michelangelo) and his son Michael of Detroit).

Funnily enough, I’m half way through writing a piece on Angelo Polizzi. Need to do a bit more research before completing.

[B.]

I'm sure you saw it but Polizzi's Detroit naturalization was witnessed by none other than Chester LaMare.

[nash143]

New piece posted about Philadelphia's burial ground in South Jersey.

https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... uth-jersey

[B.]

Phenomenal.

[nash143]

A couple of short pieces posted for those interested:

Albie DeMarco - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... ie-demarco
Antonino Casella - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... no-casella

[JoelTurner]

Antonino Casella - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... no-casella

This is actually fantastic!

I hadn’t realized that the Antonio Casella killed in 1926 wasn’t Peter’s father. Also didn’t know that they were related to Joe Traina.

The Bryan, TX part is super intriguing too. I’d heard that Morello lived there for a bit but I thought it was a random place. Both Casellas would have easily been old enough to be members when they were there. I wonder if it was a part of the Dallas family or its own thing

Really really great again

[ShotgunTheRifle]

Great articles. Was Just at Parvin State Park last weekend, wish I read the South Jersey one before I went. I took a ride down Morgan Ave because I've read that street name mentioned.

As far as Casella, I know Traina died in 1979, But do you think that relationship played a part in why he got a pass to Florida, or more than likely still his prison connection?

[nash143]

Great articles. Was Just at Parvin State Park last weekend, wish I read the South Jersey one before I went. I took a ride down Morgan Ave because I've read that street name mentioned.

As far as Casella, I know Traina died in 1979, But do you think that relationship played a part in why he got a pass to Florida, or more than likely still his prison connection?

Thanks for the positive comments gents.

I wouldn't want to say re the Peter Casella-pass reasoning. I think I read it was due to someone in the Genovese family, but more than that, I don't know.

[PolackTony]

Antonino Casella - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... no-casella

This is actually fantastic!

I hadn’t realized that the Antonio Casella killed in 1926 wasn’t Peter’s father. Also didn’t know that they were related to Joe Traina.

The Bryan, TX part is super intriguing too. I’d heard that Morello lived there for a bit but I thought it was a random place. Both Casellas would have easily been old enough to be members when they were there. I wonder if it was a part of the Dallas family or its own thing

Really really great again

Bryan, TX, was definitely not a random place with respect to this subject. There was a significant, largely agricultural, colony of Sicilians who came via NOLA to the Lower Brazos Valley (Brazos County and adjacent areas), starting in the 1870s and continuing to the early 1900s. By 1910, the Sicilian population of Bryan alone numbered several thousand. These settlers were mainly from Poggioreale, though there was also a contingent of Corleonese in the Lower Brazos. Rural life was hard there, so while a good number of Sicilians stayed there permanently, others wound up moving on after a while, mainly to NOLA, KC, Chicago, CA. This is what happened with Morello. He worked as a farm laborer in Bryan for several years before, presumably, deciding it wasn’t worth it and returning to NYC.

I think it’s a strong assumption that there would have been mafia activity in Brazos County, but whether they formed an early colony Family there (given that Sicilians were already arriving in numbers there by the 1880s) which was later absorbed by the Dallas outfit, or what, I have no idea. It’s like 180 miles to Dallas, and Bryan is actually closer to Houston (about which there are also big question marks, with both Sicilian and Calabrian figures active there but unclear if there was a mafia and/or Camorra organization based there early on). Just using the example of Chicago, there were three smaller, independent Families that formed in the immediate orbit of Chicago (Rockford, Chicago Heights, and Gary), all much closer than Brazos County to Dallas. Given what we’ve seen elsewhere with small, early colony Families around the country that later were absorbed or went defunct, I’d wager that Bryan had one also.

[nash143]

Two pieces recently posted:

Joseph Saraceno - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p/joseph-saraceno
Angelo Polizzi and family - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... of-dunmore

[JoelTurner]

Antonino Casella - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... no-casella

This is actually fantastic!

I hadn’t realized that the Antonio Casella killed in 1926 wasn’t Peter’s father. Also didn’t know that they were related to Joe Traina.

The Bryan, TX part is super intriguing too. I’d heard that Morello lived there for a bit but I thought it was a random place. Both Casellas would have easily been old enough to be members when they were there. I wonder if it was a part of the Dallas family or its own thing

Really really great again

There was a significant, largely agricultural, colony of Sicilians who came via NOLA to the Lower Brazos Valley (Brazos County and adjacent areas), starting in the 1870s and continuing to the early 1900s. By 1910, the Sicilian population of Bryan alone numbered several thousand.

Given what we’ve seen elsewhere with small, early colony Families around the country that later were absorbed or went defunct, I’d wager that Bryan had one also.

Really interesting, I hadn’t realized that the Bryan, TX colony was around that early on or that they were in the thousands

I’d buy the small family theory too

[Aristotle123]

Years ago a friend of mine from Bryan said that there were Sicilians on both sides of a river
One side was Corleone and I think he said Palermo on the other side
And he said they hated each other

[Harrism]

Antonino Casella - https://asicilianmessage.substack.com/p ... no-casella

This is actually fantastic!

I hadn’t realized that the Antonio Casella killed in 1926 wasn’t Peter’s father. Also didn’t know that they were related to Joe Traina.

The Bryan, TX part is super intriguing too. I’d heard that Morello lived there for a bit but I thought it was a random place. Both Casellas would have easily been old enough to be members when they were there. I wonder if it was a part of the Dallas family or its own thing

Really really great again

Bryan, TX, was definitely not a random place with respect to this subject. There was a significant, largely agricultural, colony of Sicilians who came via NOLA to the Lower Brazos Valley (Brazos County and adjacent areas), starting in the 1870s and continuing to the early 1900s. By 1910, the Sicilian population of Bryan alone numbered several thousand. These settlers were mainly from Poggioreale, though there was also a contingent of Corleonese in the Lower Brazos. Rural life was hard there, so while a good number of Sicilians stayed there permanently, others wound up moving on after a while, mainly to NOLA, KC, Chicago, CA. This is what happened with Morello. He worked as a farm laborer in Bryan for several years before, presumably, deciding it wasn’t worth it and returning to NYC.

I think it’s a strong assumption that there would have been mafia activity in Brazos County, but whether they formed an early colony Family there (given that Sicilians were already arriving in numbers there by the 1880s) which was later absorbed by the Dallas outfit, or what, I have no idea. It’s like 180 miles to Dallas, and Bryan is actually closer to Houston (about which there are also big question marks, with both Sicilian and Calabrian figures active there but unclear if there was a mafia and/or Camorra organization based there early on). Just using the example of Chicago, there were three smaller, independent Families that formed in the immediate orbit of Chicago (Rockford, Chicago Heights, and Gary), all much closer than Brazos County to Dallas. Given what we’ve seen elsewhere with small, early colony Families around the country that later were absorbed or went defunct, I’d wager that Bryan had one also.

There a webpage about Pogioreallesi (?) in Bryan Texas which names some familiar surenames and an interesting fact about a flood in 1899 and 1900, which might have been the time Morello left Texas for New York (I am estimating here).

https://www.poggiorealeinamerica.com/sicilians-in-texas

[B.]

Very quickly this has become one of the best resources.

Excellent article on Casella. I was also unaware of the Traina relation although I knew of the close friendship. This clan made virtually all of their male relatives so whether this Antonino or the murdered one was the one on the deceased member list, it's probable to me they were both members.

The Bryan colony indeed was heavily connected to the mafia and we have speculated before that it was either an early branch of what became the Dallas Family or perhaps its own group in the early days when there were more Families. This is the first I've heard of Belmontesi living there but the Poggioreale connection fits what we know of Texas mafiosi, neighboring Salaparuta playing a big role in the Dallas Family. I knew the Casellas spent time in St. Louis though I'm unaware of any mafiosi from Belmonte Mezzagno in or around the local Family.

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Did you look into the "Manzello" and Badalamenti involved in the incident with Polizzi? Manzella and Badalamenti are of course big Cinesensi names and Cinisi played a big role in Detroit, the Badalamentis there being related to Gaetano Badalamenti and various Manzellas around the US also connecting to the Cinisi Family.

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The DeMarco and Saraceno articles also hit all the notes that interest me.