Random historic info

[PolackTony]

Yeah Cecala is very common there which is why I thought Nino was from Caccamo. Don't know how common it is in Baucina but seems like more than a coincidence two Cecalas ran Empire Yeast at that time even though the two were from different nearby villages.

FWIW, Cecala is not at all common in Baucina. Outside of Caccamo, it appears with much lower frequency in Vicari and Ventimiglia. From what I have, Nino Cecale’s paternal grandfather, Antonino Cecala (b. 1805), was from Ventimiglia, which makes sense. Based on the distribution of the surname, my assumption has been that it originated in Caccamo and that the families with it in neighboring comuni ultimately trace their lineage back there, though this could be in the distant past in some cases. At least in this case, I didn’t see any indication of direct relation to any Cecalas from Caccamo in this family going back to the late 18th century, but Ventimiglia of course borders Caccamo, so who knows if the families of these two Cecalas had ties or contact with each other. As you say, it would seem to be quite the coincidence that two Cecalas just happened to have both been in charge of Empire Yeast.

[B.]

From Dickie:



- The part from Marino Mannoia reflects what US sources like Gentile and Magaddino said about Families being dissolved and captains stepping down until a new boss is elected. Also confirms consigliere was an elected position in his Family much as it was in many US Families. It is pluralized here so it's possible he was referring to a consiglio, as Calderone and Buscetta confirmed that existed in larger Sicilian Families. He also says it is the captains who collect the votes which we've seen in US mafia elections.

- What Leonardo Messina said about the consigliere matches Magaddino's comments and much of what I've said about the consigliere over the years. Messina says the consigliere is "the man responsible for controlling the head (capofamiglia / boss)". He says in San Cataldo the consigliere was also supposed to prevent the boss and captains from taking more money than is due to them. Magaddino said he didn't want a consigliere as it created a voice equal to the boss and he felt if a boss was elected unanimously there shouldn't be a need for consigliere. Also fits the function of the consigliere in many US Families. See here: viewtopic.php?t=7031

[antimafia]

Article to which I've linked below was published online today. As a side note, the Silvestros based in Ontario, Canada had ties to Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins, both of which are in Northern Ontario.

Sault man describing family’s history as bootleggers
https://www.sootoday.com/local-news/sau ... s-10049587

[B.]

The 1883 "Fratellanza" investigation into the early mafia in Favara, Agrigento, specified that there were two separate, rival organizations in conflict with one another. Previously Angelo and I speculated that this was one Family and these were simply two factions of one organization, possibly appointing their own de facto leadership as we see in other factional conflicts (i.e. Colombo war of the 90s, Bonanno war of the 1960s, etc. where the warring factions appoint their own admin). However, I came across a reference from Nino Calderone where he said during his time there were in fact two separate Families in Favara.

So it appears we were wrong about Favara in the 1880s. Unlike seemingly all comuni outside of Palermo citta, Favara has or had two Families and their separate existence goes back close to ~145 years or longer. I don't know if this arrangement continued after Calderone's time but it seems to have had a long history.

Is anyone aware of other towns in Sicily aside from Palermo citta and Favara that had more than one Family? Maybe Catania (with roots in the Ferlito vs. Santapaola conflict), although I'm not sure the exact formalities and/or geography of the arrangement as originally it was one Family and it can be hard to sort out what is factionalism vs. a "recognized" formal distinction.

Here is what Scagghiuni said:

in Catania province there are 4 Cosa Nostra families: Santapala, Mazzei and the ones based in the towns of Caltagirone and Ramacca, the others

Note he says "province". The Caltagirone and Ramacca Families don't count as those are their own comuni and I'm not sure if there is a geographic separation between the Santapaola and Mazzei Families or if they both occupy the city of Catania. If they do, Catania is quite large so it's not directly comparable to Favara (Catania's population is roughly 10x Favara).

This report from the 1950s on the Sicilian mafia (the FBI sourced it from Italian LE) says other Agrigento towns like Siculiana and Cattolica Eraclea had two competing groups as well and the same report mentions two groups in Favara which could be based on the 1880s investigation but we know it was still true at the time of this report ~75 years later:





I've never heard of Siculiana or Cattolica Eraclea having two borgate each within the town and some of these old reports draw erroneous conclusions so I'm not sure if the basis of these statements all comes from the 1880s investigation or if there was tangible evidence of two Families in other Agrigento comuni aside from Favara.

[scagghiuni]

as far as I know in Favara there is currently only one Cosa Nostra family, the only cities with two families are Catania and Gela (obviously leaving aside the city of Palermo that has 33 families)

[B.]

as far as I know in Favara there is currently only one Cosa Nostra family, the only cities with two families are Catania and Gela (obviously leaving aside the city of Palermo that has 33 families)

Maybe Favara did later become one Family but it sounds like they were still two for a significant amount of time.

Thank you.

[antimafia]

[snip]
I've never heard of Siculiana or Cattolica Eraclea having two borgate each within the town and some of these old reports draw erroneous conclusions so I'm not sure if the basis of these statements all comes from the 1880s investigation or if there was tangible evidence of two Families in other Agrigento comuni aside from Favara.

I sent the first excerpt to an Italian journalist (IJ, for convenience) and asked IJ what they thought. IJ, as usual, was economical with their words.

The journalist responded that the excerpt from the 1950s FBI report was not anything IJ had not seen before. When I asked IJ whether the excerpt was an account that was invented, IJ replied no but further clarified by asserting that the account in the excerpt was not actual at all. (That is, IJ is declaring that Italian LE did not have correct intelligence here.)

[B.]

Are you sure that was an Italian Journalist or was it a mafioso? Haha.