Chicago Outfit Places of Origin

[PolackTony]

Another great find from Joel. We know very little about the organization in Rockford in the 1920s, but I’d agree that Domenico Alfano is a good suspect for an early Rockford member.

Cavita — the Newark D’Amicos were from Villabate. As we’ve discussed a bit before, John D’Amico’s wife, Anna Chiaro (Chiarchiaro), the mother of his son Domenico noted here, was from Chicago, family from Palazzo Adriano. Her uncle, Nicola Chiarchiaro aka Nick Chiaro, married a paternal aunt of Nick DeJohn. My guess is that the D’Amico-Alfano marriage here reflected mafia network ties, rather than simply Sicilian compaesano ties.

[B.]

Agreed. Another great connection.

[NorthBuffalo]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

[cavita]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

No....Domenico was from Sambuca and Pietro from Cinisi

[NorthBuffalo]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

No....Domenico was from Sambuca and Pietro from Cinisi

Got it - quite a coincidence with the name.

[PolackTony]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

No....Domenico was from Sambuca and Pietro from Cinisi

Got it - quite a coincidence with the name.

Not really. It’s a relatively common surname in both Palermo and Agrigento provinces.

[NorthBuffalo]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

No....Domenico was from Sambuca and Pietro from Cinisi

Got it - quite a coincidence with the name.

Not really. It’s a relatively common surname in both Palermo and Agrigento provinces.

Hey we are talking about Rockford, IL - name can't be that common. I know Pietro Alfano was from Sicily and was sent to the U.S. by Badalamenti - I just assumed he had some relations in Rockford as it was a random spot to set up operations without some inside connection.

[PolackTony]

I can't believe this wasn't asked (I'll feel like an ass if I missed it)- was Dominico Alfano a relative of Pietro Alfano from Pizza Connection case decades later?

No....Domenico was from Sambuca and Pietro from Cinisi

Got it - quite a coincidence with the name.

Not really. It’s a relatively common surname in both Palermo and Agrigento provinces.

Hey we are talking about Rockford, IL - name can't be that common. I know Pietro Alfano was from Sicily and was sent to the U.S. by Badalamenti - I just assumed he had some relations in Rockford as it was a random spot to set up operations without some inside connection.

Pietro Alfano did move to Northern IL because he had relatives there. But these people were/are from Cinisi, unrelated to the Alfanos from Sambuca that we were discussing here. The surname happens to be relatively common in both towns, both of which have always had strong ties to IL.

[cavita]

Francesca Alfano D'Amico ended up remarrying a man by the last name DiVito and when her father Domenico Alfano died in 1971 she was living in Bloomfield, NJ. Domenico Alfano came to Rockford from Sambuca in 1915 when he married Vita Bordonaro and byt 1916 was in the grocery and tavern business which I'm certain he passed along to his sons Barney, Frank and Luke.

[cavita]

And here's a little more Rockford/NJ connection- Domenico Alfano had a brother Angelo Alfano born 1881 who was a tavern operator in Newark, NJ and he died in October 1957. His bar was located at 463 5th Street in Newark. Also, there was a Margaret Giovingo who married Jasper Alfano in Sambuca in 1913. They immigrated to NJ from Sambuca in 1913 and lived there a year before coming to Rockford in 1914. Certainly another strong NJ/Rockford tie especially if their families were mafia members in the old country. Jasper was also a brother to Domenico and Angelo Alfano.

[PolackTony]

Great updates. We can see that some of these Rockford-NJ ties may well have had a deeper history preceding Riela and Troia even.

[JoelTurner]

And here's a little more Rockford/NJ connection- Domenico Alfano had a brother Angelo Alfano born 1881 who was a tavern operator in Newark, NJ and he died in October 1957. His bar was located at 463 5th Street in Newark. Also, there was a Margaret Giovingo who married Jasper Alfano in Sambuca in 1913. They immigrated to NJ from Sambuca in 1913 and lived there a year before coming to Rockford in 1914. Certainly another strong NJ/Rockford tie especially if their families were mafia members in the old country. Jasper was also a brother to Domenico and Angelo Alfano.

Wow that’s a really great find!


John D’Amico & family lived roughly 2 1/2 blocks away at 520 N 7th St, Newark, NJ. Makes a lot more sense that they could have connected.

I didn’t find an exact date for Angelo’s immigration but his 1920 census record says he arrived in 1894. That would make him one of the earliest figures in Newark. He got shot by an in-law in June 1911.

Side note: His bar was at an important location. In the ‘60s, Tony Boiardo’s headquarters Club Fremont was at this address (463 N 5th St, Newark, NJ). There was a major shootout here in 1960 too.

[cavita]

Good connections. Too many to ignore that the Alfano family may have been early connected members. I'm not aware, does New Jersey have a large population of Sambuca people in the LCN?

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[JoelTurner]

Good connections. Too many to ignore that the Alfano family may have been early connected members. I'm not aware, does New Jersey have a large population of Sambuca people in the LCN?

Nope not that I know of. If there were any, I would guess that they would have been with the DeCavs rather than Newark

[cavita]

After some research I may have stumbled across an early Rockford mafia member named Alfonso Cannistraro, who was born around 1885 most likely in Aragona, Sicily as that name is fairly common in that village.

Best I can tell, Cannistraro appears in Rockford as early as March 22, 1926 when he was arrested on Rock Street near Loomis Street for carrying a .32 caliber pistol which he stated he used for protection when he wanders the streets after dark. He was arrested as Alfano Comistros.

By the summer of 1926 he was the proprietor of a small store at 411 Lincoln Avenue, which was alternately owned by Rockford LCN boss Tony Musso and Vincenzo Troia.

July 25, 1926 there was a car accident in which Frank Longo, John Galluzzo and a Ben Cannistraro were injured in Rockford. All three men were listed as living at 922 Ferguson Street. Since Ben Cannistraro never appears again in Rockford records, this was probably an alias for Alfonso.

On December 27, 1926 a fire at the 322 Buckbee Street home of Albert Olzowski was thought to be an outcrop of a booze war and authorities stated that the suspect arsonist was Cannistraro.

In May 1927 the trial was going on into the attempted murder of Alex Dotz, liquor spotter, and his brother David. Phil Caltagerone, George Saladino and Tony DiGiovanni were suspects and were the ones on trial. Cannistraro testified that he owned a REO Speedwagon vehicle that he made sugar deliveries in from his store at 411 Lincoln Avenue and it was not Tony DiGiovanni making deliveries as everyone thought.

April 1929 a real estate transaction of August J. Strandberg and his wife to Alfonso Cannistraro, etal, lot 20, block 4, replat of Grant Park Subdivision was noted in the Rockford newspapers.

On August 22, 1930 Cannistraro was arrested at 1007 South Main Street on charges of murdering three people in Aragona, Sicily and for suspicion of being a leader of a “blackhand” gang that terrorized people in Rockford and Chicago. He was also suspected of being a local booze runner and manufacturer. He was listed as living at 428 Kent Street and was alleged to have a roadhouse at 601 Barnum Road and supposedly entered the country on his brother’s passport. Cannistraro told police he entered the country in 1923 and lost his passport in a rooming house fire in Chicago in 1925 and came to Rockford in 1926.

Nothing more was heard about this case after a hearing on whether Cannistraro was to be deported and it is unknown if he was or not but this most likely happened as nothing more was heard from him in the Rockford area.

June 1936 Cannistraro was named in a foreclosure in the newspapers for lots 17-20, block 4 of the Grant Park Subdivision.