Thanks. Just to add, here is what I've found on some of the same names:Antiliar wrote: ↑Sun Dec 02, 2018 2:02 pm - Alphonse Pazzalo was Alphonse Palazzolo, a leader of the "Green Ones." "Green" refers to "greenhorns" and means a recent immigrant. Apparently they were a crew that tried and succeeded in taking over the leadership of the St. Louis Family. When he was killed Vito Giannola took over, but he was killed months later. I think Frank Agrusa was the next leader, but he moved to Indiana under the name Frank Abbate. The boss may have been Gaetano "Tom" Buffa, who testified against another member's girlfriend in a narcotics trial then moved to California. He was murdered in Lodi in 1947. Pasquale Miceli succeeded him.
- The St. Louis Family appears to go back to the 1870s, possibly founded by a Matranga from New Orleans. The first alleged Mafia murder there took place in 1875.
- There were several Vivianos in the 1910s and 20s, many with the same names. Gaetano "Big Tom" Viviano was apparently a leader of some sort, but not sure if he was a boss. He may have been forced out by the Green Ones and moved to California, where he died in 1934.
- An Antonino Triolo may have been an early boss. His name is on a passenger manifest with Toto D'Aquila and Giuseppe Traina in 1910. He came from Borgetto and was 50 years old at the time.
- Another early man of importance was Frank Sicola, a Black Hander during the 1910s who was murdered in 1922. His name was mentioned in a letter found on Vito Di Giorgio when he was arrested in New Orleans a few years before he became the boss of Los Angeles (who was also murdered in 1922).
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Cinisi
- Vito Giannola and Alfonso Palazzolo were both from Cinisi and there was a relation. Palazzolo also had a brother who had been killed several years earlier. LE believed that Giannola ordered Alfonso Palazzolo's murder, which as you mentioned preceded his own murder, but I generally don't trust those assumptions from back then... that said, it is very common to see paesani killing one another, so it's possible. Frank Agrusa was also from Cinisi and Vito Impastato associated with Agruso early on in his "career", so it looks like the "green ones" or "greenies" were largely a faction from Cinisi, or at least led by men from there.
- Future underboss John Vitale's family was from Cinisi and his father was likely an early member.
Partinico
- It looks like Frank Sicola was from Partinico. He killed a man named Michael Adragna and a young boy named Joseph Giammanco in 1921; I assume the boy was an accident, but six years later Giammanco's older brother Benny Giammanco was killed allegedly on Vito Giannola's orders. These Giamancos were likely relatives, possibly older brothers or cousins, of future capodecina Jimmy Giammanco and maybe his relatives the Giardanos.
- Gaetano Buffa who you mentioned was also from Partinico, as was the infamous international Francesco Coppola who spent a good deal of his time in St. Louis.
- Domenico Giambrone was said to be a leading figure after Viviano's 1914 deportation, but place of origin unknown, though from what little I've found it may be Palazzo Adriano or Partinico both in Palermo province. He was said to associate with Buffa. Other associates were brothers Carmelo and Angelo Bonvissuto, and Domenico Anello, these three showing up on immigration records as being from "Palermo", though that may be the province only. Giambrone's brother Paolo was murdered in the early 1920s and he left St. Louis only to return and be killed himself in 1934.
- Member Ralph Caleca who was mentioned in the original post as being close to Alfonso Palazzolo of Cinisi was himself from Partinico. Given that Caleca was young when Palazzolo was still alive, this points to the "factions" from different villages all being part of the same family/group, which would seem obvious to us, but gets lost in old documentation about "gangs", etc.
Terrasini
- The Vivianos and a Giuseppe Cammarata (murdered 1910) were early figures from Terrasini. Despite the informant claiming that the guys from Terrasini / Favarotta had higher standing than the guys from Cinisi and Partinico, it doesn't necessarily seem to be the case from our limited view of things back then. As I already said, though, this reference could have been more about St. Louis deferring to Zerilli and the Terrasini group in Detroit rather than the internal set-up of the St. Louis family.
- No idea if they were made members in St. Louis, but there were a large number of Bommaritos from Terrasini active alongside their paesani and other mafia figures in St. Louis throughout the early history, then later confirmed member Frank Bommarito. No doubt connections to Detroit there as well.
- A cafe used by many early mafia figures in St. Louis from different backgrounds was the Cafe Santa Fava. This would appear to be a reference to Santa Maria della Fava, but curious if it could have any connection to Favarotta.
Agrigento
- Damiano Capuano b.1866 was another early power of some kind murdered in 1910. Can't determine where he came from but a daughter married Sicilian Pasquale Santino of Siculiana, Agrigento, which given the time period points to Capuano at least being Sicilian. Santino himself was said to become a power in the Italian underworld would later be killed in 1927.
- Member Anthony LoPiparo and his brother Giuseppe, a likely member, and possible early member Antonino Fasulo were from Villafranca Sicula, which is right next to Burgio, where future boss Pasquale Miceli was from. So this influential Agrigento group goes back at least to Pasquale Santino or maybe even further. Curious if his father-in-law Capuano was also from Agrigento.
- Member Calogero SanFilippo, who attended the 1928 Cleveland meeting along with John Mirabella, was from Casteltermini in Agrigento not terribly far from Burgio and Villafranca Sicula. His representing the family there during this period shows again that the Agrigento group weren't second-class citizens in the family.
Other Sicilian + Mainland
- Early possible member Antonio Sansone's family may have come from Termini Imerese. I've found a handful of possible connections to Termini in early names and looking through the wider genealogy of early St. Louis figures it is fairly common to come across the maiden name Sansone.
- 1920s "Gang leader" Carmelo Frisina described as an ally of Pasquale Santino, but came from Abruzzo, so not likely a made member of the St. Louis outfit if the informant is correct about St. Louis refusing to induct non-Sicilians, though it should be noted the informant is incorrect about them not inducting non-Palermitani Sicilians, as we see there was a group from Agrigento going back to the early days and included at least one boss. Still, no indications they ever inducted mainlanders and if they did back in the 1920s it doesn't seem they continued the practice.
- The Russo brothers, Anthony and William being the leading figures, were active in the 1920s in St. Louis but due to how generic their name is I haven't been able to trace them. They appear to have operated at high levels but whether that was as mafiosi or simply criminals in association with the mafia is hard to say.
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It's not surprising that Terrasini, Cinisi, and Partinico run through the history of St. Louis (at least from the 1910s through the 1960s) but yet again I find it intriguing that mafiosi from Agrigento were influential outliers in yet another city/family. Aside from groups like the DeCavalcantes who were dominated by members from Agrigento, we often see guys from that province taking a small but powerful role in larger groups. In this case we even have at least one boss and maybe other top family leaders coming from there in a family said to be dominated and run by men from Palermo area who even supposedly had a caste system of Palermitani, not unlike the D'Aquila/Gambino family on a smaller scale.