American mafia beginnings

[Ivan]

But of course the truth is these guys were just random poor Italian immigrants who got together through bootlegging and then Luciano organized them into a fine-tuned national organization in a matter of months.

Also every boss before Capone/Torrio, Luciano, Lucchese, and the rest of that forward-thinking generation of Americanized entrepreneurs was a mentally retarded obese vampire.

[Antiliar]

I found the testimony from Leonardo Messina and like Scagghiuni mentioned he does indeed say that the American Families began as decine of their original Sicilian Families -- their paesi, as he says, and uses the Castellammaresi, Alcamesi, and Palermitani as examples. He says they then developed their own local, autonomous structure and were not beholden to Sicily but still part of the same wider organization and worked together in matters of international concern, as we already know.

Keep in mind Messina was a high-ranking member in San Cataldo who came from a long line of important members there. San Cataldo produced many important American mafiosi and I'm sure the older generations in San Cataldo were well-aware of what their paesani were part of in the US, so he was in a better position to hear these kinds of anecdotes than someone in Catania for example where fewer US connections existed. San Cataldo also neighbored Montedoro which essentially produced the Pittston Family and Sancataldesi were part of that Family too.

We have already long-concluded that American Families started as some form of offshoot of their original Sicilian hometown Families, it being obvious the original Families were compaesani-based with a Family identity tied to their hometown, but Messina confirming this understanding from within the Sicilian mafia and also commenting that they began as remote decine of Sicilian Families is a great addition. This is very close to what I already believed -- that the original American mafiosi were still formal affiliates of their original Sicilian borgata -- but again great to hear it from a multi-generation Sicilian mafioso.

The development of the Santa Ninfa and Siculiana decine in Venezuela as two recognized Families much later on was probably the exact same process even though Venezuela in the mid-to-late 20th century was a much different environment than the United States in the later 1800s and early 1900s.

But of course the truth is these guys were just random poor Italian immigrants who got together through bootlegging and then Luciano organized them into a fine-tuned national organization in a matter of months.

Yes, I found Leonardo Messina's testimony in a parliamentary hearing in the Internet Archive after Scagghiuni mentioned it. It made me wonder if some of the earliest American families began as outposts of New Orleans. In another post I mentioned Houston in this regard. Bill Bonanno wrote how the American Mafia sprouted in New Orleans then spread out along the Mississippi River (and I assume its tributaries) to St. Louis and other cities. There were crimes in St. Louis suggesting Mafia activity as early as the 1870s. With the opening of Ellis Island in 1892 making New York the main immigration hub it would have made it easier for Sicilian borgate to plant flags in the U.S. The 1891 mass lynching undoubtedly had an effect too.

[B.]

Yeah, it's certainly possible some Families were decine of other early US Families once the mafia became more entrenched in the US.

Messina pointing out that these decine were an extension of their Sicilian paesi also brings to mind Giuseppe Morello writing that Cascio Ferro and Enea violated a rule by inducting someone without consulting the proposed member's compaesani as well as Harry Riccobene saying that the early Philadelphia Families were restricted to men from the same hometown. We can see compaesani relations still played a role in the formalities even after US Families became recognized so it makes sense to me that they were originally still part of their Sicilian hometown Families. Be interesting to know when the transition happened and the Families started to become recognized.

It's also interesting that this played out within Sicily itself. Calderone said the original members in Catania were actually members of a Palermo Family (he doesn't say decina but could well have been) before they got recognition. I'm sure Tunis started out similarly as well, in their case I'd bet they were a decina of a Trapanese Family given Trapani province looks to have played the biggest role there.

[scagghiuni]

It's also interesting that this played out within Sicily itself. Calderone said the original members in Catania were actually members of a Palermo Family (he doesn't say decina but could well have been) before they got recognition. I'm sure Tunis started out similarly as well, in their case I'd bet they were a decina of a Trapanese Family given Trapani province looks to have played the biggest role there.

start a Cosa Nostra family is more difficult than a Ndrangheta locale, in north Italy there were decinas in Milan, Turin, Rome, Genoa, Tuscany etc, but the Commission never reocgnized families over there

[CabriniGreen]

It's also interesting that this played out within Sicily itself. Calderone said the original members in Catania were actually members of a Palermo Family (he doesn't say decina but could well have been) before they got recognition. I'm sure Tunis started out similarly as well, in their case I'd bet they were a decina of a Trapanese Family given Trapani province looks to have played the biggest role there.

start a Cosa Nostra family is more difficult than a Ndrangheta locale, in north Italy there were decinas in Milan, Turin, Rome, Genoa, Tuscany etc, but the Commission never reocgnized families over there

When did Catania go from one family according to Calderone to......what now? Is it 4?

Santapaolo- Ercolano, Mazzei, are Cosa Nostra. The Laudauni are like what..... the armed wing of the Santaspaolo, but independent. Like a mafia version of Blackwater or something?

What are the Carrateddi? Is that it? The Capello- Bonaccorsi are the same thing? Or no? Are they Cosa Nostra officially? Also, the Cursoti.....Cosa Nostra too?

[scagghiuni]

It's also interesting that this played out within Sicily itself. Calderone said the original members in Catania were actually members of a Palermo Family (he doesn't say decina but could well have been) before they got recognition. I'm sure Tunis started out similarly as well, in their case I'd bet they were a decina of a Trapanese Family given Trapani province looks to have played the biggest role there.

start a Cosa Nostra family is more difficult than a Ndrangheta locale, in north Italy there were decinas in Milan, Turin, Rome, Genoa, Tuscany etc, but the Commission never reocgnized families over there

When did Catania go from one family according to Calderone to......what now? Is it 4?

Santapaolo- Ercolano, Mazzei, are Cosa Nostra. The Laudauni are like what..... the armed wing of the Santaspaolo, but independent. Like a mafia version of Blackwater or something?

What are the Carrateddi? Is that it? The Capello- Bonaccorsi are the same thing? Or no? Are they Cosa Nostra officially? Also, the Cursoti.....Cosa Nostra too?

in Catania province there are 4 Cosa Nostra families: Santapala, Mazzei and the ones based in the towns of Caltagirone and Ramacca, the others are all independent (Cappello, Laudani, Cursoti etc.)
Carateddi and Cappello is the same thing...

[Antiliar]

Yeah, it's certainly possible some Families were decine of other early US Families once the mafia became more entrenched in the US.

I'm sure Tunis started out similarly as well, in their case I'd bet they were a decina of a Trapanese Family given Trapani province looks to have played the biggest role there.

My guess for Tunis would be Camporeale.

[B.]

Yep, Camporeale was one of the Trapani towns I was thinking of. Vita also had a strong presence there but I'm not sure how early. Calderone identified a few names with the Tunis Family involved with the murder of his uncle and though we can't definitively pin them down the surnames suggest Trapanese origins too. Interestingly he said not all the members living in Tunis were formally with the Tunis Family so there were some remote members there as well.