Madison 1963

[cavita]

Based on the list we have of Madison there were eight members alive as of 1973 when the two went with Milwaukee. I do note that in and around 1971 Rockford LCN member Sebastian Gulotta was going to Madison, specifically the Loraine Hotel to participate in high stakes gambling games. He was also noted in the 1960s to have made frequent calls to the Bridge Lounge in Madison.

[cavita]

Based on the list we have of Madison there were eight members alive as of 1973 when the two went with Milwaukee. I do note that in and around 1971 Rockford LCN member Sebastian Gulotta was going to Madison, specifically the Loraine Hotel to participate in high stakes gambling games. He was also noted in the 1960s to have made frequent calls to the Bridge Lounge in Madison.

The Bridge Lounge was owned by Robert Noltner who was part of a roundup of people in the Madison area in 1968 that was running an illegal lottery through their businesses. Interesting that Gulotta was calling the Lounge in 1963 when he wasn't yet a made member of the Rockford LCN. He was making calls from the West End Smoke Shop which he ran as a front for his gambling and bookmaking business on behalf of the Rockford LCN.

[B.]

Great work throughout this thread.

Question is when we can place the earliest known members in Madison, or when a Sicilian colony developed there. I could see the ex-Chicago members influencing the development of the Family but not totally sold on the idea that they formed it. Seems more likely they fled to a city with an existing Family of compaesani but I've got no evidence to support it.

[BeatiPaoli]

To Everyone: IIRC, wasn't there a additional reliable list, somewhere on this forum, culled from the Mary Ferrel (? Sp) website, that had a total of 10 to 12 members of the Madison Family verified at the time of their disbanding? I would swear there were slightly more than 8.

Regards,
BeatiPaoli

[lennert]

The parents of Filippo Candela were Giovanni and Antonina Cuchiara…

[PolackTony]

Great work throughout this thread.

Question is when we can place the earliest known members in Madison, or when a Sicilian colony developed there. I could see the ex-Chicago members influencing the development of the Family but not totally sold on the idea that they formed it. Seems more likely they fled to a city with an existing Family of compaesani but I've got no evidence to support it.

The earliest Sicilians in Madison that I can identify arrived between 1900 and 1910. There doesn’t seem to really be any Italians in Madison before that period. Apparently a number of them came to work in the Wisconsin State Capitol building, which was built in the 1910s.

In 1912, the Club Lavoratori Italiani Sicilian (Italian Workmen’s Club), which still operates today, was founded in Madison and initially met at the grocery store of Angelo Maisano. Maisano was from Piana dei Greci and was the father of Mary Maisano, who married Madison member Cosimo DiSalvo. According to one source, in 1915 99% of the Italians in Madison were Siciliani (so their mafia pretty much wouldn’t have been able to recruit any mainlanders even if they wanted to). Of those, almost 50% were composed of people from Piana dei Greci, SGJ, and San Cipirello.

Here’s a very interesting account from Benedict DiSalvo, son of Cosimo and Mary Maisano. He identifies his mother’s family (who were Arbereshe from Piana dei Greci) as “Albanian”, and claims that marriages between “Albanians” and “Sicilians” were considered somewhat scandalous in the community then. Benedict states that his grandfather Benedetto DiSalvo was “mafioso” and gives a story about his parents’ wedding (which was in September of 1930) being attended by the “Mafia dons, from Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford”.

https://omeka.madisonpubliclibrary.org/items/show/3

[PolackTony]

For Cavita, this is all old news. I’m new to this Madison stuff, so I’m sure he can fill us in on a lot more detail here.

Tony Musso was based out of Madison in the 1920s. The local papers described him as “the boss of the Bush” and “the overlord of Madison’s Sicilian colony”. He was based out of the Belvidere cafe, a restaurant and cabaret on Regent St in Greenbush, and allegedly ran major bootlegging operations from there. He was already alleged to have been a friend of Capone in this period, and unsurprisingly Greenbush residents reported that Musso’s brother-in-law Tony Lombardo was a frequent visitor from Chicago to Madison. Musso was suspected to have been involved in a number of murders in Madison in the early ‘20s, and in 1924 was hit with tax fraud charges for receiving a box of fraudulent tax stamps from Chicago. Then, Musso and close associate Peter Gargano were hit with statutory rape charges in 1925 and Musso fled Madison (he was later arrested in California). Pietro Gargano was born in 1897 in Bagheria and married Mary Calamia, born in 1910 in Madison to parents from Salaparuta (among several early Madison families from Salaparuta and Castelvetrano). By 1930, Gargano had relocated to the Chicago suburb of Waukegan.

Musso’s partner in the Belvidere cafe was Antonino LoMonaco (apparently born in 1877 in Terrasini, though I haven’t been able to delve into his genealogy enough). LaMonaco was married to Giuseppina Reda of SGJ; by 1909 at the latest they were in Madison. In 1917, they were living in STL (where Musso was later arrested also), and then returned to Madison. In 1922-23, LoMonaco was hit with bootlegging charges after “dry raids” in Madison. Both times he was bailed out by Antonino Navarra, a grocery who had arrived to Madison in 1909 from Salaparuta. He fled Madison for Chicago and NYC sometime in 1923, but then returned and was convicted for bootlegging in 1924. The mortgage for the Belvidere property was held by LoMonaco and Andrea DiSalvo, a brother of Benedetto (Andrea’s wife was Antonina Enea), and Paolo Gandolfo of SGJ. Gandolfo’s wife was Giuseppina Palmeri (not sure of her origins but other Palmeris in Madison were from Paceco, Trapani). Daughter Francesca Gandolfo married Salvatore Buscemi of SGJ — their son was Madison member Sam Paul Buscemi. Daughter Victoria Gandolfo married Frank Pelleteri, brother of Matthew. In 1925, Paolo Gandolfo was hit with charges of bootlegging and possessing a ferret (he was acquitted on the booze charge but took the ferret pinch); he died in 1926, though I’m not sure if he was murdered. His widow Giuseppina remarried Vincenzo Vitale of Palermo in 1927. In 1926, the Vitales were reportedly hit with a bomb attack, though it doesn’t seem that anyone was killed.

LoMonaco was also associated with Antonino Mazzara, from Palermo. Him and his brother Giovanni were suspects in the murder of policeman Herbert Dreger in 1925 in Madison with the Messina brothers, also Palermitani (note that Joe Caruso’s wife was Carolina Messina, of Uditore; they married in 1929 in St Paul). In 1928, Tony Mazzara was slain in St Paul in front of the Messina Bros’ grocery store; they had all apparently decamped to St Paul after being acquitted on charges for the Dreger murder in Madison, though Mazzara was alleged to have continued to frequently visit Madison.

Another Musso associate in Madison was Giuseppe “Spaghetti Joe” DiMartino, also from Palermo. His wife, Rosa Vitale, was apparently born in Passo di Rigano and may have been a relative of Joe Caruso’s wife and Vincenzo Vitale. Spaghetti Joe was murdered in 1928 in Madison, and investigators believed that his murder was linked to Tony Mazzara.

With the name Reda bouncing around it makes me wonder if Gaetano "Tom" Reda, a casualty of the Rockford bootlegging war, was from Madison. Not only because that's a name found in SGI but because former Madisonite Tony LoMonaco, who relocated to Rockford and was an LCN power there, married a Giuseppa Reda in San Giuseppe Iato. Word is that while LoMonaco was in prison around October 1924, Giuseppa and one of their children were in a car on the way to visit LoMonaco and she crashed the car killing both her and the child. Now, I haven't found the article relating to this, nor have I found her parents or if she connects to Gaetano Reda, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was a familial connection.

Not sure if he was directly related to Giuseppina Reda, but two daughters of Gaetano Reda and wife Rosalia Seminara were born in Madison in 1923 and 1925 (Rose and Theresa Reda). Likely fled Madison when the Belvidere bust went down and Musso fled town.

And yes, Giuseppina Reda indeed died in a car accident outside of Milwaukee in October 1924, as reported by the Madison Capital Times (1924/10/20). Also killed in the crash were Gaetano Uccello and his wife, Calogera “Lillian” LoMonaco. Uccello I believe was from San Cipirello and Calogera was presumably either a sister or cousin of Tony LoMonaco. The Uccellos were also mafiosi in Madison. In 1924, Gaetano’s brother, coal dealer Giulio Uccello survived a shooting and a building owned by Gaetano was bombed. Both brothers were hit with bootlegging charges following these incidents. A Sam Uccello was also the owner of the Coney Island restaurant in Madison where cop Herbert Dreger was eating shortly before he was murdered in 1925; Sam Uccello had 1920s bootlegging charges as well.

[B.]

According to one source, in 1915 99% of the Italians in Madison were Siciliani (so their mafia pretty much wouldn’t have been able to recruit any mainlanders even if they wanted to). Of those, almost 50% were composed of people from Piana dei Greci, SGJ, and San Cipirello.

It's like Tampa and for that matter Birmingham. Small Families who were created in almost purely Sicilian environments with a high percentage from a particular set of villages. Now I'm curious which other Families/cities had that kind of Sicilian concentration.

[cavita]

For Cavita, this is all old news. I’m new to this Madison stuff, so I’m sure he can fill us in on a lot more detail here.

Tony Musso was based out of Madison in the 1920s. The local papers described him as “the boss of the Bush” and “the overlord of Madison’s Sicilian colony”. He was based out of the Belvidere cafe, a restaurant and cabaret on Regent St in Greenbush, and allegedly ran major bootlegging operations from there. He was already alleged to have been a friend of Capone in this period, and unsurprisingly Greenbush residents reported that Musso’s brother-in-law Tony Lombardo was a frequent visitor from Chicago to Madison. Musso was suspected to have been involved in a number of murders in Madison in the early ‘20s, and in 1924 was hit with tax fraud charges for receiving a box of fraudulent tax stamps from Chicago. Then, Musso and close associate Peter Gargano were hit with statutory rape charges in 1925 and Musso fled Madison (he was later arrested in California). Pietro Gargano was born in 1897 in Bagheria and married Mary Calamia, born in 1910 in Madison to parents from Salaparuta (among several early Madison families from Salaparuta and Castelvetrano). By 1930, Gargano had relocated to the Chicago suburb of Waukegan.

Musso’s partner in the Belvidere cafe was Antonino LoMonaco (apparently born in 1877 in Terrasini, though I haven’t been able to delve into his genealogy enough). LaMonaco was married to Giuseppina Reda of SGJ; by 1909 at the latest they were in Madison. In 1917, they were living in STL (where Musso was later arrested also), and then returned to Madison. In 1922-23, LoMonaco was hit with bootlegging charges after “dry raids” in Madison. Both times he was bailed out by Antonino Navarra, a grocery who had arrived to Madison in 1909 from Salaparuta. He fled Madison for Chicago and NYC sometime in 1923, but then returned and was convicted for bootlegging in 1924. The mortgage for the Belvidere property was held by LoMonaco and Andrea DiSalvo, a brother of Benedetto (Andrea’s wife was Antonina Enea), and Paolo Gandolfo of SGJ. Gandolfo’s wife was Giuseppina Palmeri (not sure of her origins but other Palmeris in Madison were from Paceco, Trapani). Daughter Francesca Gandolfo married Salvatore Buscemi of SGJ — their son was Madison member Sam Paul Buscemi. Daughter Victoria Gandolfo married Frank Pelleteri, brother of Matthew. In 1925, Paolo Gandolfo was hit with charges of bootlegging and possessing a ferret (he was acquitted on the booze charge but took the ferret pinch); he died in 1926, though I’m not sure if he was murdered. His widow Giuseppina remarried Vincenzo Vitale of Palermo in 1927. In 1926, the Vitales were reportedly hit with a bomb attack, though it doesn’t seem that anyone was killed.

LoMonaco was also associated with Antonino Mazzara, from Palermo. Him and his brother Giovanni were suspects in the murder of policeman Herbert Dreger in 1925 in Madison with the Messina brothers, also Palermitani (note that Joe Caruso’s wife was Carolina Messina, of Uditore; they married in 1929 in St Paul). In 1928, Tony Mazzara was slain in St Paul in front of the Messina Bros’ grocery store; they had all apparently decamped to St Paul after being acquitted on charges for the Dreger murder in Madison, though Mazzara was alleged to have continued to frequently visit Madison.

Another Musso associate in Madison was Giuseppe “Spaghetti Joe” DiMartino, also from Palermo. His wife, Rosa Vitale, was apparently born in Passo di Rigano and may have been a relative of Joe Caruso’s wife and Vincenzo Vitale. Spaghetti Joe was murdered in 1928 in Madison, and investigators believed that his murder was linked to Tony Mazzara.

With the name Reda bouncing around it makes me wonder if Gaetano "Tom" Reda, a casualty of the Rockford bootlegging war, was from Madison. Not only because that's a name found in SGI but because former Madisonite Tony LoMonaco, who relocated to Rockford and was an LCN power there, married a Giuseppa Reda in San Giuseppe Iato. Word is that while LoMonaco was in prison around October 1924, Giuseppa and one of their children were in a car on the way to visit LoMonaco and she crashed the car killing both her and the child. Now, I haven't found the article relating to this, nor have I found her parents or if she connects to Gaetano Reda, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was a familial connection.

Not sure if he was directly related to Giuseppina Reda, but two daughters of Gaetano Reda and wife Rosalia Seminara were born in Madison in 1923 and 1925 (Rose and Theresa Reda). Likely fled Madison when the Belvidere bust went down and Musso fled town.

And yes, Giuseppina Reda indeed died in a car accident outside of Milwaukee in October 1924, as reported by the Madison Capital Times (1924/10/20). Also killed in the crash were Gaetano Uccello and his wife, Calogera “Lillian” LoMonaco. Uccello I believe was from San Cipirello and Calogera was presumably either a sister or cousin of Tony LoMonaco. The Uccellos were also mafiosi in Madison. In 1924, Gaetano’s brother, coal dealer Giulio Uccello survived a shooting and a building owned by Gaetano was bombed. Both brothers were hit with bootlegging charges following these incidents. A Sam Uccello was also the owner of the Coney Island restaurant in Madison where cop Herbert Dreger was eating shortly before he was murdered in 1925; Sam Uccello had 1920s bootlegging charges as well.

Antonio LoMonaco was actually born November 11,1884 in San Giuseppe Iato to Gaetano LoMonaco and Giovanna Pipitone. I've seen the birth record. He also had a sister that married into the Bommarito family in St. Louis. LoMonaco followed Musso to Rockford and I have to believe he was an early Rockford LCN member and though there's no proof I suspect he may have been consigliere under Musso.

[PolackTony]

For Cavita, this is all old news. I’m new to this Madison stuff, so I’m sure he can fill us in on a lot more detail here.

Tony Musso was based out of Madison in the 1920s. The local papers described him as “the boss of the Bush” and “the overlord of Madison’s Sicilian colony”. He was based out of the Belvidere cafe, a restaurant and cabaret on Regent St in Greenbush, and allegedly ran major bootlegging operations from there. He was already alleged to have been a friend of Capone in this period, and unsurprisingly Greenbush residents reported that Musso’s brother-in-law Tony Lombardo was a frequent visitor from Chicago to Madison. Musso was suspected to have been involved in a number of murders in Madison in the early ‘20s, and in 1924 was hit with tax fraud charges for receiving a box of fraudulent tax stamps from Chicago. Then, Musso and close associate Peter Gargano were hit with statutory rape charges in 1925 and Musso fled Madison (he was later arrested in California). Pietro Gargano was born in 1897 in Bagheria and married Mary Calamia, born in 1910 in Madison to parents from Salaparuta (among several early Madison families from Salaparuta and Castelvetrano). By 1930, Gargano had relocated to the Chicago suburb of Waukegan.

Musso’s partner in the Belvidere cafe was Antonino LoMonaco (apparently born in 1877 in Terrasini, though I haven’t been able to delve into his genealogy enough). LaMonaco was married to Giuseppina Reda of SGJ; by 1909 at the latest they were in Madison. In 1917, they were living in STL (where Musso was later arrested also), and then returned to Madison. In 1922-23, LoMonaco was hit with bootlegging charges after “dry raids” in Madison. Both times he was bailed out by Antonino Navarra, a grocery who had arrived to Madison in 1909 from Salaparuta. He fled Madison for Chicago and NYC sometime in 1923, but then returned and was convicted for bootlegging in 1924. The mortgage for the Belvidere property was held by LoMonaco and Andrea DiSalvo, a brother of Benedetto (Andrea’s wife was Antonina Enea), and Paolo Gandolfo of SGJ. Gandolfo’s wife was Giuseppina Palmeri (not sure of her origins but other Palmeris in Madison were from Paceco, Trapani). Daughter Francesca Gandolfo married Salvatore Buscemi of SGJ — their son was Madison member Sam Paul Buscemi. Daughter Victoria Gandolfo married Frank Pelleteri, brother of Matthew. In 1925, Paolo Gandolfo was hit with charges of bootlegging and possessing a ferret (he was acquitted on the booze charge but took the ferret pinch); he died in 1926, though I’m not sure if he was murdered. His widow Giuseppina remarried Vincenzo Vitale of Palermo in 1927. In 1926, the Vitales were reportedly hit with a bomb attack, though it doesn’t seem that anyone was killed.

LoMonaco was also associated with Antonino Mazzara, from Palermo. Him and his brother Giovanni were suspects in the murder of policeman Herbert Dreger in 1925 in Madison with the Messina brothers, also Palermitani (note that Joe Caruso’s wife was Carolina Messina, of Uditore; they married in 1929 in St Paul). In 1928, Tony Mazzara was slain in St Paul in front of the Messina Bros’ grocery store; they had all apparently decamped to St Paul after being acquitted on charges for the Dreger murder in Madison, though Mazzara was alleged to have continued to frequently visit Madison.

Another Musso associate in Madison was Giuseppe “Spaghetti Joe” DiMartino, also from Palermo. His wife, Rosa Vitale, was apparently born in Passo di Rigano and may have been a relative of Joe Caruso’s wife and Vincenzo Vitale. Spaghetti Joe was murdered in 1928 in Madison, and investigators believed that his murder was linked to Tony Mazzara.

With the name Reda bouncing around it makes me wonder if Gaetano "Tom" Reda, a casualty of the Rockford bootlegging war, was from Madison. Not only because that's a name found in SGI but because former Madisonite Tony LoMonaco, who relocated to Rockford and was an LCN power there, married a Giuseppa Reda in San Giuseppe Iato. Word is that while LoMonaco was in prison around October 1924, Giuseppa and one of their children were in a car on the way to visit LoMonaco and she crashed the car killing both her and the child. Now, I haven't found the article relating to this, nor have I found her parents or if she connects to Gaetano Reda, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was a familial connection.

Not sure if he was directly related to Giuseppina Reda, but two daughters of Gaetano Reda and wife Rosalia Seminara were born in Madison in 1923 and 1925 (Rose and Theresa Reda). Likely fled Madison when the Belvidere bust went down and Musso fled town.

And yes, Giuseppina Reda indeed died in a car accident outside of Milwaukee in October 1924, as reported by the Madison Capital Times (1924/10/20). Also killed in the crash were Gaetano Uccello and his wife, Calogera “Lillian” LoMonaco. Uccello I believe was from San Cipirello and Calogera was presumably either a sister or cousin of Tony LoMonaco. The Uccellos were also mafiosi in Madison. In 1924, Gaetano’s brother, coal dealer Giulio Uccello survived a shooting and a building owned by Gaetano was bombed. Both brothers were hit with bootlegging charges following these incidents. A Sam Uccello was also the owner of the Coney Island restaurant in Madison where cop Herbert Dreger was eating shortly before he was murdered in 1925; Sam Uccello had 1920s bootlegging charges as well.

Antonio LoMonaco was actually born November 11,1884 in San Giuseppe Iato to Gaetano LoMonaco and Giovanna Pipitone. I've seen the birth record. He also had a sister that married into the Bommarito family in St. Louis. LoMonaco followed Musso to Rockford and I have to believe he was an early Rockford LCN member and though there's no proof I suspect he may have been consigliere under Musso.

Thanks for confirming LoMonaco’s ancestry.

[cavita]

One of the first if not the first time an “Italian Secret Society” was mentioned in Madison was the shotgun murder of Calogero Licari on July 3, 1913.
A little more than a year later another shotgun murder happened when Filippo Carissimo died a short distance from where Licari was found. Licari and Carissimo were said to have been close friends, even relatives in some way.

Other murders were Giacomo Morici in September 1916- he was said to be mixed up in Chicago Italian gangs before coming to Madison and he was shot to death in front of his home.

January 1917 Giuseppe Bastine was gunned down in broad daylight.

By 1920 there seemed to be two factions in Madison vying for control of the bootlegging racket- the Milton Street faction and the Regent Street faction.
Besides Tony Musso and Tony LoMonaco, other “leaders” in Madison’s criminal rackets were Paul Corona, Joe Giusta, Joe Gelosi and the DiMartinos.

[B.]

Great info -- exactly the kind of stuff I was wondering about.

Seems more likely the Madison Family offered protection and transfers for the Chicago members who left opposed to being formed then. However as Tony has pointed out it doesn't seem to have been one dramatic moment where the Chicago group fled permanently to Wisconsin like Maniaci thought (compare this too to his mistaken perception of when/why Oliveri moved to Rockford). Also calls into question whether guys like Caputo had anything to fear after 1930/31 given he remained in Chicago for years.

Maniaci mentioned how the old line faction in Milwaukee opposed to Balistrieri was using Caputo and Madison as the liaison with Chicago when they were trying to depose Balistrieri. I don't know that any meetings took place but shows Madison was still viable politically though they were little more than a secret fraternal club by then. I still suspect the members who didn't transfer to Milwaukee may have been placed with Chicago when the Family disbanded.

[B.]

When I looked into Jim Troia a couple years ago I couldn't find any evidence his family lived in San Giuseppe Jato, only Palermo, but both Jim and his relative Natale Troia married women from San Giuseppe Jato which doesn't seem like a coincidence given the dominance of the Troias there. Maybe Jim's family was originally from San Giuseppe and an earlier generation moved to Palermo proper.

Jim's sister married a Joseph Amato, common enough name but an early Milwaukee underboss was named that. The Troia father Settimo had his naturalization witnessed by a George LaBella and Paul Corona. Cavita has mentioned Tony Musso's mother was a Corona but don't know if there's a connection. I assume this is the same Paul Corona mentioned in Cavita's post as an early criminal figure in Madison.

[PolackTony]

One of the first if not the first time an “Italian Secret Society” was mentioned in Madison was the shotgun murder of Calogero Licari on July 3, 1913.
A little more than a year later another shotgun murder happened when Filippo Carissimo died a short distance from where Licari was found. Licari and Carissimo were said to have been close friends, even relatives in some way.

Other murders were Giacomo Morici in September 1916- he was said to be mixed up in Chicago Italian gangs before coming to Madison and he was shot to death in front of his home.

January 1917 Giuseppe Bastine was gunned down in broad daylight.

By 1920 there seemed to be two factions in Madison vying for control of the bootlegging racket- the Milton Street faction and the Regent Street faction.
Besides Tony Musso and Tony LoMonaco, other “leaders” in Madison’s criminal rackets were Paul Corona, Joe Giusta, Joe Gelosi and the DiMartinos.

This is great info, thanks. Corresponds to when I would have guessed the mafia began in Madison, in roughly the decade after Sicilian settlement began.

I have Jack/Charles Morici killed in 1916 as Gioacchino Morici, born around 1877 in Altavilla Milicia. He arrived to Chicago in 1896. His wife was Maria Scaletta of Altavilla. In 1900 and 1910 they were living in Little Sicily; 1910 they were listed under the surname “Skoffield”, apparently an Anglicization of Scaletta. Daughter Lilian was born in Chicago in 1913, but then daughter Angline born in Madison in 1915, fitting the reports in Madison that Morici had fled there about three years before his death following some trouble in Chicago. Maria and Angeline were also shot when Morici was killed, but recovered. The papers described Morici as a big man in Madison’s Sicilian “ghetto”, with hundreds of friends. Numerous reports appear in the Chicago papers during this period on the mafioso Moricis from Tèrmini Imerese and Bagheria, but I wasn’t able to find anything concerning Gioacchino Morici; possible that if he was reported in the papers there it may have been under some spelling variation of “Skoffield”.

Calogero Licari was born about 1883 in San Cipirello. He arrived in Boston in 1908 bound for Madison, where he stated that a cousin named Salvatore Mannino lived (some people from Trabìa/Tèrmini bound for Chicago were also on the ship).

No record for a Filippo Carissimo in Madison, though the papers reported that he was killled around September 23 1914. There is a WI death record for a Filippo Cedesco [sic] who died September 22 in Madison, so this has to be him. Probably the Filippo Tedesco, misreported as “Cedesco” born about 1888 in San Cipirello who arrived in Boston April 1910 bound for Milwaukee. There were other Tedescos from SC who settled in Madison as well.

Paolo Corona and his wife Maddalena Piediscalzzi were from SGJ and arrived in NYC in the 1890s. They were married in Manhattan and lived there in 1900; by 1910, they lived in Madison. In 1908, Paul Corona was mentioned as a masonry contractor (recall that it has been stated that many of the early Sicilian colonists in Madison were stonecutters) when he was charged with threatening to kill a game warden when him and his buddies were caught illegally hunting rabbits with ferrets (again with the ferrets). In 1913, Corona was reported to have founded the Tripola Italian Club, in 1916 an Italian political club, and was thereafter repeatedly referred to as “the leader” of Madison’s Sicilian community in Greenbush. He was also in the papers for criminal activities, including running a “confidence game”, selling alcohol illegally, and ,after Prohibition, for bootlegging. In 1924 his wife was charged with assaulting a reporter after Paul was again pinched for illegal alcohol; Paul Corona was described at that time as an “habitual criminal”. In 1928, Corona had charges of assault with intent to murder dropped after a man claimed that Corona pistol-whipped him. When Corona died in 1930, at 62 years old from a long illness, the papers remembered him as a key leader of the Sicilian community who had been responsible for construction on the Wisconsin State House; they neglected at that time to mention his long criminal history. I think it’s a good bet that Paolo Corona was the first boss of the Madison mafia.

[cavita]

One of the first if not the first time an “Italian Secret Society” was mentioned in Madison was the shotgun murder of Calogero Licari on July 3, 1913.
A little more than a year later another shotgun murder happened when Filippo Carissimo died a short distance from where Licari was found. Licari and Carissimo were said to have been close friends, even relatives in some way.

Other murders were Giacomo Morici in September 1916- he was said to be mixed up in Chicago Italian gangs before coming to Madison and he was shot to death in front of his home.

January 1917 Giuseppe Bastine was gunned down in broad daylight.

By 1920 there seemed to be two factions in Madison vying for control of the bootlegging racket- the Milton Street faction and the Regent Street faction.
Besides Tony Musso and Tony LoMonaco, other “leaders” in Madison’s criminal rackets were Paul Corona, Joe Giusta, Joe Gelosi and the DiMartinos.

This is great info, thanks. Corresponds to when I would have guessed the mafia began in Madison, in roughly the decade after Sicilian settlement began.

I have Jack/Charles Morici killed in 1916 as Gioacchino Morici, born around 1877 in Altavilla Milicia. He arrived to Chicago in 1896. His wife was Maria Scaletta of Altavilla. In 1900 and 1910 they were living in Little Sicily; 1910 they were listed under the surname “Skoffield”, apparently an Anglicization of Scaletta. Daughter Lilian was born in Chicago in 1913, but then daughter Angline born in Madison in 1915, fitting the reports in Madison that Morici had fled there about three years before his death following some trouble in Chicago. Maria and Angeline were also shot when Morici was killed, but recovered. The papers described Morici as a big man in Madison’s Sicilian “ghetto”, with hundreds of friends. Numerous reports appear in the Chicago papers during this period on the mafioso Moricis from Tèrmini Imerese and Bagheria, but I wasn’t able to find anything concerning Gioacchino Morici; possible that if he was reported in the papers there it may have been under some spelling variation of “Skoffield”.

Calogero Licari was born about 1883 in San Cipirello. He arrived in Boston in 1908 bound for Madison, where he stated that a cousin named Salvatore Mannino lived (some people from Trabìa/Tèrmini bound for Chicago were also on the ship).

No record for a Filippo Carissimo in Madison, though the papers reported that he was killled around September 23 1914. There is a WI death record for a Filippo Cedesco [sic] who died September 22 in Madison, so this has to be him. Probably the Filippo Tedesco, misreported as “Cedesco” born about 1888 in San Cipirello who arrived in Boston April 1910 bound for Milwaukee. There were other Tedescos from SC who settled in Madison as well.

Paolo Corona and his wife Maddalena Piediscalzzi were from SGJ and arrived in NYC in the 1890s. They were married in Manhattan and lived there in 1900; by 1910, they lived in Madison. In 1908, Paul Corona was mentioned as a masonry contractor (recall that it has been stated that many of the early Sicilian colonists in Madison were stonecutters) when he was charged with threatening to kill a game warden when him and his buddies were caught illegally hunting rabbits with ferrets (again with the ferrets). In 1913, Corona was reported to have founded the Tripola Italian Club, in 1916 an Italian political club, and was thereafter repeatedly referred to as “the leader” of Madison’s Sicilian community in Greenbush. He was also in the papers for criminal activities, including running a “confidence game”, selling alcohol illegally, and ,after Prohibition, for bootlegging. In 1924 his wife was charged with assaulting a reporter after Paul was again pinched for illegal alcohol; Paul Corona was described at that time as an “habitual criminal”. In 1928, Corona had charges of assault with intent to murder dropped after a man claimed that Corona pistol-whipped him. When Corona died in 1930, at 62 years old from a long illness, the papers remembered him as a key leader of the Sicilian community who had been responsible for construction on the Wisconsin State House; they neglected at that time to mention his long criminal history. I think it’s a good bet that Paolo Corona was the first boss of the Madison mafia.

I may have a photo of Corona.. I'll have to look for it tonight