THE MUSTACHE PETE’S
: - CHICAGO.
Giacomo Colosimo [Diamond Jim].
Born in Cosenza, Calabria in 1875 Colosimo was the founder
of what would become the Chicago Family.
Arrived in America in 1895, came to Chicago and did menial jobs for some
years. Eventually he organized the
street sweepers into a Union. This
brought him to the attention of local politicians Kenna and Coughlin, who made
him a Precinct Captain. He became their
“bagman”, collecting graft and delivering votes. Soon he opened a brothel, then married
Victoria Moresco, who already ran some.
This allowed him to build the biggest vice empire in Chicago. This success attracted Blackhand
extortioners, who hounded him for years.
Finally, in 1909, he imported John Torrio, a relative of Moresco, to
help him. Three ex-Pittsburgh
extortioners were soon found murdered.
Colosimo made Torrio his right-hand, and opened Colosimo’s Cafe in
1910. Torrio re-organized and expanded
the vice empire, making Colosimo a rich man.
With the coming of Prohibition in 1920, Torrio wanted to move into
bootlegging in a big way. However,
Colosimo claimed it was too risky and refused.
Torrio, a visionary, was not going to let this stop him earning millions
and planned Colosimo’s death. Importing
his old Brooklyn associate Frankie Yale, he set-up Colosimo’s murder in May
1920 in the Cafe.
Antonio D’Andrea
Born in 1872 in Valledolmo, in Caltanisetta
Province,Sicily. Emigrated to the USA in
1895, going to a brother in Buffalo, NYS.
Previously attended the University of Palermo, and trained to be a
Priest. Left the Church to marry, was
Naturalized in 1899 and moved to Chicago about 1900. Became a partner in a Macaroni factory, but
convicted in 1902 of counterfeiting and jailed.
This counterfeit ring was connected to Vito Cascio Ferro, and possibly
Giuseppe Morello, in NYC. He was
Pardoned in 1905, and released.
Succeeded Joseph D’Andrea, no relation, as head of various unions, after
the latter’s murder in 1914. This may have
been part of a power struggle within the local Mafia, as the head Rosario
Dispenza was also killed that year.
D’Andrea emerged as the leader of both the Unione Sicilione, and the
local Cosca. Associated with him was
Michele Merlo, the Genna brothers and local non-Sicilian powers Joseph Esposito
and Jim Colosimo. However D’Andrea was
defeated several times, 1914+16+19, when he stood for political office. During these violent years, he was arrested
for carrying a gun, and in 1916, one of his political opponents was
killed. Nicola Gentile tells us that
D’Andrea was a power in national Mafia affairs during the 1910’s. In 1921 he made one last attempt to get
elected as Alderman of the 19th ward. His opponent John Powers was the longstanding
power in the ward, and fought violence with violence. D’Andrea was narrowly defeated again, and was
warned to leave Chicago. Even his
position as leader of the Sicilian underworld could not save him, and he was
killed in 1921. Michele Merlo succeeded
him, and later his Nephew Phil also headed the Unione Sicilione.
Joseph D’Andrea.
Born in Pizzone in the Molise region of Italy, he entered
America in 1887 and settled in Chicago.
There was a large immigration from Molise to Chicago in these years, and
he became a citizen in 1895. He married
into the Fosco family, his brother-in-law Peter became a well known union
racketeer. He was acquitted of the
murder of Antonio Mezza in 1902. By 1911
he was head of the Hod Carriers union, and soon added the Tunnel Workers union
too. Some sources say he headed the
Unione Sicilione , but as a non-Sicilian this is improbable. However he was associating with powerful
underworld figures like Jim Colosimo, Antonio D’Andrea and Joseph
Esposito. Union unrest in 1914 caused
him to be shot, and he died from his wounds soon after. He was succeeded in his union positions by
Antonio D’Andrea.
Mariano Zagone + Rosario Dispenza.
These two men were associated in a Mafia group in Chicago,
with connections to the Morello family in NYC.
Both were born in Cimmina, Sicily in the 1860’s [Zagone in 1862,
Dispenza in 1869] and came to America in 1899.
Zagone went first to NYS, then settled on the Near Northside of
Chicago. He was arrested for
counterfeiting in 1901, probably the same case involving Antonio D’Andrea, Vito
Cascio Ferro and Giuseppe Morello. He
became a cigar maker, and got involved in the Unione Sicilione. The violence surrounding this almost cost him
his life in 1906 when he was wounded.
Zagone was killed in 1909, with his suspected killers being his stepson
Joseph Spatafora, and his in-laws the Nicolosi brothers.
Rosario Dispenza, known as the Heartess, came straight to a brother-in-law in Chicago in
1899. He seems to have succeeded Zagone
as leader of this group. He too was
related to Spatafora, and along with his partner Antonio Puccio, bought a
saloon from him. The partners were soon
running a bank and Society for immigrants from
Cimmina. Possibly organized
Zagone’s removal in 1909, and that same year he was in correspondence with
Giuseppe Morello about the induction of a member into his group. 1914 saw both Puccio, and then Dispenza
killed in faction fighting within the local Sicilian underworld. Antonio D’Andrea possibly succeeded them.
[Source for this is an article by Rick Warner + Tom Hunt in
the April 2009 issue of the Informer].
Giuseppe Esposito [Diamond Joe].
Born in 1872 in Accera, near Naples on the Italian
mainland. He emigrated in1895, landing
at Boston, and moved onto New York.
Settling on Navy Street in Brooklyn, he opened a bakery. Rumour has it that he killed a man while
living in Brooklyn, before he left for Chicago in 1905. In Chicago he became a “Padrone”, controlling
votes and jobs in the Italian ghettos.
He also sponsored immigrants, including the Sicilian Genna brothers. Was a founder of the Accera club, and his
influence allowed him to participate in 19th ward politics. In 1913 he opened the Bella Napoli cafe, with
Anthony [Mops] Volpe as manager and Paul Ricca as a waiter. During the 1910’s he was arrested many times,
including gun possession in 1915, and the murder of Cuneo Colletta in 1917.
With the coming of Prohibition in 1920 Esposito entered the
bootlegging trade, gaining a monopoly on sugar importation from Cuba. Joe Fusco was his main associate, with the
Genna gang his largest customers. Soon
he grew wealthy, and ranked with Torrio, Merlo,and D’Andrea as a power in the Italian
underworld. The bootleg wars of the
1920’s gradually removed Esposito’s associates, 3 Genna brothers and a cousin
all killed. Esposito, a long time
Democratic power, switched his support to the Republicans in the 1928
election. This went against the Capone
gangs wishes, and he was repeatedly warned to change or leave Chicago. Ignoring them he hired two bodyguards, but
they could not protect him from being killed.
Michele Merlo.
Born in Sambuca Zabat, Sicily in 1880 and arrived in the USA
in 1890 at New Orleans. He lived in New
Orleans for 10 years, before moving to Chicago in 1900. Closely associated with the Unione Sicilione, he was Naturalized
in 1905. Variously described on
documents [Passport Application, WW1 Registration card] as a Commission
Merchant or Business Agent for a Labour Union.
Merlo was generally admired, and acted as a peacekeeper amongst the
warring factions. He was close to
Antonio D’Andrea, who was a partner to Merlo’s brother, and was his right hand
man. Merlo was on a visit back to Italy
in 1921, when D’Andrea was murdered. On
his return he was elected head of the Unione Sicilione, and ordered the death
of D’Andrea’s bodyguard who was suspected to have betrayed him. During his short reign he kept the peace
between the Genna and O’Bannion gangs, before dying of cancer in 1924. His funeral attracted 10,000 mourners, and
his son John served for many years as an Alderman. His death was followed by a surge in faction
fighting.
Joseph Morici.
Born in Termini Imerese Sicily in 1855, the date of his
arrival in the USA was 1885. His early
activities are unknown, but eventually he became a Commission Merchant. He was not alone in Chicago as his brothers
Frank, who ran a saloon, Vito and George were all active in criminal life. They lived in the Little Sicily section of
the Near North Side. Morici first came
to public attention in 1901 when arrested for the murder of Salvatore
DiGiovanni, a political power amongst the Neapolitan community. He went on trial, but was acquitted. Thereafter he, and his brothers, formed a
powerful group within the Sicilian underworld.
In 1908 he was again arrested for murder, along with Vito and
George. Yet again avoiding prison we
last hear of him in 1911, when he was arrested for Arson. Nothing further is reported until his death
in 1925.
Antonino Sanfilippo.
This man is the first known leader of the Italian underworld
in Chicago Heights. Born in Lascari
Sicily in 1877, he entered the USA in 1904.
He became a citizen in 1908, and on his WW1 Registration card is listed
as a druggist. Later he became a ticket
agent for the shipping companies bringing immigrants from Italy. By the mid-1910’s he was an Alderman, a
position he held until 1921. By this
time he was also the head of the local branch of the Unione Sicilione. With the coming of Prohibition in 1920, he
moved into bootlegging and grew
wealthy. In 1924 his ambitious
subordinate Phil Piazza plotted his death, and he was killed. Piazza lasted only two years before being
murdered. Eventually a Calabrian
faction, closely allied to the Capone gang, gained control of Chicago Heights.
Giovanni Torrio [Terrible Johnny / J.T.].
Generally recognised as a criminal genius, and the real
organizer of “The Outfit”, Torrio was never an actual member of Cosa Nostra /
Mafia. Born in Irsina in Basilicata [or
Orsara], Italy in 1882 and coming to America as a toddler in 1884. He was steeped in criminal life from a very
early age, his Step-father running a saloon on James Street on the LES of New
York. Soon he was running his own saloon
and brothel, and acting as a boxing manager and promoter. He also gathered a collection of associates
called the James Street gang. As both an
Italian gang leader, and involved in boxing, he soon came to know Paul Kelly
[an ex-boxer and gang leader], Jack Sirocco and Jim Kelly [leaders of the Five
Points gang]. Paul Kelly, real name
Vaccarelli, treated Torrio as a protégé and helped him mature. While the Five Points leaders used Torrio’s men
in time of need. The violent inter-gang
wars of the 1900’s persuaded Torrio to move his operations to Brooklyn. Here he set-up the John Torrio Association,
and ran his rackets from a billiard hall in Navy Street. This area would become home to several future
Torrio associates, such as Frank Nitti, Al Capone, and Frankie Yale. Yale, real name Ioele, became his partner in
the Harvard Inn on Coney Island, where Capone worked as a waiter and got his
famous facial scars. Around 1909 Torrio
received a call for help from a relative called Victoria Moresco in
Chicago. Her husband “Big Jim” Colosimo was
being threatened by blackhand
extortioners. Torrio went to
Chicago, handled the problem by killing three extortioners, and returned to
Brooklyn. Colosimo was impressed, and
asked him to move to Chicago and handle a string of brothels. Torrio sold all his holdings to Yale, and
became Colosimo’s second-in-command.
Upon arrival he started reorganizing and expanding Colosimo’s vice
empire. Pushing out into the suburbs, he
bought saloons and brothels and corrupted local police and politicians. Colosimo, grown wealthy and lazy, divorced
Moresco and married a young singer. He
also refused to invest in the new bootlegging racket, considering it too
risky. Torrio, shrewd businessman that
he was, could see the vast financial potential, and was not going to be
denied. Importing his old partner Yale
from Brooklyn, he set-up Colosimo’s murder in 1920. Now the head of a large vice and booze
organization, he arranged for all the local factions to share-out territorial
control of Chicago’s underworld. Torrio also
brought Capone to Chicago, and groomed him to be his righthand. Despite enmity between the Sicilian Genna
gang and the multi-ethnic Northside gang the peace brokered by Torrio lasted
till 1924. Then he was double-crossed by the Northside gang leader Dion
O’Bannion over a brewery sale. The death
of Mike Merlo, the head of the Unione Sicilione, provided the opportunity to
eliminate O’Bannion, who was killed in his flower shop. The Northsiders reacted violently, badly
wounding Torrio outside his home. Upon
recovering, Torrio went to prison for an old bootlegging charge, and on release
sold-out to Capone and left Chicago for good.
Taking his wife, he went to Italy on a long holiday [1925-28]. His return to NYC coincided with attempts to
form a nationwide bootleg organization [the Big 7]. At a meeting in Atlantic City in 1929, Torrio
was put in charge of organizing it. This
combine thrived till the end of Prohibition in 1933. Torrio retired from illegal activity in the
mid-1930’s, surviving an arrest for Forgery in 1936. Thereafter he operated as a legitimate real
estate agent for the rest of his life, which ended in a heart-attack in
1957.
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