The First Family: Terror, Extortion, Revenge, Murder and the Birth of the American Mafia

ALSO BY MIKE DASH

Satan’s Circus: Murder, Vice, Police Corruption,
and New York’s Trial of the Century

Thug: The True Story of India’s Murderous Cult

Batavia’s Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic
Who Led History’s Bloodiest Mutiny

Tulipomania: The Story of the World’s Most Coveted Flower
and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused

EDITED BY MIKE DASH

Spring-heeled Jack: Sources and Interpretation

Between the law and the Mafia, the law is not the most to be feared.

—SICILIAN PROVERB

PREFACE

H
UNDREDS OF BOOKS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT THE MAFIA, but this one is different from the rest. Its focus is the birth of the American branch of the fraternity during the years between 1892 and 1930—a period that has, to my astonishment, been almost entirely neglected until now. Few writers have ever asked how, exactly, the Mafia came into existence in the United States.
The First Family
does.

The vast majority of “Mafia books” are also notoriously unreliable: compiled from rumor, hearsay, wild assumptions, and the endlessly recycled errors of earlier authors.
The First Family
sets out to correct these faults. The book is painstakingly rooted in primary sources—not least the detailed records of the U.S. Secret Service, the New York bureau of which was the only federal, state, or city agency to keep the earliest Mafiosi under systematic surveillance. This bureau’s daily reports covering the key years from 1899 to 1916 fill fifty-nine huge volumes, each well over a thousand pages long, and among them they make up by far the greatest trove of reliable information on the Mafia’s formative years; they form the bedrock on which my narrative has been erected. To my bafflement, I found no sign that any other writer on the subject has ever bothered to examine them.

The balance of the story has been drawn from other important but neglected records: more than ten thousand pages of century-old trial transcripts, the detailed confession of a key member of an important Mafia counterfeiting ring—which turned up in the Hoover Presidential Library, of all places—and the letters and personal memoirs of several participants, not least William Flynn, who was the chief of New York’s Secret Service bureau, with a single brief hiatus, from 1901 until 1917. Flynn’s recollections, which were serialized in various contemporary newspapers, have likewise escaped attention until now, and they have been supplemented with the copious daily coverage of crime provided by well over a dozen early-twentieth-century papers. Taken together, this material makes it possible to reconstruct the events of a century ago in often-minute detail.

The story that emerges differs in many vital respects from the accounts that have been offered hitherto, most of which are heavily polluted with misinformation. When I first began my research four years ago, I read that Giuseppe Morello, the first great boss of the New York Mafia, was born in 1863 or 1870—or, some said, perhaps in 1880. Contacting the registry office in his Sicilian hometown, Corleone, I discovered that the correct date was May 2, 1867—a fact his own family seems to have been unaware of, since his gravestone bears the 1870 date. Another account held that Giuseppe had a brother, Antonio, who preceded him as boss in New York, and who once shot dead the dreaded leader of a rival criminal society, the Camorra. The battered transcripts of Antonio Morello’s 1892 murder trial, rescued in the early 1980s from a dumpster and now archived in an obscure law library, reveal that he was neither a member of the Mafia nor any relation to his more celebrated “brother,” and also that the man he killed was a one-armed organ grinder with no criminal record who had crudely insulted Morello’s wife.

Since the story that emerged from my own years of research is frankly astonishing, I also want to make it clear that nothing of what follows is fiction or “imagined” history. None of the conversations reported in these pages is invented; each was recalled, word for word, by one of the participants, or noted down by a newspaper reporter. As any historian should, I have listed my sources of information paragraph by paragraph, and line by line where necessary, and these can be verified in the end-notes.

The First Family
, in short, is not a rehash of the cursory, inaccurate, invented tales you may have read before.

This is how it really happened.

MIKE DASH
London, April 22, 2009

CONTENTS

PREFACE

MAPS

MORELLO FAMILY TREE

ROGUES’ GALLERY

CHAPTER
1     
The Barrel Mystery

CHAPTER
2      
Men of Respect

CHAPTER
3      
Little Italy

CHAPTER
4      
“The Most Secret and Terrible
                        Organization in the World”

CHAPTER
5      
The Clutch Hand

CHAPTER
6      
Vengeance

CHAPTER
7      
Family Business

CHAPTER
8      
Green Goods

CHAPTER
9      
“See the Fine Parsley”

CHAPTER
10      
Sheep and Wolves

CHAPTER
11      
Mob

CHAPTER
12      
Artichoke Kings

CHAPTER
13      
The Eighteenth Amendment

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ROGUES’ GALLERY

T
HE
M
ORELLO
F
AMILY

GIUSEPPE MORELLO aka “The Clutch Hand,” “Little Finger,” and “One Finger Jack.” Founder and leader of the first Mafia family in New York and “boss of bosses” of the American Mafia until 1910. Born in Corleone, Sicily, in 1867; suspected of murder and cattle rustling there and found guilty of counterfeiting. Arrived in the United States in 1892; arrested on charges of counterfeiting in 1900 and in connection with the Barrel Murder in 1903; lead suspect in the unsolved disappearance and probable murder of a teenage servant girl; New York Police Department (NYPD) rap sheet shows further arrests on suspicion of kidnapping and bomb throwing; organized extensive extortion ring and numerous rackets; suspected of involvement in up to sixty murders. Imprisoned 1910-20; on his release was sentenced to death by the Mafia’s general assembly. Overturned death sentence and became an influential adviser to the second generation of Mafia bosses. Murdered August 1930 by rival Mafiosi.

MARIA MARVELESI Morello’s first wife; born Corleone, Sicily; immigrated to the United States 1893; mother of two sons, both named Calogero. Died 1898.

LINA MORELLO Née Nicolina Salemi. Morello’s second wife; born Corleone, immigrated to the United States 1903 and married Morello the same year; four children. Complicit in various criminal schemes; hid Mafia correspondence and extortion letters in her child’s diapers. Outlived her husband by thirty-seven years.

IGNAZIO LUPO Palermo Mafioso better known as Lupo the Wolf. Immigrated to the United States around 1898; married Morello’s sister. Found guilty of murder in Sicily; suspect in the murder of Giuseppe Catania in Brooklyn, 1902; suspect in the Barrel Murder case, 1903; NYPD rap sheet shows further arrests for arson, sending threatening letters, kidnapping, and issuing death threats. Set up Mafia money-laundering schemes. Ran chain of grocery stores; bankrupted 1908; convicted of counterfeiting 1910 and sentenced to thirty years. Paroled 1920. Sentenced to death with Morello by the Mafia’s general assembly and fled to Sicily; returned 1922 and ran fruit and bakery rackets; suspect in a 1930 murder; charged with another killing, 1931; rearrested 1936 and returned to jail to serve out the remainder of his 1910 counterfeiting sentence. Released 1947 and died three weeks later.

—

GIUSEPPE BOSCARINI Corleone man who sold Morello counterfeits in Pennsylvania.

GIUSEPPE CALICCHIO aka “the Professor.” Neapolitan printer hired for Morello family counterfeiting operation. Long experience of forgery in Italy; printed fake banknotes for impoverished noble families. Arrested January 1910, sentenced to seventeen years.

GIUSEPPE CATANIA Brooklyn grocer and Mafia counterfeiter; associate of Lupo’s; talked while drunk and found on the Brooklyn waterfront with his throat cut and his naked body stuffed into a potato sack.

ANTONIO CECALA Sicilian who headed Morello family’s insurance rackets; proud professional arsonist; became head of the family counterfeiting operation 1908; arrested and tried 1910, sentenced to fifteen years; shot dead 1928 while running a crooked insurance business.

SALVATORE CIÑA A violent bandit in Sicily and a farmer in upstate New York; provided base for Morello counterfeiting operation and sold counterfeit bills throughout the United States. Arrested and tried 1910, sentenced to fifteen years.

SALVATORE CLEMENTE aka “Dude.” Sicilian counterfeiter, member of the Stella Fraute gang and confidant of the Terranova brothers. Long prison sentences in 1895 and 1902. Arrested again 1910 and turned informant, becoming Flynn’s key man inside the Morello family.

ANTONIO COMITO aka “the Sheep.” Calabrian printer coerced into working for the Morello gang. Printed thousands of dollars’ worth of counterfeit bills, 1908-1909. Arrested January 1910, turned informant, and gave evidence leading to conviction of Morello and eight other members of his family. Placed in protective custody by Flynn; left New York for South America 1911 and became a successful businessman.

JOE DIMARCO Sicilian gambling lord whose alliance with the Terranova brothers turned sour. Murdered on Nick Terranova’s orders, July 1916.

GIUSEPPE DI PRIEMO Morello counterfeiter arrested in Yonkers, December 1902, and sentenced to four years in jail. Attempts by his brother-in-law Benedetto Madonia to free him led to the Barrel Murder, 1903. Returned to Italy on his release; conflicting stories have him dying en route or in a shooting in Carini just after landing; either way a likely victim of Morello’s.

JOSEPH FANARO Striking gangster—red-haired, stood six feet four. Arrested in connection with the Barrel Murder and suspected of luring the victim, Benedetto Madonia, to his death. Suspect in the murder and dismemberment of Salvatore Marchiani, 1907; admitted to playing cards with him hours before his death. Fell out with Terranova brothers circa 1911. Murdered by members of the Morello and Mineo families, November 1913.

GIUSEPPE FONTANA Influential Sicilian involved in the 1893 Notarbartolo murder; arrived in New York circa 1901 and joined Morello family. Murdered by gunmen from two Mafia families after falling out with the Terranova brothers, November 1913.

MESSINA GENOVA Butcher and partner of Lupo in a Prince Street saloon. Arrested in connection with the Barrel Murder, 1903, and thought by the police to have administered Madonia’s deathblow. Brother in New Orleans was also a Mafioso. Moved to Ohio and murdered there 1908.

VINCENZO GIGLIO Cina’s brother-in-law, a Mafioso from Tampa who was related by marriage to the important Trafficante family. Convicted of counterfeiting 1909; died in prison 1914.

IPPOLITO GRECO Saloon owner and partner in the “Murder Stable” who supplied the gunmen who murdered Barnet Baff. Had rivalry with Tom Lomonte. Shot ten times by unknown assailants in his stable, 1915.

PIETRO INZERILLO Café owner in Little Italy; supplied barrel in which Benedetto Madonia was interred, 1903. Shot three times by unknown assailants in New York, late 1908; survived. Fled to Milan late 1909 to avoid arrest and later involved in counterfeiting in Italy.

VITO LADUCA aka Vito Longo. Born Carini, Sicily; served in Italian navy. Butcher and extortionist in New York. “Dread bulwark of the Black Hand.” Arrested on charges of passing counterfeit notes, Pittsburgh, 1903. Suspect in the disappearance and probable murder of Jasper Barcia, 1903. Arrested in connection with the Barrel Murder. Chief suspect in the kidnapping of Antonio Mannino, 1904; working in Pittsburgh, circa 1906; returned rich to Carini circa 1907; shot dead there February 1908.

SAM LOCINO “Queer-pusher” who sold Morello notes in Pittston, Pennsylvania, and provided the tip that led to Flynn convicting the Morello leadership six months later. Shot twice in the head soon after Morello’s conviction.

FORTUNATO LOMONTE Sicilian gang leader; owned feed store on East 108th Street near the infamous Murder Stable; installed as joint boss of the Morello family circa 1911 on the Clutch Hand’s imprisonment. Largely ineffective; known as a conciliator. Shot dead by unknown gunman, 1914.

TOM LOMONTE Brother of Fortunato, took over Morello family with him in 1911. Shot dead by hired gunman Antonio Impoluzzo, 1915.

BENEDETTO MADONIA High-ranking salesman of counterfeit Morello notes, 1902; sent to Pittsburgh to help free arrested members of the Morello family early 1903. Brother-in-law of Giuseppe Di Priemo; sent a thousand dollars to Morello to pay for his legal aid; on complaining of lack of backing from the Clutch Hand was lured to New York and became the victim in the infamous Barrel Murder, April 1903.

CALOGERO MORELLO Giuseppe Morello’s eldest son; a Mafioso at seventeen, murdered in April 1912 as part of the Morellos’ vendetta with the Madonias.

TOMMASO PETTO aka “Petto the Ox;” real name Luciano Perrini. Born Carini, Sicily; strongman and enforcer for Morello family. Arrested in connection with Barrel Murder, 1903, and was the only suspect charged with murder; released without trial 1904 and moved to Pittston, Pennsylvania. Murdered there October 1905 by unknown killers.

NICK SYLVESTER Morello bomb thrower, wagon driver, and errand boy arrested 1909 in connection with the Morello counterfeiting ring, sentenced to fifteen years. Became Secret Service informant in jail.

CIRO TERRANOVA aka “the Artichoke King.” Middle Terranova brother. Worked as a plasterer while organizing family vegetable racket. Married, ten children. Plotted murder of inconvenient witnesses; arranged murder of Joe DiMarco, 1916, and took over his gambling interests; tried on associated murder charge 1918 and acquitted on a technicality; Mafia leader in Harlem late 1920s, working for Joe “the Boss” Masseria; heavily involved in lotteries and the artichoke rackets. Forced into retirement by a younger generation of Mafiosi, mid-1930s; harassed by the police thereafter. Died of a stroke, 1938, the only one of the four Morello-Terranova brothers to die in bed.

NICK TERRANOVA aka “Coco.” Youngest of the “Terranova boys.” Succeeded Lomonte brothers as head of the Morello family. Ran family horse theft ring; extortionist and murderer. Shot dead two of the gang responsible for his nephew’s death and vowed to butcher all the rest. Never married. Murdered by Camorra gunmen in a Brooklyn ambush, September 1916.

VINCENZO TERRANOVA aka “the Tiger.” Eldest Terranova brother; married into Reina family. Ran family ice racket. Suspect in the murder of “Diamond Sam” Sica, 1908; charged with murder of Charles Lombardi, 1918, but did not stand trial; murdered May 1922 by rival Mafiosi.

PASQUALE AND LEOLUCA VASI Minor family members caught with $3,600 worth of counterfeits under a bed, November 1909.

LULU VICARI Chief assassin used by the Morello family before 1914.

GIOVANNI ZACCONI Arrested in connection with the Barrel Murder, 1903; thought to have driven the wagon that deposited Madonia’s body on East 11th Street; became a farmer in Connecticut; shotgunned to death there by unknown assassins 1909.

T
HE
S
ICILIAN
M
AFIA

VITO CASCIO FERRO Fearsome Mafia boss from Bisaquino. An ally of Morello’s during three years spent in the United States; later became the most influential Sicilian Mafioso of the first third of the century. Suspected of playing a leading part in the Petrosino murder.

PAOLINO STREVA Corleone capo who was Morello’s superior in the local Mafia.

BERNARDO TERRANOVA Morello’s stepfather, an initiated member of the Corleone Mafia who led the family to New York in 1893. His own three sons also became Mafiosi.

I
N
C
ORLEONE

ANNA DIPUMA Neighbor of Giovanni Vella who witnessed his murder and told friends she would testify as to the identity of his killer. Shot in the back outside her home a few days later.

FRANCESCO ORTOLEVA Minor politician framed by Morello for the Vella murder; tried and convicted after extensive Mafia intrigues; served twenty years for a crime Morello had committed. Son sought Flynn’s aid in having him freed.

GIOVANNI VELLA Honest head of the Corleone Field Guard, murdered by Morello after getting too close to shutting down a Mafia cattle-rustling ring, 1889.

BERNARDINO VERRO Socialist firebrand and mayor of Corleone, initiated into the Mafia by Morello’s stepfather, Bernardo Terranova, early 1893. Later denounced the fraternity and was murdered by it, November 1915.

MICHELE ZANGARA Morello neighbor who overheard a compromising conversation. His body was found, broken and dead, at the foot of a bridge just outside Corleone.

T
HE
N
EW
O
RLEANS
M
AFIA
, N
EW
O
RLEANS
P
OLICE,
AND
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V
IGILANTES