As he was from Neopolitan stock, am I right in thinking Capone was never really a made member of Cosa Nostra?

Basically just a leader of a Chicago gang that morphed into what is known as a mafia family.

Or have I got this wrong ?

He became a made member of CN sometime around 1928 for Masseria, with the "power" to make his own ten made guys. By 1931 he was officially recognized as boss by Maranzano for Chicago's CN family.

Also there was the Unione Siciliane a Sicilian fraternal organization that by World War I had become a crime cartel and was very active in Chicago, somehow Capone became involved with the local Lodges.

Any guys alive around Capone? Probably a few friend of a friend currently

I'm not doubting you, TD. But, none of his biographers mentioned Snorky being "made" officially. They did cover Unione Siciliana as "Mafia," and Capone's efforts to influence/dominate it. Also mentioned him taking sides in the Castellammarese War.

Capone was 100% a member. We have multiple independent sources citing his membership.

Maybe the confusion is about the semantics like Capone was awarded a made guy status but he was not formally inducted with a ceremony and all that ?

Do we know when the first formal induction ceremonies took place in the USA ?

The Unione Siciliana's rituals included private words, tokens, signs, grips and passwords, which were all supposed to be secret. Members of the society were issued annual passwords, and the Supreme President issued a quadrennial password to members of the Supreme Council.

It's not unheard of to be made without going through a formal induction ceremony.

In the 90's the Bonanno Family would generally gather guys in a room and some higher up would just tell them "From now on you guys are made members of the Bonanno Family, congratulations" and that was it. After that, they were recognized as made guys by every family.

Old time Mafia member Nick Gentile is one of the most reliable sources for that information. Gentile knew Capone personally and was involved in America's Cosa Nostra. He also stated that Capone, before becoming a made guy, was already sending cash to NY, which rises the question on whether some of Capone's older associates like Torrio and Colosimo were also made and if not, then why not? The deal with Masseria was allegedly for Capone to eliminate Lombardo, Yale, Aiello and possibly Esposito, too. Thats how Capone became a made guy and never stopped making guys or until his imprisonment.

Wasn't a Calabrian pal of Capone's named Frankie Yale(Uale) the head of Unione Siciliana?

Thanks for the replies, from these, it probably seems Capone was afforded the status of a made man without actually going through a ceremony.

the Unione Siciliana was the equivalent of Chinese Tongs in the italian community

Lol how'd you'd come to that conclusion? He was indeed made and almost certainly went through a ceremony in NY.

Again, according to insider/insiders, Masseria allegedly explained to Capone all of the rules and hierarchy of the Cosa Nostra organization shortly before he became officially a made man during the ceremony. Yes, Capone used that membership so he can reach out to other families from around the country and also created his own "unique" family, but he was probably made with a traditional induction. Later, as I already said regarding the unique family, the Chicago family had both types of inductions, depending on the time period and also on the crew or group from which the current boss came from (meaning whether he was more Sicilian oriented or Mainlander), such as the traditional or non-traditional. We have some info of made guys being inducted during the 1940's with the non-traditional ceremony, same as the 1950's and 60's, but on the other hand we also have some other sources claiming that there were possibly some traditional inductions also during the 50's and obviously later during the 70's and 80's. Some researchers still question the traditional vs non-traditional subject and also believe that during the 90's DiFronzo allegedly brought back the non-traditional way. That same type of induction is explained in details with the help of informers since the 1960's.

I also see that many of you mentioned the Unione Siciliani organization and to be honest, that same group started as legit organization but with the help of wealth and power, many mafiosi entered that same organization and even became presidents, or as they were usually labelled during those days as "leaders of Italians". The so-called "White Hand" organization was also no different than the Unione Siciliani, meaning many Cosa Nostra guys were members of the group, fighting against all independent vice bosses and extortionists.

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Was Unione Siciliana national or was it in NYC and maybe spread to a couple of other cities?

In what ways are the two similar?

My impression was that like other of these Italian Societies, mob guys were often in them.maybe started many of them,but they included the other Italians who wanted to join ,and thus could influence these other members in such things as voting,money raising,etc

The "Unione Siciliana" was national in scope...Later, in many cities, it basically became a synonym for the early Mafia in this country.

The period between 1910 and 1930 for organized crime in NYC is a bit murky because of the ascendance of numerous Italian and Sicilian gangs. There was the Mafia-Camorra War, The Black Hand-White Hand War and the expansion to Chicago. Cola Gentile is on the record for Capone being made by Masseria in '29 and Torrio was never officially made, Yale was made by Masseria before 1920 i want to say. The reality is the after Capone arranged to whack Colosimo and O'Banion, and was allowed to inherit Torrio's operation, he probably was already considered a soldier, .That would justify Masseria giving him a Capodecimo standing in 1929.
The Unione was the predecessor to The Commission, Mike Genna, Joe Masseria, Joe Adonis, Frank Costello, Luciano, Franki Iole were all representatives in the Unione. After Yale whacked O'Bannion, he was rewarded by being elected president of the Unione. By 1924, the Black Hand had become the dominant organization nationally but hadn't yet transitioned to the Mafia, which formed after the end of the Castellammarese War.

LOL what are you talking about Cnote??? Disregard everything he just said

Capone was made in 1928. Multiple sources say this. He wasn't already considered a soldier before this. Numerous guys are made captain when they're made.

The Unione Siciliana was not any sort of predecessor to the Commission.

The black hand was not a organization. The black hand was not a predecessor to the mafia. The mafia was formed well before 1931.

Mike Genna?...@Cnote you probably mean Angelo Genna?! As the poster above me already said, the Sicilian union wasnt any type of "predecessor" of the commission. There was already a CN network way before 1931, and that can be proved with letters which were received by CN bosses of the 1900's and 1910's from around the country, and the letters were usually from New York regarding all types of problems and internal situations. Btw, what about D'Andrea, Merlo or Lombardo, and also the whole D'Aquila "boss of bosses" regime? It seems that Lombardo, Yale, Aiello and Esposito were loyal to that same regime and thats why Masseria wanted for Capone to eliminate those fellas. Diamond Joe Esposito was a made guy and probably held some type of high stature within Chicago's early Cosa Nostra organization, and since NY was constantly sending their guys to Chi Town, maybe some of Capone's predecessors already received their buttons...just saying. If Capone was an associate before being made, and was also sending cash back to NY, then who was his overseer (made guy) in Chicago? Merlo? Torrio? Lombardo allegedly told Capone not to send any money to NY because he still wasnt a member at the time. So Capone obviously had someone above him, probably with the stature of a made guy or even a capo....also, when Torrio fled Chicago in 1925/26, he went straight to the Genoveses and was obviously welcomed with open hands.

Wasn't the Unione Siciliana largely a Chicago thing or at least Chicago-based?
There was Black Hand activity going on in NYC about 20 years before the Unione Siciliana was even formed.

The Unione Siciliano, for lack of a better term, was believed to have been started in the City of Chicago, around 1895, or so, as a "fraternal type" benevolent organization, and "mutual aid society." Initially, it was an altruistic, well intentioned organization formed and created for the betterment of early Italian/Sicilian immigrants in America.

Initially, the Unione Siciliano provided such important services to immigrant Italian families as having Italian to English language translators, offered affordable life insurance, paid funeral and burial expenses for poor families, organized religious annual Italian feasts, helped find affordable apartments and housing, interacted with local government and city officials on behalf of the immigrants, etc., etc.

It was a major "support group" for the early Italian people.

But, realizing the importance and power such an fraternal organization had, mafiosi soon infiltrated and took over the Unione Siciliano, and from that time forward, it was largely used as a front by Mafia leaders to gain power and political influence, and use it for their other nefarious underworld purposes.

Eventually, (in certain cities at least,) it can be said that the Unione Siciliano became no more than an extension of the Mafia itself.

Yes, during the 1910's and 1920's it became more of a Chicago thing and later it was renamed as the Italo-American union.

Btw, did you guys ever heard of the Italian society from 1870's/80's known as Unione e Fratellanza in Chicago and NY? Well I personally believe that was the real "predecessor" of the Unione Siciliani and allegedly was completely legitimate, but as any other civil organization, it is quite possible there were already some criminal donators within the organization, probably disguised as legitimate businessman.

Havana,

The Unione Siciliano, for lack of a better term, was believed to have been started in the City of Chicago, around 1895, or so, as a "fraternal type" benevolent organization, and "mutual aid society." Initially, it was an altruistic, well intentioned organization formed and created for the betterment of early Italian/Sicilian immigrants in America.

Initially, the Unione Siciliano provided such important services to immigrant Italian families as having Italian to English language translators, offered affordable life insurance, paid funeral and burial expenses for poor families, organized religious annual Italian feasts, helped find affordable apartments and housing, interacted with local government and city officials on behalf of the immigrants, etc., etc.

It was a major "support group" for the early Italian people.

But, realizing the importance and power such an fraternal organization had, mafiosi soon infiltrated and took over the Unione Siciliano, and from that time forward, it was largely used as a front by Mafia leaders to gain power and political influence, and use it for their other nefarious underworld purposes.

Wow same post twice...i bet you cant do it third time?!

Hollander,

The Unione Siciliano, for lack of a better term, was believed to have been started in the City of Chicago, around 1895, or so, as a "fraternal type" benevolent organization, and "mutual aid society." Initially, it was an altruistic, well intentioned organization formed and created for the betterment of early Italian/Sicilian immigrants in America.

Initially, the Unione Siciliano provided such important services to immigrant Italian families as having Italian to English language translators, offered affordable life insurance, paid funeral and burial expenses for poor families, organized religious annual Italian feasts, helped find affordable apartments and housing, interacted with local government and city officials on behalf of the immigrants, etc., etc.

It was a major "support group" for the early Italian people.

But, realizing the importance and power such an fraternal organization had, mafiosi soon infiltrated and took over the Unione Siciliano, and from that time forward, in many cities throughout the U.S., it was largely used as a front by Mafia leaders to gain power and political influence, and use it for their other nefarious underworld purposes.

talking about destroying a great thread

Uale def was a top guy also a notorious (so called) Black hander.

I agree and even the Chinese traced their roots to Freemasonry.