Prohibition Era Mobs

For some reason it seems to me that people tend to ignore the prohibition era gangster these days. Which is odd because that was the golden era of the mafia in America. I was thinking this could be a long term thread where people post info on prohibition era gangs and bosses. Even NYC prohibition era is relatively unknown to many. It wasn't just Masseria and Maranzano, there were gangs all over the place. So if we could, lets shed some light on the topic and from all over the country.

I'm gonna start with this piece from forum member JCB1977 because it was a great post and the inspiration for this thread.

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=752691#Post752691

to answer your question on the bottom of that thread you posted about baltimore, the gambinos had a crew based there, last known captain was frank corbi, who died in the early 1990s and it seems the crew has gone defunct ever since his death.

And on the topic of this thread i believe Baltimore had its own small bootlegging outfit during prohibition before the 1930s when the Italian OC in Baltimore was brought under the Gambino family.

Baltimore had its own family till after the Castellammarese war, then it was put under the control of the Newark Family, when the Newark Family was spit up, it was under the control of Philadelphia till Joe Dovi passed away in the mid 1940's, that is when Vincent Mangano stepped in and put the crew under the control of the Gambino family with Frank Scalise acting as capo of the crew for about a month, before putting Pasquale Corbi as the official capo of the crew. Louis Morici was placed as capo over the crew when Corbi died in the mid 1950's. Morici would step down and retire during the 1960's, most say for health reasons, but the rumor is that he was arguing with Carlo Gambino about Carlo putting Joe Biondo on the shelve. The Baltimore crew has been with the Gambino crime family ever since.

There is an estimated 70 to 90 mafia families during the prohibition era before they merged with other families, moved back to Italy or just vanished.

where do you get those stats from vacari? the 70-90 families?

was wondering the same thing

What do you mean "people tend to ignore prohibition era gangsters these days"? Hey dude, ever heard of Boardwalk Empire? Also, that seems to be in your head...Plenty of talk referring to prohibition era. Why are you assuming people aren't familiar with other gangs? Maybe in general but on this board people know who Giuseppe Morello is.

yes I mean in general. was nearly a hundred years ago after all..

People know about the crime families and so forth. But what about the 'mobs' who never made it past the depression? thats what I'm talking about. The Gennas, D'Aquila, Purple Gang, Lonardos, Mayfield Road Mob, etc. etc.

Here is a story written by Allan May about the most prominent prohibition murder in Youngstown's history: The victim was my great grandfather:

In the fall of 1924 Testa was arrested for questioning in the murder of Dominic Barber. On October 23, Barber and Joseph Valentino were leaving a North Watt Street restaurant just before 10:00 p.m. As the pair headed toward East Federal Street two men approached and began shooting. Barber spun around to run, but a bullet hit him in the base of the skull, killing him instantly. The gunmen fled. Following the shooting, police scoured the neighborhood and Youngstown Police Chief Kedgwin Powell ordered the arrest of at least 20 individuals including Testa.**(136) Restaurants and other places of business still open at that hour were ordered closed.
Police said that Barber was “a prominent member of the Black Hand and reputed to be a state leader of the organization.” A sub-headline in the Vindicator, calling the slain man a “Reputed Mafia Leader,” was probably more accurate. Black Hand gangs, which for the most part were extinct by the mid-1920s, were not organized to the extent that they would be statewide in nature, remaining confined primarily to Italian neighborhoods. The same day Barber was killed, Rocco Rinerello was lured to Kent, Ohio by four East Youngstown Italians who nearly decapitated him with a stiletto and left his body in a pasture. With his body stabbed many times over, the newspapers were calling the murder part of an ongoing Black Hand feud.
Police were convinced a “Rum War” was in progress a month after the Barber murder. Around 8 o’clock on the night of November 27, Pasquale “Patsy” Cardisone “ran amuck” in the Victoria Street home of Dan Simeone. Cardisone had slipped in the back door of the house and started blasting. A bullet to the chest of Nick Amedo severed his windpipe and sent him staggering into an adjoining room where he fell on top of a friend asleep in bed and died within minutes. Simeone was shot in the back and a third man was hit in the groin. Chief Powell, who took personal charge of the investigation, found a 60-gallon still at the home of Simeone’s neighbor and police confiscated 30 gallons of liquor as well as 13 barrels of mash. Cardisone was on the run after the shooting.
Law enforcement agencies in the Mahoning Valley knew that a nefarious organization was in their midst. The term Mafia, although used sparingly, had not gained prominence among police departments or the local media. On January 26, 1925 the Vindicator headlines read “Black Hand Gang Threatens City.” The front-page story exposed a police investigation, by an unnamed detective, into the murder of Dominic Barber. According to the article the investigation revealed:

“There is a Black Hand menace here.”
“It is of greater proportion than appears on the surface.”
“The killing of Dominic Barber, head of the organization in Youngstown was the result of an inside feud in the order.”
“Two men, known to be intimate acquaintances and personal friends of the murdered leader, are today marked for death.”
“An East End barber has been selected as leader of the organization, replacing Barber.”
“A prominent attorney, not a member of the organization, is really the directing head of the activities of the organization.”
“The members of the organization have been forced to subscribe for stock in various enterprises, among them a bank.”
“A ‘bootleg insurance’ is maintained by this bank, which guarantees to members that fines will be paid, bond provided, and attorney’s fees paid.”

The investigator went on to reveal that Barber was killed so another faction could seize control and appoint a new leader, and that the police were watching six strangers who came to town to plan the murders of two Barber associates. As part of the investigation Chief Powell conducted a raid at the restaurant Barber had been at the night he was slain. The raiders made ten arrests and confiscated several loaded guns. Two of the men arrested were cousins Dominic and Rosiro Russo.

Perfect thread for my current topic, being a part of large project. I just have one question to you folks: what transition I can create to Castellammarese War and further events, when I'm currently describing Rothstein's activities? I'm focusing on Cosa Nostra, so Rothstein has to be a venial topic, where I want to express and describe Luciano as a future Mafia creator.

Also, I need to write something about Masseria, Maranzano or Anastasia. If anybody has any idea how I can put it all together to make it sounds logically, I'd really appreciate.

JoeTheBoss and Dellacroce, I see I said families. I meant to say that combining the Sicilian clans, Camorra clans, Ndrangheta clans, and black hand figures that were operating in the U.S. you would have roughly that amount of families at the time. Not all of the organizations were big say over 10 core members. The Secret Service, ATF, and the IRS have a lot of files on the activity of Black hand figures in the early 1900 to the mid 1920 as well as Sicilian and Camorra clans.

That is just the Italians, there were many other gangs that were not Italian that were bigger then them.

JCB, did they solve the murder, was anyone convicted?

They never solved the murder and then exactly one year later to the date in 1925, my great grandfather's brother Frank was murdered on his front porch. My grandpa told me years later that he knows that Rosiro Russo was the killer and that he was taken care of a few months after my great grandfather Dominic's murder.

http://archives.ubalt.edu/cj/pdf/1-6-22_Part2.pdf

Scroll down to page 20 and it shows the relationship between Frank Corbi and Antonio Ripepi of Pittsburgh and an altercation that took place in 1966. Good info on Corbi and Ripepi.