"It was only after Chicago, under Capone, became recognized as a Family in their own right, that these other Mafia groups either melded into Capone's Family, or left the area altogether and realigned with other Families outside of Chicago, per se."
NYmafia, are you joking? Chicago had a family dating back much longer than Capone. I'm guessing you haven't heard of Nicola Gentile. Nicola Gentile reported that there was a family in Chicago before Capone and I believe he said Merlo and Antonio D'Andrea were bosses.
Joe Bonanno also reported that there was a family in Chicago headed by Giuseppe Aiello. This is wrong as the family was headed by Antonio Lombardo, Aiello was an underboss, but it still shows Bonanno knew of a family there before 1931.
