@NNY78 thanks for the info,it was a great read.Were your family members connected to some of the crime families or just did it independently?( i think you mentioned something about the LCN in Buffalo)

@cornuto_e_contento The Black Hand was a mixture of Italians and ofcourse there were also sicilians,all independent gangsters involved mostly in extortion.Heres a thread that i made about the sicilian factions in the Chicago Heights for example...most of these guys started as a black hand gangsters....plus the gangs that i have listed above in the article are mostly sicilian

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=768980

Also in New York some members of the Morello gang started as a black hand gangsters....