http://mafiahistory.us/w-proven.htmlGiuseppe Provenzano
Provenzano and his brothers were strong supporters of Giuseppe Esposito during that Sicilian fugitive's brief reign in the New Orleans underworld, 1879-1881.
When Esposito was arrested and deported, Provenzano and his followers blamed the wing of their organization led by Joseph Macheca and Charles Matranga. Macheca had strong contacts in the local government, and the Provenzano faction felt he could have prevented Esposito's capture. A Matranga associate was believed responsible for betraying Esposito's whereabouts to Italian authorities.
Provenzano's group was closer to the traditional Mafia in Palermo, Sicily, and might have been a branch of the conservative Monreale-based Giardinieri. The Matranga clan appeared to draw its support from the rebel Monreale Stuppagghieri.
In 1888, the Matrangas were strong enough to begin challenging Provenzano for dominance in the rackets at New Orleans' docks. Provenzano sought peace in 1889, but the murder of Vincenzo Ultonino sparked a new round of violence.
New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessey, personal friend of the Provenzanos, attempted to mediate the dispute later that year without success.
In 1890, Provenzano forces took the upper hand as they ambushed Matranga leaders at Claiborne and Esplanade Streets, seriously wounding two of them. Charles Matranga's brother Antonio lost part of one leg. The Matrangas, in obvious violation of the underworld code, had the Provenzano gang leadership arrested.
The Provenzanos were found guilty of murder charges in summer of 1890 (at the first of three scheduled trials), but the judge threw out the verdict. Hennessey planned to testify on the Provenzanos behalf at the next trial, but he was killed by Matranga assassins just before it began.
Early in 1891, the Provenzanos were found not guilty of the Matranga gangster murders. But the family's influence in the New Orleans underworld waned as Charles Matranga became the sole surviving underworld superpower.
Related Links:
Crime boss listing
Book: Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia
Article: America's First Mafia War
http://mafiahistory.us/maf-b-no.htmlNew Orleans
New Orleans was the first home of the American Mafia. Crime family roots in that community extend back as far as the U.S. Civil War. For much of its history, the New Orleans Mafia isolated itself from underworld organizations in the rest of the country. This must be partly due to friction between Palermo Mafia authority and the rebellious Monreale-based Stuppagghiara group that took hold in the Crescent City.
Provenzano
(Agnello)
1865 - Raffaele Agnello (? to April 1, 1869). Descended from Palermo aristocrats, Raffaele Agnello was a leading figure in the small Sicilian colony in New Orleans. During the Union occupation of the city, Agnello's gang was trusted to keep order along the French Quarter docks.
1869 - Joseph Agnello (? to July 1872). Believing that a Palermo-Messina feud in the New Orleans underworld has ended in his victory, Raffaele Agnello emerged from hiding and took a victory stroll through the French Quarter. He was shot in the head with a blunderbuss pistol at close range in front of the Joseph Macheca fruit store on April 1, 1869. Agnello's brother Joseph took over leadership of the Palermo gang and eliminated some Messinian rivals.
J.P. Macheca
1872 - Joseph P. Macheca (1842 to March 14, 1891). Joe Agnello was gunned down on a New Orleans dock in summer of 1872. Though technically not a Mafioso, Macheca was the most powerful man in the New Orleans underworld. In later years, he helped to establish the Matranga family.
1875 - The first Mafia organization of New Orleans was leaderless, as Macheca supported the formation of the Matranga Stuppagghiara group.
1879 - Giuseppe Esposito (? to ?). Accused Sicilian bandit and murderer Giuseppe Esposito escaped from authorities in Palermo. Using connections with Sicilian Mafiosi and businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic, Esposito traveled to New Orleans through New York. Upon his arrival in the Crescent City, he was looked upon as a Palermo Mafia authority and was given control over the New Orleans underworld. Esposito revived the old Mafia faction by putting the Provenzano family in charge of the New Orleans dock rackets.
1881 - Joseph Provenzano (? to ?). Giuseppe Esposito was betrayed to authorities and deported to Italy. The Provenzano clan, made wealthy and powerful by their control of the docks, was momentarily the greatest force in the local underworld.
mid-1880s - The Provenzano family lost control of the docks to the Matranga family. The Provenzanos fought a losing underworld battle from that point on.
1891 - Joseph Provenzano (? to ?). The Provenzano clan ceased to be a major force in the New Orleans underworld.
With the murder of Hennessy the city police chief and the trial that acquitted his killers, the right-thinking people of New Orleans decided to lynch the suspects (the Sicilians were dark skinned,was treated like the negros who were regularly lynched).