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Gaspare Messina (; August 7, 1879 – June 15, 1957) founded the New England Mafia that would later be known as the
Patriarca crime family The Patriarca crime family (, ), also known as the New England Mafia, the Boston Mafia, the Providence Mafia, or The Office is an Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime family, family in New England. It has two distinct factions, one based ...
. He immigrated to
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
from
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
with his wife in 1905. Messina and his family arrived in Boston by 1915 and retired as head of the Boston Mafia in 1932. He was succeeded by Phil Buccola. Messina died on June 15, 1957, in Somerville, Massachusetts.


Early life

Gaspare Messina was born on August 7, 1879, in
Salemi Salemi is a town and ''comune'' in southwestern Sicily, Italy, administratively part of the province of Trapani. History Salemi is where Giuseppe Garibaldi announced the annexation of Sicily on May 14, 1860, as part of the Expedition of the T ...
,
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
, to Luciano Messina and his wife, Gaspara Clementi. Gaspare married Francesca Riggio on November 4, 1905, in Salemi. Within the same month the couple immigrated to
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, arriving in New York Harbor on November 25, 1905, for an extended honeymoon. The couple settled in the Williamsburg section of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and decided to stay in the United States permanently. While living in Brooklyn with a growing family, Messina opened a bakery and joined the local mafia that would later become known as the
Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the " Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as ...
.


Boston

By 1915, Messina and his family had moved to
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. He opened a new bakery there and soon became recognized as the
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
of the local Sicilian-based mafia. The exact circumstances of his crime family's formation and his elevation to boss are unknown. All that is certain is that he arrived in Boston by 1915, and in Nicola Gentile recalled being invited to a banquet in his honor in 1921 by Messina, the local mafia boss in Boston. In 1923, the U.S.
Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
found evidence of Messina's involvement in a counterfeiting scheme when they arrested Salvatore Leonardi, finding a letter in his possession addressed to Messina and discovered that Messina had sent a $100 money order to the leaders of the scheme. Over fifty people were arrested for being involved in the scheme to distribute a half-million dollars worth of counterfeit $10 Federal Reserve Bank of Boston notes. Messina was never charged in the scheme, but he took an extended trip to Sicily, returning in December 1924. In 1925, Messina was the president of a wholesale grocery business called G. Messina & Company. One of his partners in the business, Frank Cucchiara, was arrested on March 26, 1925 for possession of guns, six sticks of dynamite and 96 ounces of morphine. Later that year, Cucchiara was fined $50 for running an illegal lottery. Around 1927, Messina and his family moved to the nearby suburb of Somerville. In a December 1930 meeting in Boston, Messina was selected to become a temporary capo di capi, by fellow mafiosi after stripping the title from
Joe Masseria Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (; January 17, 1886April 15, 1931) was an early Italian-American Mafia boss in New York City. He was boss of what is now called the Genovese crime family, one of the New York City Mafia's Five Families, from 1922 ...
during Masseria's struggle with rival gangster
Salvatore Maranzano Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an Italian-American mobster from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. ...
, often referred to as the Castellammarese War. Maranzano acquired the title after he proved victorious in the conflict.


Death

According to an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
listening device placed in Raymond Patriarca's office, Messina stepped down as boss in 1932 and was replaced by Phil Buccola. After his retirement he retained an "advisory" role to his successors. Messina died on June 15, 1957, in Somerville, Massachusetts.


See also

*
Black Hand (extortion) Black Hand ( it, Mano Nera) was a type of Italian extortion racket. Originally developed in the eighteenth century, Black Hand extortion came to the United States in the later nineteenth century with immigrants. Black Hand was a method of ex ...


References


External links


Biography of Messina on ''The American Mafia'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messina, Gaspare 1879 births 1957 deaths Patriarca crime family American gangsters of Sicilian descent People from North End, Boston Italian emigrants to the United States Criminals from Massachusetts Capo dei capi