Salvadore Matranga (1821 - 1896)

Born 18 May 1821 in Monreale, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Ancestors

Husband of Rosa Greco — married 1 Mar 1848 (to 24 Sep 1896) in Monreale, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Died 13 Nov 1896 at age 75 in New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Salvadore Matranga is born and baptized on 18 May 1821 in Monreale, the son of Maestro Antonino Matranga and Giuseppa Bonanno, a married couple from Monreale.^[1]

Salvadore's father dies in March 1837 at age 60 (b. 1777).^[2]

Note: Records of his parents' marriage and his father's death give different first names for Salvadore's mother, who is called Giuseppa in both his baptism and marriage. She is called Angela Bonanno at their marriage in 1804, and the late Vincenza Bonanno at Antonino's death in 1837.

Salvadore marries Rosa Greco, daughter of the late Innocenzo Greco and Rosa Lamantia, who has lived for the last few years in San Giuseppe Mortilli (Mortilli is a village of San Giuseppe Jato), on 1 March 1848 in Monreale. Both celebrants were born in Monreale. Salvatore's parents have died.^[3]

Salvadore and Rosa have six known children: Vincenza (c. 1852), Antonino (1854), Vincenzo (1856), Innocenzo/Charles (1857), Paulina (c. 1862), and Joseph (c. 1868).

Vincenza is known from the indexed record of her death at age one (b. 1852) on 28 October 1853. She is a native and resident of Ustica, daughter of Salvadore Matranga and Rosa LaGreca, residents of Ustica.^[4]

Salvadore Madranga, age 32 (b. 1822), shoemaker, resident of Ustica, reports the birth of a son to his wife, Rosa Greco, age 30 (b. 1824), on 28 August 1854 in their home. He is named Antonino.^[5] An indexed record matching this one appears at Ustica.org.^[6]

Vincenzo is known from the record of his death at eight days of age, on 20 May 1856.^[7]

Charles is born Innocenzo Matranga on 15 August 1857 in Ustica.^[8]

The Sicilian Bark Anomino leaves Palermo bound for New Orleans. On board were Salvatore Matranga, a 40 year old (b. 1817) shoemaker, his wife, 36 (b. 1821), and 2 sons, 2 yrs (b. 1855) and 2 months old (b. 1857). His wife and sons’ names aren’t recorded. They are from Sicily. The ship arrives 22 January 1858, according to the same manifest indexed in Ancestry. Based on their ages, the sons are Antonio and Charles.^[9]

In the 1869 city directory for New Orleans, there is only one Matranga listed: Salvadore Matranga, fruit dealer and res 127 1/2 Perdido^[10]

Note: The 1870 census reports Charles was born in Louisiana.

In the 1870 federal census of Ward 3, New Orleans, LA, taken 30 June, Salvador Matranga, 42 (b. 1828), heads a household with his wife Rose, 40 (b. 1830), and children Antonio, 16 (b. 1854), Louis (this is Charles/Carlo), 12 (b. 1858), Paulina, 8 (b. 1862), and Joseph, 2 (b. 1868) Salvador is a low Shoemaker and his two older sons are apprentice shoemakers. Paulina is at school. The three youngest children were born in Louisiana and Antonio and his parents were born in Italy.^[11]

Anthony or Antonio Morin or Matranga marries Josephine Bertuchi on 10 December 1873 in Orleans parish, LA.^[12] Vincenzo Mascari gives his consent in the marriage of Josephine Bertuchi, 18, to Anthony Morin on 10 December 1873. Anthony Morin signs his name Antonio Matranga. A witness signs as Salvatore Matranga.^[13]

Salvadore is the leader of the local Stuppagghieri Mafia, a faction of a Mafia organization in his parents' native Monreale. Charles and Tony join when they are still teenagers.^[14] Salvadore takes over leadership of the Stuppagghieri in New Orleans after Salvatore Marino dies from Yellow Fever in 1878.^[15]

Giuseppe Esposito's deportation in 1881 sparks a schism in the Stuppagghieri between Salvadore Matranga and Joseph Provenzano. Matranga has the quiet support of Provenzano's former ally, Joseph Macheca.^[15]

In the 1884 city directory for New Orleans, Salvador Matranga, shoemaker, lives at 312 Lafayette^[16]

Charles marries Carmela Camilla Mascari by around 1885.

In the 1886 city directory for New Orleans, Salvadore and his son Charles are both bartenders, living at 312 Lafayette. Son Tony, a saloon owner, lives at 150 S. Basin.^[17]

In the 1890 city directory, Antonio and Salvadore both live at 312 Lafayette. Tony, a laborer, lives in the rear.^[18]

In May 1890, Tony is injured in an ambush and loses his leg.

In 1891, Charles is a defendant in the murder of Police Chief David C. Hennessy. While a lynching takes the lives of eleven of his co-defendants, Charles and a man reputed to be his "enforcer," Bastiano Incardona, are unharmed.^[14]

In the 1892 New Orleans city directory, Salvador Matranga lives at 312 Lafayette^[19]

Rosa dies 24 September 1896 at age 73 (b. 1822) in New Orleans. She is buried in Metairie Cemetery in NOLA. ^[20]

Death of Salvadore

Salvadore dies 13 November 1896 at age 75. He is buried with Rosa. His obituary from the Times-Picayune (New Orleans) 15 November 1896, page 12, appears on his FindAGrave profile. He was a native of Palermo, came 45 yrs ago (imm. 1851), was in the fruit trade, and more lately in the produce and pasta businesses. Leaves sons Anthony, Charles, and Joseph, and daughter Pauline, married to Dominick Condi. He is the founder of the Societa Italiana del Tiro al Bersaglio (Italian Target Shooting Society).^[21]

Tony dies 12 December 1909 at age 55. He lived at 3322 Canal St.^[22]

Charles dies 28 October 1943 in New Orleans. He is buried in Metairie Cemetery.^[23]

Sources

1. ↑ Record no. 177. "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YMXQ-R97?cc=2046915&wc=MGSY-3TL%3A351041201%2C351041202%2C351595901 : 20 May 2014), Monreale > Santa Maria Nuova > Battesimi 1816-1824 > image 312 of 492; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
2. ↑ Death of Antonino Matranga. (1837, March 18). "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YMX7-NF8?cc=2046915&wc=MGSY-PTL%3A351041201%2C351041202%2C351616001 : 20 May 2014), Monreale > Santa Maria Nuova > Morti 1832-1844 > image 177 of 531; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
3. ↑ Marriage of Salvadore Matranga and Rosa Greco. (1848, March 1). Record no. 11. "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YMXS-K7S?cc=2046915&wc=MGS1-YWL%3A351041201%2C351041202%2C351492401 : 20 May 2014), Monreale > Santa Maria Nuova > Matrimoni 1844-1858 > image 122 of 383; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
4. ↑ Death of Vincenza Matranga. (1853, October 28). Record no. 53. Stato Civile di Ustica, 1820 - 1865. Retrieved 13 May 2020 from http://ustica.org/genealogy/
5. ↑ Atto di nascita, Antonino Madragna. (1854, August 28). Record no. 55. Posted 11 May 2020 by Richard Warner to The Los Angeles Mafia group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10222169095365581&set=p.10222169095365581&type=3
6. ↑ Antonino Matranga. Son of Salvatore Matranga and Rosa Greco, residents of Ustica. Birth of Antonino Matranga. (1854, August 28). Record no. 55. Stato Civile di Ustica, 1820 - 1865. Retrieved 13 May 2020 from http://ustica.org/genealogy/
7. ↑ Death of Vincenzo Matranga. (1856, May 20). Record no. 17. Parochial Registers of San Ferdinando Re Church, Ustica, 1762 - . Retrieved 13 May 2020 from http://ustica.org/genealogy/
8. ↑ Birth of Innocenzo Matranga. (1857, August 15). Record no. 59. Stato Civile di Ustica, 1820 - 1865. Retrieved 13 May 2020 from http://ustica.org/genealogy/
9. ↑ "Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-G5JR-D4?cc=1916009&wc=MFVK-6M9%3A1029673801%2C1029684901 : 8 October 2015), 1820-1902 (NARA M259) > 045 - 6 Nov 1857 - 19 May 1858 > image 457 of 696; citing NARA microfilm publications M259 and T905 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
10. ↑ New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1869 Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
11. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6QZY-KM?cc=1438024&wc=92K1-G54%3A518653901%2C519016601%2C519417001 : 12 June 2019), Louisiana > Orleans > New Orleans, ward 03 > image 516 of 654; citing NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
12. ↑ "Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ8-Y5KB : 4 April 2020), Anthony Or Antonio Morin Or Matranga and Josephine Bertuchi, 10 Dec 1873; citing Orleans, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 1,783,813.
13. ↑ "Louisiana Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJC-MY25 : 4 April 2020), Anthony Morin and Josephine Bertuchi, 10 Dec 1873; citing Orleans, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 903,924.
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} Hunt, Thomas and Macheca Sheldon, Martha. (2007). Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse.
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1} Hunt, T. (2022). New Orleans (Marcello) crime leaders. https://mafiahistory.us/maf-b-no.html
16. ↑ "United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-V3DB-K6Z?cc=3754697 : 11 January 2022), > image 1 of 1.
17. ↑ New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1886 Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
18. ↑ New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1890 Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
19. ↑ New Orleans, Louisiana, City Directory, 1892 Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
20. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 April 2020), memorial page for Rosa Greco Matranga (1821–25 Sep 1896), Find a Grave Memorial no. 126510262, citing Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by Graves (contributor 47171280) .
21. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 April 2020), memorial page for Salvatore Matranga (1820–13 Nov 1896), Find a Grave Memorial no. 126509980, citing Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by Graves (contributor 47171280) .
22. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 April 2020), memorial page for Anthony Matranga (Aug 1854–12 Dec 1909), Find a Grave Memorial no. 152287738, citing Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA ; Maintained by Judy Ber2c W (contributor 47928814) .
23. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV2G-C8LW : 13 December 2015), Charles Matranga, 1943; Burial, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States of America, Metairie Cemetery; citing record ID 74156946, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.