Antonio Biagio Milone (1868 - 1942)

Born 22 Nov 1868 in Corleone, Palermo, Sicilia, Italia

Ancestors

Husband of Rachele Giovanna Amalia Invernizzi — married 11 Apr 1908 in New York, New York, United States

Descendants

Died 30 Jun 1942 at age 73 in Queens, NY, NY

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Biography

Antonino Milone is born and baptized 22 November 1868 in Corleone. He is the son of Alberto Milone and Francesca Parisi. His godparents are Gaetano Fratello and Giuseppa Liggio, a married couple.^[1] The civil certificate of his birth gives the date as the 21st, and his first name as "Biagio."^[2]

Antonino immigrates in 1890, according to the 1910 census.

Alberto Milone, 58 (b. 1831), and Antonino Milone, 21 (b. 1868), laborers, travel together on the SS Plata, arriving 9 Oct 1889 in New York.^[3]

Antonino is known as "Antonio B. Milone," the first president of Giuseppe Morello's Ignatz Florio Co-operative Association Among Corleonesi, chartered 31 Dec 1902. The Co-op builds tenements for the Italian community in East Harlem and the Bronx. Another partner in the Co-op is Morello's brother-in-law, Ignacio Lupo. Antonio is second cousin of Gaetano Reina, a captain in Morello's crime family, and third cousin of Giuseppe Morello.

A descendant recalls that Antonio's middle name is "Biagio."

Antonio marries Rachel Invernizzi, daughter of Giovanni Battista Invernizzi and Annita Baricozzi, on 11 April 1908 in Manhattan.^[4]

Antonio and Rachel have at least four children: Alberto (1909), Gian’Battista/John (c. 1911), Carlo (c. 1912), and Prosper (1914).

Albert is born 19 February 1909 in the Bronx.^[5] He is named after his paternal grandfather.

in the 1910 federal census, taken 15 April, Antony B. Milone is 40 (b. 1870), is living in the Bronx. The census sheet for ED 1487 calls their township "Wakefield, New York City," a neighborhood in the Bronx. Antonio immigrated in 1890, the same year as his wife, Rachel, 26 (b. 1884). They have a son, Albert, 1 (b. 1909) born in NY. Antony and his wife of two years are from Italy. Both are able to read and write. He owns a real estate business and their home.

Their next door neighbor, Vincent Palmieri, 30, from Italy, is a building contractor. ^[6]

Gian’Battista/John (c. 1911) and Carlo (c. 1912) are both known from their appearance on a 1914 passenger manifest.

Initially, investors in Antonio and Giuseppe's Co-op are poor Italian immigrants, who buy $2 and $5 shares in the successful building venture. The Co-op builds the tenements and then sells them upon completion, to individuals and corporations who operate the buildings as landlords. The Co-op becomes more ambitious and by early 1907 increases the share price to $100. Many of the new shareholders are Morello's criminal associates from all over the country.

Following the economic depression of 1907, the Co-op falls behind on its payments to suppliers, at least one of whom, Philbrick & Bro, takes the Co-op to court. The Co-op ceases operation in 1913.^[7]

Rachele Invernizzi gives her last address as Corleone when she sails on the SS Guglielmo from Palermo on 4 March 1914 and arrives on 18 March in New York. She is meeting her husband, Antonino Milone, at 47 East Bedford, NY. (Possibly, this is Rutherford, NJ.) Rachel is 46 (b. 1868). She has been in the country before, in 1888 and 1912. She is 5’5” with fair complexion, brown hair, and blue eyes. She was born in Milano.

Sailing with Rachele are her children. The first two have lines through their names: not because they don’t sail, but because they are not immigrants. They were born in the US. The children are Alberto Milone, 4 (b. 1910), Gian’Battista, 3 (b. 1911), and Carlo, 2 (b. 1912). The same Salvatore Castro is called the children’s uncle. Rachele and the children are the only passengers from Corleone. The older two children were born in New York City, and the youngest was born in Corleone.^[8]

Prosper is born 19 September 1914 in East Rutherford, Bergen Co, NJ.^[9]

A 1925 census giving Prosper's age as eleven (b. 1914) appears to be a match.^[10]

John dies on 22 February 1922 in Manhattan.^[11] He is about eleven years old.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism of Antoninum Milone, 22 November 1868, "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DYMQ-TRV?cc=2046915&wc=MG37-K66%3A351041801%2C351041802%2C351131001 : 20 May 2014), Corleone > San Martino > image 394 of 576; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
2. ↑ Certificato di nascita, record no. 464, Corleone, Palermo.
3. ↑ "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVSL-LFHV : 15 April 2015), Antonnio Milone, 1889; citing NARA microfilm publication M237 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm .
4. ↑ "New York Marriages, 1686-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6QH-CVW : 12 December 2014), Antonio B. Milone and Rachel Invernizzi, 11 Apr 1908; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 1,439,642.
5. ↑ "New York, New York City Births, 1846-1909," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W8C-W8R : 20 March 2015), Antoni Milone in entry for Albert Milone, 19 Feb 1909; citing Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, reference cn 1516 New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,023,263.
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRKD-348?cc=1727033&wc=QZZH-QFS%3A133641301%2C133751301%2C142785601%2C1589219271 : 11 November 2015), New York > New York > Bronx Assembly District 32 > image 4 of 54; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
7. ↑ Dash, Mike. The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia. Simon and Schuster, 9 June 2011. Pp. 152-5.
8. ↑ Guglielmo manifest accessed via SteveMorse.org 21 March 2017.
9. ↑ State of New Jersey Certificate and Record of Birth issued 10 Sept 1931 by the Registrar of Vital Statistics.
10. ↑ "New York State Census, 1925," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KSQP-67M : 8 November 2014), Prosper Milone, New York, A.D. 18, E.D. 18, New York, New York, United States; records extracted by Ancestry and images digitized by FamilySearch; citing p. 32, line 35, New York State Archives, Albany.
11. ↑ "New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2W5W-QTR : 20 March 2015), Anthony Milone in entry for John Milone, 22 Feb 1922; citing Death, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 2,027,982.