Antonino Saltaformaggio (1873 - 1903)

Born 26 Nov 1873 in Corleone, Palermo, Sicilia, Italia

Ancestors

Husband of Lucia Terranova — married 3 Feb 1894 (to about 1903) in Pointe-a-la-Hache, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, United States

Died 7 Apr 1903 at age 29 in White Castle, Iberville, Louisiana, United States

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Biography

Antonino Saltaformaggio is born 26 November 1873 in Corleone and baptized the next day. He is the son of Serafino Saltaformaggio and Caterina lo Jacono. His godparents are Domenico Moscato and Francesca Paola, his unmarried daughter.^[1]

Antonino is the first husband of Lucia Terranova, a sister of the Morello-Terranova brothers.^[2] A family member, posting to an Ancestry.com message board in 2001, reports the marriage occurred in Pointe-a-la-Hache, in Plaquemines Parish, on 3 February 1894, in St. Thomas the Apostle Church.^[3]

According to Critchley, the "cousin" who gets members of the Morello-Terranova family work in sugar cane cultivation in Louisiana in the spring of 1894 is likely Antonio, who works as a labor agent.^[4][5]

The same family member's post on Ancestry tells us that Lucia and Antonio have one child, Serafino, who is also known as "Joe Fino."^[3]

Antonio Saltaformaggio is said by Critchley to be the brother of Teresa, who married Santo Calamia^[4]. According to Teresa and Santo's 1901 marriage, Teresa is the daughter of Serafino Saltaformaggio and Catherine Loracano.^[6] Other records confirm Catherine's surname is actually "Loiacono."

The Morello-Terranova family leave Louisiana about a year later, and go to Bryan, Texas, to farm cotton. After a year or two in Texas, the family returns to New York City.

On 11 June 1902, Antonio's brother-in-law, Joseph Calamia, leads a gang that leaves one of the Luciano brothers and one of Calamia's associates dead on the scene. Calamia and another man are injured, the other man mortally so. Calamia's left hand is injured by two bullets. He is arrested in connection with the two deaths, indicted and tried, but ultimately acquitted for lack of evidence. While he is in jail in New Orleans, Antonio is a frequent visitor.^[5]

Death of Antonio

Antonino is found knifed and strangled on 7 April 1903 in a plantation canal near White Castle, Louisiana.^[7] His killing may be retributive, directed at his brother-in-law, Joseph Calamia, for his part in the killing of Salvatore Luciano.^[8] Read about these events here.

At the time of his death, Antonino is living in Donaldsonville, Louisiana, with his wife and young son. His mother, three sisters, and a brother are living in New Orleans.^[9]

Lucia remarries in December 1903 in Manhattan.^[10]

Antonino has two uncles on his mother's side who are known to be active in the Fratuzzi in Corleone in 1916.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism of Antoninum Saltaformaggio, 27 November 1873, "Italia, Palermo, Diocesi di Monreale, Registri Parrocchiali, 1531-1998," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-DYMQ-12J?cc=2046915&wc=MG37-K6D%3A351041801%2C351041802%2C351142201 : 20 May 2014), Corleone > San Martino > Battesimi 1872-1877 > image 174 of 419; Archivio di Arcidiocesi di Palermo (Palermo ArchDiocese Archives, Palermo).
2. ↑ Mike Dash. The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia. Accessed https://books.google.com/books?id=zKtZNLbcpGEC&pg=PT381&lpg=PT381&dq=antonio+saltaformaggio+killed&source=bl&ots=-S_YAHDol-&sig=1PD3IZ_0NyGTgxYMbKrkzrhCv-M&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA-YW-qLLOAhXj5oMKHSyPAhcQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=antonio%20saltaformaggio%20killed&f=false on 8 August 2016. Dash cites private information from the Saltaformaggio family.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Published 11 August 2001. https://www.ancestry.com/boards/thread.aspx?mv=flat&m=63&p=surnames.terranova Accessed 18 January 2019.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Critchley, David. The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, 1891-1931. Routledge: New York, 2009.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Luciano lured to a mafia murder. (1903, August 10). Times Picayune (New Orleans, LA). P. 1.
6. ↑ "Louisiana, Parish Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJH-WDNP : 12 March 2018), Sante Calamia and Teresina Saltaformaggio, 30 Jan 1901; citing Orleans, Louisiana, United States, various parish courthouses, Louisiana; FHL microfilm 911,492.
7. ↑ Critchley, David. The Origin of Organized Crime in America: The New York City Mafia, p. 57. Footnote 145 cites the Times-Picayune of 7 May 1903.
8. ↑ Dexterbabin. “Bumped Off On The Bayou: The Macaroni Wars. Published 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2019 from https://louisianamafia.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/bumped-off-on-the-bayou-the-macaroni-wars/
9. ↑ The Murdered Italian Found at Whitecastle. (1903, May 7). Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA).
10. ↑ "New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:243W-FVD : accessed 16 February 2016), Salemi Vincenzo and Lucia Terranova, 27 Dec 1903; citing Marriage, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States, New York City Municipal Archives, New York; FHL microfilm 1,570,991.