This is a truly interesting guy. Ran little italy with an iron fist at the turn of the century but when he got arrested in 1910 for counterfeiting he went to jail for 10 years and when he returned had little to no power and died that way. I often wonder how someone so feared and respected could lose that power hold after only serving 10 years. This is a guy that is rumored to of killed over 60 people.

Just an interesting guy that isn't talked about a lot.

Bugs Moran was that type of guy as well. Had a lot of power, but lost nearly all of it when he went inside. Ciro Terranova had a lot of power at one point, but sort of had to take a back seat with the rise of Lucky Luciano and his friends.

Massimo Fanucci in The Godfather II is based on him.

http://godfather.wikia.com/wiki/Massimo_Fanucci

Never heard of this guy. I'll have to do a little more background search on him. But from what you said he does sound pretty interesting.

Mob opportunities and competiton were really heating up when Lupo went away. By the time he got out, mob life had fast-forwarded. Newer, stronger, more modern leaders (like Joe Masseria) were in charge.

Ignazio Saietta, "Lupo the Wolf", a Corleonesi who immigrated to the Big Apple to avoid "the heat" from a murder he committed at a young age. Upon arriving, he and Giuseppe Morello ran what became to be known as the "First Family", the Morello Family, going the traditional route of the Black Hand, until the idea of counterfeiting and the prosperity it could bring tempted Lupo and unfortunately it also caught the attention of the US Secret Service, which led to his incarceration and loss of power. Upon his release, Prohibition was making any/everyone MONEY and the powers of the underworld decided that Lupo should just settle for a small time lottery gig, which wasn't nearly enough to keep this man of ambition happy which led to his starting a lottery which ended up putting him right back in the can and cost him his standing in the underworld upon his release. The new Crime Syndicate was going in a different direction, expanding operations and businesses to include those of non-Italian decent. Check out the book by Dash, "The First Family", informative about Saietta, Morello and those of that era.
As for Bugs Moran, why would you even bring that potato eater up in the same section as men like "Lupo" & Ciro Terranova???
Born and raised in the Windy City, that NorthSide dunsky was good for only one thing and that was as a triggerman for O'Bannion and Hymie Weiss, who's death left him rudderless, that is until he got pinched trying to crack a safe in a last ditch effort to make it, since most of the Northsiders were dead or allied with the Capone Outfit. Bugs Moran, forgetaboutit??!

Ignazio Saietta seems to be one of those mobsters that could also be considered a serial killer. He was a suspect in a ridiculous number of murders. He's one of those guys that even in his mug shot looks creepy, like Mad Sam DeStefano.

I keep meaning to pick up "The First Family" (title?) the book about the Morello crime family of early 20th century New York. Lupo the Wolf, Peter the Clutch Hand and The Artichoke King Terranova are some fascinating mob figures, and the early mafia/camorra war in New York is very interesting. Decades before Joe Valachi broke silence there was Ralph Daniello spilling the beans, and after this so-called war, the Napolitan factions in New York came under sway of the National Syndicate in the melting pot of early America.

Am I wrong in saying the Morello Family was the earliest incarnation of what would come to be known as the Genovese Family?

Not at all. This is common knowledge.

Ah. Thanks Sonny. I did figure as much, but I was concerned it may have been a somewhat oversimplified notion. But as a lot of the founding fathers were working under guys like Morello and Masseria in those days, I guess its not an overextension to say that the Genovese grew out of the Morello's.

I guess they had to take a back seat or get whacked.

Do you mean the Morello's? I dont know if they actually "sat back" as such, just as Turnbull said the mainm players went away for so long that by the tine they came back, thngs had moved far beyond them and new guys had come up.

Although apparantly The Clutch Hand had a go at taking on Masseria, but following the murder of a chief liutenant made his peace and served beneath. So I guess your kinda right looking at it like that.

Still, Guiseppe Morello in particular strikes me as pragmatic and vicious enough to have made the decision less out of fear then a question of economics.