While I was browsing through these hints, I noticed a link on the left side of the page that would allow me to narrow down the ancestry hints by photos. I have always wanted to find just photo hints for the people in my tree, and was happy to see there were over 300 possible photos for my ancestors. After clicking on the link, I found most of them were of gravestones that I myself had taken and posted on findagrave.com already. However; I did find some pictures I did not have, and also found an interesting connection of my family to the Chicago mob, "the outfit" - once run by Al Capone.
The Mob Connection:
The picture that brought me to this connection was under Louis T. Fratto. I attached the picture to my tree, and noticed that the picture looked like it came from a newspaper, and the caption for the photo was "Louis 'cockeyed louie' Fratto".
So how is Louis and Frank Fratto connected to my family? Louis and Frank Fratto are my 1/2 first cousins, 2x removed; the children of my half-great grand aunt, Bianca Faiella. I understand the connection better this way...My second great grandmother, Eugenia Farnetti, remarried after her first husband, Adolph DeNicola, died. Adolph is my second great grandfather; and their only son, Arnaldo, is my great grandfather. Eugenia's second husband was Luigi Faiella. Eugenia and Luigi had 10 children, Arnaldo's half siblings. They lived in Chicago for a time, but Eugenia, Luigi, and most of their children moved to Quincy, MA. One of these half siblings, Bianca Faiella married Thomas Fratto and remained in Chicago. So my second great grandmother, Eugenia Farneti, is the grandmother of Louis and Frank Fratto, who were involved with the Chicago Mob and later the Iowa Mob.
The Mob Connection:
The picture that brought me to this connection was under Louis T. Fratto. I attached the picture to my tree, and noticed that the picture looked like it came from a newspaper, and the caption for the photo was "Louis 'cockeyed louie' Fratto".
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Louis "Cockeyed Louie" Fratto
(originally from ancestry.com user lmuchisky family tree) |
The nickname peaked my interest, so I did a quick google search and found the following wikipedia entry on Louis. I also found that his brother, Frank "one ear" Fratto, worked alongside Louis. A blog post from Breakshot Blog details this family a bit more. Apparently, Louis became the mob boss of the Iowa Family in Des Moines, replacing Charles "Cherry nose" Gioe (Gioe was appointed by Capone). Louis may also have been involved in Gioe's death. They did not have enough evidence to convict Louis, so he was released. Another interesting tidbit about this family: Louis' son, Frankie Fratto Farrel, died in the plane crash with boxer Rocky Marciano in 1969.
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Frank "One Ear" Fratto (brother of Louis Fratto)
(originally from ancestry.com user lmuchisky family tree) |
So how is Louis and Frank Fratto connected to my family? Louis and Frank Fratto are my 1/2 first cousins, 2x removed; the children of my half-great grand aunt, Bianca Faiella. I understand the connection better this way...My second great grandmother, Eugenia Farnetti, remarried after her first husband, Adolph DeNicola, died. Adolph is my second great grandfather; and their only son, Arnaldo, is my great grandfather. Eugenia's second husband was Luigi Faiella. Eugenia and Luigi had 10 children, Arnaldo's half siblings. They lived in Chicago for a time, but Eugenia, Luigi, and most of their children moved to Quincy, MA. One of these half siblings, Bianca Faiella married Thomas Fratto and remained in Chicago. So my second great grandmother, Eugenia Farneti, is the grandmother of Louis and Frank Fratto, who were involved with the Chicago Mob and later the Iowa Mob.
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