"Soldier" Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara's Shadowy Brother

Carlo “Charlie” Barbara never chased the spotlight the way his younger brother Joe did — but make no mistake, he moved through the same shadows. Long before Apalachin put the Barbara name on front pages nationwide, Charlie was already carving out a place for himself in the earliest wave of Castellammarese mafiosi to land in America. His life traces the hidden architecture of a world still taking shape: old-country feuds reborn on New York streets, clan loyalties that spanned decades, and decisions that carried consequences far beyond the Lower East Side tenements where he first settled.

What follows is the story behind the brother most people never talk about — the one who stood beside Joe, bled with him, built with him, and survived long after the headlines moved on.

Carlo (Charlie) Barbara was born in Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily (Trapani Province) on July 5, 1897. He was the oldest of three sons born to Giuseppe and Angela (nee’ Galante) Barbara. His brothers were Antonio, and Giuseppe — a mafioso of some standing who would later gain infamy as one of the most important Mafia figures in the United States.

On March 14, 1914, the Barbara brothers sailed on the ship Canada, departing from the Port of Palermo, en route to America. They arrived at New York’s Ellis Island three weeks later, on April 7, 1914.

Upon arriving in New York City they was welcomed and aided by extended blood relatives and amici who had arrived in America several years earlier, helping the brothers get settled, find living quarters and employment.

Carlo (Charlie) Barbara

The Barbaras initially settled on Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. During those first years, Carlo was known to have lived in a tenement building on Spring Street in the Little Italy section, and in another apartment, at 183 Allen Street, several blocks away near the Bowery.

By 1918, he had moved up to the City of Syracuse and was now living at 656 Burnet Avenue. On August 24 of that year, he registered for the WWI draft.

It appears that during his first few decades in America, Carlo traveled back and forth between New York City and upstate on a semi-regular basis, maintaining residences in both places.

By the age of 23, Barbara had met and fallen in love with a young Sicilian girl also born in Castellammare del Golfo by the name of Caterina Spadaro. One year younger than him, Carlo and Caterina officially tied the knot in a Manhattan church on September 18, 1920.

The newlyweds started their life together by initially renting a small third floor apartment at 220 Eldridge Street, the same building where Caterina parents lived. But unfortunately, less than two years later tragedy struck. On March 10, 1922, Caterina reportedly died at home of pneumococcus meningitis. She was only 25 years old.

She was waked at the famed Provenzano Funeral Home in Little Italy, and buried in Calvary Cemetery in nearby Queens County.

Tale of the Tape

Carlo — by now, more commonly known as Charlie — reportedly stood 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, and a dark Mediterranean complexion.

During the late 1920s, he listed his job as that of a common laborer on a U.S. Census. By 1930, he stated he was working as a “checker” for a wholesale food company.

Charlie first applied for U.S. Citizenship around 1917-1918 in Onondaga County Supreme Court, in Upstate New York. But the complete process would take some years. He was finally granted U.S. Citizenship on January 7, 1924.

For the next few years, Barbara remained a widower. He finally started dating another young woman, several years his junior, named Lucia (Lucy) Cartiglia.

By 1928, Charlie was really to take the plunge once again and try his hand at marriage. On September 22nd of that year, he and Lucia were wed at a church in Lower Manhattan. Carlo was 31, Lucia was 28.

The newlyweds moved into a little apartment Barbara was renting at 22 Elizabeth Street — a block heavily populated by fellow Sicilian immigrants in the heart of Little Italy. Within months of their nuptials, Lucia became pregnant. In 1929, a daughter was born. They named her Caterina.

The growing Barbara family now needed more space, so they relocated several blocks away to 192 Forsyth Street on the Lower East Side.

"The Good Killers"

From the early 1920s through 1931, there is ample evidence that both brothers were already serving as "soldiers" within the overall Castellammarese faction of the Mafia.

And although Joe Barbara would acquire a reputation as being a top-enforcer and assassin for the “Family,” who performed untold murders at the behest of his superiors, it appears that his older brother Charlie was also knee-deep in the bloodshed. This was especially so during those early days in New York City as competing underworld factions fought for position and supremacy within the Big Apple and other lucrative racket territories.

Giuseppe Barbara Sr.

On August 31, 1921, Charlie was arrested for murder by Detective Sergeant Michael Fiaschetti, and two of his detectives, Repetti and Scrivari, of the so-called “Italian Squad” division of the New York City Police Department. Barbara was specifically charged with the gangland-style killing of a man named Antonio Curatola — on the night of July 3, 1919.

At the time of his arrest, Fiaschetti identified the 29-year-old Carlo Barbara as a Black Hand member. Barbara provided the police with a home address of 216 Elizabeth Street.

At his arraignment before Magistrate Joseph E. Corrigan in Essex Market Police Court, the suspected murderer was ordered held without bail in The Tombs for a further examination before the court on September 9th.

Side Note: Fiaschetti had been named the new commander of the Italian Squad after its founder and predecessor, the legendary NYC Police Lieutenant Giuseppe Petrosino was assassinated in Palermo, Sicily while on a ‘secret’ mission to try and uncover the names and identifies of mafiosi then living and residing in America. After his murder at the hands of the Mafia, his former assistant, Fiaschetti was installed as the squad’s new leader.

Charlie "Makes His Bones"

Police reported that Curatola was found shot to death on the sidewalk outside a storefront at 90 Chrystie Street, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood.

After a long investigation by Fiaschetti and members of his squad the evidence gathered was presented to a Manhattan Grand Jury which returned an indictment against Barbara and other members of their Castellammarese Clan for a years-long series of killings which the police later deemed were premeditated “contract” murders carried out in furtherance of the clan’s ultimate goals of settling old scores with rivals and achieving supremacy over the local underworld.

At the time, these killings were referred to by the police and newspapers as being committed by members of the “Black Hand” organization, which the authorities explained was an international band of criminals and killers.

Besides Carlo Barbara, during the time it was empaneled, the grand jury also indicted many of Barbara’s fellow clan members, including Vito Caradonna and Francesco Puma who were charged in connection with the April 14, 1914 killing of Vito Buccellato, who was found stabbed to death in his home at 203 Chrystie Street. Also indicted was Giuseppe (Joe Napoli) Alese, charged with the June 27, 1919 murder of Rosario (Saro) Briganti, whose corpse was found inside his home at 218 Chrystie Street.

Defense lawyers for Barbara successfully dragged the case out in the courts for over a year. But by mid-1922, the evidence presented was damning enough that Carlo ultimately decided to cop out. In a plea bargain deal worked out between Barbara’s lawyer and the prosecutor, the charge of first degree murder was dropped in return for Barbara agreeing to plead guilty to a lesser count.

On March 8, 1922, defendant Carlo Barbara stood before Judge Talley in Manhattan General Sessions Court and pled guilty to a reduced charge of first degree manslaughter which caused the death of Curatola. According to Barbara’s confession, Curatola was killed during a scuffle between the two men over his failure to return a $800 gold ring belonging to Barbara.

Judge Talley accepted the guilty plea and then sentenced Carlo to serve a prison term of between “10-years minimum to 20-years maximum” behind bars in Sing Sing prison.

A harsh sentence for sure. But Charlie’s “friends” were already working to remedy their "fratello’s" problem.

No sooner did the New York State Bureau of Prisons ship him upstate to start his prison term, Charlie’s brother Joe and their "compari" began “reaching out” to their political connections seeking help. It would take several years, but the "help" they needed ultimately came by way of the New York State Governor’s Office.

On December 16, 1925, a formal press release by New York State Governor Smith announced that he was granting clemency to four prisoners. Among those who received commutations was none other than convicted murderer Carlo Barbara.

Governor Smith named the other three prisoners receiving commutations as Giovanni Riccobono, Carl Ehlers and Domenico Ottaviano. Justifying his decision, the governor stated that he was basing these commutations on the recommendations he had received from several district attorneys and trial judges.

Regarding the Barbara case, when questioned as to why he was commuting his prison term, Governor Smith stated, “I believed the prisoner when he said he had only shot the man in self defense.”

Within days of his commutation and release from prison, Charlie was immediately driven back New York City where a big welcome home party was thrown in his honor by Joe and their clan.

Such was the influence of the Mafia…once upon a time in America.

The Hidden History

Unbeknownst to American law enforcement at the time, the so-called “Good Killers” and their adversaries were really two rival Sicilian Mafia factions fighting one another on American soil, much as they had back in their hometown of Trapani. Only now, since they’re migration to America’s shores, their longstanding battle continued in the so-called “New World.”

This particular conflict also represented the fledgling beginnings of the storied criminal clan that would form around men originating from the Trapani Province of Sicily — especially those mafiosi from the towns of Castellammare del Golfo, San Vito Lo Capo, Alcamo, Calatafimi and other neighboring towns and villages. Over a protracted period of years — starting from the late 1910s, through the early 1920s — dozens and dozens of murders took place in key cities and towns throughout the United States as these two rival Mafia clans fought it out to see which one of them would rein supreme in America.

One clan was formed by an alliance between the Magaddino, Milazzo, and Bonanno families. Their enemies, the powerful Buccellato Family, were a rival Mafia clan also headquartered in the town of Castellammare.

The Castellammarese War

As fate would have it, Charlie was released from prison just in time to participate in another underworld fireworks show that was about to take place on the streets of America as his brother Joe and their Castellammarese amici would take a stand and fight for their rightful place in The New World.

The “Castellammarese War” would become the stuff of legend, a major battle that would rock the entire Italian underworld all across the nation to its very core.

This legendary Mafia war for supremacy — waged between 1929 and 1931 — pitted rival Sicilian factions against one another and forced southern Italian criminal gangs from mainland Italy to chose up sides as to which faction to back and ally themselves with in the fight.

On one side of the conflict stood men allied to the notorious New York City boss Giuseppe (Joe the Boss) Masseria, a Sicilian-born mafioso who commanded thousands of followers and gunmen at his disposal including such legendary mobsters as Salvatore (Charlie Lucky) Lucania, Vito (Don Vitone) Genovese, Francesco (Frank Costello) Castiglia, Giuseppe (Joe Adonis) Doto and many others of note.

On the other side of the conflict was Salvatore (Don Turiddo) Maranzano, a shrewd Sicilian mafioso from the seaside town of Castellammare del Golfo who was the highly-respected leader over the powerful Castellammarese-based Clan based in the United States.

Maranzano’s loyal followers, most of whom also hailed from that little seaside town, included such formidable allies as Giuseppe (Joe) Bonanno, Stefano (The Undertaker) Magaddino, Giuseppe (Joe) Profaci, Gaspare Milazzo and Giuseppe (Joe the Barber) Barbara — to name but a few.

For his part, Joe Barbara is thought to have been a top gunman for this faction, and one who is believed to have killed many enemies on behalf of his superiors. No doubt Charlie was by his kid brother’s side during many of those macabre moments.

The rest is the stuff of legend. Arguably, this particular underworld conflict more than any other — fought over the course of several years — is how Italian-American “organized crime” first developed and how organized crime truly became organized.

The Sweetest Man in the World

Some thirty-three years after the Curatola slaying a 65-year-old man by the name of Antonio Martini — whose real name was Antonio Martinico — was arrested in San Francisco on an old murder warrant from New York.

Authorities said Martinico was a suspect in a gangland-slaying committed on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, back in 1919.

Antonio Martinico

At the time of his arrest, news reporters who interviewed his friends and neighbors in San Francisco were all shocked by the allegations. They spoke of Martini’s mild mannered and gentle way. Some local newspapers ran with that angle of the story, titling the article, “The ‘Sweetest Man in the World’ Held in ’19 Slaying.”

San Francisco Detectives said they took Martini into custody at the mattress factory where he had been employed for decades. The police said that when they confronted Martini the suspect had exhibited, “a stoic calm” and stated the 65-year-old Sicilian immigrant quickly admitted his real identity.”

Law enforcement authorities said a break in the old murder case had come unexpectedly, just two months earlier, when an agent of the U.S. Immigration Department working on a deportation case accidentally stumbled upon an Antonio Martinico living in San Francisco. That agent then informed New York authorities who had been looking for Martinico for over 33 years in connection with the Curatola slaying.

At the time of Curatola’s murder, New York City Police said Martinco was a partner with Carlo Barbara in a Downtown Manhattan restaurant. They said Barbara had since been arrested and convicted and jailed for the slaying, and that Martinico had also been indicted on September 21, 1921 for the murder, but had disappeared before he could be arrested and tried.

The Concordia Society

During the early immigration of Italians to the United States it was a common occurrence for them to form a type of social club referred to as “mutual aid societies” whose purpose it was to help newly arriving immigrants gain a foot hold in the new land.

Arguably, one of the most extensive and clannish of these old Italian mutual aid societies was the Concordia Society, created by early Sicilian immigrants from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, an organization created to aid immigrants from that particular section of western Sicily.

The very first chapter of the Concordia Society is believed to have been formed back in 1928 in upstate Endicott, New York. But almost simultaneously, another chapter was opened in Brooklyn.

The local chapters quickly became very successful. So much so, that one year later, the idea was adopted by the overall Castellammarese community and soon a statewide organization was established in 1929 to capitalize on their early successes.

This expanded idea began after a man named Vincenzo LaGrassa of Brooklyn told local representatives of other Castellammaresi societies about the need to form an overall state-wide association to represent all of their collective interests. LaGrassa’s idea was supported enthusiastically, and in 1929 a delegation from Brooklyn consisting of six men, including known mafiosi Carlo Barbara and Vincenzo Coppola, helped turn that idea into a reality.

The delegation traveled to various locations throughout New York State to hold meetings and encourage their fellow amici to join up. Soon, satellite lodges started forming in other locations and before long the Concordia Society had lodges located in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Binghamton and elsewhere, extending even beyond the New York State line.

Collectively, the Concordia Society became a very powerful group whose membership ranks were filled with some of the most powerful and influential politicians and members of the business world, as well as important members of the criminal Sicilian underworld.

A state-wide convention was also held each year at different hotels and resorts during the first week of September. For instance, one year it was held at the Lafayette Hotel, and, according to a press release about the event at the time reported, “A large attendance is expected from affiliated societies located in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Endicott.”

The Binghamton "Family"

By at least the mid-1930s, Charlie decided to move his family back upstate to join his brother Joe who had also relocated from Pittston, Pennsylvania where he had lived and operated for years, and where Joe had since already established a beachhead in the City of Binghamton, in Broome County.

Carlo and Lucia moved to 11 Grant Avenue, just a short distance away from where Joe and his family resided at 405 Loder Avenue. A few years later Charlie and Lucia moved several doors down to 4 Grant Avenue.

4 Grant Avenue, Endicott, NY

By this point in time, Joe had already established himself as a top figure within the Italian underworld and was quickly becoming the overall Mafia boss in that section of upstate New York.

For many years Joe had loyally served as a soldier and strong-arm enforcer for the Sicilian Mafia, not only within New York City, but he had also become a very important member of the Pittston, Pennsylvania-based Family of Santo Volpe, which was also known for exerting a strong influence in upstate New York.

Upon arriving in Binghamton, Joe quickly established and developed a business that would quickly become the major soft-drink and beer wholesale distributorship in that part of the Empire State. Barbara incorporated the firm as the Endicott Beverage Company, operating the business and dispatching delivery trucks from a warehouse and truckyard located at 7 Badger Avenue, in the town of Union.

Joe was the primary company stockholder and served as the president and treasurer. But he had brought in several key investors which included none other than Pittston Family boss Santo Volpe himself, as well as other Family hierarchy members, including Charles Bufalino and Angelo Polizzi. .

Joe also brought his brother into the mix. Carlo Barbara was initially listed on the company’s payroll as a clerk. But sometime later he was elevated and became the secretary of the corporation. Carlo reportedly also held stock in the firm.

Joe didn’t forget his "compare" Sam Galante either. Joe gave Sam a small block of stock as well.

WWII Ration Rackets

In 1946 — during WWII — Joseph Barbara was arrested on bootlegging-related charges. He was specifically accused of having diverted wholesale quantities of sugar and then re-selling those shipments to illegal bootleggers for use in their alcohol-stills.

Federal Agents connected with the OPA (Office of Price Administration), which was responsible for regulating food and products rationing during the war, had brought the charges.

Several years Later, in 1948, Barbara decided to completely rename the company the Canada Dry Bottling Company of Endicott, Inc., after he acquired a Canada Dry territory franchise for that section of upstate, New York.

Around this time, Charlie and his family had reportedly relocated again to a nearby home at 211 North Street.

A Highly-Respected "Original"

As previously mentioned, Carlo and his brothers immigrated to New York in 1914, making them among the first wave of mafiosi to ever plant the Mafia’s flag on American soil. And as such, the Barbara brothers can be considered among the “original” founding members of the Mafia in the United States.

Carlo was also the brother of Joe Barbara who became one of the most important Cosa Nostra bosses in the nation. As such, Charlie was also a very well-respected man among his mafiosi brethren.

And as an “original” member, it’s pretty safe to assume that Charlie Barbara also got to meet nearly everybody who was ever anybody within the annals of American organized crime — and Italy too, for that matter.

It is also highly likely — and almost a given — that Charlie was also in attendance at the now infamous barbecue held in his brother’s backyard that ill-fated day back on November 14, 1957 that was attended by over 62 Cosa Nostra bosses and top members from coast to coast. So it’s also a pretty safe bet to assume that Charlie got to know all of those attendees on a first name basis.

But despite all of these lifelong friendships and associations Charlie maintained with hundreds of mafiosi, Its also a safe bet to assume that among his closest friends and allies were his fellow Barbara “Family” members who lived and operated in the Binghamton and Endicott areas — the soldiers who directly worked for his brother.

These would include such longtime soldiers as Salvatore (Sam) Galante, Emmanuele (Manny) Zicari, Pasquale (Patsy) Turrigiano, and Bartolomeo (Bart) Guccia , and Ignazio (Sonny) Cannone — a young soldier who was Joe’s nephew through marriage.

Another key aide was Anthony F. (The Governor) Guarnieri — Joe Barbara’s righthand man who also served as the overall caporegime for Barbara’s upstate New York faction members.

There were dozens of other Upstate New York members and associates of Barbara’s borgata as well, but the above named men, were, arguably, always among Joe’s closest aides and soldiers.

Anthony F. Guarnieri

Salvatore Galante

Ignazio Cannone

Emanuel Zicari

Pasquale Turrigiano

Bartolomeo Guccia

Apalachin

For the next two decades, from the 1940s throughout most of the 1950s, the Barbara brothers were riding high. Joe Barbara had risen to become the boss of his very own Family — and by proxy — Charlie enjoyed a lofty position within the borgata as a fully “inducted soldier” and his brother’s close business partner and confidant as well.

But all of that would change — for both brothers — in the aftermath of the ill-fated Apalachin Convention as newspaper men brought Joe Barbara a tremendous amount of adverse publicity and law enforcement agencies all across the country ramped up their efforts to crack down on the dreaded Mafia — with Giuseppe Barbara Sr. straight within their cross hairs.

Despite all of his life’s accomplishments, which, admittedly, had been plenty, for many years Joe Barbara had suffered from a serious heart condition that by the mid-late 1950s had weakened him considerably.

Subsequently, Joe Barbara decided it would be wise to try and lower his public profile by retreating more into the shadows the best he could. His health had taken a serous turn for the worse. Over the last few years, he was now really starting to feel the ill-effects of all the added pressure generated by the police and the media.

Joe Barbara, shortly before his death at the age of 53.

So one of the first things he did toward that goal was to divest himself of the beverage company. He reportedly sold the Canada Dry Bottling Company franchise for a whopping $250,000 — considered a massive amount of money in the 1950s.

Next, he put his sprawling estate home and 58-acre property for sale on the market. Barbara quickly found a buyer willing to pay a hefty $130,000. The final sale was completed by allowing the new owners to put a $50,000 down payment, and then carry a mortgage for the other $80,000 balance (which Joe Barbara generously held the note on).

But the end result was that none of what Joe did would matter. His failing health just wouldn’t allow it.

Giuseppe Mario (Joe the Barber) Barbara Sr. finally succumbed to a massive heart attack on June 17, 1959. Joe died a very young man. He was a mere 53 years old.

Joe Barbara’s casket in carried into the Barbara home for his wake.

Understandably, Joe Barbara’s precious family — his devoted wife and three loving children — were each shaken to their very core.

For that matter, so was Charlie, who was so grief stricken by his kid brother’s death that he had to be escorted by his daughter and the funeral director from the church ceremony and grave site.

Life would never be the same again, for any of them.

A grieving Charlie is escorted by his daughter and funeral director after attending the prayer service for his kid brother.

Mafia boss Giuseppe Barbara’s graveside service

By extension, Joe’s other Family — the Giuseppe Barbara borgata — was also reeling from their boss’ passing.

But, be that as it may, Cosa Nostra typically makes provisions for this sort of thing. Long before Barbara’s passing, it had been agreed upon that his longtime underboss and confidante Rosario (Russ) Bufalino would assume full command of the borgata. Although the membership mourned, Family operations hardly skipped a beat.

Charlie's Later Years

In the aftermath of his brother’s death, Charlie maintained his status as a Cosa Nostra "soldato" in good standing. But he would never again enjoy the lofty status as the brother of one of the nation’s — indeed, one of the world’s — leading Mafia bosses.

With the Barbara family’s estate now sold and their other properties and varied business interests all having been divested, Joe’s wife and children moved forward in a new direction the best they could. Charlie and his family did the same.

Joe Barbara Jr. (Charlie’s nephew) married a girl whose father was a top figure in the Joseph Zerilli Family of Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently, Joe Jr. relocated to Detroit and was later absorbed into that borgata as a soldier.

Over the next few years, Charlie went into the dress-contracting firms with several fellow mafiosi in New York City. Charlie became a partner in at least two separate garment factories, one of which he was affiliated with Leonardo (Big Leo) Carlino , another respected old-time mafioso from Brooklyn.

Charlie continued to live a quiet life, much as he always had, in the shadows. Yet, as the longtime mafioso that he was, Charlie remained a highly respected individual.

And if his status had ever been in question, that fact became very obvious on the afternoon of July 7, 1962, in San Mateo, California.

That was the day FBI agents observed Charlie and his wife as they traveled west to attend a wedding of a young couple who were related to several California-based members of the Lanza Crime Family.

After the church nuptials concluded, FBI agents watched as San Francisco boss James (Jimmy the Hat) Lanza climbed into a Cadillac automobile with Carlo Barbara behind the wheel. The two men, along with their wives, then drove to Lanza’s residence at 19 Wildwood Drive, San Mateo.

Following close behind was a black Mercury occupied by a longtime Lanza Family capo named Angelo Marino and his wife. Both automobiles were later observed parked for hours in the driveway of Lanza’s house.

In their internal reports FBI agents noted that by this point in time — 1962 — Carlo Barbara was once again residing in New York City. His home address was reported as 7711 13th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

The FBI report also mentioned that he currently owned and operated a Brooklyn-based garment firm named Ellen J. Dress Company. He also operated a second dress-contracting factory that did work for Miss Smart Frocks, Inc., a well known Manhattan-based garment company that had the well-deserved reputation of being a mobbed-up dress jobber. Leonardo Carlino was listed in the firm’s incorporation papers as an officer of Miss Smart Frocks, Inc.

Short Life Spans

On review, it seems that both Barbara brothers were not long for this world. Less than seven years after his brother passed, it would be Charlie’s turn at the gate.

Carlo (Charlie) Barbara passed away at Broome County in May 1966. He had outlived Joe by sixteen years. Charlie made it to the ripe old age of 69.

There was no official documentation available regarding their brother Antonino. After initially coming to the U.S. with his brothers, Antonino Barbara decided to return to their family’s ancestral homeland of Castellammare del Golfo, choosing instead to live out the rest of his days in sunny Sicily.

Until next time…”The Other Guy”

“Soldier” Carlo Barbara: Joe Barbara’s Shadowy Brother

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