Catalanotte immigrated from Sicily to Detroit in 1912 and participated and survived the Giannola and Vitale gang war.^[1][2] After surviving this war, Catalanotte later assumed the highest leadership position within the Detroit mafia.^[3] In addition to his mafia dealings, Catalanotte was also recorded to be a baker and a director of the Detroit Italian bakeries.^[4][5][5] Catalanotte died on February 14th, 1930 from pneumonia and his funeral took place in Detroit.^[6]

Salvatore (Samuel, Sam) Catalanotte was born in Alcamo, Trapani, Sicily on 15 February 1893.It is unclear whether Sam's full name was Salvatore or Samuel as he has Salvatore written on his immigration and Samuel crossed off. However, he was known as Sam "singing in the night" Catalanotte. According to his marriage records he was the son of Mariano and Angelina Catalanotte who lived in Italy.^[7] In his immigration records, he reports having black hair and blue eyes and he was 5 foot 3 inches, weighing 142 pounds.^[8] When he lived in Detroit, his residence was at 2942 Leland Street, Detroit, later in life, he resided at 303 Rivard Boulevard, Grosse Pointe Park.^[8][7][9]Sam's occupation on records was a baker.^[8][10] He married Frances (Francesca) Sabitina^[7]when he was 26 years old and she was only 17.^[7] They married on April 4th, 1922.^[7] According to his naturalization records in September 1927, Sam and Frances had two children, Mario and Angela, who were both born in Detroit. Mario was born on January 22, 1923 and Angela was born on April 26th 1925.^[10]Angela went on to become a typist and marry Leonard Nowark in 1949.^[11] There is little information to be found about Mario.

According to “It Happened in Michigan”, Sam Catalanotte also had a brother named Giuseppe (Joe) Catalanotte who went by Cockeyed Joe, who was a gangster who had been on trial for murder.^[12] Joe and Sam did business together and Joe lived for much longer after Sam. Sam had been a major gangster figure in Detroit and after his death, Joe attempted to regain Sam’s power.^[12]

Catalanotte spent his childhood in Alcamo, Sicily. During his teenage years, he saw major changes in Alcamo. Between 1901 and 1911, over 32,000 residents emigrated which decreased the population in Alcamo by 37.1%^[13]. At the same time, Alcamo was plagued by phylloxera -- a bug that infects and destroys grape crops -- and two banks went bankrupt, leaving many residents in poor financial standing^[14]. Catalanotte decided to join the emigration wave in hopes of better opportunities abroad. He first arrived in America on June 4th, 1912^[15] at the age of 19. He took the Ancona ship from the Palermo port, Sicily’s capital ~50 km from his hometown. He returned to Sicily within the year, then came back to America for good on April 13th, 1913^[16]. He settled in Detroit because of the large community of Italian immigrants.

In his years before taking a position of leadership within the Detroit mafia, Sam Catalanotte was involved in the Giannola brothers gang and survived the Giannola and Vitale gang war from 1918-1919.^[17] The Giannola gang, of which Sam Catalanotte was part of, participated in “rum running”, or illegal liquor business.^[18] After this gang war, Sam Catalanotte assumed a leadership position within the Detroit mafia and was generally viewed as a Detroit, Italian-American community leader.^[19] During this time, he was referenced to be the Detroit mafia “chief”.^[20] Thus, Catalanotte was considered less of a leader over one gang in Detroit, and rather the highest authority figure to all the gangs in Detroit. Chester LaMare also worked under Catalanotte in the Detroit mafia while Catalanotte was leader of the Detroit underworld.^[17] Catalanotte has also been credited with establishing a level of peace between the different gangs of Detroit. This peace lasted through his time as chief leader of the underworld and ended at his death.^[17]  Another recorded instance of crime committed by Catalanotte includes illegal carrying of concealed weapons, in addition illegal carrying of a concealed weapons permit. Catalanotte was initially convicted of carrying concealed weapons without a permit, and when he afterwards applied for and received a permit, he failed to disclose his prior conviction of illegally carrying concealed weapons, which resulted in yet another conviction.^[21]

Outside of his criminal career, Catalanotte was also a director of Detroit Italian bakeries, which the public assumed much of his wealth came from, and was also a member of the organization Cuello D’Alamo.^[17][22]

On February 14th, 1930, Sam Catalanotte passed away in his home in Grosse Pointe (303 Rivard Boulevard, Grosse Pointe Park) due to complications with pneumonia; a day away from his 36th birthday^[22]. His funeral was held on February 17th, 1930 in the Church of the Most Holy Family, located on Fort and Hastings streets in Detroit^[22]. Catalanotte’s body was taken from his home to the church in a procession more than a half a mile long^[22]. The funeral was conducted in a lavish manner and was very well attended by friends, family and members of the community^[17]. It is estimated to have cost around $20,000 ^[22][17]. Following the funeral, the body was taken in a procession to Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit where Catalanotte was buried. The procession following the funeral consisted of more than 200 cars^[22][17]. Five cars had floral offerings and flowers while almost all of the others had some type of funeral wreaths^[22]. Overall, there was about $5,000 dollars worth of flowers at Catalanotte’s funeral^[17].

The grandeur of Catalanotte’s funeral is indicative of the status he held in Detroit society. Catalanotte was a beloved community figure; according to friends and family, he supported many of his fellow Italians who were in need^[17]. Furthermore, he was a powerful yet charismatic leader and ultimate boss of the Detroit underworld^[17]. His death led to a vacancy in the leadership structure of the underworld sparking a power struggle between the predominant Mafia gangs in Detroit consisting mainly of the Eastside and Westside mobs^[9]. This ended the predominant peace that Catalanotte had maintained during his regime^[23].

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