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Writer's pictureWilton Hudgens

Macaroni, Guns &...Self Defense?

Updated: Apr 11, 2020

By Wilton Hudgens

Saturday, 26 October 2019


(Dedicated to my dear friend, Patricia Viviano, from whom I first heard of this tale...)


Many Sicilians have come to America for various reasons over the years and met many different fates. Some became notorious and others respected citizens. A deeply ingrained sense of pride and self preservation fueled the fight inside some of these immigrants; there had been numerous rebellions and uprisings in Sicilia for decades dating, at least, back to the time of the Norman Conquest (Gayford 2016). The women and men both were capable of unequaled rage and fury when cornered or threatened. St. Louis, Missouri played home for a number of these new arrivals. One such group was the Viviano family.


"Big" Petro Viviano
"Pietro Viviano Slain; Kinsman Kills Slayer." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sunday, 18 Apr. 1915, p.31. Newspapers.com.

"Big" Petro Viviano (right) was a son of Francesco Paolo Viviano and Ninfa Grazia Gusmano born 20 Nov 1877 in San Cipirello, Palermo, Sicilia. He was the Vice President of the Vito Viviano & Bros. Macaroni Manufacturing Co. when he was shot and killed by Salvatore "Sam" Lupo on 17 Apr 1915 at 09:15am. The revolver shot from Sam Lupo seemed to have pierced Big Petro's heart and spinal cord according to the Deputy Coroner who ruled the death a homicide. The place of death was 1133 North 7th Street which was also the home of Sam Lupo. The very same Sam Lupo that killed Big Petro Viviano would also be dead at the City Hospital later that day by 06:40pm (also ruled a homicide by the same Deputy Coroner) after having been shot by another Petro Viviano known as "Little" Petro. "How did this nasty business come to pass?" you may wonder...a little background information may be helpful when considering the subjects of this scribbling in the digital world.


Salvatore "Sam" Lupo
"Pietro Viviano Slain; Kinsman Kills Slayer." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sunday, 18 Apr. 1915, p.31. Newspapers.com.

Salvatore Lupo was born 21 Aug 1869 in Terrasini, Palermo, Sicilia to Petro Lupo and Vincenza Bommarito. He was married to Concetta Bommarito 17 Nov 1896 in (Sicciara) Balestrate, Palermo, Sicilia; Concetta would die young of Chronic Bronchitis at her home at 1133 North 7th Street 29 Nov 1911. Sam Lupo ran a bake shop which is referenced in his death certificate and by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, 18 Apr 1915 on p.31 in one of the many articles describing the two murders. Sam and Concetta had a daughter named Rosalia who would wind up employed as a maid or housekeeper for Big Petro Viviano.


The same St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper article mentions the 1909 kidnappings of children of both Petro Vivianos that were blamed on the notorious Black Hand. Sam Lupo was made out by many to be the head of said gang known as the Black Hand although such information was not allowed to be included court proceedings. What is very interesting here is the fact that Sam Lupo would be so denounced as an extortionist and participator in the kidnappings of the Viviano children in court proceedings, while no one seemed to mention that the noted head of the Black Hand at the time in St. Louis was none other than a Viviano...Gaetano "Tanu" "Big Tom" "The Falcon" Viviano to be exact. The St. Louis Dispatch-Post also referenced the partial destruction of the Viviano Bros. Macaroni Mfg. Co. in an article speaking of the deportation of the ominous Big Tom reputed to be a leader of the Black Hand in St. Louis.

"U. S. to Deport Viviano, Alleged Blackhand Man." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Tuesday, 26 Mar. 1912, p.9. Newspapers.com.


The aforementioned Big Tom Viviano was feared by almost everyone in St. Louis. He was referenced in Frank P. Viviano's book, "Lu Sangu Lava Lu Sangu (Blood Washes Blood)" as what sounded like a very harsh man. Big Tom was a child of Francesco Paolo "Lu Monacu" Viviano who was assassinated on a dark road near Terrasini in 1876. It was Lu Moancu's nephew, Giovanni, that left Terrasini and moved to San Cipirello, Palermo, Sicilia and begat Little Petro Viviano. The family had connections to Cinisi and San Cipirello which are both known mafia strongholds.Terrasini Newspapers in 1912 told of Big Tom working in Africa and Costa Rica before coming to St. Louis and then being arrested and deported back to Sicilia as a vicious criminal. This same Big Tom Viviano was a cousin of the Viviano brothers that owned the Macaroni Manufacturing Co.


The Viviano Bros. (Vito, Gaetano, Salvatore and Petro) had come to the USA and built an empire in a short amount of time with their pasta manufacturing company. It is said that the brothers saw a spaghetti machine at the 1904 World's Fair which they purchased and started their business with. According to the St. Louis Star and Times (4 Nov 1915, p.1), the Viviano brothers "incurred the jealousy and hostility of others." They even helped other family members like Giovanni Viviano (nephew of Little Petro and grandson of Giovanni Viviano and Rosalia Calabrese) start businesses of their own; Giovanni was told that, if he bought one truck load of pasta from the Viviano Bros. Co., he would receive another truck load for free. By this generous business deal, Giovanni was able to open a store on the Hill in St. Louis which remains open to this day. In this writer's opinion, if someone is financially sound enough to hire a live-in housekeeper, they must be doing fairly well for themselves.


What was never mentioned or know of by many people for years was the true motivation for the trouble between Sam Lupo and Big Petro Viviano: Sam Lupo's daughter, Rosalia, had become pregnant by Big Petro. In the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Rosalia stated that she had left the Lupo home four month's before the shooting. She cited the arrival, a year or so before, of her new stepmother and her father's changing attitude toward his daughter. A friend of Rosalia's had introduced her to the Viviano family with whom she would live until right before 17 Apr 1915. Rosalia had gone to stay at the home of relatives the night before the shootings occurred. "She declared she would not return to her father's home" and "blamed her stepmother for her trouble," as per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 18 Apr 1915, p.31.


1st Jan 1916, Rosalia Lupo gave birth to a girl that was named Rosaria Lucia Viviano. The baby girl was adopted and raised by Big Petro's widow Giuseppa "Josephine" (Grecco) Viviano as her own child. Rosaria Lucia grew up under the assumption that her birth mother was Josephine (Grecco) Viviano. The child's biolgical mother, Rosalia Lupo, married Niccolo "Nick" Galati and eventually died young due to chronic heart problems 12 Aug 1941.


"Viviano Cheered When Acquitted of Lupo Murder." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sunday, 6 Nov. 1915, p.3. Newspapers.com.

Little Petro was put on trial for the murder of Salvatore Lupo. His defense attorneys were John S. Leahy and Matt Holland. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Little Petro Viviano admits "that in Sicily, where the Viviano family came from, it was considered a sacred duty to avenge a kinsman's death." This indicated that Little Petro understood that Big Petro was dead when Sam Lupo was shot through the abdomen. There was also testimony from Isadore Maniaci that he saw and heard Little Petro run up to Lupo who was in police custody and shout, "You have killed my brother-in-law!"; Maniaci also heard Lupo shout back that he'd kill Little Petro if he had the chance as well. Even if Lupo made such a threat, the fact remains that he was already in police custody. How could he possibly claim self defense during his trial for the murder of Lupo? How could he also claim that he was protecting his employer? The prosecution, during Little Petro's trial, made a point that Lupo was in police custody when he was shot. That and Little Petro's own admission of vengeance made the defense's argument for self-defense quite obviously ridiculous. However, Little Petro Vivano was acquitted by the jury who (not surprisingly) refused to discuss the verdict. One has to wonder at the legitimacy of any investigations or court proceedings regarding the murder of Lupo. Apparently, the Vivianos had enough money to make murder go away.








Sources:

Gayford, Martin. "Norman Sicily was a multicultural paradise-but it didn't last long." The Spectator, 9 Apr. 2016. Spectator.com.uk. https://www.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/norman-sicily-was-a-multicultural-paradise-but-it-didnt-last-long/.


Death Certificate for Peter Viviano. Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1968. https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1915/1915_00014766.PDF.


Death Certificate for Salvatore Lupo. Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1968. https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1915/1915_00014767.PDF.


Death Certificate for Quingetta Lupo. Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1968. https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1911/1911_00042830.PDF.


Death Certificate for Rosa Galati. Missouri Death Certificates, 1910 - 1968. https://www.sos.mo.gov/images/archives/deathcerts/1941/1941_00026833.PDF.


"U. S. to Deport Viviano, Alleged Blackhand Man." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Tuesday, 26 Mar. 1912, p.9. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/138928710.


"Pietro Viviano Slain; Kinsman Kills Slayer." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sunday, 18 Apr. 1915, p.31. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/138461447.


"Viviano Cheered When Acquitted of Lupo Murder." St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri), Sunday, 6 Nov. 1915, p.3. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/138984762.


"Viviano Kidnapping in 1909 Is Factor in Slayer's Defense." The St. Louis Star and Times (St. Louis, Missouri), Thursday, 4 Nov. 1915, p.1. Newspapers.com. https://www.newspapers.com/image/204857939.

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Fascinating story!

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