Booksigning in Crescent City on April 17

NEW ORLEANS, March 7, 2007 — Thomas Hunt and Martha Macheca Sheldon, coauthors of the biography "Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia," will appear at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans next month to discuss and sign copies of their book. 

"Deep Water" captures the life and times of the 19th Century New Orleans businessman and gang leader considered by many to be the "godfather" of the first Mafia organization to germinate in American soil. The book answers at last the many questions surrounding the 1890 assassination of Police Chief David Hennessy and the subsequent lynchings, in which Macheca lost his life. The book is published by iUniverse, Inc., of Lincoln, NE. Additional information is available through 1-800-AUTHORS. 

Mr. Hunt is an organized crime historian who resides in New Milford, CT, with his wife and their three chldren. Ms. Sheldon is a native of St. Louis, MO, a descendant of the Macheca Line, and an authority on her family history. 

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, April 17, between 5 and 7 p.m. The Garden District Book Shop is located in the historic Rink property at 2727 Prytania Street.

News Release: New Milford, CT

Gang Organizer Macheca

Betrayed by Allies, 

Murdered in 1891 

NEW MILFORD, CT, Feb. 15, 2007 — A biography co-authored by crime historian Thomas Hunt of New Milford places the birth of the American Mafia in 19th Century New Orleans and tracks the gradual rise and precipitous fall of the man many consider its first “godfather.” 

Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia challenges the legends of the mob’s earliest days and establishes the facts of the 1890 Hennessy assassination, the 1891 Crescent City lynchings and the underworld’s close ties with the city's political machines. Building upon more than a decade of research into archival records, published and unpublished histories and Macheca family traditions, Mr. Hunt and Macheca descendant Martha Macheca Sheldon expose political corruption from antebellum Louisiana through the bloody Reconstruction Era, illustrate the squalor of 19th Century immigrant communities and detail the various intrigues and underworld rackets of the period. They tackle historical misrepresentations of Joseph P. Macheca as a foreign-born Mafioso, proving he was a native Louisianan, a Confederate patriot and a street warrior for the conservative Democratic cause.

“Joseph P. Macheca was a major force in the underworld of his day,” Mr. Hunt explained. “But it is important to view his crimes in an appropriate context. Gilded Age New Orleans was very much a wild, frontier town. During our research, we often encountered situations in which no substantial difference could be found between the actions of respected community leaders and the actions of outlaws. On occasion, the motives and methods of professional law enforcers were indistinguishable from those of lawbreakers. 

"We believe Macheca, longing for acceptance from the local establishment, allowed political bosses to push him deeper and deeper into underworld conspiracies. When the bosses decided he had become more of a liability than an asset, they simply disposed of him.” 

Deep Water has been positively received by experts in Louisiana history and criminal research. Peter Dale Scott, crime historian and author of numerous works including Deep Politics and the Death of JFK, says, “[Deep Water] will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime.” Louisiana historian Julie Eshelman-Lee describes Deep Water as a “brilliant work” and a “wonderful contribution to Louisiana... history.” Crime researcher and author Rick Mattix says it “shows a marvelous objectivity.” 

Mr. Hunt publishes the American Mafia history website (www.onewal.com) and the MobNews current events blog (http://mob-news.blogspot.com/), while also editing the Organized Crime category of the Internet’s Open Directory Project (dmoz.org). He previously served as Managing Editor of the Putnam County (NY) Courier, the Bethel (CT) Beacon and the Pawling (NY) News-Chronicle; as Assistant Editor of the New Milford (CT) Times and Aviation Digest magazine; and as Publisher and Editor of the Danbury (CT) Weekly Tribune. He is a member of the Louisiana Historical Society, the New Milford CT Historical Society and the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime. A native of the Bronx, NY, he is a 15-year resident of New Milford, where he lives with his wife and their three children. 

Deep Water has been published by iUniverse, an affiliate of Barnes & Noble. It is available for sale through iUniverse.com and other major booksellers.

News Release: St. Louis

New biography explores 

American Mafia's birth

in New Orleans

St. Louis, Feb. 15, 2007 - A St. Louis woman’s lifelong obsession to discover the secret of her family history led her to the person many consider the first “godfather” of the American Mafia.

“I heard a lot about family history while growing up,” recalled Martha Macheca Sheldon. “When I learned there was a missing piece of the story, I was determined to find it. My father and other relatives wouldn’t talk about it. Over the years, I was able to pick up bits of information from various sources, until the skeleton was finally out of the closet.”

Ms. Sheldon traced family roots to19th Century New Orleans. In that time and place, her Macheca ancestors were generally well-to-do, law-abiding entrepreneurs and pioneers of the produce trade. However, Martha’s great-uncle Joseph P. Macheca happened to be the leading suspect in the 1890 Mafia assassination of New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy and one of the victims in the worst lynching in American history.

Confronted with generations-old lies and denials, Ms.Sheldon decided to set the historical record straight. More than a decade of her research has been channeled into a recently released biography she co-authored with crime historian Thomas Hunt of Connecticut. Deep Water: Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia dispels many of the myths of the mob’s earliest days and establishes the facts of the Hennessy assassination, the Crescent City lynchings and the underworld’s kinship with corrupt political machines of the period. Ms. Sheldon and Mr. Hunt stitch together the details of Macheca’s life and the betrayals that resulted in his death.

“This book... will force a reassessment of a famous event in the history of American organized crime,” explained Peter Dale Scott, PhD., a noted author and crime historian.

Ms. Sheldon, widow of artist Stephen B. Sheldon, is the daughter of Arthur Michel Macheca Jr. and Marie Lucks Macheca. She is descended from Joseph P. Macheca’s half-brother John, a principal owner of the New Orleans-Belize Royal Mail and Central American Steamship Company. She is a graduate of Villa Duchesne Sacred Heart and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washington University. Ms.Sheldon worked in interior design and, for a time in Los Angeles, CA, in the production of television commercials with her husband. She has served as a volunteer for SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, Malcolm Bliss Mental Health Center and the Barnes Jewish/Christian (BJC) Hospital. On the Auxiliary Board of Directors at BJC, she has served as a member of the Risk Management Board, as Patient Representative Director and as Public Relations Director.

Deep Water has been published by iUniverse, an affiliate of Barnes & Noble. It is available for sale through iUniverse.com and other major booksellers.