122 years ago: Eleven men lynched

March 14, 1891
One day after a jury refused to convict the accused assassins of New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy, an angry mob assembles on Canal Street. Under the direction of political leaders, the mob marches to Orleans Parish Prison, where the Hennessy assassination defendants remain incarcerated. A carefully selected and well armed group enters the prison and murders eleven men, including Joseph P. Macheca. The victims are described as members of the New Orleans Mafia. However, recognized Mafia leader Charles Matranga and his chief lieutenant - both held within the prison - are spared. 

Lincoln movie omissions

Something you won't find in the new Lincoln movie: The significant roles played by Lincoln, the Civil War and Reconstruction in the development of the first American Mafia organization, based in New Orleans.

Read:

Deep Water

Joseph P. Macheca and the Birth of the American Mafia

144 years ago: Innocenti control the streets

144 years ago: Returning home from a meeting of Joseph Macheca's paramilitary Innocenti organization, a prominent member is shot to death by an unknown assailant. The Innocenti direct their anger at African American neighborhoods in New Orleans. They take over the streets around the Treme Market, pushing out police patrols. Federal officials later send two companies of soldiers to the area to restore order.

Innocenti raids begin

On this date in 1868...

Joseph P. Macheca, a native Louisianan engaged in importing and selling Central American produce, began (Oct. 24, 1868) leading a conservative, Democratic Party-aligned paramilitary group on violent anti-Republican marches through New Orleans.

The marches of the "Innocenti" organization were designed to suppress African American voter registration and election turnout for the then-liberal (often branded "radical") Republican Party. Repeated through several days, the marches led to bloody clashes in some of the Crescent City's African-American neighborhoods.

Macheca's role as director of the marches was screened somewhat by the Innocenti selection of Pascalis Labarre, a local official, as president of the organization. When later questioned, Labarre admitted knowing very little about the group's founding and purpose.

131 years ago: Escaped brigand captured in NOLA

131 yrs ago today: Two cousins named Hennessy - members of the New Orleans detective force - captured Giuseppe Esposito, alias Vincenzo Rebello. Esposito had escaped Italian authorities while headed to trial for homicide and other crimes. Late in the 1870s, he crossed the Atlantic and settled briefly in New York before moving on to New Orleans, where he became recognized leader of the Sicilian underworld. His July 5, 1881, apprehension and the legal maneuvers that followed it were international news.
Though the Hennessys became instantly famous for the incident, both of them were murdered within a decade of Esposito's capture.

140 years ago: End of Joseph Agnello

140 years ago today: New Orleans Mafia leader Joseph Agnello is shot to death during a gunfight at the Picayune Tier. Successor to the leadership of his brother Raffaele's underworld organization, Joseph Agnello was wounded in several attacks in 1870-72. He met his end after gunmen cornered him on the dock on April 20, 1872. Agnello tried to escape by jumping aboard the moored schooner Mischief but he was struck in the midsection by a large-caliber horse-pistol slug fired by Joseph Maressa (reportedly also known as Vincent Orsica). The slug passed through his body and ripped a gaping hole in his back.