Editing Mike Merlo

{{Short description|American political and organized crime figure}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = Michele Merlo
| image       = 1921.MikeMerlo.jpg
| caption     = Merlo in a 1921 passport application
| birth_date  = {{birth-year|January 4, 1880}}
| birth_place = [[Sambuca di Sicilia|Sambuca]], Sicily
| death_date  = {{dda|November 8, 1924|January 4, 1880}}
| death_place = [[Chicago, Illinois]], United States
| other_names = Mike Merlo
| known_for   = Chicago labor leader whose death precipitated the city's infamous 1920s gangster war
| party       = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
}}

'''Michele''' "'''Mike'''" '''Merlo''' (January 4, 1880 &ndash; November 9, 1924) was a Chicago political figure and "fixer" associated in his later years with the [[Chicago Outfit|Torrio-Capone organization]]. As head of the [[Unione Siciliana]] fraternal group, Merlo wielded considerable influence both in Chicago's [[Cook County Democratic Party|Democratic Party]] politics and also within Chicago's criminal underworld during the early years of [[Prohibition]]. Although Merlo was able to maintain peace among the city's numerous [[rum-running|bootleg]]ging gangs, his death marked the beginning of Chicago's bootleg wars that plagued the city for the rest of the decade.

==Biography==

Born Michele Merlo to Calogero and Maria Merlo in [[Sambuca di Sicilia|Sambuca Zabut, Sicily]], at the age of nine Merlo immigrated with his family from [[Palermo]] to [[New Orleans]] and, then, in 1900, to [[Chicago]].<ref>Death Certificate for Michele Merlo, Cook County, State of Illinois, No. 27805</ref> In 1902, Merlo's father died of a [[stroke]] at the age of 52, leaving the 22-year-old Merlo and his sick mother to fend for themselves.<ref>Illinois Statewide Death Index, accessed 23 Sep 2008.</ref> Merlo later became involved in the Chicago chapter of Unione Siciliana, a national organization dedicated to assisting Sicilian immigrants in America. Although Merlo later transformed the Unione into a front for organized crime, he reportedly did have a genuine concern for the welfare of the Sicilian residents of [[Little Italy, Chicago|Chicago's Little Italy]].

With the passage of Prohibition and the rise of bootlegging in Chicago, Merlo used his position to mediate the frequent territorial disputes between the Chicago bootlegging gangs. These gangs included the predominantly Irish [[North Side Gang]], under boss [[Dion O'Banion]], the Sicilian [[Chicago's Sicilian Mafia#The Genna brothers|Genna Brothers]] gang and the South Side gang, then run by Torrio and Capone.<ref>[http://www.crimemagazine.com/part-ii-chicagos-unione-siciliana-1920-decade-slaughter Part II: Chicago's Unione Siciliana, 1920 - A Decade of Slaughter] by Allan May</ref> During the early years of Prohibition, Merlo was able to maintain an uneasy peace between these three gangs and the other criminal organizations.

Merlo died of [[cancer]] on November 9, 1924.<ref>"Michael Merlo, Leader of Chicago Italians, Dead," ''Chicago Tribune'', November 10, 1924.</ref>  He received one of the most spectacular funerals in Chicago mob history, with $100,000 in floral arrangements and a $5,000 life-size wax statue. Merlo's burial was attended by an estimated 10,000 mourners and curious (including Mayor [[William E. Dever]], State Attorney Robert E. Crowe, Chicago Police Chief Morgan A. Collins and the Cook County Board President and future Mayor, [[Anton J. Cermak]], who all served as pallbearers) as Merlo was buried at [[Saint Clement Catholic Church, Chicago|St Clement's Church]] five days later. Merlo's body was later reinterred at [[Mount Carmel Cemetery (Hillside)|Mount Carmel Cemetery]], in [[Hillside, Illinois|Hillside]], [[Illinois]], in a [[mausoleum]] bearing the name, "Michele Merlo."

Two days after Merlo's death, the Chicago gangs broke into open warfare. Torrio men [[John Scalise]] and [[Albert Anselmi]] arrived at O'Banion's Chicago flower shop on the pretense of picking up flowers for Merlo's funeral and murdered O'Banion.<ref name="sifakis">Sifakis, Carl. ''The Mafia Encyclopedia''. New York: Facts on File, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8160-5694-3}}</ref> The North Side gang then launched a series of bloody counterstrikes against the Gennas and the South Side gang. This gang war continued until the victory of the South Side Gang (now the [[Chicago Outfit]]) at the [[St Valentine's Day Massacre]], in 1929.

Merlo's son, [[John Merlo]] (1912&ndash;1992), became an [[alderman]] of Chicago's 44th Ward and served eight terms in both the [[Illinois House of Representatives]] and [[Illinois Senate]]. A Lakeview branch of the [[Chicago Public Library]] was renamed in John Merlo's honor.

== In popular culture ==
In the 1987 film ''[[The Untouchables (1987 film)|The Untouchables]],'' Mike Merlo was portrayed by actor Vince Viverito.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[http://www.crimemagazine.com/part-ii-chicagos-unione-siciliana-1920-decade-slaughter Part II: Chicago's Unione Siciliana, 1920 - A Decade of Slaughter] by Allan May
* {{cite web|accessdate=February 23, 2005
|url=http://www.americanmafia.com/Allan_May_3-8-99.html
|title=Late for the Opera - "Samoots" Amatuna
|work=Allan May}}
* {{cite web
 |accessdate  = February 23, 2005
 |url         = http://www.carpenoctem.tv/mafia/obanion.html
 |title       = Charles Dion "Deanie" O'Banion (1892-1924) Gang Leader and Capone Rival
 |work        = Seize the Night
 |url-status  = dead
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20050306013550/http://www.carpenoctem.tv/mafia/obanion.html
 |archivedate = March 6, 2005
}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | title=Chicago Mafia Boss <br> 1921-1924
|before=[[Anthony D'Andrea]] (c1914-1921) | after=Angelo Genna (1924-1925) | years=}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo, Mike}}
[[Category:1880 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:Illinois Democrats]]
[[Category:Illinois local politicians]]
[[Category: American political bosses from Illinois]]
[[Category:American gangsters of Italian descent]]
[[Category:People from Chicago]]
[[Category:Catholics from Illinois]]