It was on 12th January, 1894 that Sr. Ralph Capone was job in Angri, Italy. Ralph is considered to be among the nine siblings of Teresa and Gabriel Capone, as well as Chicago outfit’s future boss, Al Capone’s elder brother.
Migrating to the United States
Ralph, his mother along with Vincenzo, his brother had arrived at Ellis Island in the U.S., on 18th June, 1895. Already a home was established by his father near Brooklyn, New York’s Navy yards and worked for a barbershop nearby. The family had moved to Park Slope, Brooklyn in 1910.
On 24th September 1915, Ralph got married to Filomena Muscato and had a son on 17th April, 1917 called Ralph Gabriel Capone. But their marriage was short lived, as they got divorced in 1921.
Mafia life
While Ralph was busy establishing his family, Al, his brother was groomed by Johnny Torrio, a famous Brooklyn gangster. On the behest of Torrio, in 1918 Al and Ralph had left for Chicago anticipating the Prohibition.
Ralph took charge of bottling plants for the Chicago mafia family version known as the Outfit. At this time Torrio attempted to have non-alcoholic beverages to be monopolized, which were used for mixing drink. The Outfit in this endeavor made huge profits and also become the country’s 2nd biggest soft drink vendor at World Fair of 1933.
Al, his brother was in full control by 1930 of Chicago Outfit, including all illegal alcohol which flowed through Chicago. Chicago Crime Commission had declared Al to be the public’s number one enemy in April 1930 and Ralph at number three position. By the next year, Al was imprisoned for 11 years for tax evasion and the Outfit’s new boss was Frank Nitti. Ralph was in charge of Cotton Club, the Mafia family’s front with regards to syndicate gambling.
During his entire tenure with the Mafia family, Ralph never held any powerful position, but was regarded to be a loyal, trustworthy front man, who steered clear of the mafia’s dirty side, preferring to make money from the different legitimate business fronts. But for tax evasion, he had to serve three years from 1932.
On his release, he shifted base to Mercer, Wisconsin, and bought a hotel called ‘The Red Hotel’ along with an attached tavern ‘Billy’s Bar’ and a home. This place was a haven for the mafia members and to help them lie low from the law. In Hurley, Wisconsin, on 22nd November, 1974 he died due to natural cause.