I arrived in Chicago last night via Amtrak. Let me summarize the ride by saying this, it was boring, long, and interesting combined into one. I might consider taking the train to Chicago another time but who knows. Day two started with me getting up around 6am. I started the day doing the typical morning cigar ritual. I headed off into the great wonders of cemeteries Chicago has to offer starting with the infamous Mt. Carmel in Hillside, Illinois.

During todays hunt I managed to find five gravesites out of the 17 I have locations for. Before starting the days hunt. I went to the cemetery office and put the self-help kiosk thing to good use. I guess a few years ago the Catholic cemeteries which  is managed by the Archdiocese of Chicago implemented the kiosks so people such as yours truly could be better served. So after printing out the locations I needed with section maps printed on the piece of paper in most cases. I drove across the street to Mt. Carmel.

So getting started with the five gravesites I found. The first one I found was of Patrick “Paddy The Bear” Ryan he died on June 17th of 1920.  He was one of the founding members of the Irish Valley Gang which had a territory on Chicago’s Westside. Next on the list was Vito Bascone. He died on Feb 24th of 1926. He was a member of the Genna gang who was assassinated. Next was Angelo Spano he was the bodyguard to gangster Joe Aiello he died on September 14th 1930. The last two mafioso members I found were Pasquale Tardi who was the “42” gang leader and John Rito who was a Northside bootlegger.

Finally I plan to do much more grave hunting. It’s supposed to rain over the next few days. So the people I find during this trip might be limited. But I’ve been known to amaze my self sometimes. Please stay tuned to future updates this week.