Born in Terrasina Italy, Tony Gianolla arrived in the U.S settling with his family settling in Wyandotte Michigan just before the turn of the century. Tony, the second born and most charismatic of three Gianolla sons, was a natural leader. For the first decade of the 21st century, the Gianolla brothers were seemingly content operating with the realm of respectability surviving as grocer and fruit vendors near the families home on what is now Jefferson Avenue. The first known run in with authorities for the Gianolla brothers came when police confiscated $2,000 dollars worth of stolen olive oil from the basement of the Gianolla's store.
The October 1911 raid led the Gianolla brothers to suspect that an associate by the name of Sam Buendo had tipped the authorities to the stolen merchandise. Several weeks later the mutilated corpse of Buendo was found charred in an Ecorse field. This led to the establishment of the Gianolla's as a force within the rapidly developing Michigan Italian underworld community. Tony secured Wyandotte as a safe haven for his gand when he orchastrated an old world type fued which led to the retreat of the Adamo family from the Wyandotte rackets in 1913.
As the spring flowers bloomed, terrorists linked to Tony and Sam Gianolla shot, stabbed and bombed their rivals untill the Adamos sought refuge in the city of Detroit where they aligned themselves with the family of Pietro Mirabile. While it looked as though the removal of the Adamos from Wyandotte signaled victory for Tony Gianolla, he soon found that he was sadly mistaken as demonstrated by the near fatal attack aimed at him shortly after the acquittal of Vito Adamo on charges of killing Carlo Callego one of Tony's top aides. During this battle which led to the formation of special squad of detectives aimed at curbing the violent outbreaks with the Sicilian quarter, many casualties were incurred on both sides. The violence came to an end when the murder of detective Emmanuel Rogers led to an unprecedented crack down by the authorities.
Tony Gianolla was picked up and questioned in July of 1913 about the death of Detective Rogers but was eventually released after posting a $10,000 dollar bond. In an effort to demonstrate their determination at finding the killers of their co-hort, detectives rearrested and charged Gianolla with grand larceny before he could leave the station. Once again Gianolla posted the bail "in the amount of $2,000" and was this time allowed to proceed unmolested to his home in Wyandotte. Authorities believe he Vivenzo Renda and Dick Caprarotta were the killers of detective Rogers.
Tony would never stand trial for the notorious killing but it did help to further his influence within the Italian community as a man of great power and respect. With the passage of prohibition as the law of the land, Tony Gianolla became embroiled in a war for control of the lucrative liquor market in Detroit and other parts of Michigan. For nearly a year and a half, the Gianolla gang waged a fearsome battle with their former friends and business associates from Wyandotte the Vitales. In a fued which would live more than 100 men dead, gunmen for both sides looked for any and every oppurtunity to eliminate their rivals.
This battle would cost Tony Gianolla his life on January 3, 1919 when he and several bodyguards "including his adopted son Tony Alescio," went to pay their respects to the widow of Guiseppe Braziola who had been shot to death the day before in a domestic dispute. As Tony arrived at the Brazilola home, he was shot in the back 5 times by his adopted son. The elimination of Tony Gianolla hit his younger brother hard but like a trooper the younger Gianolla managed to pull himself together and mount the required retaliatory attack.
