Angelo Bronte (1844-1899) was an Italian-American businessman and crime lord who dominated the New Orleans underworld from the 1880s to 1890s as the head of the Bronte crime family. He was a widely respected public figure in New Orleans high society, as he was initially believed to have been a legitimate businessman and philanthropist; however, he was secretly a powerful Mafia boss who controlled the New Orleans political establishment and police department. In 1899, he went to war with Dutch van der Linde and his outlaw gang after they destroyed his business partners, the Braithwaite family, and he was ultimately kidnapped from his mansion and fed to the alligators in the bayou. Despite his death, his actions paved the way for the Marcano crime family to rise in New Orleans almost one hundred years later.
Biography[]
Angelo Bronte was born in Catania, Sicily, Italy in 1844; the surname Bronte derives from the comune of the same name within the Catania metropolitan area. He emigrated to the United States to escape the widespread poverty and violence of the Brigantaggio period in southern Italy, and he settled in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he joined the city's growing Italian immigrant community. Bronte became involved with the American Mafia, elevating himself to being a widely-respected businessman and public figure in New Orleans high society. Bronte forged connections with Mayor Henri Lemieux, the Democratic political establishment of Louisiana, the business elite, the New Orleans Police Department, and criminal organizations both within and outside of New Orleans (including the Braithwaite family). He was publicly known as a supporter of local constables and law enforcement and a patron of local schools, the infirm, and the elderly, but he privately engaged in smuggling, racketeering, and other crimes, and he had officer Henry Jenkins murdered in an ambush when Jenkins attempted to investigate Bronte's criminal enterprises.
Bronte and Dutch[]
Bronte in his robe, 1899
In 1899, Bronte became rivals with Dutch van der Linde and his outlaw gang after they eliminated his business partners, the Braithwaite family, amid the Gray-Braithwaite feud in Scarlett Meadows. Catherine Braithwaite had sold gang member John Marston's son Jack Marston to Bronte as a hostage, leading to Van der Linde and his gang coming to New Orleans with the goal of rescuing Jack and learning more about Bronte. Thanks to the investigation of Arthur Morgan, Dutch tracked down Bronte to a mansion on Flavian Street, where Dutch, Morgan, and John Marston confronted Bronte. After a brief argument and exchange of insults, Bronte took an apparent liking to Dutch, whom he admired for his perceived arrogance and capacity for lying. Bronte agreed to free Jack if Marston and Morgan would eliminate a gang of gang robbers who had refused to pay protection to him, and, after the men returned from their task, Bronte released young Jack. He then invited Dutch and his gang to attend a garden party at the mayor's house, and Dutch - hoping to make local connections and scope out heist targets - accepted the invitation and showed up to the ball with Morgan, Hosea Matthews, and Bill Williamson. There, Bronte pointed out notables such as Mayor Lemieux, the Cuban colonel Alberto Fussar, the American Civil War hero Hobart Crawley, and the newspaper editor Hector Fellowes. He later recommended that the gang rob the Victory Street Trolley Station, promising them that it was loaded with cash. However, this was a sly move to have Dutch and his gang walk into a trap, as the station never held much money, and Bronte could send in his NOPD allies to deal with them. The gang narrowly survived the trap, and Dutch - realizing that Bronte had betrayed him - set about avenging this setback with the help of the African-American boatman Thomas Coleman.
Death[]
Bronte's death
Thomas rowed Dutch, Marston, Morgan, Williamson, and Javier Escuella down the bayou from Lakay to Bronte's estate, and they stealthily climbed over the walls and into the courtyard, ensuring that Bronte's guards - who were on high alert following the failed trolley station ambush - did not detect them. The outlaws then took up cover positions and ambushed Bronte's guards, initiating a massive shootout in which dozens of mafiosi were killed. Bronte himself was knocked out by Morgan and Marston in his bedroom, and he was then taken back to the outlaws' boat as they shot their way through the police who responded to the kidnapping. On the boat, Bronte insulted Dutch and confidently stated that his men would betray him for $1,000, but none of Dutch's men were interested; Bronte then called all of them fools and resumed his tirade. Dutch assured Bronte that it was he who should be deserving of pity, and he proceeded to shove his head into the water and violently drown him before throwing his body into the bayou to be eaten by alligators.
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