On the sixteenth day of October in the year 1909, Pietro and Grazia "nee Siragusa" Cavataio celebrated the arrival of Dominic in a small village near Palermo, Sicily. Dominic was one of five boys born in a family which would grow to number eight children. Of these eight children only Dominic and his older brother Julian would play prominent roles in the growth and developement of the outfit.
Making a Name
The Cavataio brothers met and became close friends with many future outfit heavy weights after the family left Palermo and settled in St. Louis Missouri. The brothers worked very closely with Peter Corrado the brother of Julian's wife Pietrina. This alliance led the Cavataio's into contact with such powerful figures as the Bommaritos, Licavolis and Moceris. When many of these same men packed their bags and moved on to the motor city, Julian and Dominic did the same. Dominic began making a name for himself as a bootlegger. Picked up for the first time on May 5, 1930, and charged with violating the National Prohibition Act. Cavataio drew a seventy five day stay in jail. This would be the only jail time served in a career in crime which lasted more than 40 years. Inspite of a conviction for assault and battery, Dominic managed to escape a second jail stint when he instead received a probationary term. Cavataio began to concentrate on legitimate business interests when he inherited 1/9th ownership of the Michigan Macaroni Company. An interest he later sold to his brother Victor. From this point on, Dominic would own or invest in a string of highly successful legitimate ventures. Some of the more profitable being the Chesterfield Lounge, Eastland Auto Wash, Pointe Autowash, Bakery Distributors Inc., Bakery Outlet Inc., Pointe Auto Wash, Eastland Court Apts., and several pieces of income property. One other investment Dominic shared was in the ownership of two cleaning businesses, Wide City Cleaners and City Wide Cleaners both owned in tandem with his sons Billy Vito and Peter as well as his brother Julian. The Cavataio investment in the cleaning industry flourished as the chain grew to include 21 branch offices. Other Cavataio interests were not so lucky as the Prince Macaroni Co., was bombed by persons unknown shortly after the establishment was sold to Joseph Pelligrino of Andover Mass. No reason for the attack was ever given but this was at a time when competing interests within the outfit vied for control of some of the profitable numbers racket in Detroit.
