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Al Capone Gabriele Capone was one of the many Italians who arrived in the United States in 1894. He was a barber by trade, and hoped to arrive here and open a barbershop. Gabriele brought with him his twenty-seven year old wife, his two-year-old son, and his infant son. The Capone family moved to Brooklyn into a flat that had no indoor toilet or furnishings. Gabriele’s ability to read and write allowed him to get a job in a grocery store. His wife took in sewing at home to add to their income. She already had three sons, and the fourth, conceived and born in America, was born on January 17, 1899. His name was Alphonse. The Capone’s were a quiet, conventional family. They never hit their children; they talked to them, and preached to them, they listened to their parents. Nothing about the Capone’s were violent or dishonest. They were law-abiding, unremarkable Italian-American’s. Shortly after Al was born, Gabriele moved the family to a better home over his new barber shop. Moving into a broader ethnic universe allowed Al to escape the solidly Italian neighborhood. This exposure would help him create his future criminal empire. The neighborhood where Al lived his first ten years were harsh. In 1904, at