December 6, 2016
BY MIKE VINSON
Arguably, "Al Capone" embodies the term
"gangster" more so than any other criminal in American History.
However, after asking around, I was baffled at how many young people didn't
know very much about him, or had never heard of him, period.
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was born to Italian
immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York, January 17, 1899. Dropping out of
school at age 14, Capone became a member of the notorious "5 Points
Gang," based out of New York. Having gained a reputation as a merciless
street fighter and enforcer, the stockily-built Capone was bouncing at brothels
while still a teenager.
Though accounts vary, it was while he still was in New York
that Capone earned the nickname "Scarface." Capone was working in a
nightclub (probably a brothel), and another gangster and his sister entered the
nightclub. Capone reportedly made an off-color remark about the gangster's
sister. The gangster took Capone's remark as a direct insult, and laid open the
left side of Capone's face with a straight razor, thus the moniker
"Scarface."
Chicago mob boss John Torrio recruited Capone to leave New
York and come to the Windy City in 1921. It is key to note here that
Prohibition was in effect as of 1920, Prohibition defined as: the legal
prohibiting of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption.
Torrio's Chicago-based gang--comprised of a large number of captains,
lieutenants, and foot soldiers--ran a lucrative enterprise, raking in millions
yearly on gambling, prostitution, and bootleg beer and whiskey. After arriving
in Chicago (1921), young Al began on the bottom rung and worked as a bouncer at
one of Torrio's brothels. It wasn't long, though, before the ambitious Capone
was Torrio's right-hand man.
January 24, 1925, there was an assassination attempt on John
Torrio's life. Though shot several times, Torrio managed to survive. Aware that
death was inevitable if he didn't step down, and with plenty of money stashed
away, Torrio turned over his "Chicago Outfit" to 26-year-old Al Capone.
After assuming control from Torrio, Capone set up his
headquarters at The Hawthorne Inn, located at 4833 - 22nd Street, Cicero,
Chicago. If my sources are correct, Capone owned 160 speakeasies (slang for
bar/dance club), 150 gambling joints, and 22 brothels. It has been written
that, at his peak, Capone was making over 50 million dollars a year--both big
money and big politicians in his back pocket! Chauffeur driven in a
bulletproof, souped-up Cadillac, attired in tailored silk suits, fedora hats,
cigar in mouth, "Big Al," sociopath though he was, commanded
totalitarian respect. However, such bountiful success did not come without
equally ambitious adversaries.
George "Bugs" Moran ran Chicago's North Side
criminal rackets, in direct competition with Capone's South Side operation. It
was well known that Moran wanted to "take out" Capone. Moran's
headquarters was the SMC Cartage Company Garage, located at 2122 North Clark
Street, Chicago.
On Valentine's Day/February 14, 1929, Capone was
conveniently vacationing at his winter home in Miami, Florida. On that same
Valentine's day, Moran was scheduled to meet a man at the Cartage Company
Garage and buy a truckload of hijacked whiskey, a ruse preemptively hatched by
Capone to draw out Moran.
However, Moran was running late, and before he arrived, four
Capone hitmen dressed up as Chicago Policemen, probably led by "Machine
Gun" Jack McGurn, marched into the garage and ordered the seven men inside
to line up against the wall. Six of the men belonged to Moran's gang, and one
was an optometrist who enjoyed hanging out with gangsters. Thinking it was a
routine Chicago P.D. shakedown, the seven men did as ordered, their backs to
their executioners. The Capone gunmen, mistakenly thinking one of the seven,
indeed, was Moran, proceeded to blast the seven to smithereens with multiple
.45 caliber rounds issued from Thompson submachine guns.
Newspapers across the country featured article-and-photo
coverage of the carnage inside the Chicago garage, and it was--and still
is--infamously referred to as the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre."
Even Bugs Moran, who, as mentioned, had been the main target, but survived
because he was running late, stated: "Only Capone kills like that!"
Though Capone was considered the mastermind behind the multiple slaughter, no
one ever was convicted for the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
In early October 1931, Al Capone was convicted of income-tax
evasion. In 1934, he was transferred from the Atlanta State Penitentiary to the
notorious Alcatraz Prison (now closed), which was located in the San Francisco
Bay. Suffering from advanced syphilitic dementia, Capone was released to the
care of his family in 1939. Capone died of a heart attack at his Miami mansion
on January 25, 1947, at the age of 48.
So what about Al Capone and the "Tennessee
Connection"? Credible sources claim:
*Capone bought illegal whiskey from bootleggers in Cannon
County, TN, and Dekalb County, TN.
*Capone dined at the historic Sedberry Hotel (now closed),
located in McMinnville, TN.
*Capone patronized the renowned High Point Restaurant (still
operating), located in Monteagle, TN.
Just some Gangster History 101.