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Visit Historical Sites of Al Capone, John Dillinger, Roaring 20s, Panczko
Gang, Sally Rand.
They're all here in Ken Schessler's Unusual Guide to Chicago.
An Unusual Tour of Chicago
MID WEST - FAR
WEST
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DOUGLAS PARK
AREA |
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HOME OF BENNY GOODMAN - Nine-year-old Benny
Goodman lived here in a 3-story tenement at 1125 S. Francisco from 1921 to 1923.
It was while living here that Mr. Goodman took his kids to the free band
concerts in Douglas Park on Sunday afternoons. Benny took his first clarinet
lessons while here. He attended the Sheppard Grammar School which was across the
alley from their apartment. Benny later described the area as "a pretty
hopeless neighborhood." 1125 S. Francisco. |
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TINKERS TO EVERS TO CHANCE - The first Cubs
Park was located here in 1895 at the corner of Woolcott and Polk Streets.. This
was where the famous "Tinkers to Evers to Chance" played their first
games. L. Frank Baum came here often |
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CHICAGO STADIUM -The 25,000-seat Chicago
Stadium was built in 1914. The Blackhawks and Lakers played here. 1800 W.
Madison.
UPDATE - The Stadium was torn down in 19?? |
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THE WIZARD OF OZ - L. Frank Baum, the author
of "The Wizard of Oz," lived in a rented cottage here at 2233 Campbell
Park from 1891 to 1895. |
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THE WIZARD OF OZ - L. Frank Baum lived here
at 2149 Flournoy from 1895 to 1898. While telling stories to his children and
several neighborhood children here in his home one day, one of the children
asked Baum where the Scarecrow and the Tin Man lived. Looking around the room,
Baum noticed his filing cabinet in the corner. On the front of the top drawer
were the letters A-N. On the bottom drawer were the letters O-Z. He then told
the children, "the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Great
Wizard, all lived in the marvelous Land of Oz! Baum later told his wife,
"The minute I saw it, I knew OZ was just the right name for the country
where the Wizard lived in the Emerald City." |
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GARFIELD PARK AREA |
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THE RHETA WYNEKOOP MURDER - In 1904, Dr. Frank
Wynekoop and his wife Alice, also a doctor, and their two children moved into
their newly built three-story, stone home here at 3406 West Monroe. Mr. Wynekoop
died a few years later. Alice carried on with her practice and maintained her
office in a basement suite. Dr. Alice became widely known for her medical career
and her charitable activities. Her daughter, Dr. Catherine Wynekoop, was a
highly respected member of the staff at Cook County Hospital. But Alice adored
her son, Earle.
In 1930, Earle married an eighteen-year-old violinist, beautiful, red-headed,
Rheta Gardner of Indianapolis, Indiana. They moved into a suite of rooms on the
second floor of the Wynekoop home. But Rheta was not a happy bride. Earle was
away from home most of the time. But Rheta had not turned into the wife that
Earle had expected and he took to drinking and running around with other women.
Dr. Alice, disturbed that her son was unhappy, began to think about how she
could fix things. In the early afternoon of November 21, 1933, she took Rheta
into a small surgery room in the basement, shot her dead, and left her lying on
the table. When Dr. Catherine later called police to investigate, they found
Rheta lying naked, face down on an operating table wrapped in a heavy blanket,
shot through the breast. There were chloroform burns on her face. On the table,
near her head, lay a revolver covered with a cloth. On the floor, at the foot of
the operating table, lay Rheta's clothing. Dr. Alice told police that "It
must have been a burglar." Earle was on a train to the Grand Canyon with
another woman, but he hurried home when he heard of his wife's death.
While being questioned for many hours at police headquarters, Dr. Alice
finally confessed to killing Rheta. She said that Rheta, who had not being
feeling well, had asked to be examined and wanted some anesthetic to be more
comfortable. She said she used too much chloroform and accidentally killed the
girl. Realizing Rheta was dead, she then put a bullet in her "to ease the
situation."
Earle too, confessed to killing his wife, but there was plenty of evidence
that he had been on the train going west. Dr. Alice was tried for killing Rheta
and was found guilty. On March 6, 1934 she was sentenced to 25 years at the
Women's Reformatory at Dwight.
UPDATE - Rheta was buried in her hometown
of Indianapolis. Alice was paroled in 1949 at age 79, and died in 1951. Earle,
who never remarried, was working as a garage mechanic at the time of his
mother's death. The Wynekoop house was a tourist attraction until it was torn
down shortly after Alice had died. |
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CRIME OF THE CENTURY JUDGE - Judge Robert
Crowe, the judge in the Leopold and Loeb murder trial, was living here at 3329
Washington in 1931. |
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THE LADY IN RED - Anna Sage, the "Lady
in Red," ran a house of prostitution here at 3221 Warren in the 1930s. John
Dillinger came here often. |
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BENNY GOODMAN'S FIRST JOB - In September of
1923, Benny Goodman, 14, got his first steady job playing four nights a week in
the band at Guyon's Garden, a dance hall on the west side of Crawford between
Madison and the Lake Street Elevated. It was not far from the Benny apartment.
He made $48 a week. |
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BENNY GOODMAN'S NEWSTAND - David Goodman,
father of Benny, owned a newspaper stand here at 4349 Jackson in 1926. |
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BENNY GOODMAN'S FATHER KILLED - On the
evening of December 9, 1926, David Goodman was hit by a car here at the
intersection of Madison and Kostner. His skull was fractured and he died the
next day. He was 54. |
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THE HANGING PROSECUTOR - Assistant state's
attorney, William McSwiggen, lived here at 4946 Washington with his parents in
1925. He was known as "The Hanging Prosecutor."
UPDATE - McSwiggen was killed in 1926 by
Al Capone himself at Capone's Pony Inn on Roosevelt Road in Cicero. |
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GANGSTER KILLED - Joseph Aiello was a leader
of an Italian gang which had arisen after the downfall of the Genna gang, and
was allied with Bugs Moran against Al Capone. Aiello tried several times to have
Capone killed. He once offered the chef at the Little Italy, one of Capone's
favorite restaurants, $10,000 to put prussic acid in Capone's soup. On October
23, 1930, as Aiello stepped from an apartment building here at 205 N. Kolmar, a
machine gun opened up from a second floor apartment across the street at 202
Kolmar. Hit, he staggered around the corner of the building - smack into a
stream of slugs that came from a third floor apartment at 4518 West End Ave. He
died after being hit with 59 slugs. A train ticket to Brownsville, Texas was
found in his pocket. |
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GANGSTER KILLED - The body of gangster Paul
Battaglia was found here in the alley behind 5551 W. Monroe on August 27, 1938.
He had been shot twice in the head. Battaglia owned a saloon at 819 W. Madison,
and was once a member of the Genna gang, and he 42 gang. Among his friends were
Willie Bioff, Nicky Dean Circella and Frank Miller. |
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HOME OF CAPONE MOBSTER - Tony Lombardo, a
member of the Al Capone gang, lived with his wife and children in a villa here
at 4442 W. Washington in 1923. Lombardo was the president of the Union Siciliane
in 1925. |
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COLUMBUS PARK AREA |
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BENNY GOODMAN AND AUSTIN HIGH GANG - Benny
Goodman took lessons and played here for dances at the Columbus Park Refectory
which was located on the second floor of the boathouse. During his first year at
Harrison High, Benny became friends with some older kids at Austin High who had
a band called "The Austin High Gang." The band included Jimmy and Dick
McPartland, Dave Tough, Bud Freeman, Frank Teschemacher and Jim Lanigan The band
played at dances here at the Refectory. Jackson and Central. |
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CAPONE MOBSTER KILLED - Fred Evans was a
member of the Capone Syndicate for who he helped organize the laundry and linen
supply business. He and Capone were partners in a pop corn stand at the 1933
Chicago World's Fair. When the syndicate discovered that Evans, who did the
accounting for the mob, was rigging the books, they held a kangaroo court on
August 1, 1959, to determine his fate. At noon on August 22, 1959, when Evans
was heading for his Cadillac in the parking lot at his office at 5409 W. Lake
Street, two men approached and shot him to death. |
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FAMOUS EVERLEIGH SISTERS - The Everleigh
sisters, Minnie and Ada, owners of the Everleigh Club, a house of prostitution
on the South Side, built a home here at 5536 W. Washington in 1911.
UPDATE - The sisters sold the home in 1913
to theatrical producer Frank "Apple Pie" Gazzolo. Gazzolo was still
living here in 1935. |
| CICERO AREA |
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AL CAPONE KILLS STATES ATTORNEY - On April
27, 1926, state's attorney, William McSwiggen, Thomas Duffy, Myles O'Donnell and
Jim Doherty, pulled up in their Lincoln in front of the Pony Inn at 5613 W.
Roosevelt Road in Cicero. At that moment, Al Capone's Cadillac approached from
the east as McSwiggen and his friends stepped out of their car. As the Cadillac
slowly drove by, Capone, with a machine gun, riddled the Lincoln with lead.
Duffy was hit getting out of the car, and crawled into an empty lot next door
and hid behind a tree. He had five bullets in him. Doherty lay dead on the
sidewalk, torn with sixteen bullets. McSwiggen ran toward the entrance of the
Inn, then fell dead. The driver and O'Donnell had not been hit. Duffy died later
in the hospital.
UPDATE - McSwiggen was buried in Mt.
Carmel Cemetery. His killer, Al Capone was reburied there in 1952. |
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ROGER "THE TERRIBLE" KILLED -
Gangster Roger "The Terrible" Touhy was released from prison on
November 25, 1959 where he had served 26 years for the kidnapping of Jake
"The Barber" Factor. By then, he was broke and in ill health. He
returned to Chicago to live with his sister at 129 Lotus. As he was entering his
sister's house on the night of December 17, 1959, he was met with several
shotgun blasts which almost tore his body in half. While in the ambulance, Touhy
told newsmen, "I've been expecting it. The bastards never forget!" He
died hours later. |
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HILLSIDE |
MOUNT CARMEL CEMETERY
1400 S. Wolf Road at Roosevelt. |
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Joseph R. Bernardin - Chicago Cardinal. When Bernardin died of prostate
cancer in November, 1966, 90,000 people filed past his coffin at the Holy Name
Cathedral. He was buried outside the mausoleum here where other Cardinals have
been laid to rest. |
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Al Capone. Gangster - Capone died of syphilis of the brain on January 25,
1947. He was buried here on January 1952. Originally buried in Mt. Olivet
Cemetery, he was moved here in along with the other Capone graves on 1952 when
his mother died. (1899-1947 |
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Matt Capone - Brother of Al Capone. He died of a heart attack in 1967 at
age 59. |
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Ralph Capone Jr. - Bartender and brother of Al Capone. On November 9th,
1950, while intoxicated, he swallowed a bottle of cold remedy whose label warned
against mixing it with alcohol. He left a note to his girlfriend that read:
"Dear Jeanie. Jeanie my sweetheart, I love you. I Love you. Jeanie only you
I love. Only you. I'm gone." He was 33. |
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Gabriel Capone - Father of Al Capone. He died and was buried in
Brooklyn, but Al had him moved here to Chicago. |
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Theresa Capone - Mother of Al Capone. when she died in 1952 at age 85,
she was buried here instead of in Mt. Olivet with Al. When the family realized
how many tourists were visiting Al's grave, they bought another plot here, and
Al and other members of the family reburied here. |
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Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci - Gangster. He was shot and killed
by police on April 4, 1927, and was buried here in unconsecrated ground under
3,000 flowers in a $10,000 silver and aluminum casket. A wheel of white and
flowers was placed at his head by fellow gangster "Bugs" Moran, with
an inscription that read: "Our Pal." A squad of legionnaires fired a
salute over his flag-draped coffin, and a bugler blew taps. Al Capone, stood
unshaven at the graveside. |
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Anthony "Bloody Angelo" Genna - Gangster. On the morning of
May 25, 1925, Angelo Genna left his home in his $6,000 roadster and $11,000 in
his pocket to pay for a house that he and his wife wanted in Oak Park. At the
intersection of Ogden and Hudson, four men in a sedan pulled up beside him and
blasted him with shotguns. He did a short time later. Police said that three of
the killers were Hymie Weiss, George "Bugs" Moran and Vincent
"The Schemer" Drucci. He was buried here in a $10,000 coffin with
$25,000 in flowers around his grave. Al Capone stood at the graveside. |
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Anthony "Tony the Gentleman" Genna - Gangster. On July 8,
1925, Tony Genna got a call from someone he knew well enough to meet him on
Grand Ave. near Curtis. When they met, the caller grasped Tony's hand in a firm
hand shake. Two gunmen came from behind and pumped five shots into his back. He
is buried next to his brother, Angelo. |
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Mike "The Devil" Genna - Gangster. Mike Genna bled to death
after being shot in a gunfight with police on June 13, 1925. Before he died,
Mike tried to kick an ambulance attendant who had tried to help him. He growled
"Take that, you son of a bitch."
(Anthony, Angelo and Mike Genna died within 42 days of each other. Their
deaths broke up the Genna gang). |
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Pete Genna - Gangster. |
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Sam "The Terrible" Genna - Gangster. |
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Sam "Mooney" Giancana - Gangster. Sam Giancana graduated from
Chicago's old "42 Gang" to take his place in the Chicago chapter of
the La Cosa Nostra - the most violent, kill-crazy crime family in the U.S. In
the 1920s, he was a "wheelman" for the Capone mob. Later he served as
a part-time chauffeur for Tony Accardo and Paul "The Waiter" Ricca. He
became manager of operations of the mob in the mid-1950s, and by 1957, he was
considered the head of the Chicago family, a position he held until 1966. He was
a close friend of Frank Sinatra and the boyfriend of singer Phylis McGuire.
On June 19, 1975, just two days after gall bladder surgery, he was shot seven
times at close range as he stood at a stove, cooking a plate of sausages and
escarole in the basement of his Oak Park home. The killer was believed to be
someone in the mob that he knew and trusted. |
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Jake Lingle - Chicago Tribune crime reporter. Lingle had a sterling
reputation with his editors at the Tribune, but he lived a double life, working,
in realty, for Al Capone for almost a decade, informing Capone though his police
contacts of any raids against Capone's breweries, bordellos and gambling dens.
When he demanded more money from Capone, Capone ordered him killed. Lingle was
shot to death on June 9, 1930, in the Loop while on his way to the race track. |
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John May - Gangster and auto mechanic for the Bugs Moran gang. He was one
of those killed at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929. |
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn (Vincent Gebardi) - Gangster. Raised
in Chicago's Little Italy, McGurn was shot and killed in a Milwaukee Avenue
bowling alley on February 13, 1936, the eve of St. Valentine's Day, by two men
with machine guns. They left a comic valentine near his body that read:
You've lost your job,
You've lost your dough,
Your jewels and handsome houses,
But things could be worse you know,
You haven't lost your trousers.
.McGurn was killed in retaliation of his role in the St. Valentine's Day
Massacre in 1929. He also ordered the slashing of the throat of comedian Joe E.
Lewis. |
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William McSwiggen - Assistant states attorney. He was shot and killed on
April 23, 1926, by Al Capone in front of the Pony Inn at 5613 Washington Blvd.
He was buried here May 26 with full military honors. |
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Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti. Gangster. He was Al Capone's
successor as head of the Syndicate. In 1943, Frank Nitti was indicted for tax
evasion. Claustrophobic beyond belief, Nitti feared confinement to the point
where the mere thought of prison drove him literally insane. He began to drink
heavily and was incoherent during conversations with other mob bosses. On May
19, 1943, Nitti was seen staggering along the railroad tracks near the Illinois
Central Station and the Municipal Tuberculous Sanitarium near his home in North
Riverside. Railway workers heard a shot and rushed to find "The
Enforcer" dead. The legendary gangster had blown his brains out with a
bullet to the head rather than face the unbearable thought of incarceration in
prison. He is in the southern part of cemetery, 200 feet from Capone. Enter the
south gate, he is immediately to your left. |
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Dion O'Banion. Gangster. On November 10, 1924, three men entered the
Schofield Flower Shop at 734 N. State Street, walked over to O'Banion, who was
clipping stems from flowers, and fired five bullets into his body - and a sixth
into his head. The killers, one of whom was Mike "The Devil" Genna,
were sent by Al Capone. His funeral was the gaudiest of all gangster burials.
$5,000 persons viewed his body as it lay in state and twenty-five trucks and
cars were required to carry away the flowers. The funeral procession was a mile
long and led by three bands. 10,000 people followed the hearse on its way here
to the cemetery where he was buried in unconsecrated ground, a plot he had
bought for members of his gang. Five months later, his wife had him buried in
consecrated ground a few feet from a mausoleum containing the remains of a
bishop and two archbishops. (1892-19240. |
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Ken Silvestri - Baseball player. He is in Section K. |
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Roger "The Terrible" Touhy - North Side gang leader. He was
shot and killed in front of his home in Oak Park by the Syndicate on December
17, 1959, several weeks after he had been released from prison. |
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Hymie Weiss - Gangster. On October 11, 1926, Weiss parked his car in
front of the Holy Name Cathedral opposite the flower shop where Dion O'Banion
had been killed two years earlier on North state Street. As he walked across the
street to his headquarters above the flower shop, two gunmen, sent by Al Capone,
opened fire on him from a window of a building nearby. He was killed instantly
by ten machine gun bullets. With his pals, Vincent "The Schemer"Drucci
and George "Bugs" Moran stood by, he was buried in unconsecrated
grounds. Weiss is credited for coining the phrase "Take him for a
ride." His friends said that he was ugly and savage, but he was kind to his
mother. |
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OAK PARK |
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BIRTHPLACE OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY - Writer
Ernest Hemingway was born here at 339 N. Oak Park Avenue in 1905. |
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HEMINGWAY HOME - Ernest Hemingway lived here
at 600 N. Kenilworth from 1905 to 1922. The home of "Machine Gun" Jack
McGurn was on Kenilworth near North Ave. |
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HOME OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT - Architect Frank
Lloyd Wright moved here to 951 Chicago when he was first married. |
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GANGSTER HOME - Sam Battaglia, a member of he
Capone Syndicate was living here at 1114 N. Ridgewood in the late 1940s.
Battaglia was head of gambling joints and prostitution. He was also head of one
of the Syndicate's "cells" His cell and its members met here in his
basement every Saturday night. 1114 N. Ridgeland. |
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LOMBARD |
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THE UNIBOMBER - Ted Kaczynski, the Unibomber,
once lived in Lombard with his parents. His father Theodore shot himself here in
their home after he got terminal cancer. His mother was still living here in
Lombard in 1997. |
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BATAVIA |
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MRS. ABRAHAM LINCOLN GOES INSANE - Mary Todd
Lincoln, widow of Abraham Lincoln, was admitted to the Bellevue Place Sanitarium
for the insane here in Batavia, 35 miles west of Chicago, after she had tried to
poison herself on May 20, 1875. She was here from May 21, to September 10.
Built in 1856, Bellevue, was owned by Dr. DeWitt Patterson who purchased the
22-acre estate from the owners of a girl's school. Its massive four-story
limestone mansion was set in the middle of the grounds and had a great view of
the Fox River from the third and fourth floors.
UPDATE - The ornate dark furniture that
was in the room where Mrs. Lincoln stayed, was still there in 1947. |
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