Queenie and Bumpy, "Hoodlum"

Stephanie St. Clair was a black French woman from Martinique, who immigrated to America in 1912 via Marseilles, France. In 1922, St. Clair took $10,000 of her own money and opened up a numbers bank in Harlem. She became known as "Queenie," throughout Manhattan, but the people of Harlem referred to her respectfully as Madame St. Clair.

Queenie was a tall, abrasive and tough woman, with a seldom-seen gentle side, who ran the famous New York extortion gang known as The Forty Thieves. The Forty Thieves had a reputation of being so tough that even the white gangsters would not interfere with their illegal operations, or attempt to take over their turf. The gang had been around since the 19^th Century and was predominantly white. Queenie's infiltrating such an established, well-known gang gives credit to her persuasive powers and leadership abilities. It did not take long for her to spin off from the gang and strike out on her own. She utilized her experience and talents to set up operations as a policy banker and recruited some of Harlem's blacks to support her and her growing numbers game. Within a year she was worth more than $500,000 with more than 40 runners and 10 comptrollers in her charge.

One of Queenie's main recruits was a colorful character from Charleston, S.C., named Ellsworth Raymond Johnson. He had moved to Harlem with his parents when he was a small boy and was given the nickname, "Bumpy," because of a large bump on the back of his head. He was a dapper gangster who always made it a point to wear the latest and best clothes and to flash a wad of cash wherever he went. Bumpy was a pimp, burglar and stickup man who possessed a recalcitrant attitude. He always carried a knife and gun, neither of which he was hesitant to use. All too often Bumpy ended up in barroom clashes over the slightest of issues. He feared nobody and did not shy from confrontations. Helen Lawrenson, in her book Stranger at the Party, remarked on Bumpy's short fuse and arrogance. "He never learned, however, to curb his temper or to bow his head to any man," She wrote. His negative demeanor led to his spending almost half of his life in prisons before he even reached age 30. During his interments he became an avid reader and began writing poetry. Bumpy also proved to be an incorrigible prisoner and spent one-third of a 10-year sentence in solitary confinement. Because of his attitude, he was shuttled from prison to prison until his release in 1932. When he got out he was broke and looking for work.

Despite his tough-guy reputation, Bumpy Johnson had a soft side. It was common knowledge among Harlemites that he had often helped many of Harlem's poor with secret cash donations and gifts. Queenie St. Clair liked what she saw in Bumpy, and offered him a position as henchman in her numbers racket. Always the dandy, looking for better opportunities to make more money, Bumpy joined Queenie's ranks and quickly gained her trust. One of his first tasks was to confront the Bub Hewlett gang. It erupted into one of Harlem's most violent and bloody gang wars. Eventually, Bumpy gained the edge and defeated Hewlett, temporarily saving the numbers game from the Mob's first takeover attempt.

The relationship between Queenie and Bumpy was strange from the beginning. Some said they had an ongoing affair and others claimed that the odd couple was only a business partnership. Bumpy never abandoned his pimping and robbery professions, both of which irritated Queenie. Still, it made no difference. Both knew what would make the numbers game a success and began expanding operations. Their expansion efforts did not go unobserved by the powers-at-large.

Al Capone, Chicago's Original Gangster

Al Capone is America's best known gangster and the single greatest symbol of the collapse of law and order in the United States during the 1920s Prohibition era. Capone had a leading role in the illegal activities that lent Chicago its reputation as a lawless city.

Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. Baptized "Alphonsus Capone," he grew up in a rough neighborhood and was a member of two "kid gangs," the Brooklyn Rippers and the Forty Thieves Juniors. Although he was bright, Capone quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. Between scams he was a clerk in a candy store, a pinboy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a book bindery. He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale's Brooklyn dive, the Harvard Inn, as a bouncer and bartender. While working at the Inn, Capone received his infamous facial scars and the resulting nickname "Scarface" when he insulted a patron and was attacked by her brother.

In 1918, Capone met an Irish girl named Mary "Mae" Coughlin at a dance. On December 4, 1918, Mae gave birth to their son, Albert "Sonny" Francis. Capone and Mae married that year on December 30.

Capone's first arrest was on a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He also murdered two men while in New York, early testimony to his willingness to kill. In accordance with gangland etiquette, no one admitted to hearing or seeing a thing so Capone was never tried for the murders. After Capone hospitalized a rival gang member, Yale sent him to Chicago to wait until things cooled off. Capone arrived in Chicago in 1919 and moved his family into a house at 7244 South Prairie Avenue.

Capone went to work for Yale's old mentor, John Torrio. Torrio saw Capone's potential, his combination of physical strength and intelligence, and encouraged his protégé. Soon Capone was helping Torrio manage his bootlegging business. By mid-1922 Capone ranked as Torrio's number two man and eventually became a full partner in the saloons, gambling houses, and brothels. When Torrio was shot by rival gang members and consequently decided to leave Chicago, Capone inherited the "outfit" and became boss. The outfit's men liked, trusted, and obeyed Capone, calling him "The Big Fellow." He quickly proved that he was even better at organization than Torrio, syndicating and expanding the city's vice industry between 1925 and 1930. Capone controlled speakeasies, bookie joints, gambling houses, brothels, horse and race tracks, nightclubs, distilleries and breweries at a reported income of $100,000,000 a year. He even acquired a sizable interest in the largest cleaning and dyeing plant chain in Chicago. Although he had been doing business with Capone, the corrupt Chicago mayor William "Big Bill" Hale Thompson, Jr. decided that Capone was bad for his political image. Thompson hired a new police chief to run Capone out of Chicago. When Capone looked for a new place to live, he quickly discovered that he was unpopular in much of the country. He finally bought an estate at 93 Palm Island, Florida in 1928. Attempts on Capone's life were never successful. He had an extensive spy network in Chicago, from newspaper boys to policemen, so that any plots were quickly discovered. Capone, on the other hand, was skillful at isolating and killing his enemies when they became too powerful. A typical Capone murder consisted of men renting an apartment across the street from the victim's residence and gunning him down when he stepped outside. The operations were quick and complete and Capone always had an alibi. Capone's most notorious killing was the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. On February 14, 1929, four Capone men entered a garage at 2122 N. Clark Street. The building was the main liquor headquarters of bootlegger George "Bugs" Moran's North Side gang. Because two of Capone's men were dressed as police, the seven men in the garage thought it was a police raid. As a result, they dropped their guns and put their hands against the wall. Using two shotguns and two machine guns, the Capone men fired more than 150 bullets into the victims. Six of the seven killed were members of Moran's gang; the seventh was an unlucky friend. Moran, probably the real target, was across the street when Capone's men arrived and stayed away when he saw the police uniforms. As usual, Capone had an alibi; he was in Florida during the massacre. Although Capone ordered dozens of deaths and even killed with his own hands, he often treated people fairly and generously. He was equally known for his violent temper and for his strong sense of loyalty and honor. He was the first to open soup kitchens after the 1929 stock market crash and he ordered merchants to give clothes and food to the needy at his expense. Capone had headquarters in Chicago proper in the Four Deuces at 2222 S. Wabash, the Metropole Hotel at 2300 S. Michigan Avenue, and the Lexington Hotel at 2135 S. Michigan Avenue. He expanded into the suburbs, sometimes using terror as in Forest View, which became known as "Caponeville." Sometimes he simply bribed public officials and the police as in Cicero. He established suburban headquarters in Cicero's Anton Hotel at 4835 W. 22nd Street and in the Hawthorne Hotel at 4823 22nd Street. He pretended to be an antique dealer and a doctor to front his headquarters. Because of gangland's traditional refusal to prosecute, Capone was never tried for most of his crimes. He was arrested in 1926 for killing three people, but spent only one night in jail because there was insufficient evidence to connect him with the murders. When Capone finally served his first prison time in May of 1929, it was simply for carrying a gun. In 1930, at the peak of his power, Capone headed Chicago's new list of the twenty-eight worst criminals and became the city's "Public Enemy Number One." The popular belief in the 1920s and 30s was that illegal gambling earnings were not taxable income. However, the 1927 Sullivan ruling claimed that illegal profits were in fact taxable. The government wanted to indict Capone for income tax evasion, Capone never filed an income tax return, owned nothing in his own name, and never made a declaration of assets or income. He did all his business through front men so that he was anonymous when it came to income. Frank Wilson from the IRS's Special Intelligence Unit was assigned to focus on Capone. Wilson accidentally found a cash receipts ledger that not only showed the operation's net profits for a gambling house, but also contained Capone's name; it was a record of Capone's income. Later Capone's own tax lawyer Lawrence P. Mattingly admitted in a letter to the government that Capone had an income. Wilson's ledger, Mattingly's letter, and the coercion of witnesses were the main evidence used to convict Capone. n 1931, Capone was indicted for income tax evasion for the years 1925-29. He was also charged with the misdemeanor of failing to file tax returns for the years 1928 and 1929. The government charged that Capone owed $215,080.48 in taxes from his gambling profits. A third indictment was added, charging Capone with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922-31. Capone pleaded guilty to all three charges in the belief that he would be able to plea bargain. However, the judge who presided over the case, Judge James H. Wilkerson, would not make any deals. Capone changed his pleas to not guilty. Unable to bargain, he tried to bribe the jury but Wilkerson changed the jury panel at the last minute. The jury found Capone not guilty on eighteen of the twenty-three counts. Judge Wilkerson sentenced him to a total of ten years in federal prison and one year in the county jail. In addition, Capone had to serve an earlier six-month contempt of court sentence for failing to appear in court. The fines were a cumulative $50,000 and Capone had to pay the prosecution costs of $7,692.29. n May 1932, Capone was sent to Atlanta, the toughest of the federal prisons, to begin his eleven-year sentence. Even in prison Capone took control, obtaining special privileges from the authorities such as furnishing his cell with a mirror, typewriter, rugs, and a set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Because word spread that Capone had taken over in Atlanta, he was sent to Alcatraz. There were no other outfit members in Alcatraz, and security was so tight that he had no knowledge of the outside world. He was unable to control anyone or anything and could not buy influence or friends. In an attempt to earn time off for good behavior, Capone became the ideal prisoner and refused to participate in prisoner rebellions or strikes. While at Alcatraz, he exhibited signs of syphilitic dementia. Capone spent the rest of his felony sentence in the hospital. On January 6, 1939, his prison term expired and he was transferred to Terminal Island, a Federal Correctional Institution in California, to serve his one-year misdemeanor sentence. He was finally released on November 16, 1939, but still had to pay fines and court costs of $37,617.51. After his release, Capone spent a short time in the hospital. He returned to his home in Palm Island where the rest of his life was relaxed and quiet. His mind and body continued to deteriorate so that he could no longer run the outfit. On January 21, 1947, he had an apoplectic stoke that was probably unrelated to his syphilis. He regained consciousness and began to improve until pneumonia set in on January 24. He died the next day from cardiac arrest. Capone was first buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago's far South Side between the graves of his father, Gabriele, and brother, Frank, but in March of 1950 the remains of all three were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery on the far West Side.

Frank Lucas, The Original Gangster

Frank Lucas' life of crime started when he was just a little boy of six, living in North Carolina. Five members of the Ku Klux Klan showed up one night at the shack where he was living and killed his 13-year-old cousin, Obadiah, for looking at a white woman.

As the oldest boy in the family, Lucas had to put food on the table. He began stealing food and later, mugging drunks. He eventually had to leave home in his teens, after taking $400 from his boss and setting the man's place on fire.

Lucas headed for Harlem, New York, where he continued his life of petty crime. He took a step up when he caught the attention of mobster Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson. According to Lucas, Johnson took the boy under his wing and showed him the ropes, although Bumpy's wife, Mayme, claims Johnson never fully trusted Lucas and describes Frank as "little more than a flunky to Bumpy."

However, when Johnson died of a heart attack, Lucas took everything he'd been taught by the man and started his own drug dealing business. He went one step further, when he realized American servicemen were getting their hands on drugs in Vietnam. Lucas flew over there and made arrangements to buy drugs at a much better rate than he could ever get in New York, and flew a friend in from North Carolina to build coffins for dead soldiers, complete with false bottoms where drugs could be stashed when the bodies were flown back to the States.

At one point in his career, Lucas boasted he was making a million dollars a day. He staked out a spot on 116th street in Harlem and killed anyone who tried to get in his way. His methods of intimidation worked, inspiring both fear and respect in those around him. He was well-liked, even by the police and judges that he often had to deal with.

In 1976, Lucas was sentenced to a total of 70 years in prison on drug violations. During a prison visit by his attorney, Gino Gallina, Lucas assaulted the lawyer after Gallina told him he'd "lost" $200,000 of Lucas' money. Lucas threatened to kill him if he didn't get his money back, and the man was gunned down gangland style on a Greenwich Village street shortly afterwards. It's not clear whether Lucas was behind the killing, or the Gambino crime family, against whom Gallino was set to testify.

In 1981, Lucas' sentence was reduced to time already served. He wound up back behind bars in 1984 when he was convicted of trying to exchange one ounce of heroin and $13,000 for one kilogram of cocaine. He was sentenced to seven years.

Now he's home and is known as America's Original Gangster.