Ogden Av, Lawndale, Levee, First Ward and South Side
Max Guzik (Levee rackets boss with headquarters at 362 Ogden Av and associated with Colosimo)
- Charlie Maibaum (saloon owner and power in the First Ward)
- Julius Maibaum
- Harry Guzik
- Sam Guzik
- Jake Guzik
- Frank Lewis
-Leo Bernstein
- Jack Colvin
- Al Harris
- Isadore Levine
Since we already saw some of the original Irish or Italian South Side syndicates, now we are going to witness the original Jewish Mob from the lower Chicago area. Max Guzik was Jewish immigrant born in 1855 in Poland and came to Chicago’s Lawndale area somewhere around the early 1890’s or to be exact in 1892. Back than the Lower West Side and South Side were overwhelmed mostly with Jewish population and by this time in general there were over 200,000 Jews.
Guzik settled together with wife and his eight children and started working as a cigar maker at 362 Ogden Av. and allegedly became very well known among his fellow Jewish people but the thing was the cigar business wasn’t enough to feed his big family because when in Chicago he and his wife Mamie had three more children. Guzik’s sons like Charles, Harry, Sam and Jacob were also employed at his cigar shop.
During the early 1900’s Guzik started working as a political enforcer and precinct captain for Kenna and Coughlin by gathering votes from his fellow Jewish people mainly from the Lawndale area and delivered it to the Democratic machine, and some reports say this was the same time period when Guzik met Jim Colosimo. This was the prime reason for which Guzik’s prime income was in fact prostitution or white slavery, although different sources say that Guzik’s prime connection to the racket were in fact the Maibaum brother, Charlie and Julius, who in turn were old time brothel owners and were already infiltrated among the Irish political powers within the First Ward.
Few of Maibaum’s most prominent brothels were The New Paris at 2001 South Dearborn St, the St. Charles Hotel at 2128 South State St, and the third one was located at 2024 Armour Av. Some sources say that Charlie Maibaum was also connected to the Colosimo/Moresco syndicate mainly because they operated around the same areas.
With Maibaum’s help, Guzik’s son Harry opened his own brothel in 1904 which was named “The Blue Goose” at 119th and Paulina Street, and he managed his brothel together with his wife Alma and his three brothers Charles, Sam and Jacob. In short time the activities began spreading around Chicago and that also made a lot of “noise” among Chicago’s government officials and so in 1907 Harry Guzik was convicted for white slavery and was sentenced to the Illinois State Penitentiary while achieving national publicity.
In 1909, Harry’s younger brother Jacob Guzik was arrested for the vanishing of an underage girl who he allegedly married back in 1908. Guzik was mistakenly labeled as “John” in the newspapers at the time but besides that, he was later released on all charges, although this confirms the rumors that the Guziks “enslaved” underage girls for business but also for their own personal purposes. Besides receiving one suspicious telegram, the girl’s family never saw their daughter or sister ever again.
Few of Guzik’s prime associates in the prostitution business were Frank Lewis aka “Dago Frank”, Al Harris, Isadore Levine, Charlie Maibaum and Leo Bernstein. In fact, both Lewis and Harris also started as precinct captains for the Kenna/Coughlin “regime” and they also knew both Max Guzik and Colosimo since “day one”. For example, both Harry Guzik and Lewis owned several prostitution establishments like the one on 2033 Armour Av, followed by additional few at 2014 Armour Av, 2117 Dearborn Av and 32 W 20th St., and these joints were operated by their fronts such as Leo Bernstein, Helen Torrio and Mary DeGeorge. The Camorra organization was/is always known for giving women positions within the organization but besides that, this is also another proof that the Guzik faction was deeply involved with the leading Italian factions from the South Side.
While working as precinct captain in the First Ward, Al Harris together with his wife oversaw at least a dozen brothels for the Guzik family alone, and story goes that by the early 1910’s this group brought the prostitution racket on much higher level than it was before. One righteous assistant state attorney named Clifford Roe, who in turn started to investigate the situation, was forced to ask for help even from Washington D.C. so he can make a move on the vice trade. In 1912, Harry Guzik, Lewis and Harris were charged for harboring young girls in their resorts and the newspapers at the time labeled the group as being a part of a “powerful South Side vice syndicate”.
In November 1914, Harry Guzik and Jack Colvin were arrested and questioned regarding a national prostitution network but as always, these guys kept their mouths shut. The newspapers at the time labeled Guzik as the constantly “paroled convict that never visited the penitentiary”. This was obviously a sign regarding the high level contacts that the Guzik family had at the time in Chicago’s politics and judicial system. In addition, that same year their prime associate Charlie Maibaum and his wife were deported to Russia after fighting a court battle for 6 years. In 1917 all of Guzik’s establishments were labeled as being protected by local police officials, including the new one of Frank Lewis on 1807 West Van Buren Av and so the whole situation became new national scandal which in the end resulted with low level city officials being the only victims of the law.
After Colosimo’s demise in 1920, the Guzik family continued to work the Italian Mainlander faction from the South Side and some Mob historians say that Jake Guzik introduced his family to the Torrio/Al Capone faction but as we can see that’s completely false, mainly because the Colosimo/Torrio syndicate and the Guzik group were already in business relationship long before Capone arrived in the Chicago area. During those days the Guzik family was “riding high” within Chicago’s underworld by keeping their close connections to both the Italian and Irish South Side syndicates and as a matter of fact, their alliance will last longer than every other criminal group from around the Chicago area and a decade later, they will rule the city’s organized crime for almost a century.
22nd and S Clark St, Chinatown
Salvatore Cardinella (South Side crew boss mainly involved in extortion and murder)
-Frank Campione (hanged in December 1920)
- Nicholas Viana (hanged in December 1920)
- Thomas Errico (in 1920 became informant and was given life sentence because of cooperation)
- Leonard Crapo (in 1920 became informant and was given life sentence because of cooperation)
- Santo Orlando (killed in October 1919)
- Tony Sansone
- Sam Ferrara (hanged in December 1920)
- Antonio Lopez (hanged in December 1920)
- Frank Gibbia (killed in August 1920)
- Joe Costanza (hanged in December 1920)
Salvatore Cardinella was born in 1868 in Sicily, and arrived in Chicago sometime around the late 1900’s and this guy was known for organizing bands of mislead and youthful individuals by showing them the life of crime. Cardinella’s headquarters was a poolroom which was located at 217 West 22nd St and according to investigators, in just several years the group committed at least 20 murders, 1000 holdups, and over 150 burglaries. Few of Cardinella’s most prominent associates and enforcers were young criminals such as Frank Campione, Thomas Errico, Leonard Crapo, Sam Ferrara, Tony Sansone, Antonio Lopez, Frank Gibbia, Joe Costanza and Nicholas Viana, and most of them were young Italians who came from homes in "The Valley" a slum area west of the river.
One time, four gang members, including young Nick Viana, were accosted by two police officers at 21st and Indiana Avenue. While the cops searched some of the young criminals’ pockets, Viana pulled out a pistol and shot one of the cops in the groin and the other in the leg. On another occasion, Thomas Errico allegedly planned the robbery of a poolroom which was located on Chicago’s South Side. When the place was packed, Errico gave a signal to his friends outside to get in the joint and start robbing. So Campione, Sansone and Viana entered the joint, while waving with their pistols, and robbed 15 people out of their cash and jewelry but something which was known as a “clean robbery” wasn’t in the gang’s book. One of the hostages foolishly reached for his pocket, and Campione pumped one bullet straight into the guy’s heart, thus killing him instantly.
So, all government investigators at the time obviously labeled the Cardinella crew as a “Black Hand” gang mainly because they were involved in non-sophisticated crimes such as extortion and murder. But the question is that whether they were connected to some of the Italian clans from the Chinatown or South Side area, or maybe even the Sicilian Mafia from the Northwest?
You see, these guys rarely sent threatening letters to their victims, which in fact was a Black Hand method but instead, in most cases they simply showed up at the wanted location and asked for money, and if they didn’t receive anything or if someone began making trouble, they simply killed them. One case stands out and gives a clue on whether the Cardinella crew was independent or not, when on October 14, 1919, five members of the gang entered a saloon at 4420 West 63rd Street and in the course of a holdup, killed the owner Martin (or Albert) Kublanza and one costumer.
Later the cops found that same car and also found out that it was registered on one of the members of the gang known as Santo Orlando who in fact drove the getaway car, and so ten days later Orlando’s body was found in a drainage canal with more than several bullets in his head and body. Story goes that someone approached Cardinella and asked for the lives of those who were involved in the Orlando hit. We don’t know if Cardinella was approached by some member or members of the Mafia or maybe even the Camorra, but we are 100% sure that the late Orlando was probably connected to one of those organizations or maybe even some other gang or syndicate.
Again, this raises a second question on whether Cardinella was a simple associate of some crime organization or he was a member? We obviously don’t have enough information and evidences regarding that type of question, but we know for that there were already more than few Italian clans around the Chinatown area and they also owned saloons, but they were never touched by the Cardinella crew, nor the crew was ever touched by them.
One thing is for sure and that is, at first Cardinella warned Frank Gibbia, the guy who executed the Orlando hit, and allegedly advised him to abandon the city. In no time Gibbia fled Chicago and went to New Orleans but after a while, he returned to Chicago to see his sister. So Cardinella had no choice but to obey the request and in August 1920, Gibbia was killed allegedly on Cardinella’s orders.
In November 1919, the cops arrested the whole gang and at first, on May 31, 1920, Errico, Crapo, Ferrara, Costanza, Lopez and Viana all were sentenced to death by hanging. Viana, Ferrara, Costanzo and Lopez were sentenced for the murder of Antonio Vurchetto, a simple baker, while Errico and Crapo were later sentenced to life in prison because they were the first ones who decided to cooperate.
Even though Cardinella didn’t directly participate in the murders, still on May 31, 1920, he was also found guilty for arranging the operations. Actually his case was unusual in the criminal jurisprudence in the state of Illinois at the time but under the English common law, which holds that the instigator of a murder is equally guilty with the slayer, he was sentenced to death and no sentimentality was expressed for his fate even by the most persistent opponents of capital punishment. In addition, the most interesting thing to note is that Cardinella and his gang tried to pull one quite crazy stunt by “coming back” from the dead after they got hanged, but allegedly they all failed.
22nd and 31st Streets, State Street, 39thand 95th Streets, Whiskey Row and South Side
John Johnson (gambling boss of all African-American operations on the South Side)
- Oscar De Priest (Second Ward Alderman under Johnson’s auspices)
- Sam Young (close associate of both the Irish and Italian factions and Johnson’s lieutenant)
- Julius Benvenuti (close associate of the African-American element on the South Side)
- Caesar Benvenuti
- Leo Benvenuti
- King Foo
- Andy Scott
- Bob Motts (in 1905 became Johnson’s enemy)
Chicago’s African-Americans were involved in organized crime since “day one” and these sophisticated crime groups operated independently to an extent, and also played an important role in the creation of many illegal rackets and future syndicates. The African-American organized crime groups differed from other criminal ethnic syndicates only in the fact that they always ran things mostly among their own race. Chicago’s South Side was a “black metropolis” that had its own elected officials, business community and underworld that had little interaction with “white” Chicago.
One of the black community’s earliest vice lords was John “Mushmouth” Johnson who was born in St. Louis in 1845 and in 1875 at the age of 30, he migrated to Chicago and started working as a waiter in the Palmer House Hotel and as a “floor man” in a downtown gambling hall. In 1882, he got his first taste of vice as an employee in one of the gambling houses on Gamblers' Row. By the late 1890’s, Johnson operated many gambling games on South Clark Street together with many white people, such as Andy Scott, a known vice operator.
At first Johnson was incorporated into both the First Ward political machine of Coughlin and Kenna and the Second Ward organization and later with the expanding African-American community on Chicago’s South Side, he developed into an African-American political force whose endorsement was sought by Republicans and Democrats alike. Legend goes that the policy game was a black man’s racket and allegedly it was first established by one of Johnson’s African-American associates known as Sam Young but it seems that the reality is different.
Young started as a porter on one of the gambling riverboats where he allegedly met Patsy King, member of the old Irish syndicate, who in turn explained to Young the whole policy operations. In fact, King taught Young on how the game works and they started operating together. “Policy Sam”, as he was known, came to Chicago’s South Side back in 1885 and allegedly explained the rules to the black people and used the same tactics as King, by taking bets and pulling numbers out of his hat. With the financial backing from the Irish syndicate, Johnson and Young managed to take the policy game on a much higher level.
During the late 1890’s they opened a saloon in the old Whiskey Row area, which was named The Mushmouth Saloon, and in 1900 it was renamed as The Emporium and besides craps, poker and billiard, the main game was policy. Some of the investigators at the time referred to Johnson as the "head henchman" or "lieutenant" for Kenna and Coughlin. Johnson also controlled gambling among the Chinese community with the help of one Oriental criminal only known as King Foo. They collected graft from more than 20 Chinese opium dens and gambling halls where Fan Tan and Bung Loo card games were played very often.
In 1903, Johnson and his syndicate received a “seat” on the gambling combine known as “the Trust”, and their interests were usually represented by Kenna and Coughlin. That same year, Johnson, Young and Foo received control over the policy wheel companies called the ''The Union” and “The Phoenix'', which were headquartered at The Emporium. In 1904, Reverend Reverdy Cassias Ransom, pastor of Chicago’s Institutional AME Church and Settlement House, which was located at 3825 South Dearborn Street began to attack what he called “the evils of policy gambling”, but in very short time “someone” bombed his church. The following year, Johnson was sued by one gambler for $15,000 supposedly lost on rigged games.
On top of that, 1905 one of Johnson’s long time associates Bob Motts decided to go against his boss allegedly because Johnson refused to include Motts in the proceedings from the policy operations. Back in 1890 Motts had been a porter in Johnson’s saloon and later opened a tavern and gambling hall further south on State Street in the Second Ward. Motts not only became known as a good “pay-off” for the police, but also worked to organize the black vote.
Motts reportedly paid saloon patrons and local women $5.00 a day to assist in political canvassing and in return for his political activities, he was able to obtain jobs for Chicago blacks and helped elect his protégé Edward Green to the Illinois legislature. So since Johnson refused to cut Motts in the policy operations, in retaliation Motts used his connections with Illinois congressman Green to press anti-policy legislation.
In 1906, tired of the continuing assaults from the press, police and unhappy gamblers, Johnson closed The Emporium and went down to the new Levee centered on 22nd and Dearborn streets. Over there he opened the Frontenac Club together with Tom McGinnis and Bill Lewis. This gambling hall catered only white men and there were no policy wheels.
The stress may have been too much for old Johnson because he died on September 13, 1907. A huge crowd attended his funeral at the Institutional AME Church, including many police inspectors. Some accounts indicate that Johnson’s money may have helped establish Binga State Bank, the nation’s first black-owned bank, in 1908. Later one of his daughters, Eudora Johnson had married Jesse Binga, the bank’s founder.
During the early 1910’s, the African-American population became staunch supporters of the Republican Party and the newly elected Mayor William Thompson. With the help of Mayor Thompson, the most corrupted government official in Chicago’s history, the black criminals saw the opportunity of bringing back their criminal operations on the streets of Chicago. Mayor Thompson depended on the black vote so he placed Oscar De Priest as a Second Ward Alderman, who became the first black Alderman.
In 1916, De Priest organized a “colored voters club” that demanded contributions from local gamblers in order to support upcoming elections. “King Oscar,” as the Chicago Tribune referred to De Priest, ran what was described as his “Tammany Club” from a real estate office at 35th and State. De Priest received a monthly tribute of thousands of dollars from gambling houses that he protected in the “Black Belt.”
The Mayor and De Priest swamped in corruption, which allowed the policy racket to reinvent and flourish free without police interference. That’s why by 1917, Sam Young still ruled the policy racket along South State St and his betting slips bore the name “Policy Sam” and opened a wheel at the Pullman Restaurant at Thirty-First State Street and named it the Frankfort, Henry and Kentucky policy wheel.
During that same time period, one part of the African-American population from the South moved westward along Lake Street and into the Near North Side. The majority of the population moved there because the rents were allegedly the cheapest in town at the time. So Young also met a lot of influential Italians and made alliances which helped in transferring or spreading his racket on the city’s North Side. One of Young’s most lucrative Italian connections was probably one tavern owner known as Julius Benvenuti, who in turn was a millionaire and was also well known among the black community.
The Benvenutis arrived around 1898 from Pisa Italy, and in 1900 the family was living on South State St, near 29th St, an area that had few Italians but was mostly mixed with Jewish and African-American populations. The Benvenuti brothers, Julius, Caesar and Leo, must've gained early familiarity with the black population due to growing up on the same block and this was probably a big push for their multi-million dollar criminal careers as "policy kings" in primarily black communities.
Julius Benvenuti was also very well connected with the “upper world” and one of his best friends was First District congressman Arthur Wergs Mitchell and with his protection, both Benvenuti and Young formed Chicago’s first well regulated policy wheel called The Blue Racer. Benvenuti placed Young as the headman for the operation who supervised the game at many carnivals or picnics that were organized by Benvenuti himself. By the late 1910’s, Benvenuti and Young operated another policy wheel called The Interstate Springfield Policy Company which became the largest policy operations in Chicago.
According to some reports, this particular syndicate generated around $500,000 a month or 6 million dollars in today’s money. The Interstate Springfield Company employed more than 300 policy runners who collected bets from 10 cents to one hundred dollars throughout the South, West and North sides of Chicago. The first time Benvenuti became noticed by the government was in 1919 when one state’s attorney decided to clean the old Second Ward from all gambling activities.
In 1920, Benvenuti together with corrupt policeman Eddie Mitchell went to trial for conspiracy to obstruct justice after the testimony of one African-American gambler who in turn was approached by the two men and was asked for $800 so they can fix his case, which was another proof of Benvenuti’s high level connections within Chicago’s judicial system. When one part of the black population from the South transferred on the North Side, later Benvenuti also began spreading his operations around the north, especially in Rogers Park and even in the northern suburb of Evanston, just over the city line from Rogers Park.
Many Mob historians say that Benvenuti was a close friend of John Torrio and Jim Colosimo during the days of Prohibition and after, but the thing is we couldn’t find any direct connection between them from this specific time period, although some of Benvenuti’s African-American colleagues were connected to the Torrio/Colosimo syndicate through the business of prostitution. In fact, we believe in the possibility that the Benvenutis became the main “bridge” or connection between the Italian syndicates and the African-American criminal world.
