Vinson: Scarface and Tennessee

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.