Bottoms Gang
The Bottoms Gang was an American street gang in St. Louis, Missouri during the early 20th century. Their main criminal activities included voter intimidation, armed robbery, assault, illegal lottery, and murder. The gang's members were primarily Irish-American, with a handful of German and Missouri Creole members. The Bottoms Gang had a meteoric rise and fall in St. Louis's underworld. They feuded with the larger Egan's Rats gang and became notorious for going out of their way to attack members of the St. Louis Police Department. They made up for their lack of numbers with extreme violence . Crippled by arrests and murders, the Bottoms Gang had ceased to exist by the time America entered World War I. History The Bottoms Gang had their roots in the political gangs that infested St. Louis city wards at the beginning of the 20th century. One of the most powerful was headed by John "Bad Jack" Williams, a former detective turned gangster who acted as an underworld liaison for Democrat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the south are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center into the Mississippi River, which makes up the eastern border. With more than six million residents, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 19th-most populous state of the country. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Springfield, Missouri, Springfield and Columbia, Missouri, Columbia; the Capital city, capital is Jefferson City, Missouri, Jefferson City. Humans have inhabited w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas Egan (gangster)
Thomas Egan (November 1, 1874 – April 20, 1919) was an American politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling in St. Louis, Missouri. Egan was the namesake of the infamous Egan's Rats. The son of an Irish-American saloonkeeper, Egan was born and raised in Kerry Patch, then known as the riverfront Irish ghetto of St. Louis. With some of his childhood pals, he began running with a local gang of thugs, known as the Ashley Street Gang. Egan's best friend, Thomas "Snake" Kinney, was a local street tough and Democratic politician. During an ill-fated burglary attempt on October 17, 1894, Egan was shot through the face by a policeman. Tom survived but was left with an ugly scar on his jaw. Throughout the years, his stock in the gang climbed. By 1904, when Snake Kinney was elected to the Missouri State Senate, Tom Egan had taken over leadership of the street gang. On the night of January 15, 1907, Tom Egan shot one of his longtime enemies, Willie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Frank Wortman
Frank L. "Buster" Wortman (December 4, 1904 – August 3, 1968) was an American St. Louis-area bootlegger, gambler, criminal gang leader, and a former member of the Shelton Brothers Gang during Prohibition. Wortman would eventually succeed the Sheltons, and take over St. Louis's gambling operations in southwest Illinois until his death. Early life The son of an East St. Louis fire captain, Wortman spent his early years living in north St. Louis. John Worthmann, his grandfather, worked as a proofreader for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was killed when struck by a streetcar in 1894. Frank Wortman turned to crime in his late teens and was arrested for burglary. By 1926, he had begun running errands for the bootlegging Shelton Brothers. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Wortman was a prominent member of the gang, acting as an enforcer in southern Illinois. Time in Leavenworth In 1933, a federal agent was beaten during a raid on one of the Sheltons' distilleries, which Wortman ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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William Egan (gangster)
William Egan (June 7, 1884 – October 31, 1921) was a St. Louis politician and organized crime figure involved in bootlegging and illegal gambling. by Gary Ross Mormino (University of Missouri Press, 2002) p. 137 His brother was the namesake of the infamous . The son of an saloonkeeper, Egan was born and raised in the Kerry Patch, then known as the riverfront Irish ghetto of St. Louis. By his teens, Willie had followed his o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John "Pudgy" Dunn
John "Pudgy" Dunn (September 5, 1896 – July 14, 1937) was a St. Louis gangster and member of Egan's Rats. Born and raised in North St. Louis to Irish-American parents, John and his brother Harry, known as "Cherries", joined the Egan's Rats in their teens. John was nicknamed "Pudgy" because at the age of seventeen he carried 240 pounds on a 5'11" frame. John was known throughout the city as a dangerous brawler. While his older brother Harry was quick to use a gun to settle disputes, Pudgy often preferred to settle matters with his ham-like fists. While in Chicago with his brother Harry on November 5, 1914, the two Dunn brothers shot and killed a gangster named Robert Koch. Both men were convinced that Koch had been sent up from St. Louis to specifically kill them. While Harry got off scot free, Pudgy was convicted and sentenced to an Illinois prison. With John locked up, Harry went to great pains to get him free, even offering to snitch on his gang mates. Afraid that g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Harry "Cherries" Dunn
Harry "Cherries" Dunn (October 28, 1892 – September 19, 1916) was a St. Louis gangster and member of the Egan's Rats. Biography Born and raised in North St. Louis to Irish-American parents, Harry and his brother John, known as "Pudgy", joined the Egan's Rats in their teens. Harry, nicknamed "Cherries", was known as a ladies man and a daring crook. A first-class street fighter, Harry was quick on the trigger of a pistol and known for his hair-trigger temper. Locked up in the City Workhouse in the spring of 1913, Harry staged a daring escape and resumed his place in the Egan mob. While in Chicago with his brother John on November 5, 1914, the two Dunn brothers shot and killed a gangster named Robert Koch. Both men were convinced that Koch had been sent up from St. Louis to specifically kill them. While Harry got off scot free, Pudgy was convicted and sentenced to an Illinois prison. Frustrated that Egan gang boss Tom Egan hadn't done anything to help his imprisoned brother, H ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest outside of the Chicago metropolitan area (after Rockford), and the largest in central Illinois. Approximately 208,000 residents live in the Springfield metropolitan area. Springfield was settled by European-Americans in the late 1810s, around the time Illinois became a state. The most famous historic resident was Abraham Lincoln, who lived in Springfield from 1837 until 1861, when he went to the White House as President of the United States. Major tourist attractions include multiple sites connected with Lincoln including the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Lincoln-Herndon Law Offices State Historic Site, and the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery. Springfield lies in a valley and pla ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas Kinney
Thomas Kinney (March 3, 1868 – May 15, 1912), nicknamed "Snake", was a Missouri state senator and organized crime figure in St. Louis in the early 20th century. He was one of the founding members of the infamous Egan's Rats gang. The Irish-American Thomas "Snake" Kinney was born and raised in St. Louis's "Kerry Patch" neighborhood. He and his brothers, Michael Kinney, Michael and William J. Kinney, William, worked as newsboys during the late 19th century. Tom would always snatch the biggest bundle of papers for himself in the morning, but always square accounts with his victim at the end of the day. One newsboy who had been victimized by Kinney complained to a local beat cop, who exclaimed, "That little Kinney sneaked the papers!" The policeman spoke with a thick Irish brogue, so "sneaked" came out sounding like "snaked", hence Kinney's nickname. Despite his slender build, Kinney was known as a tough street fighter. He and his family lived on Collins Street, across from the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Irish-American
, image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone or in combination 10,899,442 (3.3%) Irish alone 33,618,500(10.1%) alone or in combination 9,919,263 (3.0%) Irish alone , popplace = Boston New York City Scranton Philadelphia New Orleans Pittsburgh Cleveland Chicago Baltimore Detroit Milwaukee Louisville New England Delaware Valley Coal Region Los Angeles Las Vegas Atlanta Sacramento San Diego Houston Dallas San Francisco Palm Springs, California Fairbanks and most urban areas , langs = English ( American English dialects); a scant speak Irish , rels = Protestant (51%) Catholic (36%) Other (3%) No religion (10%) (2006) , related = Anglo-Irish people Breton Americans Cornish Americans English Americans Irish Au ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Numbers Game
The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day. For many years the "number" has been the last three digits of "the handle", the amount race track bettors placed on race day at a major racetrack, published in racing journals and major newspapers in New York. Gamblers place bets with a bookmaker ("bookie") at a tavern, bar, barber shop, social club, or any other semi-private place that acts as an illegal betting parlor. Runners carry the money and betting slips between the betting parlors and the headquarters, called a numbers bank. Closely related is policy, known as the policy racket, or the policy game. The name "policy" is based on the similarity to cheap insurance, which is also a gam ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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August Anheuser Busch, Sr
August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in the original ten-month Roman calendar under Romulus in 753 BC, with March being the first month of the year. About 700 BC, it became the eighth month when January and February were added to the year before March by King Numa Pompilius, who also gave it 29 days. Julius Caesar added two days when he created the Julian calendar in 46 BC (708 AUC), giving it its modern length of 31 days. In 8 BC, it was renamed in honor of Emperor Augustus. According to a Senatus consultum quoted by Macrobius, he chose this month because it was the time of several of his great triumphs, including the conquest of Egypt. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has 31 days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |