Lepke Buchalter

It's funny after finishing Paul R. Kavieff's biography of Lepke BuchalterThe Life and Times of Lepke Buchalter: America's Most Ruthless Labor Racketeer I can honestly say that I feel no sympathy for Louis Buchalter. I've felt more sympathy for serial killers than I did for Lepke. It stands to reason though. Lepke could not have been who he was if a wuss like me could identify with him! Let's see...started out as your basic pick pocket. Discovered more money in busting heads for or against labor unions. Discovered the real money was in taking over the businesses that he'd worked for. A lot of times the prior owners were killed or maimed when they protested. On the side he was the CEO of Murder, Inc. a group of hit men who specialised in killing people who displeased the mob. He did it all so well, too. In the end, he was taken down by a ruse conceived by Lucky Luciano and eventually paid the ultimate price for ordering the murder of a hapless trucking company owner he had hounded out of his business and never adequately compensated. Never pays to be cheap.

I've got mixed emotions about this book. I'm not sure if my lack of enthusiasm isn't because hoods aren't thieves.

Vivian Again

so far I actually have 2 candidates for my little theory that Vivian was born or raised in Springfield but her maiden name was not Davis...Vivian Gaunt 11 years old in 1911 and Vivian Byrne 12 years old in 1911. Both in Springfield for the right time frame. In fact Vivian Gaunt moved from Springfield around 1917. It may be a wild goose chase but hey...nothing ventured nothing gained.

Hmmm...

OK, so for a while now Vivian's kind of had me stumped. It's like the more I learn the less I know. I'd been thinking that maybe Vivian Davis wasn't her maiden name. The marriage certificate to George Chase listed her maiden name as Vivian Davis from KC, MO and her age as 19. I can find Vivian Davis earlier in that year (1920) in the census as a single waitress in KC, MO. When she was booked for her fight with Mrs. Flournoy in 1926 she listed her hometown as Springfield, MO. Now, I've looked for Vivian Davis in Springfield and I found one. But she died in 1920 at 15 years old.

Vivian was most likely born around 1901; unfortunately, birth certificates were not required in MO until 1910. (For now, I'm sticking to MO as a birth place) The MO state archives has a wonderful website with digital vital records and indexes for the period before 1910. But no luck. I'm more than likely going to need to travel for what I'm looking for in KC (school records and such)to determine if there was a Vivian Davis who at school there during the right time period. That is going to have to wait for a while until I can afford to get away. So while I'm waiting to pursue that angle I'll see if I can't find another Vivian in Springfield during the right time frame. I found some old school records online so.... It's just one possibility and it won't hurt. Might not help but it won't hurt.

The Starker Big Jack Zelig

Anyone who's followed my blog is aware that I enjoy Rose Keefe's work so it won't come as any surprise that I think The Starker: Big Jack Zelig, the Becker-Rosenthal Case, and the Advent of the Jewish Gangster
is much better than good.

What surprised me was Keefe's ability to bring Zelig to life. While I was excited when I heard about the book (research on a period that deserves a more detailed look), I had my doubts that someone who has been dead for over 90 years and who has NOT been studied in depth could be “brought to life” {clichés exist for a reason}. As much as I love her work, I honestly wondered whether Rose Keefe could pull it off. She did!

“Big Jack Zelig” is only a marginal figure in most crime histories. He rose to prominence as ‘the” NYC Jewish Gang leader in the first decade of the 20th century. Here’s a man who died in 1912 and, in most histories, whose chief claim to fame had been the circumstances of his death. He was murdered by Red Phil Davidson in order to keep him from testifying for the defense in the Herman "Beansy" Rosenthal murder trial. The Rosenthal murder was the crime of the century during this time period. Charles Becker a NYPD Lieutenant was railroaded and executed for the murder. Zelig was to testify in his defense but was killed to prevent his naming the true killers and exonerating Becker.

Keefe introduces readers to Zelig Zvi Lefkowitz more person than myth. A young, bright child, who did not understand why the money that he drew wouldn't ease his family and neighbors' lives, Zelig, was a bright kid from a respectable family who chose to steal (how familiar). In his teens he became an accomplished "gun" as pickpockets were called then. When he was younger he could bring tears to his eyes at will when he was caught to feign hunger and desperate need so his victims would have sympathy for him. Oddly enough, he was only a peripheral member of Monk Eastman's gang, while he was a good thief, Zelig wasn't a standout thug. He actually chickened out on the first murder he agreed to do. A trip to Chicago and a severe beating at the hands of gamblers changed that. He returned to NYC a hardened man who would not back down. Keefe writes about Zelig's world detailing an array of colorful gang members, seedy gamblers, and corrupt politicians with just enough detail to be enjoyable with out ever getting too scholarly.

To me a good historical biography knows what to leave out. The book never stopped being about Big Jack Zelig. It would be easy to let the Herman Rosenthal murder and the Becker trials overwhelm Zelig's story. I could go on and on but in a nutshell Rose Keefe did a lot better than I would have thought possible. She takes her subject a man who has become a marginal figure in the 90 years after his death and lets the reader understand just who Big Jack Zelig is and why some people called him great. This book is a lot better than good. Take a look at Rose Keefe's Zelig web page for more information: http://www.jackzelig.com/

The Jews of Sing Sing

The Jews of Sing Sing by Ron Arons would have been much more enjoyable if I didn't have prior knowledge about the subject matter. The book is short on analysis. If you don't know anything about historic crime, you might find Arons' book interesting.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

Tuesday, Dec 30 at 8:30 AM I have my exam. That afternoon I can start to read again! It's been so long since I've read an interesting book! I think I am going to start with the Jews of Sing Sing by Ron Arons just because I love the title!

Serenity Now!

OK, here's the problem....there is just too much stuff!!! I have been trying to go through the Denver Mint robbery files; organizing the Cherryvale Bank Robbery info, take care of my family, and hold down a full time job. Oh yeah, I also have to study for another exam. So anyone waiting for me to send them a copy of something I will get to it but think Fall with the turning of the leaves and cooler temps.

MURDER CITY

Michael Lesy's book Murder City is a great read if your looking for something light but still dealing with historical crime for vacation reading. He doesn't tell you about every murder in Chicago during the 20's. He avoids the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and the Leopold & Loeb's murder of Bobby Franks because both have had extensive coverage.

The book shines in the chapters discussing the cases that are forgotten today. Cases like the first one of Carl Wanderer a war veteran who murdered his wife and an out of luck stranger that he had hired to look like a mugger. When I showed an acquaintance wanderer's picture he said "he doesn't look like a murderer". I think that's the point of Lesy's book for the most part he concentrates on the cases concerning people who are ordinary people who carry through a bad idea. Some of the stories are spooky because the details are the things I've heard about as anecdotes but never thought it happened, but it did! The transvestite Fred Thompson who married both a man and a woman and is falsely accused of a murder. He asked for a "white man's chance", but was actually better off being thought of as a white woman. Charles Church who murdered two men and then butchered them because he wanted a new Packard. He led the police on a merry dance telling them what they wanted to hear with as many different versions of what happened as there were investigators. When he's brought to trial he withdraws so far into himself that he becomes the walking dead. The original cases that spawned the musical Chicago and the the fact that battered women syndrome was a very effective defense in Chicago during the 20's. This book is a great read. My only complaint are the chapters spent on Chicago's beer wars there's nothing new here and a couple of facts are a little off. I'd have rather the space been given to some other long forgotten murder case.