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1900s in organized crime

This is a list of organized crime in the 1900s, arranged chronologically.

1900

Events

Births

1901

Events

  • The Olympis Café, a dive bar in Chicago's Whiskey Row vice district, is opened by Sime Tuckhorn and quickly becomes frequented by the city's white slavery traders.
  • Summer – Monk Eastman, while traveling through the Bowery, is attacked near Chatham Square by several members of the Five Points Gang. Eastman, armed only with brass knuckles and a slingshot, manages to fight them off knocking out three of the attackers before being shot twice in the stomach by the fourth member. Quickly fleeing the area, Eastman managed to walk to Gouverneur Hospital where he stayed for several weeks. Eastman refuses to speak to police about the incident. However, only a week after his release, a Five Pointer was found shot to death between Grand and Chrystie Streets.

Births

1902

Events

Births

1903

Events

  • New York Secret Service Chief William J. Flynn issues a statement regarding the Black Hand as "the most secret and terrible organization in the world".
  • Spring – Backed by Monk Eastman, the Cherry Hill Gang and a new generation of Whyos under Bill "the Brute" Sanger begin fighting amongst each other resulting in hundreds being injured in gunfights. Crime in the area, particularly armed robbery and assault, dramatically increases as a result.
  • April 14 – New York police find a body stuffed in a barrel, similar to the New Orleans "barrel murders" of the previous decade. The dead man was later identified by a US Secret Service agent as Benedetto Madonia, an associate of counterfeiters and Black Hand leaders Giuseppe Morello, Tomasso "The Ox" Petto, and Ignazio "the Wolf" Lupo. This would later lead to an investigation by New York police detective Joseph Petrosino.
  • September 16–17 – A particularly violent gun battle between the Eastman and the Five Points Gangs, over an attempted raid by the Five Pointers of a local Rivington Street stuss game, eventually involves over a hundred gangsters (including the Gophers who fired at both the Eastmans and Five Pointers alike) causing Tammany Hall to force leaders Monk Eastman and Paul Kelly to make peace.
  • Winter – The truce between Monk Eastman and Paul Kelly ends after a barroom brawl in a Bowery dive bar between gang members Hurst and Ford, of the Eastmans and Five Pointers respectively, with Hurst seriously injured. Eastman, demanding Ford's life, threatens to invade Kelly's territory. With Kelly's refusal to turn Ford over to the Eastmans, both sides again prepare for war. However, a truce is again arranged by Tammany Hall politician Tom Foley, who threatens to withdraw political protection from the gangs if they did not comply. A prize fight is arranged between the two gang leaders which lasts over two hours until both men eventually collapse and the fight is declared a draw. Following the fight, both gang leaders continue preparing for war.
  • Giuseppe Masseria emigrates to New York, United States from Sicily to escape a murder charge.

Births

1904

Events

Births

1905

Events

Births

Deaths

1906

Events

Arts and literature

Births

1907

Events

  • Charles Luciano is arrested for shoplifting.
  • April 17 – Joseph Petrosino arrests Neapolitan camorrista Don Enrico Alfano while investigating the Black Hand and holds him for deportation to Italy.
  • August 1 - Joe Masseria is arrested for burglary and extortion but is released on suspended sentence.
  • August – Upon the death of Michael Cassius McDonald on August 9, the Chicago crime lord's criminal operations are divided among his former lieutenants: Chicago alderman Jacob "Mont" Tennes, gambler "Big" Jim O'Leary and the Bud White Combine. However, three main factions arise as a bombing campaign to control the city's illegal gambling operations continues throughout the summer.

Births

1908

Events

Births

Deaths

1909

Events

Births

Deaths

  • March 12 – Joseph Petrosino, New York police detective
  • August 15 – Bow Kum, Tong slave girl
  • December 30 – Ah Hoon, a comedian and associate of the On Leong Tong

References