On January 16, 1919; the United States commander in chief, President Woodrow Wilson, signed into law the 18th amendment. The introduction of a nationwide prohibition may have seemed upsetting to some, but others saw it as an opportunity. Between 1920 and 1933 mafias throughout the country made millions illegally selling alcohol, but it came with a price. St. Louis Mafias of the 1920’s were rooted in the idea of being part of a community, and crime was just a part of the lifestyle. This essay will focus on the organized crime that took place in St. Louis during prohibition and the stories of some of the city’s most notorious Criminals.
Prohibition lasted 13 years; from 1920 to 1933. Though alcohol was deemed federally illegal to produce, transport and sell, the increase in demand for the substance skyrocketed. People began paying much more money for far less product. Organized crime now had the ability to make money on a product that was extremely cheap to produce and could sell at an unbelievably high cost.
During the first year of the nationwide alcohol drought, crime in the St. Louis rose ten percent. During the late 1800’s the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), one of the most powerful and respected women’s groups of the 19th century, began campaigning for women’s rights. Of the many issues the organization addressed, the eradication of the consumption of alcohol was at the top of their agenda. Led by Frances Willard, a former Northwestern University professor, the WCTU was able to gain momentum with the temperance movement.
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Frances Willard and the WCTU believed that alcohol led to poverty within America and created violence within the home. The temperance campaign was an attempt to keep men from spending money at the bar, and so women and families would feel safe at home. As the movement became more publicized, it was clear that women and Protestants were in support of the idea, and men and Catholics were opposed.
During the time that the 18th amendment was enforced, St. Louis had seven major mafias that controlled the city. The four most notorious for rumrunning and crime are the Egan’s Rats, the Hogan Gang, the Pillow Gang, and the Shelton Gang. The mafias of St. Louis were ruthless crime organizations that not only partook in the sale and distribution of liquor; they were also involved in voter fraud, voter intimidation as well as murder plots. The Egan Rats is notoriously known as the most feared gang during the St. Louis prohibition era.
The organization was a predominately Irish-American was founded by Thomas “Snake” Kinney and Thomas Egan. The gang was officially founded in 1890 but began its roots can be traced back to the Ashley gang which began in the early 1880’s. The gang performed several bank burglaries, train heists, and mail robberies as well as rumrunning as a means to make money. At the peak of the mafia’s influence, it had nearly four-hundred men at its disposal.
Gang founder Thomas Egan was just sixteen years old when he and his best friend, Thomas Kinney (then twenty-two) started the gang. The two gangsters grew up across the street from one another. Kinney started as street fighters as a way to earn money but later found that pickpocketing was a more lucrative hobby. In the beginning days of the organization, the two young men would recruit other boys in the neighborhood to join their pickpocketing ring and would split the earnings. By the late 1800’s, Thomas “Snake” Kinney decided that he wanted to be done with the petty crimes, so Egan took over the gang, and Kinney pursued a political career.
Kinney had nearly 200 men that worked for him; because of this, the members were able to “pursue” voters in 1890 to elect Thomas “snake” Kinney into the St. Louis democratic committee. Now the gang not only had one of the largest organized crime organizations in the city, it now had a political advantage over all its rivals as well. Throughout the next 20 years, the Egan Rat gang would continue to make alliances with political powers like the head of the police board Harry Hawes. Within the first ten years from the creation of what first seemed to be a small petty theft ring, turned into the most potent and feared mafia in all the city. Kinney would use his political leverage to get information, and the gang would then execute some of the largest robberies in the history of the state.
The robberies took place in banks, mail trucks, homes, and even trains. One of the most famous robberies the Egan Rats ever partook in was the armored mail truck robbery. The gang received information that an armored mail truck was going the be in downtown St. Louis and would be caring a tremendous amount of cash and bonds. In that one robbery, the mafia stole 2.5 million dollars worth of cash and government bonds. To put that into perspective that is equivalent to nearly 30 million dollars in today’s money.
On April 2, 1923; the Rat Gang, in one robbery, made half of their lifetime earnings. It seemed as though no one could stop the Rats no one could even come close to taking over their regime; no one except the Hogans. The Hogan Gang may have been the only genuine opposition to the Egan Rats. Founded in 1917 by Edward ‘Jellyroll’ Hogan. Edward, the son of the St. Louis police captain, was a politician. Edward held many different positions in government; most notably, the deputy inspector for the State Beverage Department of Missouri. Edward Hogan was an Irish-American, raised in that used his position in government to aid him and his gang in illegal activities.
Bibliography
- Auble, John. A History of St. Louis Gangsters: A Chronology of Mob Activity on Both Sides of the River Ranging from the Egan Rats to the Last Mob Leader on Record. The National Criminal Research Society. 2002.
- English, T.J. Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
- Montesi, Albert and Richard Deposki Historic North St. Louis. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.
- Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime. New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001.
- Sifakis, Carl. The Mafia Encyclopedia. New York: Da Capo Press, 2005.
- Waugh, Daniel. Egan’s Rats: The Untold Story Of The Gang That Ruled Prohibition-era St. Louis. Nashville: Cumberland House, 2007.
- Trask, Herbert A. ‘Gangster Past Haunted ‘Jellyroll’ Hogan.’ St. Louis Post Dispatch(St. Louis), August 16, 1963.
- Waugh, Daniel. Gangs of St. Louis: Men of Respect. Charleston: The History Press, 2010.
