Johnny Jack Nounes
Johnny Jack Nounes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | John Louis Nonus January 12, 1890 Galveston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | March 11, 1970 (aged 80) Galveston, Texas, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupation(s) | Mob Boss |
| Title | Boss |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 3 |
| Parent(s) | Emanuel Nonus and Angelica Pinto Nonus |
| Allegiance | Downtown Gang |
| Conviction(s) | 1924 and 1929 |
| Criminal charge | Bootlegging |
| Penalty | Imprisonment, Leavenworth Penitentiary and Atlanta Penitentiary |
| Mayor of West Beach, Galveston, Texas | |
| In office 1947–1949 | |
| Mayor of Pirates Beach, Galveston, Texas | |
| In office 1960–? | |
Johnny Jack Nounes, also known as the "
Family and early life
Johnny Jack Nounes was born John Louis Nonus in
One of Johnny's earliest jobs was a butcher. He would save all of the meat scraps and, at the end of the day, would give them to his younger brother Francis so that Francis could take them home to their struggling family. Around 1914 Johnny changed his last name from "Nonus" to "Nounes", maybe because he got involved with some type of criminal activity didn't want to ruin his family name as well as releasing it to rivals. So that how his name was born, Johnny Jack Nounes.[4]
Prohibition
As the prohibition of alcohol started to take way in the early 1920s, Nounes rounded up his gang, known as the Downtown Gang, with soldiers and went to work rum-running. During this time a young Syrian named George Musey stepped into the picture. He became Nounes' right-hand man, running the Downtown Gang with him. Among the earliest gang members were Theodore "Fatty" Owens, Otis Skains, Mitchell "Mitch" Frankovitch, Kye Gregory, Morris "Kid" Ross, Joe Varnell, Lawrence "King Coal" Balkey, and Tom Lera. The gang was stronger than ever with Nounes and Musey leading. Their midnight travels through rum-row made them more money than ever, which Nounes soon became a millionaire.[4]
Johnny owned a boat called the Cherokee which had an airplane engine installed in it so it could out run any federal prohibition agent that tried to catch it. That boat was loaded with many cases of liquor from the
Johnny Jack had the money coming in from the bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and hijacking. He would even hijack the Beach Gang's shipments and cheat the Cubans out of thinking soap coupons were money when buying booze. If anyone gave him any lip he would beat them with his gold-headed cane. He had all the popular gangsters of the time associating with him from Chicago's Al Capone and allegedly New York's Arnold Rothstein.[5] He was a funny flamboyant man who liked to be the center of attention. Being a generous man, would carry around a bundle of $100 bills and would give them to anybody in need. He would drive around in his fancy cars and buy toys for the kids around town on Christmas. He made a lot of money, but also gave a lot away.[4]
"Beau Brummell of Galveston"
In the late 20s, New York's society experienced this flashy prominent mobster head of the Galveston Crime Syndicate. Nounes took a trip up to
Trials and Prison
Nounes was convicted in 1924 due to bootlegging. He received up to two years in
Post-Prohibition and Later Life
After Nounes' release, and around the time
Health Problems and Death
By the late 1960s Nounes had lost both of his legs due to diabetes, and later died on March 11, 1970,[6] at St. Mary's Hospital, Galveston. One of his pallbearers at his honorary pallbearers was mobster Dutch Voight. He is buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.
See also
- George Musey
- Dutch Voight
- Frank Nitti
- Downtown Gang
- Free State of Galveston
- Ollie Quinn
- Rosario Maceo
- Sam Maceo
- Al Capone
Notes
- ^ Haile (1998), p. 15. "Johnny Jack’s free-spending flamboyance earned him folk-hero status among tolerant Galvestonians but also attracted the attention of federal agents, who succeeded in sending him to Leavenworth in 1924."
- ^ Haile (1998), p. 15. "Less than two years after his triumphant return, Nounes and partner Musey were caught red-handed at Seabrook with a boatload of booze."
- ^ Cartwright (1998), pg. 210.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-87565-190-3.
- ^ url=https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/crimemyths/conversations/topics/13334}}
- ^ a b c url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Maceos_and_The_Free_State_of_Galveston_T/iJTFDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=johnny+jack+nounes&pg=PA62&printsec=frontcover
References
- Cartwright, Gary (1998). Galveston: a history of the island. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0-87565-190-9.
- Haile, Bartee (2014). Texas Depression-Era Desperadoes. The History Press. ]
- Haile, Bartee (16 March 2005). "Bootleggers Shoot It Out In Galveston" (PDF). The Lone Star Iconoclast. 6 (16): 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
- Nieman, Robert (Fall 2008). "Galveston's Balinese Room" (PDF). Texas Ranger Dispatch (27). Texas Ranger Association Foundation.
- McCaslin, Richard B. (2014). Galveston's Maceo Family Empire: Bootlegging and the Balinese Room. The History Press. ]
- Burton, Milton (2010). "Johnny Jack". Southern Crime. Yahoo.
- Roberts, Joe (1995). The House of Blue Lights. Black Swan. ISBN 9780552995795.
- Roark, Garland (1964). The Coin of Contraband. Doubleday. ASIN B000XOGSL8.
george musey.
- Finstuen, Doc (January 2002). "Fred Musey: Galveston Bootlegger and Club Operator" (PDF). The Lookout Journal. 1 (1). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
- Ogden, Tom (2014). Haunted Chicago. Globe Pequot. ]
- Hughes, John (2014). The Mafia Court: Corruption in Chicago. Trine Day. ISBN 978-1937584528.
- Fountain, Kimber (2020). The Maceo's and the Free State of Galveston. The History Press. ISBN 978-1467143530.
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