Michael Cassius McDonald
Michael Cassius McDonald | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1839 Niagara Falls, New York, US |
Died | August 9, 1907 Chicago, Illinois, US | (aged 67–68)
Burial place | Mount Olivet Cemetery |
Occupation(s) | Crime boss, political boss, businessman |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Mary Ann Noonan
(m. 1871; div. 1889)Dora Barkley (m. 1895) |
Children | 3 |
Michael Cassius McDonald (c. 1839 – August 9, 1907) was a crime boss, political boss, and businessman based out of Chicago. He is considered to have introduced organized crime to the city, and to have also established its first political machine. At the height of his power, he had influence over politicians of all levels in the state of Illinois.[1]
McDonald permanently settled in Chicago as an adult sometime after the
In the mid-1890s, McDonald retired from the gambling business, and his gambling circuit deconsolidated under the leadership of several different crime bosses.
Early life and family
McDonald was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1839.[2] McDonald and his family lived in an Irish enclave of Niagara County, New York.[3]
McDonald father was Edward "Ed" McDonald.
McDonald's mother was born in
McDonald's father was a strict disciplinarian who regularly administered corporal punishment to his children for misbehavior.[5]
The younger McDonald, despite his father's urging, refused to pursue a job as a
In the autumn of 1854, a fifteen year old McDonald traveled to Chicago on a two-week trip.[8] He returned to Chicago two years later along with four friends from school.[8] In Chicago he worked as a "train butcher", selling candy and goods to train passengers.[7][8] He committed a number of swindles while working.[8] In 1860, he quit train butchering, and moved to New Orleans.[9] In New Orleans he took note of the gambling culture there.[9]
During the American Civil War, he organized groups of fraudulent enlistees who enlisted under false aliases multiple times to collect the $500 bounties.[10] In this scheme, he colluded with army deserters, who had agreed to turn themselves in, to then reenlist, and then split the commission which McDonald received for recruiting them.[11]
Return to Chicago
Sometime after the American Civil War he returned to Chicago. After having spent some time financing a traveling
McDonald had a common-law marriage, until his common-law wife ran away to join a convent in St. Louis.[14]
In the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, McDonald lost the entirety of his real estate and businesses, which were uninsured. Within a few weeks of the fire, McDonald managed to raise enough funds to establish a saloon at State Street and Harrison Street, where illegal card games were featured.[15]
On December 5, 1871, McDonald married Mary Ann Noonan, a
Criminal and political rule in Chicago
In the mid-1870s, McDonald would engage in a number of ventures which would make him a multi-millionaire by the mid-1880s.[17]
In 1873, McDonald opened a gaming parlor named "The Store".[18][19] It was a four-floor building located at the northwest corner of the intersection of North Clark Street and West Monroe Street.[1][20][19] This was McDonald's first major business venture.[19] "The Store" proved to be an instant success.[19] The games were rigged, but it became a gambling mecca and a major attraction in the city.[1] It contained a saloon, hotel, and a fine dining establishment in addition to its games.[19] Some sources attribute the origin of the famous phrase "there's a sucker born every minute" to McDonald, who reportedly said it in response to concerns a crony voiced about whether the parlor could attract enough costumers to fill the large number of gaming tables in the venue.[1][20][19]
McDonald developed a system under which he was paid tribute by the city's gambling establishments and brothels, and, in exchange, would use his influence to ensure that they could operate without police interference.[21][22]
McDonald's criminal activities in the 1870s and 1880s are considered to mark the beginning of
Another profitable venture which McDonald ran was a
McDonald became involved in Chicago's politics, forming a political organization that was dubbed the "gambler's trust".[20] This is considered to have been Chicago's first political machine.[25][26][27] Some consider his political activities to have laid the base upon which the city's modern Democratic Party was built.[20] In 1873, by which time McDonald was well-established in the criminal underbelly of Chicago, he organized the successful mayoral campaign of his close friend Harvey Doolittle Colvin. Colvin's victory garnered McDonald great influence in the city.[1] McDonald, thus, gained a friend in the mayor's office, as opposed to the previous anti-gambling mayor Joseph Medill, who had made many efforts at reform in the city.[20] McDonald's political influence experienced a setback when Chicago elected reform mayor Monroe Heath in 1876.[20] However, a McDonald-backed candidate would soon return to the mayor's office. Appreciating his liberal views on liquor consumption and gambling, McDonald supported Carter Harrison Sr. for mayor in the 1879 Chicago mayoral election,[20][28] playing a major role in Harrison's election as mayor.[17] McDonald would come to have many of the city's politicians under his influence.[20] By the peak of his influence, he would receive the nickname "King Mike", and would brag that he "ran the town" and had the city's police department "under his thumb".[20] McDonald established an alliance between the city's gambling interests and its politicians which saw some illegal gaming revenue used to fund Democratic Party political operations.[20] As a political boss, he became so powerful in the city's Democratic Party, that, for some time, he held an effective veto over the selection of candidates to be the party's nominees for election in the city.[21][29]
While mayor, Monroe Heath ordered raids on McDonald's gambling operations. On November 23, 1878, there was a police raid on McDonald's personal apartment, located on the third floor of "the Store". McDonald was not home, but his wife Mary was. Mary hated cops, and fired a gunshot from a pistol that killed a police officer conducting the raid.[10][30] She was arrested, but McDonald used his influence to secure her release.[10] The shooting was ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide[10][30] after McDonald bribed a judge.[10] Amid these raids, he had his saloon license briefly revoked, but it was restored within a week.[31]
After the shooting incident, McDonald moved his wife and two children out of "The Store" and into a mansion that was built for them on Ashland Avenue, near Mayor Harrison's own residence.[30] However, months later, Mary McDonald left her husband to pursue a relationship with a notable minstrel singer in San Francisco.[1][30] McDonald went to San Francisco to pursue them, and this was treated as an item of great amusement by Chicago's newspapers.[30] Ultimately, he found his wife and her lover, and Mary asked McDonald to take her back. The two returned to Chicago.[30]
In 1882, McDonald was indicted for running a gaming house, but was able to get off, in part due to
In 1882, McDonald bought the short-lived newspaper the Chicago Globe.[1][20][17] He sought to utilize the newspaper to influence both elections and to persuade the passage of municipal ordinances that he favored.[17]
At a private meeting held at the White House, McDonald was able to convince Chester A. Arthur to pardon a colleague of his who had been convicted in a pyramid scheme.[32]
Around the year 1885, McDonald created a book-making syndicate which held control of gambling at racetracks in Chicago and Indiana.[31] The most notable racetrack was Garfield Park Racetrack.[17]
In 1885, McDonald claimed to be retiring from the gambling business.[33] In early 1885, McDonald also said he was going to retire from politics.[34] Both would prove not to be the case, and he would remain involved in politics until his death and would not retire from the gambling business until roughly a decade later.[20][35]
In February 1885, a month before the
Various contracting firms which McDonald owned would receive sweetheart deals from the city government, thanks to a number of alderman popularly dubbed "Mike McDonald's Democrats".
During the 1887 mayoral election, in which there was resultingly no Democratic nominee, the
By the mid-1880s, McDonald had invested in the transit company of
Since they reunited, McDonald had become distant from his wife Mary, being away on business much of the time. Mary busied herself with religion, even building an altar in their Ashland Avenue home and having a private priest hired to administer sacred rights and say mass.
In the 1891 Chicago mayoral election, ahead of the Democratic nominating convention, McDonald supported incumbent mayor DeWitt Clinton Cregier for re-nomination over Carter Harrison,[52] the latter of whom was seeking to make a comeback and win a fifth nonconsecutive term as mayor.[53] Cregier would win renomination, but would lose the general election after Harrison ran an independent campaign, helping to split the Democratic Party vote.[54] In October 1892, McDonald came out in support of Benjamin Harrison for reelection as president.[55]
By the time of the
During the 1893
In the mid-1890s, McDonald retired from the gambling business.[35] After he retired from gambling, the gambling circuit deconsolidated, and became divided between numerous bosses governing different territories.[20]
Later years
McDonald's last decade saw much family turmoil.
In the winter of 1895, McDonald's father Ed McDonald passed away.[4]
Around New Year's 1895, McDonald married 25-year old Flora "Dora" Feldman McDonald.
There were disputes within McDonald's
McDonald's wife Dora had begun began a
Dora Feldman McDonald's
Death
McDonald died in Chicago on August 9, 1907.[1][71] At his side when he died was his ex-wife Mary.[32] He owned $2 million in assets at the time of his death.[32] He had set up a $25,000 legal defense fund to pay for his widow Dora's legal defense, a significant amount of money in that day.[60] This paid for a legal team with notable lawyers, led by A. S. Trude.[32] Her lawyers argued that she had shot Guerin in self-defense.[72] Ultimately, in January 1908, his widow would be acquitted after only five hours of deliberation by a jury.[60][73]
McDonald was interred in a mausoleum at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago.
Portrayal in pop culture
McDonald's elegant and flamboyant dress inspired the appearance of the character Gaylord Ravenal in Edna Ferber's 1926 book Show Boat.[10] The book was quickly adapted into the musical of the same name, and the musical has seen several film, radio and television adaptions.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Sawyers, June (October 2, 1988). "A 'King' Who Had Us in His Back Pocket". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ^ English, p. 73
- ^ a b c d e f g h Pucci 2019 p.13
- ^ a b c d e Lindberg 2009 pp.8–9f
- ^ Pucci 2019 pp.13–14
- ^ Lindberg 2009 p.11
- ^ a b Pucci 2019 p.14
- ^ a b c d Lindberg 2009 p.12
- ^ a b Lindberg 2009 p.14
- ^ ISBN 9781620452622.
- ^ a b c d English, p. 74
- ^ "Billiards and Faro: The Champion McDevitt, and Three Gamblers Arrested for Conspiracy". Chicago Tribune. November 13, 1868. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'Faro and Billiards': Partial Examination of McDevitt, Page, McDonald and Swift". Chicago Tribune. November 14, 1868. p. 4. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Potash, Larry (March 29, 2021). "How a pre-Capone Chicago crime king's changed Chicago forever". WGN-TV. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.33
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.34
- ^ a b c d e f g English, p. 78
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.36
- ^ a b c d e f English, p. 75
- ^ ISBN 978-0-252-09448-4. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Rodgers, Andrew (August 26, 1997). "In the Beginning..." chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
- ^ Nash, Jay Robert. "The Chicago 'Politics' of Hinky Dink and Bathhouse John". annalsofcrime.com. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ "mike_mcdonald". Chicago Gang History.
- ^ English, pp. 77 and 78
- ^ Engber, Daniel (September 8, 2006). "How did Chicago get to be so corrupt?". Slate Magazine. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Murphy, Kathleen (November 6, 2018). "Conservatives Must Fight to Reform Illinois Politics". National Review. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Boas, Sammi (May 19, 2021). "The Ripple: Why is Chicago called the Windy City?". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ Linberg 2009 pp.102–104
- ^ Shenker, Jack (June 21, 2016). "Which are the most corrupt cities in the world?". The Guardian. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g English, p. 80
- ^ a b c Peterson, Virgil W. (1944). "Chicago's Crime Problem". Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. 35 (1).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pucci, Kelly (May 9, 2012). "Chicago's Original Crime Boss: Michael Cassius McDonald Crime Magazine". www.crimemagazine.com. Crime Magazine. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ^ "Recalls the Wide-Open Days". The Chicago Chronicle. August 29, 1897. p. 28. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Striving After Wind". Chicago Inter Ocean. June 16, 1885. p. 4. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Lindberg 2009, p. 229
- ^ Labor and Urban Politics: Class Conflict and the Origins of Modern Liberalism in Chicago, 1864-97 Front Cover Richard Schneirov University of Illinois Press, 1998 (pages 166-67)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7953-3985-1. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
- ISBN 9781476663777. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g English, p. 81
- ^ Lindberg 2009 p. 89
- ^ a b Fanning, Charles (July 15, 2014). "Finley Peter Dunne and Mr. Dooley: The Chicago Years". University Press of Kentucky. p. 57. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ Haugh, Todd (February 23, 2013). "Chicago's "Great Boodle Trial"". Chicago-Kent College of Law. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
- ^ Linberg 2009 pp.10, 140–141
- ^ Lindberg 2009 p.155
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.50
- ^ Lindberg 2009 p.156
- ^ "Green Line: Lake branch". www.chicago-l.org. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
- ^ Lindberg 2009 pp.157–158
- ^ a b c "Chicago L.org: History - Lake Street L Chronology (1888-1924)". www.chicago-l.org. Chicago "L".org. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
- ^ "Eloped With a Priest.; The Wife of a Chicago Gambler Disappears With Her Confessor". The New York Times. Chicago. August 21, 1889. p. 5. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "M. C. M'Donald's Suit". Chicago Tribune. September 12, 1889. p. 3. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "'I Am His Friend': M. C. McD". Chicago Tribune. March 18, 1891. p. 5. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Kantowicz, Edward. "The Emergence of the Polish-Democratic Vote in Chicago." Polish American Studies, vol. 29, no. 1/2, 1972, pp. 67–80. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20147849.
- ISBN 9781476663777. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
- ^ "McDonald For Harrison". The Baltimore Sun. Chicago. October 19, 1892. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f Linberg 2009 pp.194, 203–205
- ^ "Mayor Carter Henry Harrison III Biography". Chicago Public Library. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
- ^ Pucci 2019 pp.76–77
- ^ Lindberg 2009 pp.199–200
- ^ a b c d e f g h Schmidt, John R. (February 21, 2013). "The gambler, his wife, and her lover". WBEZ Chicago. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.76
- ^ a b c d e Pucci 2019 p.77
- ^ "Mike a Married Man". Chicago Tribune. January 16, 1895. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Pucci 2019 p.78
- ^ a b c Pucci 2019 p.79
- ^ a b c d Pucci 2019 p.81
- ^ a b Pucci 2019 p.80
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.83
- ^ Lindberg 2009 p.200
- ^ Pucci 2019 pp.83–84
- Moline Daily Dispatch. August 9, 1907. p. 1. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Pucci 2019 p.97
- ^ "Mrs. McDonald Acquitted.; Jury Frees Widow of Chicago Politician Who Shot Webster Guerin". The New York Times. Chicago. February 12, 1908. p. 5. Retrieved May 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
Sources cited
- English, T. J. (October 2009). Paddy Whacked: The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster. HarperCollins e-Books. ISBN 9780061868153.
- Lindberg, Richard C. (2009). The Gambler King of Clark Street : Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 9780809386543.
- Pucci, Kelly (2019). Chicago's First Crime King : Michael Cassius McDonald. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing Inc. ISBN 9781467140553.