Frank Gusenberg
Encyclopedia
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Early life
Frank Gusenberg sometimes recognized as Gusenberger' a.k.a. "Carl Bloom" a.k.a. "Howard Morgan" a.k.a. "Fred Gusenberg" a.k.a. "Frank Gould", was the second oldest of three sons born to Peter Gusenberg Sr. Peter Sr. was a first generation emigrant from GusenburgGusenburg
Gusenburg is a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
, a municipality in the Trier-Saarburg
Trier-Saarburg
Trier-Saarburg is a district in the west of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bitburg-Prüm, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Birkenfeld, Sankt Wendel , and Merzig-Wadern . To the west it borders Luxembourg...
district, in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and his wife who fled to Chicago during the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Frank was raised at 434 Roscoe Street in Lakeview, Chicago
Lakeview, Chicago
Lake View, or Lakeview, is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east...
. Frank followed his brother Peter Gusenberg
Peter Gusenberg
Peter Gusenberg a.k.a. "Goosey" , and his brother Frank were German-American contract killers and members of Chicago's North Side Gang, the main rival to the Chicago Outfit. Peter Gusenberg participated in an infamous attack on Al Capone during a vicious gang war.-Early life:Peter Gusenberg Jr...
into a life of crime with the Bugs Moran
Bugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
. Frank was a polygamist and married two women, Lucille and Ruth, unbeknownst to them. He was first arrested for disorderly conduct in 1909 and from 1909 to 1914 was a suspect in numerous armed robberies and burglaries in the Greater Chicago area. In 1911 he was convicted of disorderly conduct and sent to the notorious Bridewell Prison in South Lawndale, Chicago
South Lawndale, Chicago
South Lawndale is located on the west side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. The neighborhood is predominantly Mexican.- Little Village :...
. In 1901 when Frank was nine years old, his older brother Peter Jr. found their mother dead on the floor of the kitchen in their childhood home on Roscoe Street, leaving their upbringing to their father Peter Sr. who was very much an absent father who was working all the time. Frank was later brought up on burglary charges by the state prosecuting attorney's office in 1926 but for some unknown reason the charges against Frank were never filed with the courts. His last known address was 5507 Beatrice Avenue in the Portage Park neighbourhood of Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from petty crime into more serious offenses, they teamed with Dion O'Banion, Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone.-Early years:...
, and other members of the local mob scene. They became two of the gang's chief hitmen. After the O'Banion's 1924 murder, Gusenberg joined his friends, led by Hymie Weiss, in getting revenge on the Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
mob.
The Gusenberg Brothers and the Chicago gang wars
Frank Gusenberg participated in the gargantuan drive-by shootingDrive-by shooting
A drive-by shooting is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle without use of headlights to avoid being noticed. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target...
in the North Side performed on Capone's headquarters, the Hawthorne Hotel in Cicero, Illinois
Cicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
, riddling it with thousands of bullets on September 20, 1926. According to many accounts, the second to last car stopped in front of the hotel restaurant where Capone was cowering and Frank's brother Pete emerged, clad in a khaki Army shirt, brown overalls, and carrying a Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
fitted with a 100-round capacity drum. Kneeling in front of the doorway, Gusenberg emptied the entire drum into the restaurant, and then casually strolled back to his car, which then sped off to safety.
The attack worked. Capone was very shaken and requested a sitdown between the two gangs. However it failed. Hymie Weiss was murdered three weeks later, and over the next couple of years, the North Side Gang
North Side Gang
The North Side family Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early to late 1920s and principal rival of the Johnny Torrio-Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.- Early...
continued to weaken. The North Siders especially wished to kill Jack McGurn
Jack McGurn
"Machine Gun" Jack McGurn was an Italian-American mobster and key member of Al Capone's Chicago Outfit.-Early life:...
, as he was rumored to have been the machine-gunner who killed Weiss. On at least two occasions, the Gusenberg brothers made attempts on his life. Despite receiving several wounds, McGurn survived these attempts. Al Capone had Pasquale "Patsy" Lolordo installed as head of the influential fraternal organization Unione Siciliane; despite Lolordo being described as 'harmless' by Thomas Repetto in American Mafia: A History of Its Rise To Power 'Joey Aiello turned up with the brothers Pete and Frank Gusenberg and killed him too.'
By late 1928, the leader of the North Side Gang, Bugs Moran
Bugs Moran
George Clarence Moran , better known by the alias "Bugs" Moran, was a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster born in St. Paul, Minnesota. Moran, of Irish and Polish descent, moved to the north side of Chicago when he was 19, where he became affiliated with several gangs...
, struck an alliance with Al Capone's rival Joe Aiello
Joe Aiello
Giuseppe "Joe" Aiello was a Chicago bootlegger during the 1920s and early 1930s who had a longstanding, bloody feud with Chicago Outfit boss Al Capone.-Arrival in America:...
. The latter, assisted by the Gusenberg brothers, killed Antonio Lombardo
Antonio Lombardo
Antonio "The Scourge" Lombardo was an American mobster. He was advisor, or consigliere, to Al Capone and later President of the Unione Siciliana.-Biography:...
and Pasqualino Lolordo
Pasqualino Lolordo
Pasqualino "Patsy" Lolordo was an organized crime figure and head of the Chicago chapter of the Unione Siciliana a "front" organization for the Mafia, of which Lolordo was considered one of the most powerful capos during the late 1920s.Lolordo succeeded Antonio "The Scourge" Lombardo, an...
, presidents of the Unione Siciliane
Unione Siciliane
The Unione Siciliana was a Sicilian-American fraternal organization which eventually was rumored to have controlled much of the Italian American vote within the United States during the early twentieth century...
. It was as a result of these murders that Capone plotted to eliminate Bugs Moran.
Final days
On February 14, 1929, members of the North Side gang gathered at a garage behind the offices of S.M.C. Cartage Company. Inside were Pete and Frank Gusenberg, Albert Weinshank, Adam Heyer, James Clark, John May, and Reinhardt Schwimmer (the latter two men not actually gang members). Five men, possibly members of Capone's Gang, possibly outside "hired guns", most likely a combination of the two, drove to the garage in a stolen police car. Two of the men, dressed as police, entered the garage, pretending they were conducting an ordinary raid, and lined Moran's associates up against the wall. Once the men's backs were all turned, facing the wall, two other men (with civilian clothes) entered the room with machine guns and, along with the "police", opened fire on the seven men, pounding 70 bullets into them in what would become known as the St. Valentine's Day MassacreSt. Valentine's Day massacre
The Saint Valentine's Day massacre is the name given to the 1929 murder of 7 mob associates as part of a prohibition era conflict between two powerful criminal gangs in Chicago: the South Side Italian gang led by Al Capone and the North Side Irish gang led by Bugs Moran. Former members of the...
.
When police arrived at the scene Frank Gusenberg, despite having twenty-two wounds by fourteen bullets, was the only victim still alive. He was taken to the Alexian Brothers hospital in Chicago, Illinois. When asked "Who shot you?" Frank replied, "Nobody shot me," ruining the opportunity to bring the murderers to justice.
Although the killers wiped out Bugs Moran's mob, they missed Moran himself. Some say that upon seeing the squad car, he drove past the garage he was planning on entering. Others say he was merely late arriving.
In popular culture
- Frank Gusenberg would be portrayed in two movies about the era; In Roger CormanRoger CormanRoger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Gusenberg was played by David CanaryDavid CanaryDavid Hoyt Canary is an American actor, who starred in both soap operas and prime time television. He is best known for his roles as the ranch foreman, Candy Canaday on Bonanza and identical twins Adam Chandler from 1983 to 2010 and Stuart Chandler from 1984 to 2009 on the daytime serial, All My...
and in CaponeCapone (film)Capone is an American crime film directed by Steve Carver and stars Ben Gazzara, Harry Guardino, Susan Blakely and Sylvester Stallone in an early film appearance. The movie is a biography of the infamous Al Capone, although much of it is supposedly fiction.The film was released on DVD in the U.S...
(1975) by Ben Marino. - Gusenburg was inspiration for The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
character Johnny Tightlips who doesn't give any information away and answers very vaguely.
External links
- Frank Gusenberg at Find-A-Grave
- http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id29.htm