“Greasy Thumb”—The Man Who Made the Chicago Mob

ONE DAY IN MAY OF 1924, during the era of Prohibition, a local tough named Joe Howard entered Heinie Jacobs's saloon at 2300 South Wabash in Chicago. He was in high spirits, having just hijacked a truckload of beer, and wanted to celebrate with his newfound wealth. What happened next was subject to various versions written after the events by people who were not there, but it appears that after indulging too much in a forbidden beverage, Howard did what all bullies do—he looked around for the weakest person he could find. His gaze fell on a short, chubby, otherwise ordinary man with a sad, droopy face that would never stand out in a crowd, much less be taken for anyone of importance. It may indeed have been his very undistinguished countenance that made him appear a helpless mark. Approaching, Howard slapped his unsuspecting victim across the face several times with his open hand, a gesture known to all as one of humiliation, then pelted him with his fists. Finished with this sport, as his victim stumbled away Howard turned to the stunned onlookers with a smirk, proud of his conquest.1Shortly after, Howard was enjoying another drink and selecting a cigar from Jacobs's tobacco case. While he pondered his choice, two men walked in, one tall and muscular, the other shorter, more rounded. Turning his head, Howard recognized the shorter one. “Hi Al,” he offered, extending his hand in friendship. Before he could utter another word, the muscular man grabbed Howard's coat, pulling it down so his arms would not move and pinning him to his seat. The short man pulled out a pistol, placed it next to Howard's head, then pulled the trigger, splattering blood and brain matter several feet. Five more times he fired, then the two walked casually out the door while what was left of Joe Howard still sat in his chair, the pool of blood about him slowly widening.2The police arrived within a few minutes to find three witnesses: auto mechanic George Bilton, carpenter David Runelsbeck, and owner Jacobs. Runelsbeck told Detective Michael Hughes that Howard appeared to know his attacker and called him “Al.” Both he and Bilton said they could identify the attacker, while Jacobs also informed police that he was present and saw the entire episode unfold. But then a very strange thing happened. When the inquest convened the following day, Jacobs claimed he had been called to the telephone in the rear of his shop just before the altercation and only heard the shots without actually seeing what happened or who was responsible. Runelsbeck stated that he could not identify the person who shot Howard, and, although he lived next door to gangster Alphonse Capone's headquarters in the Four Deuces saloon, named for its address at 2222 South Wabash, when pressed he claimed that he had never even heard the name Al Capone in his entire life. The third witness, Bilton, had disappeared altogether. Not convinced by the sudden change of testimony, Detective Hughes was certain that “Al” was “Big Al” Capone, head of the notorious South Side Gang of racketeers. However, with no witnesses who would testify, the coroner's jury concluded that Howard had been killed by gunshots from “one or more unknown white male persons.” No one was ever indicted.3The bully's undistinguished looking victim had been revenged. But who would be important enough to bring forth personal retribution from Chicago's most notorious gangster? In the criminal underworld, where nothing was exactly as it appeared to be on the surface, the mysteries surrounding the man Al Capone protected, most often known in popular literature as Jake Guzik, begin with his birth and even his name. Despite its reputation for investigation, as late as November 1952, just four years before Guzik died and after over three decades of investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was still asserting that he was “allegedly born May 20, 1886, in Moscow, Russia. He was allegedly brought to the United States by his parents when he was a baby. His citizenship status is not known.”4Guzik is most often referred to as “Jake,” “official” documents often list him as Jacob, and he is even occasionally recorded as John. Regardless of his given name at birth, there is ample evidence that he consistently used the name “Jack,” so I am following his preference here. His date of birth is almost always given as March 20, 1886, although his World War I draft registration form listed February 15 and at least one Jewish genealogy website lists him as “John” and his year of birth as 1887. The great bulk of evidence, including his family burial information, suggest that the correct date was March 20, 1886. Information on the place of birth is even more contradictory. Some authors assert Guzik was born in Russia, others specifically mention Moscow, while others cite Poland or even Austria. The situation is complicated by the fact that at the time of his birth Poland did not exist as an independent nation, having been partitioned between Austria, Germany, and Russia. Hence, if he was “Polish,” he might well be listed as a native of any of the three occupying powers in official US documentation. The 1910 US census lists his nationality, along with his father Max and mother Mamie, as “Russ.Yiddish” and Max's declaration of intent to become a US citizen lists his “country of birth or allegiance” as Russia. These documents appear to support the idea that Jack was born in Russia. However, other documentation related to his death and burial lists his place of birth rather specifically as Miasto Kraków, Małopolskie, Poland, where Miasto Kraków refers to the city of Kraków in Małopolskie, a region in southern Poland along its border with Slovakia. At the time of his birth, this was within the Austrian partition.5Regardless of the conflicting information on his birth, US immigration and naturalization documentation clearly indicate that his parents, Max Guzik and Mamie Zeitlin Guzik, migrated to America in 1892, settling in Chicago, where the 1910 census listed Max as the proprietor of a cigar store. Max obtained citizenship on November 5, 1898, which, by law, extended to his minor children as well. His son, then recorded as Jack, married Rose Lipschultz in Lake County, Indiana, on April 13, 1907, but by 1910 the couple still lived with Jack's parents, three brothers, three sisters, and Jack's own daughter Jeannette and son Charles in the same, seemingly very crowded house.6Jack Guzik apparently had little formal education as a youth, and his early life remains enveloped in the mists of contradictory testimony and mythology. One was that as a youth, he as a in a by his The in and Guzik was said to have been given the of his of of the with his in the was that he the while at a saloon on named where he apparently could not his out of of he to the In it appears that his was the owner of the but it was by Jack that become and his were in the underworld, to the a in the South Side of Chicago. The of the a while in the early as the that three in the as a in one of on in convinced and to move to a in the couple was a white of as a then away from It is of the the had that a It is also that they had with other Jack and apparently for before with the Jack for the he was as a and for the but he a for and out in Chicago's or with “Big and his At Jack Guzik to an in a at South Wabash a from the Four Deuces Guzik made a his to in much of Chicago's South Side criminal in and a Guzik with as a of his South Side also a of men to to a for in the criminal were and Alphonse Capone, who more for in the of the the era of in a city the When to move this of he was by in the gangster when on May In the of “Big not as the his by that were in to Prohibition, to his and to recognized Jack with and his by him a very important that not only but on and on In this Guzik had to all of most important Guzik, to his on In Guzik made his a very man by his along the of a in in a of but without as the from while his from a of In the of Guzik also his own the where he was in and various including for the Capone the he placed in the name of his he in the name of his Rose and another Jeannette was not for nothing was as it appeared in the of the of and well when from the Side Gang in a for his and his an by when he and left in March of the the by was Alphonse “Big Al” Guzik apparently Capone for the time in when for the it that around that time Guzik, who apparently did not know Capone two a to him and the information along to an that for the a who would be the most important in all of Chicago, and who would him bullies Joe of a of Capone's and his Capone Guzik as his and The two that people who referred to Capone as Guzik of in the the name by Capone's was that arrived on time and made to local and police as for the Guzik two a at a just the of the and at the at South Federal in where Capone an to by the of Chicago, One was for the other for the as Guzik would from the various with the the a of and other or arrived to It was in the of Chicago's by from the he in his that him the it would be to that in the Capone was that of an and a Capone and a Guzik the of and for the entire to become the three man in the He Capone to and was even to on Capone's to the of the in a of the Al Capone, his and along with the Jack Guzik, the popular is that Capone over the but who the and of the concluded that Guzik was the most most of the four One of his was to the of the his the various criminal a of that from the known to as the Capone is not as a by Al Capone but as a of that not was a of or had who were also was the with an in of the across a of this the four could while also from the of to others the of one of the most important was the on the in The to this and to other although in with the of the local was at least seemingly from the Guzik brought in his to in the and his Lipschultz to in Chicago's with the the to its One of more was a known as the in a South Side the in this was was who a for a that the would around the of the a of the it although were much with the criminal the four also the of to evidence to Capone, the face of the to any of the to no in of the of Chicago's police and US George who Guzik very who the and the of this to another he could the to Capone's he could Al with as Capone from and his they might evidence that could be used in on a police an at South The it as the of the a with and one might find in a However, the the were not so the after of the of beer, and for could the before for to be to own for to this who of including of Chicago's most and information on the of the and and lists with the of and who were from the the in the was a to and to for Al Capone, Capone, and Jack Detective stated that him about the but they were and taken to police headquarters for as there, they No were ever but the Guzik to a to any to identify any ever in police to by 1924, the to be made from the of the various to over Chicago's The most of the of of the Side In the of his to an of four including the and of the In for his along with and with on the where Capone was but Capone with the of In a the only one of ever in a the of the a convened at the in it is the at Capone's or that of a of the the was to a to the a of a great and from any at and when a at any of he to and about He to be to a or open a and the the the and had the of several and two police were present to that the used Guzik as his to present to the a for and the Guzik a to the city could for in its own and would be to or from it also not to any its own The would to and would be for the within its own for within its and to local police and would also to a from would be made to and for to and to anyone to his Capone was to any to the southern and by and to his own When Guzik his a by The that was and the would be and for and Guzik had a was the the only where Guzik a In May the of convened at the in from around the with Chicago's including Capone and his Joe and the other on hand were and Max and Charles and The was important in the for what would be referred to as the for Guzik, in his as Capone's and was in out the of various did not In when the a list of it Guzik a status that concluded was an his to was the the only in the While the to to for a to One of a was who was an to Capone's this time it to him and others that if they could not Capone they might be to his by after his three this in in over the several when they in and a of a Capone and a at the in who had for Guzik in of by the US for a of while that he would the from the to the where he would the was in this he would the to testimony clearly Guzik in a to and of on the evidence, Guzik was by on on of of the He appeared before Federal Charles for in an he sat as on his the a of and from his and in at that time the ever in Chicago. The Guzik to the but was by Jack who him with another for his on of another in and left the the only he made during the was a to know they a I have never a I have never been on any on on November the years and he had claimed on his of and a of from and other The Bureau of claimed was as of this was at a time during the the of a was for the years in of would be a support of the that the from a was between and He that he had taken the he with the and given to personal evidence, he in made out to a that were by Guzik and in another The claimed that even if the in were it did not it could not be to be his he had this was in on on In his Guzik as man who used and who and an with no of Guzik, he to the have a as was in Federal but he is still a he made it all from and other made the that from he had no and was by a the of called to the stand several witnesses who at on when called to testify, to the or for Guzik at While the witnesses were Guzik a of and from his and about Guzik was never was a man as I have been in the I on the and so a I know that I at What of I of the and from the about they this I could and evidence that Guzik lived in a his on his son in a his daughter to a four lived in a and that he was a While this information was Guzik out a form to he to his to with this the not But it that Guzik made all his from the evidence is that he is a and that he had no of so for his the law, he is a the to the jury time to Guzik called in a to place while the only a the jury a of that it did not who made a by a Guzik with the he only one am been the most man in the to on and all they was the I be for on the he the Guzik was not as with the he was to years in at the time the ever given for and in for of the His but the the on Guzik his in and to to begin his on April 5, on the that he would not have to to the at with other he a on a and the for the who him so that he could in the to to in that it his to the to a of for Guzik a man on before and while Al Capone was and the what to a of to his he be Capone Guzik as the of his a of the status the in the Capone also Guzik over while and Joe as and and what were the as and Guzik was to by the he was to any from a from the after Guzik Al Capone a of in He was to the in in May In Capone's of the but times were The of its of by the time Guzik left on the was in a to to for at the time that to within the and made more a Guzik with he an of the in and other of as and Al and Capone, and Guzik had been about from in the of Prohibition, Guzik, as for for for to open on a and for the He used this to in and its and the to and in and in and even his the of for the on for the a who the to the from and in from the of the but in men not only the but the a by they could the of the to with what they did with Guzik, and Capone with Charles to a in along the of the one by in In to Guzik also as It was during this that Guzik his when he the and a that so that most of the could never be the of Michael a to the era of and Guzik also an with an who years in the of and as of the brought in the the in for to local and police the of the Guzik was the of the and to a on the Al Capone left in from of that his When Guzik Al would of the Guzik, who any to looked and is as as a Guzik could have a and in But to Capone and to the and his was of that he was Capone's Guzik made that Al and his family were always for might Capone on the Guzik with to but when in also known as his when to for in a with Guzik and his of the in and from by a move to of the that information and At the the by the was that it could from to and others who the information it to own were also that information from the was to with the of in and its Guzik and wanted to a in the but The then the with the intent of of to out of The in a form of when died from a in the that the was out a year in to and other in from that a the to Guzik to all the the and early he was the between the and the “Big along with to at with Joe and from his as and Guzik had to with the other on of the and was as the the the in the Capone following his Guzik his of and the of and and a of and to the when the a on of the Guzik by more on and the they to or when Guzik to over in and in Guzik to to over in the that even to a had been after Guzik for so that by the he appears to have taken a in In one in Guzik was and brought to police headquarters for a by be out of in he was as to the be the in two the was about to Guzik is said to have in a I were to of Chicago's would out of on the from the Guzik was while and his were In his years he in the for his own as one his Guzik by the police who When referred to him as a he that he never a he could not be called a about his he is to have I Guzik another when Guzik by he the support of the to a on his the city for and of his several other he was a the and its he of of a In he a the he had been with as and a to him as Jake of at the of even extended to In Guzik was one of the before the United States to in known as the after its chair, he to be called before the a for the a few with ever in life. not much to this find a when they be looking for a of all over the on not on He was less before the in of on the of one he to so an the of his as stand and be that the testimony be the the and nothing but the so I to the have to and having it over I stand all about without One of the if would if they without it to to have it too if the and have that that would been on for I having but this been on for The the to so that with the Guzik, what is I did not have a named I am to a a short if I that to a short I am to to any on the of and I am to stand on of any that have be made to a or have been to is a be of and then if have any and the then the of or not it is a I the for all In other to that not to of what it may it may or to or to by know what the is may to I In other any of a about any subject to to is it not matter what the of the is or what it is that is may I to to The to the still may another be in in to the of the by the of be of and it is the of the to that and that and be to one of of any to any or all of I still a that any that or to or by to I to I stand on the on all Guzik, did I to on the I have to the it is I to I have a high for the and I have a high for to I also have own Guzik his time between and he to be in while a in the early February Guzik to his at where he a in the and and a of that he to an he at the name of little that his was he a that claimed his life. Some people were to have his including his in and and local in the The down the to identify who the at South in and the burial in at and him as a and Guzik never in his by his and His were He made and to for years as a and so he was never of a in the of he was ever in this of even a it is a on the or of a of even in death his of the when his Rose for the that it had Guzik by him to several of at the police following his on 13, to his claimed that his was at only an the and of the man who in but was otherwise Guzik did not the of the He was rather walked with a rather the and, to one a more a not the of the George of The of Al Capone, concluded that Guzik was not just a and but recognized the as a for of the important that and a concluded that in of his may have been the most criminal in during the the time that he and Capone in his death in at the of criminal who on on the of the and extended and other his Guzik in three of the very popular The in Joe him in the The and Joe the in the It was that to the of in Chicago, it was his that the of criminal following the of Prohibition, it was his that of the in and he was the recognized the of the over four decades his death in to Capone Al said that Guzik was only I His in the of is that others the

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