Dean O'Banion: 1892-1924

He was called "Chicago's arch criminal, who has killed or seen to the killing of at least 25 men." Edward Dean Sullivan, a Herald-Examiner reporter whose life he had once saved, pronounced him, "as valourous a person as I have ever encountered." A former employee, E Barnett (deceased), commented, "He was the best boss I had before or since. If I had trouble or needed money, he listened to me." Al Capone and John Torrio, his partners/rivals, called him a few things unfit for public consumption.

Dean O'Banion led one of Chicago's most powerful Prohibition Era gangs. He and his followers controlled all bootlegging and gambling activities on the city's North Side (north of Madison Street and sandwiched between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan). By day he was a prosperous florist who made a fortune from the gangster funeral trade. By night he supplied liquor, cards, and dice to his territory's citizens (among whom were the wealthy Gold Coast residents). When the impulse took him, he also cracked safes and hijacked rival beer/alcohol shipments. A few times he even stole liquor deliveries intended for ostensible allies. The latter prediliction was a contributing factor in his death.

O'Banion's murder in November 1924 plunged Chicago into a gang war that lasted over 6 years and resulted in 600 casualties. This bloody aftermath made him more of a celebrity in death than he had apparently been in life. He is remembered more today as a victim than a powerful gang boss who once commanded over 200 hoodlums and forced the traditionally Democratic 42nd and 43rd wards to vote Republican. He even inspired an election day ditty: "Who'll carry the 42nd and 43rd wards? O'Banion, in his pistol pockets."

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