Prohibition+in+the+Quad+Cities

Original Author: Jason Kuna, Eng 340 FL11 Revision Author: Existence of illegal establishments known as; saloons, speakeasies, gin joints, breweries, and hooch palaces,was rampant in the Prohibition era Quad Cities. Thousands and thousands of gallons of; home brew, moonshine and hooch, were manufactured in local stills. While the federal laws that banned the pouring of booze did not come about until 1917; the Quad Cities was subject to local laws and amendments that regulated and banned the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol as early as 1882. In Davenport, Iowa and throughout Scott County, legal battles between the brewers and the prohibitionists raged in these early years. After the passing and repealing of amendments to the counties laws, Mayor Ernst Clausen sided with the brewers. Clausen threatened to declare a “Free and Independent State of Scott,” and the sale of the same old booze but under new names like “Hop Nectar” and “Kentucky Blue Grass” continued(Downer, 839-846 & Special Collections Blog Davenport Library, The Free and Independent State of Scott). The push for a ban onalcohol continued here in the Quad cities over the years that spanned the initial attempts of the late 1800’s, through 1919 when the federal laws were ratified. One crusader for prohibition was found in the likes of Carrie Nation. Nation was a feisty campaigner, famous for the hatchet she carried on her trail from Kansas up through the Quad Cities. In 1901 Nation stopped in Davenport, and during a speech at the YMCA on February 12th she shared her view of a non violent effort at shutting down the saloons. “There will be no saloon smashing of joints legally conducted,” she said. While Mrs. Nation would die before prohibition passed her hatchet wielding point was driven home when eventually not only the Quad Cities, but the whole country stopped serving (Hillsamer, 1). Another prohibition activist was the Bishop Cosgrove of the Davenport Catholic Diocese. Reports from January of 1903 show that Cosgrove received anonymous death threats due to his order to preach against “all night saloons” in Davenport. Papers of the time reported that the Bishop said he would, “stick by [his] order” (Klann, 1). State prohibition passed in 1916. The years which lead up to this and the National Prohibition Amendment in 1919 were a time of political and social unrest in the Quad Cities. In 1907 the Davenport Civic Federation was established to persuade saloon and brewery owners to discontinue their businesses, and follow the various local laws that banned liquor. This was to no avail; the establishments continued to operate outside the law, but in public view. The very large German population of Davenport was outraged with the new laws, coupled with the begging of World War I many of these German immigrants began to have a socialist view of local politics. In effect the “do-gooders” were made ineffective by a large public opinion that the booze should continue to flow (Svendsen, 59). In Rock Island there was a dynamic crime syndicate that was fueled by the illegal manufacture and sale of liquor. John Looney and his gang were responsible for the terrorizing and moral degradation of Rock Island with syndicates that stretched; south to St. Louis, east to Chicago, and north into Wisconsin. One of the gangs main hang outs was The Sherman Hotel in Rock Island. It was a haven for illegal booze, drugs, and prostitution (Quad City Times, 18). John Looney gained a great amount of wealth and power in Rock Island. Through murder, bribery, robbery, and booze, Looney’s fame was elevated to a near political status. He constantly feuded with Rock Island Mayor Shriver, and even owned his own newspaper //The Rock Island News//. The paper gave Looney a forum to sway public opinion and refute claims that he was a mobster. The war between the town’s officials and Looney culminated in a gun battle in March of 1912. The March 27th 1912 edition of //The Rock Island Argus// was awash in news of the battle on the streets. The headline read, “One Dead, Nine Wounded in Battle with the City Police; Governor Deneen Places Rock Island under Martial Law.” The entire front page was dedicated to aspects of the story. One story was entitled, “Saloons Closed by Mayors Order” (Rock Island Argus, 1). //The Chicago Tribune // also reported on the development in Looney’s stranglehold on the city. On March 29th 1912 The Tribune ran a story telling of the, “100 Dynamiters on the way to Rock Island to Help Restore Order.” The Tribune ran photographs of rioters being escorted to jail by soldiers who had been sent in by the President (Chicago Tribune, 1). The very same day, Looney’s paper ran a story quoting both Looney and the Mayor: //Mayor: I informed him [Looney], in the excitement, that if he continued to write me up in his paper in the scurrilous, scandalous and libelous manner in which he referred to me in his last issue I would shoot him. // //Looney (Editor): When the mayor was beating me he said he would kill me if I continued to print attacks on him. The policy of my paper will not change. I am fighting for a moral principle and I am going to fight to the end. We will issue on Saturday as usual (The Rock Island Paper, 1). // Citizens of Rock Island and the rest of the Quad Cities were upset with the arrest of their civil liberties in the form of bans on drinking, and to many Looney was viewed as a local hero. This perception began to change with the reports of late March 1912. Soon Looney’s face was plastered on most wanted signs and he was on the run. Citizens of the Quad Cities however continued to drink his booze. By January of 1919 the proposed National Prohibition Act of 1917 had been ratified and the entire country was now dry. Local politics had softened the impact of the national ban here in the Quad Cities. The push for a liquor ban was nothing new to the area, and the resistance movement was already well established. One place where booze was manufactured was at 515 14th Street in Moline. A July 1962 //TheDaily Dispatch// article reported that a building rich in local history was slated for demolition. The building was originally a Swedish Evangelical church. Later it was a boarding house, a mortuary, a car show room, and an auto body shop. According to Fred B. Erickson born 1891, booze was manufactured during prohibition on the 2nd floor of the building. There was a plumbing firm on the 3rd floor that piped water down to the bootleggers. The first floor was rumored to be both a bordello and a saloon at this time according to Erickson, who worked on repairs on the building during the 1920’s. (The Daily Dispatch, 18) //The Davenport Democrat and Leader //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">made numerous reports of illegal liquor establishments during the prohibition years. On Nov 19th 1922 an article headlined, “Mt. Pleasant Loses Three Bootleggers” ran. In the article; Boy Briton, Marc Nobic, and Sam Earbert were arraigned in federal court and sentenced to between two and five months in jail in Keokuk, and fined 500 dollars each for their part in an illegal bootlegging ring. The paper’s editor went on to say that, “their patrons will either have to make their own or get acquainted with some other dispenser of hooch while these [bootleggers] are gone” (The Davenport Democrat and Leader, 18). <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">It was common practice at the time for distillers to steal the corn they needed to manufacture their moonshine whiskey. //The Democrat// reports of such a theft on October 21st 1925: //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">CORN THEFTS STIR OWNER TO GET BUSY // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">One Hundred and Fifty Bushels Taken During Past Several Nights // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">John Hoepfuer owns a tract of land on Smith’s Island…a hard working honest citizen… he has a fine corn field. // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Others whom officials believe may be illicit distillers of booze…were seen rowing away from the island in a boat under cover’of darkness… // //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Mr. Hoepfuer offers a reward of $25 for the arrest and conviction of the guilty parties (The Davenport Democrat and Leader, 18). // <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">From its beginnings in the late 1800’s till National Prohibition was repealed on December 5th 1933, the Quad Cities was a hotbed of controversy and actions associated with the movement. Many fearless adversariesand daunting perpetrators battled over what was both a moral and political issue. Unlike the bigger cities of New York and Chicago, Quad City prohibition lasted far longer than the thirteen or so years of the national ban. This is certainly a topic of study that deserves further inquiry. From the Prohibitionist Party and its ties with the anti suffrage movement, to the personal history of the local players, this topic could well be the subject of very extensive local research. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Downer, Harry E. //History of Davenport and Scott County Iowa//. (The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, Chicago 1910) 839-846 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/sc/?p=1102. The //Free and Independent State of Scott.// (Primary Selections from Special Collections 2009) 1 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hillsamer, Dave. “Rock Island Argus”.//Round Up Moments in History.// April 1, 1972 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Klann, Fred. “The Daily Dispatch”.//Off the Beaten Path//. May 13, 1950, October 26 1950 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Svendsen, Marlys. //Davenport a Pictorial History//. (G. Bradley Publishing, 1985) 59 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Author Unknown.“Quad City Times”.//John Looney and the Sherman Hotel.// February 29, 1979 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Author Unknown.“Rock Island Argus”. March 27, 1912 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Author Unknown.“The Chicago Tribune”. March 29, 1912 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Author Unknown.“The Rock Island News”. March 29, 1912 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">“Author Unknown.“The Daily Dispatch”. July 16, 1962 <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Author Unknown.“The Davenport Democrat and Leader”. November 19, 1922, October 21, 1925
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Prohibition in the Quad Cities **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Early Years **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Years Leading up to National Prohibition **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">John Looney **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">National Prohibition Comes to the Quad Cities **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">End **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px;">Works Cited: **

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