NOBODY CALLED HIM DWIGHT

NOBODY CALLED HIM DWIGHT

NORMAN V. KELLY

I am not foolish enough to think that I have convinced everyone that the role of the so-called gangster was over rated and mostly a myth in Peoria, Illinois. But…I keep trying. I have written and lectured about Life in Peoria for thirty-two years, and believe me…I am running out of time. So I am trying to get most of my 300 plus stories on line since the books are no longer available for purchase. Let’s take for example Snooks Gordon. Now here is a man that has gotten a raw deal as far as local ‘historians’ are concerned. He was a ‘gangster’ according to these idiots and of course he was not. He was a gambler, a boxer, a very tough guy and a hard working business man. Also to add to his life he was a warehouseman and a successful contractor. I can tell you that he and his attorney Vic Michel sued the City Of Peoria to try to get back the slot machines that he said the city stole from him. Wow, he had a few slot machines so he must have been a gangster, of course. Yes, he was arrested once or twice for gambling and carrying a gun. So what…you should check out some of my relatives. A gangster was a man like Al Capone and men of his ilk. If you think our pet gangster Bernie Shelton was up there with Capone you are hallucinating. So…back to DWIGHT ‘Snooks’ Gordon.’ Oh, I forgot to tell you that he was a murderer too. Oh he killed someone once no doubt about that. What those myth makers do is omit the facts…and perpetuate the myth, and they are damn good at it. So am I, at telling the true story.

Snooks Gordon was a fixture in Peoria and I’d like to concentrate on him here in Peoria during the 1940’s, my favorite time. Mr. Gordon was a man that had a lot of friends as well as those folks that feared and hated him. Your opinion of him was based on what fence you were looking over…if you get my drift. Snooks was a damn good boxer and a lot of money was won and lost betting back in those days. He fought 56 bouts and won 47 of those, including winning 47 by knockouts. Boxing was big in our town, and many fighters made a pretty good living as ‘Amateur’ boxers and a lot of them, including Snooks would often fight under different names just to fool the opposition. I guess the surprising thing was that he rarely fought over 140 pounds. But once a fighter weighed in, what they did to gain weight was always a bit dubious.

Local newspapers wrote a lot about him, not only as a fighter, but never was there an article about him that did not refer to him as a gambler. So what? Every man that spent anytime downtown gambled. Now remember we had nine flat-out Casinos downtown and a total of 242 saloons. There was gambling of some sort in most of them and gambling here in Peoria was as common as cracks in the sidewalk. If you think Bernie Shelton had control of gambling in Peoria you have been listening to your grandfather’s myths. I had a lot of male relatives and I can tell you they were right there in the middle of the wild times in downtown Peoria, Illinois. Snooks just had more money than most of them and his flashy, confident persona attracted attention, which he loved.

As a private eye here in Peoria for many years, I can list twenty-five or thirty guys that most fools would call gangsters, but I know better. Anyway, Snooks could be a loyal friend, but if he did not like you he did not keep it a secret. He had his share of fights outside the ring and I know for a fact that this incident was true. It took place in the north-end at a small park called Morton Square in the north-end. He got in a shoving match with one guy and before it was over four other guys joined in against him. He got hurt, but he gave them all the battle they wanted. Snooks could come across pretty arrogant and cocky and his antics cost him a lot of money in attorney fees.

Gordon was married to Betty and they spent a lot of time together out and about the town of Peoria and I can tell you it was an exciting place in the 30’s and 40’s and especially during the years of WW11. Snooks had a lot of money: He was generous and had a tendency to flash the money around. But this story took place on a very hot day in July 1947. The couple took their nephew to the Glen Oak Zoo. Going south on Prospect a car whizzed past Snooks and according to Snooks, cut him off. Like all of us that sort of thing irritated him so he honked the horn and game the other driver the international sign. Road rage is not a new thing among the drivers now or way back then. “Hey, you want your half of the road in the middle,” he was quoted as yelling.

The other guy…his name was Emery Renzel…took exception to all this and the little ‘battle’ continued on down the road. Well, at McClure and Prospect these two fools pulled over to the curb to confront each other. I don’t even have to describe the scene…these confrontations should be avoided at all costs, but there they were.

“Take those sunglasses off and I’ll teach you how to drive.”

Snooks laughed. “I don’t want to fight with you…you’re too old.”

Now the rest of the story is based on which witness you talked to. Since I read the transcripts of the court reporter in the court files I can tall you that they did vary…that’s for sure.

Snooks claimed that Mrs. Renzel slapped him followed by an attack by her husband, Emery Renzel. One punch from Snooks flattened his opponent and when he got up Snooks knocked him down again. The man did not get up that time, and a quiet fear came over all of the people witnessing this fracas. As they gathered over the fallen man they could see that he had struck his head on one of the embedded streetcar tracks and died shortly after from head injuries.

Now once the fight was over Snooks went back to his car and drove off certainly unaware of the fatal injuries the man had received. Shortly after that police cars virtually surrounded Snooks’ home and he was soon under arrest. The newspaper articles told the story and the fact that Snooks had left the scene was really played up. Gordon quickly hired a prominent lawyer named Vic Michel, who at one time was the Mayor of Peoria. There was a big deal over the fact that his fee was $10,000.00. Now who would know that? Why your grandfather and the other myth-makers of Peoria…that’s who.

THE DAY OF THE TRIAL

It was a blustery, cold December in 1947 when a lot of curious folks made their way to the Peoria County Courthouse to see this big shot get his come uppance. Yep…that’s what a lot of people felt back in those days. You had money then you must not be a decent person. Sad…but that is the way we were. Oh, and on September 3, 1946, Mayor Carl Triebel finally announced that gambling would stop. Truth is it did. My point being that if gambling was Snooks’ big reputation he was out of that ‘business’ by then. Once the jury was picked the trial got under way. After the opening arguments the State called the medical examiner and the coroner. The medical examiner testified that there were bruises on the knuckles of Mr. Renzel among other injuries to his head and those proved to be fatal. When the defense put on its case, Michel reminded the jury what the medical examiner had said about Mr. Renzel’s knuckles. “Mr. Renzel got bruises on his knuckles by hitting the defendant.”

It was an exciting trial and witness after witness took the stand. Through out it all, Mr. Gordon sat there in a quiet, dignified manner and let the best lawyer in town battle for justice. Once the jury got the case, they went to lunch. After a very short period of debate they notified the judge that they had reached a verdict.

“Mr. Foreman, have you reached a verdict?”

“We have your honor we find the defendant Dwight ‘Snooks’ Gordon… Not Guilty!”

Snooks and his wife personally thanked each and every member of the jury as they stood to leave the jury box. Personal injury and wrongful death suits were filed, but they have a way of being settled. A lot of know it all ‘historians told me that “Snooks Gordon lived in fancy houses like a king.” What a pathetic joke. He lived at 412 Miller in Peoria heights. When he worked in a warehouse he lived at the fabulous address of 732 A, on the Boulevard of Kings, Fourth Avenue. He had a pretty nice house at 3845 Knoxville which he built to sell. Then he and his wife Betty in 1950 moved to 323 Pennsylvania Avenue. Yep…he lived like a king no doubt about it. Editor’s Note: Norm is a Peoria historian, author and a monthly contributor to ASO. norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net