NAMES IN PEORIA’S PAST

                   NAMES  IN  PEORIA’S  PAST

                          Norman   V.  Kelly

 

ROBERT  KAMKERSLEY  Lived on Perry in Peoria

In 1945.   Navy Vet on an American Stamp?

 

LOOK   MAGAZINE    October 28, 1947 had an article

about Peoria, Illinois.

 

EDWARD NELSON WOODRUFF Died in Peoria, Illinois

1947   He was born here   2-8-1885.

 

JACK  ADAMS  owned    The CLOVER CLUB….A very flashy guy that was a major player here in Peoria.

 

1945  McCluggage Bridge…Had several names including

F.D.R.   Triebel, Carl our Mayor broke the 9-9 Tie  Naming the b ridge   After McCluggage, a mayor a Illinois Rep.

 

How Much Did it cost to run Peoria 1946?   One Million two hundred thousand dollars. ( no funny money was collected.)

 

McCrane  “Fishmouth’  one of Shelton’s phony gangsters.

 

FRANK  KRAMER  Owned THE SPOT  and part Owner of

The  PARK-K-CLUB   killed in 1946   George Parks partner

 

PHILLIP   STUMPF   Two bit punk  Mechanic on Slots  shot and killed  Big Hollow  1946

 

1946  STILL  4,000 women working for CAT  Rosie Riveter.

 

Gambling Place   LYCEUM   STAG   

 

PEORIA JOURNAL  goes to 90,000  Homes  46

 

Many Strikes in Peoria 1946 and many divorces.(1,127)

 

ToJO “I assume the responsibility For the War)  Japs

He shot himself…

 

Dwight  SNOOKS  GORDON local hot shot  gambler and a money flashing kinda guy  tried for murder  not guilty.

 

Snooks   Gordon and Vic Michel sued the City of Peoria over confiscating their slot machines.

 

Nice old guy   JAMES  McMorris  drove street car here in town for 43 Years….worked   84 hour weeks….imagine that.

Was electrocuted once knocked out drove along unconscious.

 

Retired at age  76.

 

Peoria’s General Wheeler  commanded the engineers that cleared Exposition Gardens  4-24-1948. He was born here and graduated West Point 1911  Fought in both big wars…

Born Peoria   7-31-186  Died age 88    2-9-1974   Highly decorated   respected man from Peoria, Il.

 

East Peoria had a gambling spot   Para-Dice ( they still do)

 

SAMMY  ROBERTSON    43 MONTHS IN A Jap Prison Camp   home…He hurried over to his house and learned that his mom had JUST died.

 

WALNUT STREET:  Whore houses and slot machine Mecca.

 

JACK Nahas  shot and wounded Joel Nyberg…a worthless criminal type SOB  Penny ante crook.

 

KID  FARMER   a/K/A   Harry  TIBITS    Great Local fighter hit and killed by car.     ( Ralph King  driver

 

HYME LIPKIN  big bomb scare here in the 40’s at his place of business

 

Jack and Tony Purtcher:   Jack owned a horse riding stable over off University  Street named Purtcher here in Peoria   part of my childhood.  MAJOR  Bernie Shelton’s horse  he spent a lot of time there…Tony was a great guy and I recorded a statement from him…fan of Shelton.  Jack died   5-15-2013

 

GEORGE GLAZE BROOK   PHONY MYTH  BIG BODY GUARD OF Bernies…he was shot in stomach with a Thompson sub machine gun…ha  BS  shot in the stomach by his girl friend with a .25 caliber  she was fined $30.60  what a joke,.  Her name was  MARY  BLUNK

 

PETE   PETRAKIS  just a local character…said to have been hung upside down at the PERE after Shelton’s death  “Who killed Bernie”  Bernie once fired him and over at Purtcher’s stables Bernie sold Pete’s horse saddle etc. 150   he won’t be coming back  that meant that Bernie killed him with a machine gun blast   another joke.  ( Ted link and 2 others indicted and this was one charge against them.( Page 47 in my black book)

 

GEORGE  McNEAR    1947  TP&W   October Shot by gangsters with a Thompson Sub machine gun…horrible murder of a very prominent man almost cut into by six .45 caliber slugs from a machine gun   HA  Another bunch of BS  He was hit with 6      .00 slugs from a single shot from a .12 gauge Shot gun up on High Street  October 1947.

 

Vic Michel   high priced  defense attorney also Peoria’s State’s Attorney  certainly ‘dabbled’ in gambling and had money in slot machines with Snooks Gordon   MAYOPR once

 

GENEVIEVE   PAULSWORTH   Bernie’s  girl and wife…Jefferson Beauty Salon  attractive intelligent lady  Bought the 4,000 vault over at Parkview cemetery   SHE is not Buried there  born 1913.

 

Bernies tavern  he could not get a liquor License since he was a ex-con  that was at 416 Fulton    wow close to the city hall  made a big phony deal out of that.

 

CLYDE GARRISON:   WELL KNOWN GUY  in business at 426 Liberty with Bob McCluggage  lived on McClure wife Cora shot in head him in leg  used machine guns of course 

Tough Guy.

 

Ray WALKER  another of Bernies’s body guards another joke what good did all these so-called body guards do

)Shot by Charlie   Blackie  Harris   7-1948

 

1845  when we became a city  Isaac Walkers   and Proctor Lumber Company were here within our one mile city limits.

 

Happy Hour    West Bluff Tap   Ernies’s Tap

 

AXIS SALLY  WW 11 Nazi radio woman   Name:  Mildred  Eillers    1940’s

 

TONY’S  SUBWAY   Tony’s   Century Club   B   Club

Pascal’s TAP    Coney Island   Bamboo  Club

 

Melody Club     Sportsman  Club

ELI CUPI  ---Swing Club   notorious  ‘bad boy’ even got sentenced in Texas for white Slavery   always in trouble here.

In 1945  he was 26 years old   Also charged in Narcotic raids and of course white slavery   whores    Slots  we even had a few  50 cent machines

 

1945  Pin Ball Machines were ruled  NOT a gambling device

 

The year Carl Triebel was Mayor   May 1945  Certainly no reformer  19 months later he finally stopped gambling.

 

BOB  PEOPLE  ONLY Peorian to fight in WW1  and WW2 and EARN   a Purple Heart.  In Each WAR.

 

715  Main building had a lot of slots stored in it…guys in a truck pulled up told the guy that they needed 100 to transfer  they did   they STOLE them

 

Peoria had a Bowery  Hotel in it called ENDRES   Mike owner

 

JACK NAHAS   Big gambler and into horse racing and betting.

 

Tavern  called the   FOXHOLE   116  first

 

TIME magazine article in  April or May 1945  about Peoria these never helped out image.

 

Photo of Iwo Gima FLAG  Huge in Peoria  1945?

 

Eli Cupi arrested  1942     page 106  black book

 

TOONERVILLE TROLLY     COTTON CLUB   MONROE CLUB    Anchor club   orchid club   Big 500  Big 700  Blue Shadow Cat n Fiddle.

 

Jack Adam’s  Sportsman Club   Bamboo Club  ( Eli Cupi)

Mile’s Socil Club  

 

USS Peoria   frigate  on in WW1  And Spanish American  War

 

It Club    Palace Club   Parkway Inn ( Shelton)

PENN Tap   SAZARAC   ALCAZAR   Talk O ‘ The Town

El Cazar   The Spot   The Turf Club  Ye ol’ Tavern

White Swan              Stork  Club  ( big hollow)   Phillip Stump   shot

  

 

World Drug..COTTON UNITAS There when Bernie was shot   never trusted him   7-1948  parkway tavern

 

Walter Donley Lawyer disappeared  assume dead  kidnapped

 

Eli Cupi  Had the Swing club   20 women 19 costumes’

 

WOODRUFF   “I AM A RIVER RAT I LOVE THE RIVER   Did u know that Chicago ruined our fishing by turning Our River into a  ALIMENTARY   CANAL?:”

 

 

Alliance Life  ( first nat bank)  Housed a great  exciting    Recreation Parlor   pool   1944

 

Dsabvid McCluggage  Mayot  

 

Cotton Club   Melody  Club  Harrison street

 

Attorney Bob Kavanaugh 

 

Gomer  Bath  J/S     wrtoee a column  JS  Straws in the wind?

 

Great             FAUST CLUB

 

  HUB  

 

Incredible  Camp ELLIS  1943  changed the face of Peoria during WW11

 

Carl Shelton killed by car   Christine  Warner   9 year old

He was exonerated.  1944?

 

LYCEUM               WINDSOR

 

St.  Elmo’s  Tavern

 

 1943  6 murders  wow what a dangerous place

 

 

PVT BILLY  Miller captured 19 Germans  WW11   ‘43

 

                   NAMES  IN PEORIA   1940’S

 

Bill Urban    Frank Dougherty  kidnapped

Clyde Garrison    Snooks Gordon   John Kelly  felon

 

Sheriff Spainhauer

 

Vic Michel   Mayor E N Woodruff

 

Carl Triebel   Bris Collins  pimp  also leased  Peoria Heights Motel  chicken shack

 

 

 

Actor  Marshal Thompson  Born here pretty popular   but few Peoria’s know of him now    1928      Richard Pror born here 1940

 

Exposition Gardes  4-24-1932   General Allan Wheeler

 

Big Question in Peoria 1948  “Should Married women be allowed to teach?  Jesus

 

July 28 1946  Bernie Shelton shot  Did  Charles   Blackie Harris do it  who the hell knows….351  Winchester rifle

 

Peter Petrokas  Pere Marquette up side down  LINK

 

Earl and Carl Shelton

 

Roy Gatewood  Shelton jerk

 

Ted Link  St. Louis Dispatch

 

1949  Madam  Sara Cowan

 

Eddie Cantor did his radio show at Pabst peoria  1949

HIRO HITO  JAP Admitted he was not a GOD  thanks to MacArthur

 

Mayor  Joe Malone Beats Carl Triebel  1949  why  guess people did not like ‘reformers’  huh

 

Bar   Adam’s Rib

 

1950  Mayor Joe Malone

 

Billy Barton named Bartonville after him  1879  had 11 bars that perpetuated the town./  They paid 5,000 a year

 

Population  1950  111,475

 

Robert Vanderpool   crashed in a b-29  Peoria,n

 

1950   Dr. Rutledge   Charged with abortion

Chief said; I told him it would best if he closed up shop.”

 

1950  Eli Cupi gets 36 months Texas   drugs  etc

 

BU is Number One in USA

 

PRINCESS:   1950   di  Casthento   Italian  awarded 10 million inheritance over dispute of royalty.

 

 

      1949 Mike  SHORE S/A  Peoria

 

1949   McCluggage Bridge Opens…

 

William Chance was hit by a car driven by Alderman  Zack  Monroe  age 69  1949

 

Peoria’s Great Whiteway   LUMENS   Jefferson 10,000 lights

 

1951   P 51  piloted by Lt.  Edwin  TICE  hit by another plane  killed

 

 

Peoria County Sheriff gets $4,000 year

 

 

Alfred   James   Robinson     Coach  1945  age 58

Died

 

5-30  48     Shelton  John Kelly   Murphy  al hunt and a kid   Gerald Sitton ( perjury) lied about seeing kelly and  bernie with a handgun s

 

S/A  in 40’s  Verele safford 

 

Jack Ashly   bernies sidekick

 

Sheriff Spainhower  later indicted

 

Somogyi  investigator  indicted

 

Ted Link  St louis dispatch  indicted

 

Ray Hull  SA and Sheriff swords  indicted  all never prosecuted

 

BEAR TOOK OFFARM:  John Dickerson 1948

 

Himalayan bears    TUFFY

 

July 28 1948  bernie shot   Cotton   RONITIS  

 

Saint Elmo’s Tavern    3 story building  1948  soon a parking lot/

 

Charles   Blackie Harris   arrested for stealing   steel  did he shoot Bernie