Me and mah luttle '63 red impala is back with'n sum more stories bout them gangs of the 20's who run Shucogo!



This here's the story of the "Terrible Gennas", whose also out ther in that big graveyard they call Mount Carmel, where Uncle Alphonse and a bunch uh other wise guys is.

Now, they's six uh these here brothers, and fer a while thar, they had uh lot o pow'r up thar in Shucogo.
Vincenzo (Jim)
Pete
Angelo ("Bloody Angelo")
Antonio ("Tony the Gentleman")
Mike ("Mike the Devil")


Now, these here Genna brothers lived in the South Side's Littel It'ly, on Taylor Street.They got ther start and did raght good making a fertune as a "Black Hand" gang - that is, extorshun.. When pro'bishun come, they natur'lly jumped raght intuh that too.

Now, they furst begin by buyin' indus'tril alcohol frum the gov'ment. Now, this here part was pure legle and ever'thang. They's even had uh lisence frum the gov'ment

Now this here alcohol had a few po'suns and such but the boys run it thru some drains and flav'ered it up bu'for they sold it as whiske, whuch seemed raght nice of them to me. Now sum peepel claimed this here stuff could blind or kill yu, but I reckon any of it could if'n a person drank too much uv it.

Then it ocurred to the boys thut they could jest as ees'ly make ther own. So they asked ther nabors if they wanted ta hep. Purty soon over 1000 of ther nabors was runnin' stills outta ther 'partments.

Each nabor could manyafacture 'bout 350 gallons of alcohol uh week, at uh cost of sumwhar round 50 to 75 cents uh gallon. Now them Genna boys was shrewd bus'nus men cause they's able to get 'bout $6 a gallon, which means they's makin' uh nice littel profit of $150,000 each munth.

Sam wuz the gang's business man'ger. Jim and Pete, they tuk care of the bootleggin', while Angelo and Mike handled enforcement and assassinashuns.. Tony the Gentleman wuz an advisor. The Genna boys also had Samoots Amatuna and the team of John Scalise and Albert Anselmi, Sicilian killers who smeared their bullets with garlic in the belief that it would cause gangrene in thu victum if'n they onle man'ged tuh wing hem.'.

The Gennas were'nt too happy when thu top crime boss of thu time imposed peace and tole ever'one jest tuh work their own terr'tories.

They duhcided to mov in on thu North Side. Well, course that didn't set too good with Dion "Danny" O'Banion an the North Side boys. They's a fearful war brok out; sev'rle was killed, includ'n O'Banion. That's when Hymie Weiss taken ovr that ther North Side.

In May uv 1925, Angelo Genna set out to mak a cash payment on uh new house, 'cuz he'd jest got hitched. His car wuz follered which was prob'ly O'Banion's men Weiss, Drucci and Moran. Angelo tried his levle best tuh run, but he wrecked his car and then the O'Banion gang emptied a shotgun into him.

Jest a few weeks later Thu O'Banionites tried to get Samoots Amatuna tuh set up Scalise and Anselmi fer them. But he pulled a double, double cross on 'em by tellin' Mike Genna what they wuz up to. So when the O'Bannions cum callin' Thu Genna's wuz redey. Genna's men winged Bugs Moran and Schemer Drucci, bufor takin' off. By that time, the cops had showed up an they rec'anized Mike Genna,

But when he recked the car, they all jumped out and hightaled it on foot. Every'budy got away but Genna, who the cops shot. He died in the am'blance on the way to thu
hospitle.

Scalise and Anselmi had secrutly turned traiter and gone over to Capone.They's plannin' on killin' Tony Genna that day,anyways, but thu cops beat 'em to it.

On July 8th of that ther same year, "Tony the Gentleman" was asked to meet with one of his men, Guiseppe Nerone ("The Cavalier"). As Nerone shook Tony's hand in front of a grocery store, an uniden'fied man stepped forward and shot Tony five ties in the back. He died in the hospital without'n bein' able to name his killer. Nerone had set up Tony jest the same way O'Banion wuz killed. But the Genna's got ther revenge, killin' Nerone sever'l days latre in thu barbor shop.

Well, that plum broke the Genna boys. Jim, Sam, and Pete took off, leavin' Shucogo.. Now, they all did fin'le come back, but they stayed outta illegle stuff frum then on.



The Genna mausoleum is not fer from O'Banion's grave. When Tony was beried, one mourner said, "When Judgment Day comes and them three graves are open, there'll be hell to pay in this cemetery."



At first O'Banion wuz refuzed ber'el in consu'krated ground, but his widd'er later got him moved. His grave now. along with thu maus'leum of thu Gennas. is in one uv thu most presteegous parts of thu graveyard, real close to thu maus'leum uv thu bishups and archbishups of Shucogo.

Graveyards shore do make strang bedfellers, don't they?