Friday, May 16, 2014

Untouchable Eliot Ness: The Man, The Myth, The Legacy



Eliot Ness
He was America’s Number One Prohibition Agent, famous for nabbing gangster Al Capone on tax evasion and enforcing the anti-alcohol laws of Prohibition. But was he really responsible for Capone’s arrest? And how true was his autobiography, “The Untouchables”?

Eliot Ness was born in Chicago in 1903. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1925 with a degree in economics, but returned to pursue a degree in criminology. His brother-in-law, a Bureau of Investigation (forerunner of the FBI) agent, helped get Ness hired, and by 1927, Ness was working with the Bureau of Prohibition in Chicago.


Busting Stills
These "Prohibition agents" were to stop people from selling or drinking alcohol and that was usually done by breaking up illegal bootlegging rings and raiding stills, breweries, and popular nightclubs around Chicago.

Al Capone
This put Ness head-to-head with gangster Al Capone who ran most of the speakeasies and breweries in the “Crime Capital of the World.” After refusing bribes from Capone, Ness and his 8-man team, dubbed “The Untouchables” (for refusing bribes) were prepared to bring Capone in on over 5,000 provable charges of bootlegging.


Capone in Court
But prosecutors knew the charges wouldn’t stick; the public loved drinking but not tax cheats, so Capone was prosecuted on charges of tax evasion, an area Ness had not been involved in.




Eliot Ness
Capone was tried and sentenced to 11 years in prison
while Ness was promoted to Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago. When Prohibition ended in 1933, Ness worked as an alcohol tax agent in the “Moonshine Mountains” of Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. By 1935, Ness was working as the safety director in Cleveland, vowing to end police corruption in the city.


Ness and the Cleveland Police Force
Ness spent seven years in Cleveland, cleaning up the 2,000-man police force by ferreting out corrupt police officials and battling against local Mafia and crime lords. It was during this time that he began to develop his style of policing with science: what today we consider a part of forensic science. He also created a professional police force that served under rigorous moral codes. Ness also helped improve conditions for the Cleveland Fire Department, and promoted traffic safety.


Torso Killer Victim Found
But then Ness began to falter: a serial killer known as the Cleveland Torso Murderer was loose in the city; at least a dozen people had died. Ness indicated in his journal that he knew who the murderer was but could never get him convicted. Personal problems also took a toll and he began to drink and carouse. His first marriage ended in divorce.


In 1942, he resigned his position as Public Safety Director, remarried and moved to Washington D.C. to work for the federal government in the battle against prostitution and vice. By 1947, he was remarried and was living back in Cleveland where he ran for the office of Mayor. He lost the election, sank into debt, and started drinking heavily. In 1953, he took a job with North Ridge Industrial Corporation, a paper company from Cleveland, and moved his family to the new headquarters in rural Pennsylvania.


Oscar Fraley
It Never Happened
Ness decided to write his autobiography but soon realized he needed a ghostwriter. He hired Oscar Fraley, a reporter, to collaborate with him. Fraley ended up writing the book, creating events and characters that were totally fictitious. Fraley painted Ness and his men as fearless agents who were mysteriously ‘untouchable,’ when in fact it was the careful, methodical planning on Ness’s part, the integrity of his team, and sheer gut instinct that kept most of the men from being gunned down.


Eliot Ness's Grave
The book, “The Untouchables” was published in June 1957. Ness never knew that his myth and legend had been secured: Eliot Ness died of a massive heart attack on May 16, 1957, one month before the book came out. He was 54 years old. Eliot Ness was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio.


1960's TV Show
But the Capone/Ness crime-fighting legacy continued. Several television programs, movies, novels, and comic books (Dick Tracy was said to have been modeled after Eliot Ness.) have been made about Elliot Ness’s life as an American hero. 




The Untouchables Movie
Eliot Ness
But what is the true story? Fifty-seven years after Ness’s death, it’s hard to decipher between what he really said and did, and the Hollywood version: a highly fictionalized story of a super-hero lawman.



ATF Building
In January, it was proposed that the headquarters of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Washington D.C. be named after Ness. But several authors and a Chicago Alderman opposed the resolution, inferring that Ness's legacy was not representative of who the man really was.


Now, almost 60 years later, it appears that Eliot Ness has indeed become “untouchable” but not in the way he had hoped …

~ Joy

Friday, May 9, 2014

The Tombstone Trail: An Innovative Idea


There are wine trails, bike trails, bourbon trails, food trails, art and culture trails – but have you ever been on a Tombstone Trail?

The nation’s only historic cemetery trail tour can be found in Noble County Indiana along the Grand Army of the Republic Highway (U.S. 6) and State Road 9. 


The trail was founded by John Bry, executive director of the Noble County Convention and Visitors Bureau www.visitnoblecounty.com in 2010. What began as a trail for Noble County now includes DeKalb, Koscisuko, Whitley, and Huntington Counties as well.



Bry wanted to create something that tied together Hoosier history and genealogy, with area cemeteries and included profiles of the famous and infamous of Indiana’s history. Volunteers have researched and pulled together over 80 stories including tales about architects, a Noble prize winner, and soldiers who served in the War of 1812, Civil War, both World Wars, and Vietnam, along with accounts about a Salvation Army donut girl, the last Miami Indian Chief, and Indiana author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter.


If you are a Tombstone Tourist, you are aware that cemeteries are rich repositories of history, art, architecture, and stories. This Trail is a creative way to coax others into the graveyard for a chance to explore what is really there and admire the monuments and stories of those who have gone before.


The Tombstone Trail offers self-guided tours of 10 cemeteries over an 85-mile radius. Last year the group published pdfs and books on each cemetery and offered them for sale on their website www.tombstonetrail.com. Those wanting to take a tour should purchase a pdf or book to learn more about the stories of a certain cemetery. Each book contains a map with the graves marked. Once at the cemeteries, QR (quick response) codes are located at the gravesites for more information.


The Tombstone Trail is beginning its fifth season late this summer with guided tours for groups of 10 or more held during the autumn; some tours may be conducted by candlelight! Self-guided tours may be taken year-round. Some of the cemeteries on the guided tour trail may change each year so that each season offers new stories and some old favorite. Proceeds from all tours and books go to historic cemetery conservation. 


Cemetery locations include the Old Kendallville Cemetery, Lake View Cemetery, Rose Hill Cemetery, and Oak Park Cemetery in Noble County; Syracuse Cemetery in Kosciusko County; Blue River Cemetery, Greenhill Cemetery and South Park Cemetery in Whitley County, and Mt. Hope Cemetery and Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Huntington County. For more information about touring the Tombstone Trail, contact the Noble County Visitors Bureau at (877) 202-5761 or visit them on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/TombstoneTrail.



Bry’s idea of a Tombstone Trail is slowly spreading; there are now over 30 cemeteries involved and the trail also includes cemeteries in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

What a great way to introduce people to the cemetery with all its beauty and history: a chance for people to learn about some of our country’s famous, infamous and not-so-famous “permanent” residents of those silent cities of stone.

~ Joy

Friday, May 2, 2014

Faces of the Dead: A Look at Post Mortem Photography


May is National Photography Month; a perfect time to consider post mortem photography and why our ancestors had photos taken of loved ones after they had died. (But be warned: These photos may be considered graphic and disturbing.)


Daguerreotype Camera
Victorian Era
Post mortem photography was popular during the Victorian Era. The daguerreotype was the first photographic process for the masses. Introduced in 1839, it gave those in the middle class a way to memorialize their loved ones, both living and dead.


Man in Chair
Girl in Chair
Many families had post mortem photos taken as keepsakes, a way to remember and honor the dead. Since photography was fairly new, there were likely no other images of the deceased; this was the only way to capture them as they had been in life. Photos could also be sent to family that lived far away for the purpose of remembering and mourning.


Children with Baby
Baby in Carriage
This explains why many of these Victorian death portraits appear to be tableaus: the departed placed in a life-like pose representing a “slice of life” - but taken after someone had died.




Mother with Two Babies
Father with Baby
Post mortem photos of babies were especially popular since mortality rates for children and babies were extremely high. This photograph was all that parents and family members would have to remember their child.






Girl Among Flowers
A "Deep Slumber"
Most early post mortem photos were taken of the face, showing the deceased in a “deep slumber”, but it wasn’t long before full-bodied shots became common with the subjects posed on chairs, couches and beds for their final repose.








Family Gathered Around Deceased
Family is Deceased
Many times a photo showed a parent holding a deceased child with other family members gathered around. However, one post mortem photo shows an entire family laid out on a bed – all of them deceased.


Child with Tinted Cheeks
Tinted Cheeks and Bow
Depending on the photographer, a rosy tint could be added to the cheeks to make the subjects appear more life-like. Many post mortem photos were taken with the subject’s eyes open to give a life-like look. At other times, if the eyes had been closed before the photo was taken, it would be retouched with paint to give the effect of someone alive.


Deceased Pet with Owners
Deceased Owner with Pets
Toward the turn of the century, post mortem photos of pets were also being taken. Or pets with their deceased master …






One post mortem photo was taken two year after death and used to try and locate the man's relatives. (And apparently, also an advertisement for Livingstons, Undertakers.)







King Ludwig II of Barvaria
Family with Two Babies
Photos of the deceased in the coffin were not popular until the end of the 19th century, and more so in Europe than in the U.S.
By the beginning of the 20th century, post mortem photos were falling out of favor; people began to find them tasteless and uncouth in this country.


In Repose
Coffin Photo
Today, post mortem photos are not desired or considered respectful by many, however some ethnic groups, especially in Europe continue the practice. Victorian photos can still be found in antique shops and on eBay – a lasting look at how our ancestors coped with life - in the face of death.

~ Joy