But after a phone call with a cousin a few months ago, a cousin with an exciting backstory was brought to my attention. It was the kind of story that sounded like something from a movie to a weird, Oklahoma-born guy born to a quiet, unassuming family: our cousin was a gangster in Chicago, and was murdered in the gang wars there in the 1920s. Not only was it unusual for my family to have ties to Chicago (I have an uncle who moved there late in life with his son but other than that, historically my family has had little to do with that region of the country) but even more unusual for us to have ties to organized crime, murder, and, well, excitement in general.
It sounded like the kind of story that was exaggerated or blown out of proportion. I got what information my cousin knew and thought I'd look into verifying it when I got some time. Luckily, when I finally did, I found that she did NOT exaggerate in any way. If anything, she downplayed the event compared to what I ended up finding. So now I'm going to share my findings for anyone interested in the story I found to be incredibly fascinating. Maybe other families are used to this sort of excitement in their histories--but mine certainly is not, so when I find something like this I feel like I need to share it to say "Look, sometimes my family does something really cool!" (Again, no offense to my ancestors.)
My 4th great grandparents are George Clements and Ann Hamilton; they died in the 1870s in Washington County, Kentucky, an area where they spent their whole lives. I descend from their son Dr. William Hamilton Clements (check out the biography I wrote for him on his Find A Grave memorial here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169752069/william-hamilton-clements), but this cousin is on the branch of his brother Leonard Franklin "Frank" Clements. William and Frank were apparently close siblings as they moved together from their home in Washington County to Ralls County, Missouri in the 1850s. William eventually returned to Kentucky several years before Frank, but the two families were likely quite close with one another.
Leonard Franklin Clements and his third wife, Nancy Hill
Frank's oldest son was born in Ralls County, Missouri in 1856, and his name was George Hilary Clements. He returned to Washington County with his parents and continued living with them into the 1880s. At some point before 1891, he made his way to Chicago, where he married his first wife, Katie McGuire. Four years later he remarried to Julia Kehoe, and together they had five known children. Their two eldest sons were John Leonard and George Hilary Jr.
Leonard Franklin Clements, his wife Nancy, and all but one of his children, with a grandson directly behind him.
The children of Leonard Franklin Clements
The sons of Leonard Franklin Clements
George Sr. was a livestock broker, so not a terribly exciting career, but it appears he took care of his family as well he could. They were a staunchly Catholic family, but one way or another, growing up in Chicago led his son into gang life. In 1920, George Jr., who went by his middle name Hilary (sometimes spelled Hillary or a number of deviations) was listed as a printer, and John, who went by his middle name Leonard, was married by this time and following in his father's footsteps as a livestock broker.
We have no information on how they got mixed into this lifestyle. One possibly interesting clue is the presence of a boarder named John Anderson in the family's 1920 household. His profession is listed as a mail order bookkeeper, which seems innocuous enough. We don't know who he is, but it is interesting that in the 1930 Census, a man of the same name, age, and birthplace is listed as an inmate in Sing Sing State Prison in New York. We have no way of knowing if it is the same man, and if it is, why he was imprisoned, but it seems like a noteworthy footnote. Perhaps Anderson was an associate of the two brothers if they were all mixed into gang life by this time.
George Sr. died in 1921. This would mean these brothers and their other siblings would likely need to support their mother. Perhaps work as a printer was not lucrative enough for Hilary, because by the mid-1920s he ended up in the Ralph Sheldon gang in the middle of prohibition-era Chicago.
I am not a historian on the Chicago Beer Wars, so for further background on these events, I would point you to these articles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Crime_Syndicate and https://www.thedailybeast.com/fighting-al-capones-beer-wars. From the above Wikipedia article:
"In Chicago the gang war between the Italian, South Side Gang of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone and the Irish, North Side Gang of Dean O'Banion and George "Bugs" Moran had become legendary by the mid-1920s. These two powerful gangs fought for control of the criminal rackets and Prohibition era operations in Chicago and its surrounding areas, in what the media called "The Beer Wars". These two dominant gangs influenced other, smaller criminal groups in the Chicago underworld who lined up behind one of the two gangs in the war. The two gangs and their allies had been taking shots at each other since 1920, but the war officially started with the November 10, 1924 assassination of Irish, Northside boss Dean O'Banion in his Northside flower shop. The war brought added law enforcement and media attention, but public outrage came to a head when Italian, Southside boss Alphonse "Al Scarface" Capone finally wiped out part of the North Side Gang with the St. Valentine's Day Massacre on February 14, 1929."
Johnny Torio, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Hilary's allegiance to the Sheldon gang fell under the umbrella of the South Side Italian gangs run by Johnny Torrio and Al Capone. The biggest rival of the Sheldon gang was the Saltis-McErlane gang. This is interesting since later, Leonard claims that Hilary was a close friend of Frank McErlane.
In 2009, Allan May of Crime Magazine wrote an extensive piece on the Beer War and the involvement of parties closely associated with my cousin Hilary; it is so well-written, I would rather share the most relevant portions of his exciting story rather than trying to summarize and risk leaving out important details and not doing it justice. From http://www.crimemagazine.com/frank-mcerlane-and-chicago-beer-wars:
The O'Donnells' first forays were into the speakeasies controlled by Saltis-McErlane and those of the Ralph Sheldon gang, whose territories abutted each other. Although the members of these neighboring gangs despised each other, they were soon united in a common cause to repel the efforts of the South Side O'Donnell brothers.
On Sept. 7, 1923, the Beer War began. Early that evening Steven, Tommy, and Walter O'Donnell, along with gang toughs George Bucher, George Meeghan, and Jerry O'Connor, invaded the saloon of Jacob Geis, a Saltis-McErlane customer. A few days before, Geis had refused to purchase beer from an O'Donnell representative. On this rainy Friday night, the O'Donnell hoods returned to the saloon. In front of six customers, they argued with Geis about purchasing his beer from them. Geis would not give in. Finally, gang members pulled him over the bar by his head and beat him unmercifully with a blackjack, or revolvers, depending on the story. Whatever they beat Geis with they fractured his skull, injuring him to the extent that when he arrived at German Deaconess Hospital, doctors were quite sure he would die. The tough saloonkeeper pulled through. Also beaten and hospitalized that night was bartender Nicholas Gorysko, who attempted to come to Geis' aid during the attack.
...
Spike and his brothers backed down, for the moment, and the Beer War of 1923 came to a close. Hostilities between the allied Saltis-McErlane / Ralph Sheldon gang and the South Side O'Donnells, would lay dormant for a year. This didn't mean that the vicious McErlane went into hibernation. With things quiet on the South Side of Chicago, McErlane was next heard from in Los Angeles on Nov. 28, where he was involved in a "hi-jacking" foray. In addition, he was held there for a time for his involvement in a shooting and an assault.
...
By the spring of 1925, Spike O'Donnell had added re-enforcements to his gang and was ready for another round of mayhem. There would now be a three-way battle going on as the fragile peace that existed between Saltis – McErlane and the Sheldon gang suddenly went sour and turned into open warfare. Most of the hostilities were carried out by the Saltis – McErlane forces against members of the Sheldon gang. In the summer of 1925, the Saltis-McErlane forces first murdered George "Big Bates" Karl and then William Dickman. In September, an attempt was made to eliminate Spike O'Donnell. Eight days later, on Oct. 4, the Ragen Colts Club House – Sheldon's headquarters – was shot up and one "hanger-on" was killed. This was followed nine days later by the murder of Sheldon associate Ed Lattyak. In each of these incidents McErlane was a prime suspect.
...
The year 1926 got off to a slow start. The first South Side beer war shooting didn't occur until Feb. 10 when Sheldon associates "Mitters" Foley and William Wilson were wounded.
The next incident was a double murder that took place on April 15. John Tuccello, a 36-year old father of three, and Frank DeLaurentis, a cousin of "Diamond Joe" Esposito, were alleged to be ex-employees of the decimated Genna brother's gang and had recently hooked up with Ralph Sheldon. Apparently the two attempted to supply beer to saloons in the Saltis – McErlane territory and paid the price. On the Saturday night they were killed, they delivered a barrel of beer to a saloon on Fifty-first Street. There they were followed through the back door by four men who ordered them out at gunpoint.
The two were then taken to a secluded location where they were beaten and shot execution style before being loaded into the backseat of a car. The killers threw a blanket over their bodies, drew the window curtains, and drove the car to West Sixty-fifth Street and Rockwell. There they left the automobile parked outside the home of Ralph Sheldon as a warning to stay out of the Saltis – McErlane territory.
Six days after the discovery of the two bodies, a Chicago police squad led by Captain Stege raided a saloon on West Fiftieth Street. There they arrested McErlane, Saltis and, among others, Walter Stevens, "the dean of all Chicago's gunmen," according to the newspapers. The men were arraigned on federal Prohibition violations because Stege knew there wasn't enough evidence to connect them to the two murders. After McErlane's friends produced his $5,000 bail, Stege had a surprise for him. He served McErlane with a fugitive warrant for the murder of the Crown Point lawyer. McErlane was thrown back into the lockup to await extradition proceedings to remove him to Indiana, where John O'Reilly sat in Michigan City Prison ready to testify against him.
This effectively removed McErlane for the remainder of the South Side beer war. In July 1926, "Mitters" Foley of the Sheldon gang made two attempts to kill McErlane's brother Vincent. In one attack another Saltis gang member, Frank Conlon, was killed. Sheldon knew Saltis would strike back and he warned him to leave "Mitters" alone. Two days later, on Aug. 6, Saltis, Frank "Lefty Koncil, John "Dingbat" O'Berta, and Earl Herbert, killed "Mitters" Foley in an attack. Police captured and jailed the four killers within days; a trial date was scheduled for October.
Saltis, who had a working relationship with Capone, was secretly dealing with North Side gang leader Earl "Hymie" Weiss. Capone uncovered this new relationship as early as Sept. 15, 1926 when Vincent McErlane was arrested in connection with a train robbery with North Sider Peter Gusenberg, a future victim of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.
When the October trial of Saltis and Koncil got underway, Weiss, who had recently turned down a peace overture from Capone, sat in attendance. On Oct. 11, the 12th juror was selected and the trial was set to begin the following day. Weiss was returning to his headquarters when he was gunned down in spectacular fashion in front of the Holy Name Cathedral on North State Street. There had been rumors that Weiss was trying to fix the jury for $100,000. When police searched his body they found a listing of all the potential jurors in his pocket.
Weiss's death put Saltis in a precarious position, as he knew that Capone had discovered his treachery. He moved quickly to safeguard himself. It was through this effort that the Hotel Sherman meeting was arranged on Oct. 20. Here key gang leaders, or their representatives, met to hear a peace plan to stop the senseless slaughter that was going on throughout Cook County. Saltis and McErlane, who were still in jail, were represented by Maxie Eisen, a respected labor racketeer.
Ironically, Saltis, the man who sought the peace that the Hotel Sherman Treaty provided, was the first to break it. On Dec. 30, 1926 Saltis gunmen killed Hilary Clements, a member of Ralph Sheldon's gang. Sheldon took the matter to Capone for arbitration. The decision was made that two members of the Saltis gang were to be sacrificed to teach Saltis a lesson. On March 11, 1927, Frank "Lefty" Koncil, who along with Saltis had been found not guilty in the "Mitters" Foley murder the previous November, and Charles "Big Hayes" Hubacek were murdered.
McErlane was acquitted on Nov. 3, 1927 of the murder of Thaddeus Fancher. The key witness against him, Frank Cochran, had been murdered with an axe and the state's case fell apart."
John "Mitters" Foley. Courtesy of Pinterest.
And here is where our family's part of the story picks up. By the end of 1926, the two warring factions were in the midst of an uneasy truce from the violence that had plagued Chicago for so many years. Just before Christmas 1926, it was reported in the Chicago Tribune that Hilary had gone missing, and Leonard was afraid his brother had become another casualty of another onslaught despite that supposed peace between the gangs.
Chicago Tribune
20 Dec 1926, Page 3
BROTHER FEARS ALLY OF SHELDON HAS BEEN SLAIN
Hillary Clement [sic], known as "Heddy," erstwhile beer runner, companion of the late Mitters Foley and more recently an ally of Ralph Sheldon, has vanished. His brother John L. Clement [sic], said to an official of the Union Stock yards, last night told Lieut. Thomas Mangan at the detective burea he believed Hillary has been murdered. He said Hillary had been missing since last Wednesday when he left the headquarters of the Ragen colts in a taxicab.
"I reported Hillary missing to the police last Wednesday," Clement [sic] said. "So far I have heard nothing. I had recently succeeded in getting him to quit his evil companionship and got him a job at the stockyards."
Three days later, the family appears certain that the worst had befallen Hilary and began requesting the return of his remains from whomever might have them or know their whereabouts. There were fears that if Hilary was indeed murdered, and if he was murdered by a rival gang member, that it could reignite the violence between the two factions. As result, the plight of the Clements family began to make national news, with reports about Hilary's death and the family's subsequent request for his body being picked up by out-of-state newspapers.
Chicago Tribune
23 Dec 1926, Page 3
BEGS GANG TO BE FAIR AND GIVE UP BROTHER'S BODY
"You've Had Revenge," Plea of Broker.
An appeal to the sportsmanship of beer runners and gangsters was made last night by John L. Clements, live stock broker, who begged that the body of his brother, Hilary Clements, who he believes was "taken for a ride" on Dec. 16 by gangster rivals, be returned to his family by Christmas.
Hilary Clements, 28 years old, 8339 Thorp street, former partner of the late "Mitters" Foley, was last seen when he entered a taxicab last Thursday night following a party at South Halsted and West 51st streets.
Gave Up Beer Running.
According to the live stock broker, his brother gave up his outlawry following the murder of Foley last summer, and joined him in his live stock business. Fear had followed him, he said, and the missing man made it a habit to telephone his wife at regular intervals when he was away from home. He telephoned her last Thursday night just before he left the party, saying he would be home in a few minutes.
A week's search failed to disclose a trace of Clements. Last night John Clements appeared at the detective bureau and asked that his plea be broadcast to all gangsters in the city.
Makes Appeal for Mother.
"We are sure my brother is killed," he declared, "So the bootleggers have had their revenge. Now all we want is to know where we can find Hilary's body. My mother is worrying herself to death over the suspense, as is Hilary's wife, Margaret. Last week I met Joe Saltis on the south side and asked him for the body of my brother, but he snarled he had not killed him and if he had would never give up the body. If there are any sports among the gang that took my brother for a ride, let them please get word to us somehow."
Their request was not honored by Christmas like they wished, but a few days later, Hilary's remains were discovered. Again, reports of this discovery made national news both near and far from Chicago as people believed that plague of violence between rival gangs would be reignited by confirmation of Clements' murder.
Belvidere Daily Republican (Belvidere, Illinois)
30 Dec 1926, Page 9
Chicago, Dec. 31 - That the much-touted truce between rival Chicago gangsters was at an end appeared certain today with the finding of the body of Hillary Clements, aid of Ralph Shelton and the late John Foley, whose beer running activities are said to have stirred the wrath of the powerful Saltis-McErlane gang.
Saltis was recently tried and acquitted of the murder of John Foley. Clements, whose body was found by two little boys under a deserted cottage on the outskirts of town, was the first known victim of gang warfare since the machine-gun assassination of Hymie Weiss. Following Weiss' death, a truce was said to have been signed by rival leaders.
Saltis was being sought today by police. Although no direct evidence connects him with the crime, it was said, he was a known enemy of Clements, and police want to check on his movements since his release following his trial for the Foley murder.
Meanwhile authorities prepared to combat a renewal of the bloody regime that cost the lives of so many feudists prior to the signing of the alleged truce. They fear reprisals from the Clements-Foley faction.
Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York)
31 Dec 1926, Page 1
Renewal of Chicago Gang War Expected to Follow Murder
Chicago, Dec. 31 - AP - Belief that gangland's truce has come to an end was expressed today by police after the finding of the body of Hillary Clements, former beer runner, two weeks after members of his family had pleaded for gangsters to deliver up his body by Christmas time.
Frozen and with three bullets in the skull of the body was discovered by two boys seeking adventure in an abandoned house on the southside bringing true the premonition of John Clements that his brother had been murdered.
"This killing means reprisals," John Stege, Captain of Detectives, declared. "We're in for another era of wholesale killings."
John Clements had broadcast through the police this appeal to gangsters--"you've had your revenge--now tell us where the body is."
But the appeal went unanswered.
Doctors said Clements had been dead two weeks, just as his brother had said when, on behalf of an aged mother and a young bride on the verge of collapse, he asked that the body be delivered up for decent burial. His last appeal was on Christmas Eve and promised that any information would be held in strict confidence.
John told police that 26-year old Hillary had recently quit the illicit liquor traffic after long association with John Foley and that he feared the death that came to Foley, supposedly from rival gangster guns, several months ago. His brother, Clements said, also was a close friend of Frank McErlane, reputed gang chieftain awaiting trial in Indiana for murder.
Beyond the knowledge that Clements was last seen alive when he started for [home] in a taxicab Dec. 16 and the marks on the body found last night, detectives had little information on the slaying.
Frank McErlane, Courtesy of Organized Crime Encyclopedia [http://organizedcrimeencyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_McErlane]
Lincoln Journal Star (Lincoln, Nebraska)
31 Dec 1926, Page 2
FIND BODY OF CLEMENTS [Sic]
Brother of Alleged Beer Runner Had Appealed to Gangsters to Give up Body
Chicago, Dec. 31 - (AP) - Further flareups of Chicago's gang warfare were anticipated here today following the finding of the body of Hillary Clements, alleged beer runner, here last night. Clements, a leading member of the gang faction, was found murdered under an untenanted cottage on the outskirts of Chicago. He has been dead about ten days police said.
Clements was known as aide of "Mitters" Foley, who was murdered last summer. "Diamond Joe" Saltis, alleged rival of Foley, who was tried and acquitted on the change of having killed Foley, was being sought today for questioning in the Clements killing.
John Clements, brother of the murdered man, had visited police a week ago, saying he knew his brother had been murdered, and made an appeal for the slayers to "give up the body, so we can give it a decent burial", adding "You've had your revenge."
Chicago Tribune
31 Dec 1926, Page 1
Find Clements Murdered as Brother Said
BULLETIN.
Englewood police this morning sent out a message to all station to arrest Hughie McGovern, alias "Stubby", a south side beer runner, said to have been the last man seen with Hillary Clements before he was slain.
Premonition of John L. Clements that has brother, Hillary, who disappeared on Dec. 16, had been murdered came true last night with the finding of Hillary's body under a tumble down and deserted frame cottage at 336 West 60th Street.
Young Clements, former beer runner, had been beaten and shot thrice through the head. the body showed it had been dragged for a considerable distance by the feet. He had been dead at least ten days, for the body was frozen.
Two boys at play around the abandoned old dwelling found the body in the shallow hole into which it had been tumbled face down. They quickly reported to the police, and an hour later, after the body had been moved to an undertaking establishment, John Clements, live stock broker of 7001 South Sangamon street, had identified it as that of his missing brother.
Vain Appeal to Gangsters.
Thus Hillary Clements, 28 years old, was found just as John Clements several times told the police he would be found--slain. So sure was the elder Clements of it that on Dec. 23 he went to the detective bureau and told how he had issued an appeal to the gangsters to return Hillary's body before Christmas so that the family might give him a decent burial and relieve their mother, Julia, of the strain of not knowing what had happened to her son.
"You've had your revenge, now tell us where the body is," was the substance of John Clements' plea. In it he told how their mother was worrying herself "to death with suspense," and how Hillary's young wife, Margaret, was ill too.
Friend of Mitters Foley.
John Clements, in his appeals to the police, told of his brother's history. He said Hillary formerly had been a close friend of Mitters Foley. Foley, a member of the Ralph Sheldon gang, was murdered last summer--a murder for which Joe Saltis, one of the heads of the Saltis-Frank McErlane combination, was tried. John Clements said that after the killing of Foley, Hillary had bee known as the best friend of Frank McErlane.
Quit Gangsters, Vanished.
After the murder of Foley, John Clements said, he had been able to win Hillary away from his old pursuits and his bad companions. He got him a good job at the stockyards, and it was there he was employed on the night he disappeared.
That night--Dec. 16--the elder Clements told police, Hillary had been to a party at Fifty-first and Halsted streets. John had been there, too. Hillary had got into a cab at the corner and told his brother he was going home to 8339 South Throop street. The cab, however, John learned later, had started north--and that was the last time any friend had seen Hillary alive.
"After we had got him away from the gangsters," John Clements said, "He always was afraid something would happen to him. His wife felt it also. He made a practice of calling her up at regular intervals when he was away from home."
"That night when he didn't come home, he had telephoned her and told her he would be there soon."
It has been the theory of John Clements all along that his brother was a victim of the old feud between the Ralph Sheldon outfit and the Saltis-McErlane combination.
How Police View Case.
The theory of the detectives was that Clements probably was taken for a ride because of his old time close affiliation with Mitters Foley, whom Joe Saltis was supposed to have shot, but of whose murder Saltis was acquitted.
Foley was credited with having shot and killed John Conlon, chauffeur for Frank McErlane, a minor figure in the Saltis-McErlane outfit. Conlon was shot by two men as he sat in a saloon at 6154 South Ashland avenue with Vincent McErlane, Frank's brother. Hillary Clements was suspected of sharing in the killing with Foley.
Hilary Clements. Chicago Tribune, 31 Dec 1926, Page 26.
House where Hilary's body was found. Chicago Tribune, 31 Dec 1926, Page 26.
Newspapers around the country continued to follow the case closely as police pursued suspects Joe Saltis and Hugh McGovern. All the while, tensions remained high that a retaliatory attack could occur and lead to more open warfare between the rival gangs, though some tried to quell those fears by reminding the public that the gangs would make more money if they left each other. Perhaps because Clements was no longer an active gang member his side did not feel it worthwhile to retaliate. Perhaps they also suspected that Hilary had been involved in the killing of John Conlon and/or Hymie Weiss (a witness came forward to identify him as one of Weiss's killers, though police doubted her), and felt that by letting Conlon's associates avenge that killing the sides would be even. It's hard to speculate exactly what their motivations were, but that didn't stop newspapers from pursuing these subjects as best they could.
Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
1 Jan 1927, Page 13
CHICAGO GANGS EXPECT QUIET TIME THIS YEAR
Police, However, Show Signs of Getting Upon Their Trail.
By Owen L. Scott
CHICAGO, Jan. 1--"Why keep on killing one another when there is more than enough business to go around without fighting over it?"
That bit of argument advanced by a prominent local beer baron at a meeting of gang chieftains just before the November elections seems to have borne fruit. Except for one or two minor killings such as that of Hillary Clements, murders among the principal bootleg outfits have been forgotten with no present indication that they will bob up again soon.
So that after losing nearly 150 men in past battles and through carefully planned murders, the gangs enter the new year hopeful of a quiet time.
The Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware)
1 Jan 1927, Page 2
SLAYER IDENTIFIED HIMSELF ON SLAB
Chicago Police Learn Who Was One of Machine Gunners Near Church
Victim of Renewed Bootlegging War Lately Renounced 'Beer Racket'
Chicago, Dec. 31-(AP) - One of the two machine-gunners who killed Hymie Weiss, gangster chieftain, last October 10, from a nest in a rooming house window beside the Holy Name Cathedral on North State street, was identified today as he lay dead in the county morgue, himself a victim of renewed bootleg warfare.
Mrs. Virginia Romain, [employee] of the rooming house from whose window came the raking fire which killed Weiss and wounded three companions, including Attorney W. W. O'Brian, identified the body of Hillary Clements, found last night with three bullet wounds in the head, as that of one of two men who occupied the room the day of the shooting.
Clements had lately renounced the "beer racket" and had gone to work in the stock yards. Discovery of his body followed his disappearance and a search of more than a week by his brother.
Not until this identification had police the slightest [clue] to the identity of the men who ended Weiss' reign as chief of a dominant bootleg gang. Lately they had abandoned their investigation when members of the liquor vending factions met and arranged a truce soon after Weiss' death. Until Clements' slaying there had been no gangster slaying for more than three months.
Police said Clements, before he turned from the beer business, had been a close friend of "Mitters" Foley, for whose slaying "Pollack Joe" Saltis and "Lefty" Koncil were tried and acquitted.
Hymie Weiss, Courtesy of Wikipedia
Chicago Tribune
1 Jan 1927, Page 5
Brother Fails to Blame Gangs for Clements Killing
Something happened yesterday to cause John L. Clements to change his opinion that Joe Saltis or members of the Saltis-McErlane gang killed his brother, Hilary Clements, whose body was found Tuesday night.
It might have been just a hunt that he had better keep his opinion to himself, police said, or it might have been the identification of a woman who involved Hilary Clements in the murder of Hymie Weiss last fall. In either event, John Clements, as a witness at the inquest yesterday, said he knew of no enemies his brother had and he said he knew of no reason why his brother might have been killed.
Before Hilary Clements' body was found under a building at 336 West 60th street, John Clements had informed the detective bureau he believed his brother had been killed by the Saltis gang.
Before the inquest, however, Mrs. M. Romain, 740 North State street, was brought to Kenny Brothers undertaking rooms, 5438 South Halsted street, and was shown the body of Clements.
"That's one of the men who rented a room from me," she said to Chief of Detectives William Schoemaker and Deputy Chief John Stege later.
The men to whom she rented the room were the ones who used it as an ambush. From the window of that room a machine gun poured bullets down into Hymie Weiss and Patrick Murray, who were killed, and into Attorney W. W. O'Brien, who was wounded.
O'Brien was engaged at the time in the defense of Joe Saltis, who was acquitted of the murder of Mitters Foley, a partner of Hillary Clements. Weiss was presumed to have been aiding O'Brien because he had in his possession a list of the jurors call in the Saltis trial and a list of the witnesses against Saltis.
"If Mrs. Romaine is correct in her identification, Weiss partly is avenged," Deputy Stege said. "But I believe she is mistaken. We never suspected Clements. He wasn't a killer."
Chief Schoemaker said he, too, believed Mrs. Romain was mistaken. He took the precaution, however, of sending other witnesses to view the body.
Capt. Michael Lee and Sergt. Richard Piper said they were seeking Hugh McGovern as a suspect in the Clements murder. They said McGovern, like Saltis, was defended by Attorney O'Brien on a murder charge and was acquitted. McGovern, they said, is a killer and he was known to have been with Clements on Dec. 16, the last night he was seen alive.
Hugh McGovern. Chicago Tribune, 1 Jan 1927, Page 26
Chicago Tribune
1 Jan 1927, Page 17
CLEMENTS--Hilary G. Clements, beloved husband of Margaret, nee Duffy, son of Julia, nee Kehoe, and late George Clements, brother of Leonard, Mrs. Eleanor Fenton, and Benedict, at 8339 Throop St. For information call Yards 0662.
In the days that followed, a few more interesting articles discussing Hilary were published. One reported that Joe Saltis, apparently wishing to further distance himself from the Clements murder and Chicago's gang violence in general, reportedly planned to leave Chicago for good days after the discovery of Hilary's body. There was also an interview with Hilary's wife, and even after Hugh McGovern was apprehended, police stated they had no evidence for the identity of Hilary's killer.
The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia)
2 Jan 1927, Page 6
Joe Saltis, Courtesy of Getty Images.
GANGSTER FREED, TO QUIT CHICAGO
Chicago, January 1.-(AP)-Big Joe Saltis has made his resolution for the New Year, and announced his intention of leaving Chicago, and the liquor gang warfare in which his name has long been prominent.
Recently tried for murder and acquitted, questioned by the police in connection with one after another gangster death, Saltis told reporters who located him that he had retired from the traffic and arranged his departure.
"I've been out of the racket for a year," he said. "I made enough money to get out, and I'm going to move to Wisconsin in the spring."
Saltis denied any knowledge of the slaying of Hilary Clements, young associate of "Mitters" Foley, rival clique leader, whose murder was charged to Saltis until his recent acquittal. Big Joe's name had been mentioned in connection with the death of Clements, whose body was found Thursday, two weeks after he disappeared.
The theory that Clements was one of the two machine gunners who laid in wait and killed Hymie Weiss and one of his henchmen in front of the Holy Name cathedral a short time ago was scouted by Saltis. Clements' body was identified yesterday by a woman as that of one of two men who rented a room for their machine gun nest.
Police held that Clements' death heralded the breaking of a reputed gang peace and an outbreak of warfare but Al Capone, Cicero gang chief, said he did not regard the killing as a signal for renewal of hostilities.
Al Capone, Courtesy of Wikipedia.
4 Jan 1927, Page 1
CLEMENTS NO BEER-RUNNER WIFE CLAIMS
Widow Says Foley's Friend Was Slain by Bandits; But Police Seek McGovern
"No, he had no connection with beer-runners or gangsters; he wasn't afraid; I'm sure he was the victim of a robbery."
Thus calmly, without a year, Mrs. Margaret Clements, 8339 Thorp st., reiterated her faith in her husband of two and one-half years, George Hilary Clements, 28 years old, whose body was found Friday afternoon in the basement of a deserted house at 336 W. 60th st. It was apparent that he had been shot to death several days before and the body had been hidden.
Since his disappearance on the morning of December 16, Clements' family and friends have waited anxiously, hoping for any word of his whereabouts. And police carried on a ceaseless search until the frozen body of the murdered man was found by two small boys playing about the old house.
While they will not, or can not, make a definite statement about the slain man's connection with the gangster difficulties in Southtown, police are hunting for Hugh "Stubby" McGovern, who is said to have been the last person who was seen with Clements on the morning of December 16, when he is believed to have been shot.
Calls Wife, Hires Cab
Early on that morning Clements and McGovern are supposed to have spent one-half hour in Nugent's restaurant, 5300 Union ave., according to police. When they left there at about 2:30 o'clock, they spoke of "going to the club," meaning, police say, the Ragen Colt's clubhouse, 5142 Halsted st.
After McGovern fell asleep there, Clements, so police were told, left the club and took a taxicab at 51st pl. and Halsted st. He was not seen alive again.
Mrs. Clements said that her husband call her about 3 o'clock on the morning of December 16 and said that he would be home in one-half hour. When he did not come the next day, she thought he had been called out of town suddenly on business, she said. But later, when the family became worried, police were notified.
Boys Discover Body
Henry Nicol, 5920 Princeton ave., 11 years old, and William Hoff, 333 W. 59th st., 12 years old, were playing about the old frame house at 336 W. 60th st. It had been condemned several years ago and continued to be unoccupied. In the rear, an opening about two feet square, had been left in the foundation to allow air to circulate through the shallow basement.
The boys found the body of a man, later identified as Clements, frozen, lying in the basement. The man had been shot through the head, evidently shortly after his disappearance. Burrs matter in his clothing and streaks of dirt indicated that the body had been dragged to the hiding-place from the scene of the murder. He was hatless and coatless.
Since Clements had been an associate of John "Mitters" Foley, murdered last summer by rival gangsters, and was last seen in the company of "Stubby" McGovern, police began working at once on the theory that this latest murder was closely interlocked with the beer war rivalries.
Blame Bandits, Not Beer
But his wife and his brother, John Clements, 7001 Sangamon st., are convinced that such was not the case.
"He had more than $100, a watch, and a diamond ring with him when he disappeared, and they cannot be found now. It looks very much like a robbery," Mrs. Clements declared.
"He was a friend of Foley's when he was connected with the Ice Cream Drivers' union. I don't know just what the connection was, but they were only friends. My husband never was mixed up with beer trouble."
"He had no enemies that I know of. He was a large man, and quick. I never knew him to be afraid of anyone. He often called me up, especially just before coming home, but not because he was afraid."
"From the time he disappeared I felt that he was dead," she continued, still in a quiet voice, but with tears in her eyes. "It's just been a hard year. My mother died just nine months ago, and now it's my husband gone."
Had Work at Stockyards
John Clements said that his brother had been working with him at the stockyards for several months. According to police, he denied that he believed gangsters had murdered his brother.
Sergeant Thomas Piped and Sergeant Joseph Feery of the Englewood police station are investigation the local angles of the murder, under the direction of Capt. Michael Lee. The inquest, held Friday afternoon, was continued until 2 o'clock on the afternoon of January 21 at the Englewood police station.
Peace has been reigning in Chicago's Beerdrom during the past few months since the declaration of peace was agreed to by leaders in gangland late in the fall. With the murder of Hymie Weiss in the fall, the beer running business lost one of its wealthiest promoters. With the calling of a truce by the warring elements, Al Brown of Cicero, the other man of mans in the business, stepped into the place of authority. Today he is the kingpin, the supreme arbiter of gangsters, great and small.
Chicago Tribune
5 Jan 1927, Page 15
Hugh M'Govern Arrested as Clements Murder Suspect
Hugh McGovern of 835 West 53d street was arrested yesterday in connection with the killing of Hilary Clements, whose bullet riddled body was found last Friday. McGovern is a member of the Ragen Colts, and is said to be a lieutenant of Ralph Sheldon, long a rival of the Saltis-McErlane beer gang.
McGovern admitted that he was with Clements on the night the latter's relatives last saw him, but denied he had anything to do with the killing.
Suburbanite Economist (Chicago, Illinois)
7 Jan 1927, Page 1
NO CLUE FOUND IN SLAYING OF VICTIM OF GANG
Police Seek Slayer of Man Found in Empty House Here
Rumors of gangland vengeance, of beer runner activities and of other underworld activities have all been run down by police of the Engelwood station in the murder of Hillary Clements, whose body was found in a vacant house here last week, but in spite of investigations the slaying remains a mystery and the identity of the killer is still unknown.
It was on Friday afternoon of last week when some small boys playing about a vacant house at 326 W. 60th st. looked through a small opening in the basement and saw the body of a man lying there. The boys ran home and told their parents of their discovery, and the police were notified. The body was removed to an undertaker's, where it was identified by John L. Clements, 7001 Sangamon st., as that of his brother, Hillary, who disappeared on the night of December 16.
The younger Clements was last seen on the night of December 16, when, with his brother, he attended a party at 51st and Halsted sts. Hillary left the party in a taxicab, telling his brother that he was going home to 839 S. Throop st. Police have discovered that instead of going home Clements drove north, but his movements from that time until his dead body was found in the deserted house remains a mystery.
This was the last significant mention of Hilary's murder in the papers. It appears the trail went cold, and if anyone was ever convicted of his killing, I found no indication of it. Some brief references to Hilary's murder were made in future books on the Chicago Gang Wars and its chief players, but no breakthroughs in the case were identified. It appears he became only one of hundreds of footnotes in the lists of victims of the senseless violence that plagued Chicago in the 1920s.
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