Jim Colosimo(1875-1920)
Notorious Chicago gangster--and one of the last of the "Mustache
Petes", a nickname given to the old-line Italian gangsters by the
"Young Turks" trying to take over--Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo was born
in Colosimi, Italy. His family emigrated to Chicago in 1895, where "Big
Jim" got an early start in the criminal underworld. He worked as a
precinct captain and bagman for a succession of corrupt Chicago
politicians, garnering himself some valuable political connections.
that came in very handy later in his career. In 1902 he married a woman
who was a madam at a long-established Chicago brothel, and he soon
opened a second one. Colosimo had a knack for the prostitution
business, and it wasn't long before he had expanded his holdings from
two brothels to more than 200. This brought him into close contact with
the men who ran Chicago's underworld, many of whom patronized
Colosimo's houses, which not only offered women but gambling.
His success attracted the attention of the dreaded Black Hand extortion
gang, and he turned to Johnny Torrio, a
New York gangland figure he had befriended, and brought him to Chicago
to take care of this problem, which Torrio promptly did--the Black Hand
hoods who threatened Colosimo were sound found dead. With the threat of
the Black Hand no longer hanging over his head, Colosimo indulged his
penchant for the good life--which resulted in his being nicknamed
"Diamond Jim"--and opened an exclusive restaurant named after himself.
Torrio also helped Colosimo open several new brothels, and in one of
them he installed a friend and colleague from his Brooklyn days to be a
combination bartender/bouncer/enforcer--a tough cookie named
Al Capone.
In 1920 the Volstead Act, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of
alcohol, went into effect. Torrio saw that there would be huge amounts
of money to be made supplying a thirsty population with booze and
advised Colosimo to get in on the ground floor, but he refused. Shortly
afterwards Colosimo, who had abandoned his first wife, left Chicago to
marry his second wife. He returned to Chicago a week later and was
contacted by Torrio, who asked Colosimo to meet him at his restaurant
for an important meeting. Colosimo arrived there, sat down at a table
to wait for Torrio and was promptly shot and killed by several unknown
gunmen. Torrio, Capone and New York gangster
Frankie Yale were suspected of being the
triggermen, but nothing was ever proved and they were never charged
with the murder.
Colosimo's funeral was, as was the custom among gangsters at the time,
an epic. Huge, expensive floral arrangements surrounded an ornate
bronze coffin. There were more than 50 pallbearers, many of them judges
and Congressmen. More than 1000 marchers followed the coffin to Oak
Woods cemetery. Colosimo was scheduled to be buried in a Catholic
cemetery, but the Archbishop of New York forbade Colosimo from being
buried in any Catholic cemetery in the city. It wasn't because of the
innumerable murders, thefts, beatings, corruption, gambling,
prostitution and other crimes he was responsible for--he was banned
from burial in a Catholic cemetery because he had divorced his first
wife.
Petes", a nickname given to the old-line Italian gangsters by the
"Young Turks" trying to take over--Giacomo "Big Jim" Colosimo was born
in Colosimi, Italy. His family emigrated to Chicago in 1895, where "Big
Jim" got an early start in the criminal underworld. He worked as a
precinct captain and bagman for a succession of corrupt Chicago
politicians, garnering himself some valuable political connections.
that came in very handy later in his career. In 1902 he married a woman
who was a madam at a long-established Chicago brothel, and he soon
opened a second one. Colosimo had a knack for the prostitution
business, and it wasn't long before he had expanded his holdings from
two brothels to more than 200. This brought him into close contact with
the men who ran Chicago's underworld, many of whom patronized
Colosimo's houses, which not only offered women but gambling.
His success attracted the attention of the dreaded Black Hand extortion
gang, and he turned to Johnny Torrio, a
New York gangland figure he had befriended, and brought him to Chicago
to take care of this problem, which Torrio promptly did--the Black Hand
hoods who threatened Colosimo were sound found dead. With the threat of
the Black Hand no longer hanging over his head, Colosimo indulged his
penchant for the good life--which resulted in his being nicknamed
"Diamond Jim"--and opened an exclusive restaurant named after himself.
Torrio also helped Colosimo open several new brothels, and in one of
them he installed a friend and colleague from his Brooklyn days to be a
combination bartender/bouncer/enforcer--a tough cookie named
Al Capone.
In 1920 the Volstead Act, prohibiting the manufacture and sale of
alcohol, went into effect. Torrio saw that there would be huge amounts
of money to be made supplying a thirsty population with booze and
advised Colosimo to get in on the ground floor, but he refused. Shortly
afterwards Colosimo, who had abandoned his first wife, left Chicago to
marry his second wife. He returned to Chicago a week later and was
contacted by Torrio, who asked Colosimo to meet him at his restaurant
for an important meeting. Colosimo arrived there, sat down at a table
to wait for Torrio and was promptly shot and killed by several unknown
gunmen. Torrio, Capone and New York gangster
Frankie Yale were suspected of being the
triggermen, but nothing was ever proved and they were never charged
with the murder.
Colosimo's funeral was, as was the custom among gangsters at the time,
an epic. Huge, expensive floral arrangements surrounded an ornate
bronze coffin. There were more than 50 pallbearers, many of them judges
and Congressmen. More than 1000 marchers followed the coffin to Oak
Woods cemetery. Colosimo was scheduled to be buried in a Catholic
cemetery, but the Archbishop of New York forbade Colosimo from being
buried in any Catholic cemetery in the city. It wasn't because of the
innumerable murders, thefts, beatings, corruption, gambling,
prostitution and other crimes he was responsible for--he was banned
from burial in a Catholic cemetery because he had divorced his first
wife.