City Crowd Drinking Club
According to investigators, Mayor Bosse and “others of the city crowd” frequented Jack Mann’s club on 2nd Avenue, where whiskey flowed freely.
Mayor Bosse’s Secretary, Carl L. Dreisch
When Benjamin Bosse took office at the start of 1914, he built his administration by appointing Carl L. Dreisch as his Secretary. However, after the State of Indiana pointed out that the city charter made no provision for an employee to serve as Mayor Bosse’s secretary, Dreisch became the city food inspector beginning in 1918, […]
The Verdict
The whiskey ring conspiracy trial lasted five days, and the jury began deliberating on June 18, 1920, at 6:30 p.m. It only took a little more than two hours to reach a verdict. Chief Schmitt sat nervously chewing gum, but did not show any emotion when Judge Anderson pronounced him guilty. Fred Ossenberg sunk back […]
Attempts to Cover Up
It’s notable how Henry C. Murphy, owner of The Courier Newspaper, worked with federal investigators to expose the conspiracy. In this undated letter he informed U.S. Attorney L. Ert Slack, the lead prosecutor of the whiskey conspiracy case, that a cover-up had begun and that Police Chief Edgar Schmitt and Mayor Benjamin Bosse had called […]
The Ossenberg “Machine”
In 1913, the republican Ossenberg “machine” backed Bosse’s campaign for mayor of Evansville. They did the same thing in 1916, when they helped Bosse win re-election. However, when prohibition came to Indiana in April 1918, the Ossenbergs abruptly severed their ties with Mayor Bosse, with the elder Ossenberg brother eventually resigning from his position in […]
Charles F. Heilman
On July 19, 1919, Sheriff Males and two of his deputies staked out Henderson Road and stopped an automobile returning from Henderson, Kentucky, around two o’clock in the morning. The Sheriff, unable to see who was in the car, walked up and announced that the driver was under arrest. “Good morning, sheriff,” said the occupant. […]
Evansville’s 1916 Election Fraud
There were accusations of voter fraud by both parties during Evansville’s 1916 election. Indictments were filed against 42 defendants, including Chief of Police Edgar Schmitt, motorcycle officer Ben Bartlett, saloonkeeper Dick Pennington, Jim Boner, and newly appointed detective Ernest Tidrington—the only black detective connected with the Evansville Police Department at the time. U.S. District Court […]
Jim Boner
A central figure of the whiskey ring was a character named James “Jim” Boner, described as a gambler and “man about town.” He had connections with city hall that permitted him to operate his saloon and gambling house with impunity as far back as 1901. His friendship with Schmitt went back many years and he […]
The Friendly Farmer
The night that twin brothers Claude and Clarence McKinley wrecked their car on Henderson Road, a friendly farmer who lived along the road warned bootleggers that the police were further up the road clearing the wreck. That friendly farmer was Shelby McDowell, who would later become sheriff of Vanderburgh County.
The Three Tres
Verne Bennett’s brothel at 333 1st Street was identified, multiple times, as the “Three Trays.” I’ve spent four years wondering why it was so named. Thanks to a sharp reader who suggested that it was actually named the Three “Tres” (Spanish for “three”). Three Tres would literally be 333–the brothel’s address!