Stories
Prohibition Era
Charles “Vannie” Higgins – The Last Irish Boss of Brooklyn
Charles "Vannie" Higgins was a mobster and one of the most prominent bootleggers during Prohibition. Known as "Brooklyn's Last Irish Boss", Higgins was notorious for his escapes from the police and law Higgins was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1897. He learned to be a...
Owney “The Killer” Madden – Leader of the Gopher Gang
When Madden assumed control of the Gopher Gang in Hell's Kitchen his territory stretched from below 42nd Street and along the lines of the Hudson Duster territory near the Hudson River. The Gophers and the Hudson Dusters were enemies and would frequently engage in...
Charlotte “Lottie” Kreisberger / Coll
The quintessential mob moll, a street wise German Jewish girl Lottie Kreisberger was first Vincent Coll's girlfriend and later wife. She channeled Mad Dog Coll's aggression to terrorize New York—from innocent bystanders to bosses like Owney Madden & Dutch Schultz....
“Dapper” Danny Hogan
Danny Hogan was a gangster and boss of Saint Paul, Minnesota's Irish Mob during Prohibition. Originally born in California, he settled in Saint Paul around 1909. He turned to organizing major crimes in the city. He became so closely connected to Saint Paul's political...
Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll
Originally from Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland the Coll family emigrated in New York in 1909 Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll joined up with with Dutch Schultz‘s gang and quickly rose through the ranks; by the late 1920s, he was an enforcer and assassin for the gangster....
Frank Wallace
Before there was Whitey Bulger, Pat Nee, The Mullen's, The Winter Hill Gang and indeed the Mafia in South Boston the Irish Mob was in control. Frank Wallace was the leader of the Gustin Gang during the Prohibition era in South Boston. Not only did the Gustin Gang run...
John Patrick Looney
John Patrick Looney was a gangster in Rock Island, Illinois during the early 20th century. Looney served as the model for John Looney, a character in Max Allan Collins' graphic novel Road to Perdition. The character was renamed John Rooney and portrayed by Paul Newman...