Al Capone
... Breweries, smoking, swearing, cheating, gambling, frequenting places called speakeasies which sold alcohol during the Prohibition, brothels and murder were headline news for much of this time for a man by the name of Alphonse (Al) Capone. Al Capone was born the fourth child to Gabriele Capone and Teresina (called Teresa) Capone on January 17, 1899. ... Al’s father was a barber by trade and Teresa raised her family and also took in sewing piecework for extra income. Laurence Bergreen wrote in his biography called Capone: The Man and the Era” in regards to Capone’s upbringing that “…nothing about the Capone family was inherently disturbed, violent or dishonest. ... One of the main downfalls, in my opinion, was a move Gabriele Capone made for his family to a neighborhood they could afford. ... In elementary school, Al did very well bringing home mostly A’s and B’s on his report cards. ... Many 12 or 13 year old boys at that time were earning pocket money by running errands for others, Al fell under the wings of a pioneer in the development of the modern criminal world, his name was Johnny Torrio. ... John Kobler said it best in his book called The Life and World of Al Capone; he said, “…the street gang was escape. ... ” There was absolutely an interest in the world for Al but he was caught for a while in between the parents’ guidance and the ‘other’ world. Eventually, as Al turned 18 or so, he turned for the ‘other’ world. ... Capone eventually went to work as a bartender for a bar Yale opened up, he was given the position because Torrio was a friend of Yales and recommended Capone for the job. ... Al was enthralled with this world and frequented the places as often as possible. I believe, although it is not proven exactly what time frame it was, that young Al contacted a sexually transmitted disease called congenital syphilis. Al wanted to move towards a different place and chose to move in location to Chicago, Illinois. Chicago, Illinois was known as a flourishing city of organized crime and Al very much was intrigued by it all, he knew he wanted a part of it. When Al came into town, he was drawn to the ‘kingpin’ of a major part of the criminal world; his name was Jim (“Big Jim”) Colosimo. ... Many high profile people were involved in their world that made it all seem to be the exact world that Al seemed to long for. ... To see these people seemingly so successful and being able to make a fantastic financial living was exactly what Al wanted. ... By 1922, Capone joined Torrio’s partner instead of one of his employees and Capone took over the brothels, gambling places and speakeasies. Capone was never a prejudice man, he befriended (as much as possible) people from every walk of life.