First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt: Homicide in Chicago, 1875 - 1920 PDF
Preview First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt: Homicide in Chicago, 1875 - 1920
First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt HOMICIDE\IN\CHICAGO 1875–1920 JEFFREY S. ADLER harvard university press Cambridge,Massachusetts London,England 2006 Copyright©2006bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege Allrightsreserved PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Adler,JeffreyS. Firstinviolence,deepestindirt : homicideinChicago,1875–1920 / JeffreyS.Adler. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-674-02149-5(alk.paper) 1.Homicide—Illinois—Chicago—Casestudies.2.Murder—Illinois— Chicago—Casestudies.3.Chicago(Ill.)—Socialconditions.I.Title. HV6534.C4A352006 364.1520973′1109034—dc22 2005052778 Contents Introduction 1 1 “SoYouRefusetoDrinkwithMe,DoYou?” 6 2 “ILovedMyWifeSoIKilledHer” 45 3 “HeGotWhatHeDeserved” 85 4 “IfEverThatBlackDogCrossestheThresholdof MyHouse,IWillKillHim” 120 5 “TheDeadMan’sHand” 159 6 “AGoodPlacetoDrownBabies” 200 7 “AButcherattheStockyardKillingSheep” 236 Conclusion 272 Appendix:Methodology 279 Notes 285 Acknowledgments 359 Index 363 First in Violence, Deepest in Dirt Introduction Chicago,”journalistLincolnSteffensreportedin1903,was“first in violence, deepest in dirt.”1 Again and again, observers reached similar conclusions, at least about local violence, often as- sertingthat“ChicagoleadsAmericainhomicides”orthatitwasthe “murdercapitaloftheworld.”2“NoothercityintheUnitedStates,” itspolicesuperintendentconcededin1913,“ismoreopentothedep- redations of criminals than Chicago.”3 During the opening decades ofthetwentiethcentury,Chicagodidindeedexperiencemorehomi- cidesthananyotherurbancenterinthenation.4Furthermore,itsho- micide rate—that is, the number of homicides per 100,000 resi- dents—farexceededthatofotherbigcities;onlysouthernandafew smaller western cities had higher levels of bloodshed. But despite Chicago’s distinctive record for violence,the Illinois metropolis also symbolized America’s progress, vigor, and industrial might, with its phoenixlike rebirth from the Great Fire of 1871 and its hosting the 1
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