Alphonse Capone
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Alphonse Capone was born in New York City by two parents Gabriel and Teresa Capone. Capones parents immigrated to the United States in 1893 from Naples, Italy. Capone came from a large family and was the fourth oldest of nine children. (Kobler 10). As a child, Capone was very wise when it came to living on the streets of New York. He had a clever mind when it came to knowing his environment. Capone was not very bright when it came to school. Capone was an illiterate. He came from a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, so education was not a priority.
At about the age of eleven Capone became a member of a juvenile gang in his neighborhood. Al Capones philosophy was that laws only applied to people who had enough money to live by them. The name of the gang Capone became a member of was called the “Bim Booms” gang. In this gang, Capone was taught how to defend himself with a knife, and with a gun. By the time Capone reached the sixth grade he had already become a street brawler. Capone never responded well to authority and for this very reason his schooling would soon come to an end. While attending school, Capone was responsible for beating a female teacher and knocking her to the ground. The principal of the school rushed in and punished young Capone and for this very reason he would never return to school again. (Sifakis 603)
After dropping out of school, Capone took up jobs such as working as a pin-setter at a bowling alley, and working behind the counter at a candy store. Capone was terrific at pool, winning every eightball tournament held in Brooklyn. He also became an expert knife fighter. Although the “Bim Booms” gang was the first gang Capone ever entered, he was quickly picked up by the “Five Pointers”. The “Five Pointers” was the most powerful gang in New York city. The gang was headed by Johnny Torrio, and was made up of over 1,500 thugs who specialized in burglary, extortion, robbery, assault, and murder. While working as a strong arm enforcer under Torrio, Capone learned all the lethal tricks that would help him reach a pinnacle point in organized crime. Capone was very grateful to Torrio. Torrio first set Capone out to do all of his “dirty work”. Capone was sent to beat up loan shark victims behind on their payments, then a pimp, beating up girls who were holding out on their nightly take. Torrio finally got Capone a job as a bouncer at the Harvard Inn. By this time Capone was recognized by his gang as being a vicious fighter with both fists and knives. He also became an excellent shooter with both a revolver and automatic weapons. This was due to many months of shooting empty bottles in the basement at the Harvard Inn. Capone was later promoted to bartender at the Harvard Inn. At this time Capone received
the scar which would give him his famous nickname, “Scarface”. It is really not known how Capone ended up with a scar that extended four inches across his left cheek. Capone often lied about how he got the scar.
On December 18, 1918, Capone was married at the age of 19, to a 21 year old Irish girl named Mae Coughlin. A short time later Albert Francis Capone was born to the couple. At the same time this was going on, in New York, Johnny Torrio moved his operations to Chicago. Torrios prospects in New York looked low because Capone was charged for two murders. He was released when a witness lost her memory, and evidence suddenly vanished from the court. Al Capone knew that he had Torrio to thank for this. A few days later, Capone got into a fight with another man and killed him. Rather than being charged again, Capone called Torrio and received an invitation to move to Chicago. (Nash 604)
As Capone arrived in Chicago, Capone was given a job as a bouncer at Torrios newest club, The Four Deuces. Capone was known as an aggressive man, hospitalizing most of the drunks he evicted. Men were hospitalized with broken arms, broken legs, and skull fractures. Capone was repeatedly arrested for assault, but was always released thanks to Torrios police connections. While working at The Four Deuces, Capone strangled at least twelve men with his bare hands. The bodies were dragged to the basement through a trap door that led to the alley behind the club. There a fast getaway car would always be waiting for Capone to flee in. The underworld of Chicago at the time was being run by a man named “Big Jim” Colosimo. Colosimo was a flamboyant man. He dressed in expensive suits and was covered in diamond jewelry. He was always seen eating at expensive restaurants, and owned all the brothels, saloons, and gambling establishments in Chicago. (Nash 605)
Johnny Torrio grew very jealous of Colosimo and soon sent for his most loyal hitman, Al Capone. When Capone arrived in Chicago, he was assigned the small jobs as a bouncer and bartender to disguise Torrios real reason for sending for him. “Big Jim” Colosimo was killed on the night of May 11, 1920. (Nash 606) The reason for his death was due mostly to the prohibition act to be passed in 1920. The prohibiton act was a law that forbid alcohol to be distributed to all the bars in Chicago. Torrio, the nephew of Colosimo, often asked him to start an underground operation that could