Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) (16 page)
Authors: Jim Ridings
KANKAKEE POLITICS
CADILLACS BY PRESCRIPTION
Between Chicago and Springfield is the city of Kankakee. To understand the corruption of Len Small and George Ryan, one must understand the politics of Kankakee, where they were bred. The Illinois Central Railroad was building a line through that prairie area in 1853, and it needed a spot for a station. Kankakee County was formed only after railroad workers voted fraudulently and frequently. Another vote was taken to set a county seat, and again the Illinois Central rigged an election to choose a place on their line—a spot that was little more than a mud hole, commonly known as Kankakee Depot, rather than the established Bourbonnais or Momence. The first county board of supervisors meeting was held in Momence, because there were no buildings in the railroad settlement called Kankakee Depot.
The village of North Kankakee got the David Bradley implement factory to relocate from Chicago in 1895 only after a deal that included changing the name of the town to Bradley. Just west of Kankakee, the village of Verkler had a railroad station located there in 1882 only after being shaken down by Thomas Bonfield, the railroad attorney, who demanded the cash payoffs. Bonfield then renamed the village for himself.
In 1961, Kankakee County sheriff Carl McNutt was indicted on 13 charges, including conspiracy with six others to operate houses of prostitution, submitting false bills, and letting prisoners escape. McNutt pleaded guilty to official misconduct and was removed from office and fined. He then was given a state job.
In 2010, Grant Park police chief Scott Fitts was sentenced to five years for running a prostitution sting from his department. He hired a prostitute to lure men and then busted them and shook them down for $400,000 in “fines” before the FBI caught him.
What must be understood is that corruption is not confined to Chicago or to the statehouse in Springfield. It is a part of government in Illinois, even in places like Kankakee.
John Small practiced law in Kankakee and served as a county judge. When he ran for circuit judge in 1905, Len Small allegedly made an offer to the Illinois Central Railroad that if they helped John get elected, that if they helped John get elected, Judge Small would “fix” cases brought by widows and orphans against the railroad. The railroad rejected the offer and John Small was defeated. (HAHSM.)
William Hunter, an attorney for the Illinois Central, exposed Small’s proposal. He called the Smalls “low-minded, wicked men seeking to trade and barter justice for political support.” Pictured is the Kankakee Inter-State Fair in 1900, which was operated successfully by Len Small for 40 years. (JR.)
Pictured here in these
c.
1900 images are John Small (in the buggy) on his farm and the Illinois Central depot in Kankakee. (Both JR.)
Edward Jeffers (above, left) and his son-in-law Victor McBroom (above, right) owned an automobile dealership in Kankakee. Jeffers, the McBrooms, the Smalls, and the Ryans ran the local political machine for a century. For decades, it was assumed people in Kankakee knew that if they wanted a job at the state hospital, they had to buy a Cadillac or a Nash from the Jeffers-McBroom dealership. And to keep their job, they had to trade it in every few years. In the McBroom brothers’ cafe in Kankakee, political deals were made for decades. (Above, HAHSM; below, JR.)
Kankakee political boss Victor McBroom confers with Vice Pres. Richard Nixon during a 1956 campaign stop in Kankakee. Jeffers, the McBrooms, and Tom Ryan held the county chairmanship for nearly 100 years. (HAHSM.)
Victor McBroom was in the state legislature for nearly 20 years. His son Edward followed him in the legislature and as county chairman, for 20 years, continuing the family business. According to locals, employees at Kankakee State Hospital bought cars at his dealership or they lost their jobs. Those who did not make campaign contributions, or who worked for opposing candidates, lost their jobs. George Ryan became Edward McBroom’s (seen here) protégé in 1962, and he continued the arrangement, with an added twist—those seeking favors had to have their prescriptions filled at Ryan’s pharmacy. (KPL.)
Ben Alpiner was mayor of Kankakee and later a state representative. When he ran against Small’s handpicked candidate for mayor in 1911, the
Kankakee Daily Republican
called the Jewish merchant a “shylock who got his pound of flesh from the misery of others.” The newspaper frequently used racial slurs against African Americans, Jews, Italians, Poles, Chinese, Mexicans and others, all the way into the 1940s. (KPL.)
To counter criticism from the
Tribune
and the local newspapers, Len Small bought his own newspaper in 1903. Kankakee businessman A.J. Huot said of the
Kankakee Daily Republican
in 1930, “In my estimation, it ranks zero among the other newspapers, but you can’t expect much where there are no brains. When it is possible to publish more dirt in one paper, the Small outfit will have the honor if doing it.” (KCC.)
