Tuesday, November 4, 2008 10:42 PM CST
Haunts of 'Road to Perdition' bad guy featured in Rock Island tour
By Alma Gaul, Lee News Service
The year was 1912, and the screaming headline in the Rock Island News, a so-called newspaper published by gangster John Looney, severely slandered the mayor.
Looney was involved in gambling, prostitution, guns and illegal liquor, and he routinely used lies and slander in his newspaper to blackmail and destroy the reputations of community leaders.
For example, there was this headline: “Schriver’s Shame! Spent Night and Day in Peoria in Filthy Debacuch with Ethel: Deeds that Would Shame a Dog!”
Mayor Harry Schriver was so angry at the made-up link to a Peoria prostitute that he had the police deliver Looney to his City Hall office, where he beat the gangster so severely that Looney needed hospitalization.
Two nights of rioting in downtown Rock Island followed. Two bystanders were killed and eight other people were shot. The sheriff, panicked by the extent of the riot, contacted the governor, who declared martial law and called out 600 National Guardsmen who remained in the city for nearly 30 days.
From today’s perspective, it may be difficult to believe events such as that actually happened right here in what is now the Quad-Cities. But they did, and not all that long ago.
To ensure such local lore is not lost, and to help people interested in learning more, the Rock Island Preservation Commission has published a free, 35-page booklet titled the “John Looney Legend Tour.” The publication describes 50 buildings/locations with ties to Looney and is meant to be used as a driving tour, with all locations marked on a map.
ROAD/C2
The new publication grew out of a smaller sheet hastily compiled in 2002 to accompany the release of the movie “Road to Perdition,” starring the late Paul Newman as a character based on Looney.
“I can’t tell you how many times I had to reprint (that brochure),” city planner Jill Doak said. “It was very popular.”
Among the buildings featured in the booklet is Mayor Schriver’s home, an 1869 Italianate-style gem at 11th Street and Third Avenue that has been declared a city landmark. It is vacant now, but poised for restoration.
Other buildings include today’s VanDerGinst Building on Second Avenue, where an insurance man who owed gambling debts to Looney died under suspicious circumstances; the former Villa de Chantal, where Looney’s two daughters went to school; and several homes where Looney lived in neighborhoods throughout the city.
Doak wrote the text for the new publication with information from “Citadel of Sin: The John Looney Story,” a book co-authored by Richard Hamer, a Looney expert, and Roger Ruthhart.
As Doak took notes on the book, she thought, “Oh, my goodness, we could do so much more,” and she became so intrigued by the story and characters that she ended up doing original research to answer some of her own questions.
The Looney story is like that. It lures people in and makes them want to know more.
That is what happened to Hamer years ago as he first tried to separate fact from fiction in his search for the true John Looney. He pored over newspaper articles, court records and trial transcripts in several cities. He spoke to people who knew Looney and even traveled to Looney’s birthplace in Ottawa, where he interviewed relatives.
Nowadays, at age 79, Hamer is working on a fictional story of the Looney years in which a real-life madam named Helen Van Dale plays a key role.
“She was a lot bigger character in this story than it appeared,” Hamer said.
He also will try to get inside Looney’s head and try to describe “why he was the way he was.
“That can be a stickler,” he said.
Contact Alma Gaul at 563-383-2324 or agaul@qctimes.com.
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