Chicago to Springfield:: Crime and Politics in the 1920s (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) (7 page)

When Governor Small threatened to declare martial law in Sangamon County, he was not kidding. Above, General Somerall of the National Guard talks with Governor Small and Senator Deneen. Below, Governor Small poses with, from left to right, Generals Foreman, Somerall, and Black. (Both ALPLM.)

The
Kankakee Daily News
told all the details of the incredible series of events as Governor Small fought being arrested in 1921. The governor threatened to call the National Guard “with bayonets” to prevent the sheriff from arresting him, and he declared he had the immunity of a king. Small’s rival
Kankakee Daily Republican,
however, did not let its readers know this part of the story. (Both KCC.)

Sheriff Henry Mester arrested Governor Small in the governor’s mansion on August 9, 1921. Small had spent three weeks running from the sheriff before he was trapped. The sheriff led the governor out past a crowd of reporters, photographers, and hundreds of citizens. After posting bond at the courthouse, Small went home. The
New York Times
reported, “He pulled his hat tightly down on his head and looked neither to the right nor the left as he strode through the lane of spectators which had been opened for his exit. There were no plaudits from the populace, who apparently realized that even a ‘King’ can be arrested, after all.” (KPL.)

Pictured is the governor’s mansion in Springfield in 1921, where Len Small became the first Illinois governor to be arrested in office. (KPL.)

Len Small’s lawyers did everything to delay and prevent the governor’s case from coming to trial. They had Small run from the sheriff. They filed claims of immunity, motions to quash the indictments, challenges to the legality of the grand jury, and more. They finally won a change of venue from the state capital in Sangamon County to Waukegan in Lake County, which was the home of Fred Lundin. Waukegan also was close to Chicago, and it was easier for gangsters to fit in there than in rural downstate Sangamon County. One of Small’s lawyers was Albert Fink, pictured here when he represented Al Capone. (KCC.)

The anti-Small
Waukegan Daily Sun
began publishing pro-Small editorials, which were circulated across Lake County for all prospective jurors to read. After the trial, editor William Smith was appointed by Small to the Illinois Commerce Commission at a big salary. (CHM-DN-0073740.)

Roger Chapin, a probate judge, told how Small’s agents posed as baking powder salesmen, going house to house and offering a free portrait of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or Len Small with each sale. By the reaction, the agents could tell whether the household was for or against Small. They used this information in selecting or eliminating jurors. (ALPLM.)

William Stratton (pictured), the Republican chairman of Lake County, helped with the change of venue and was part of the baking powder scheme. As a reward, Small created the department of conservation and named Stratton director. Stratton was elected as secretary of state in 1928. His son, also named William, was elected governor in 1953; in 1965 he was tried for tax evasion and was eventually acquitted. (KPL.)

The state subpoenaed the records of the Grant Park Bank, Grant Park Trust and Savings, and Len Small’s First Trust and Savings Bank, but it did not receive any of these records. Louis Beckman, a cashier at Small’s bank (and a future Kankakee mayor and state representative) testified that Len Small did not have an account at his own bank. (JR.)