July 25, 2023 • 29 mins
With his bootlegging operation thriving, Remus and Imogene indulge in the life of luxury. But soon Remus finds himself on the radar of a young Justice Department official named Mabel Walker Willebrandt.
Remus: The Mad Bootleg King is a Curiosity Podcast and is a co-production of iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. This podcast is based on Abbott Kahler’s book, “The Ghosts of Eden Park: The Bootleg King, the Women Who Pursued Him, and the Murder That Shocked Jazz-Age America.”
You can learn more about Abbott and her books here.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
As strange as this story may seem, this is a
work of nonfiction with no invented dialogue. Every reenactment you
hear comes from government files, archives, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, books,
or trial testimony. It's an autumn night in nineteen twenty.
(00:39):
George Remas and his driver haul a truckload of whiskey
from Kentucky to Cincinnati over the Cincinnati Covington Bridge. It's
a routine trip, one they'd made many times before, but
on this night, a car traveling from the opposite direction
veers in front of their truck and blocks the road.
(00:59):
Remus's heart pounds whiskey pirates a roving band of thieves
and tent on stealing all his liquor. His driver flees
on foot, leaving Remus to fend for himself. The pirates
surround Remus's truck and point four Tommy guns at his head,
stick him up high. Remus stands his ground.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Pull your triggers, shoot you cowards, and if you do,
you'll never live to tell the tale.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
The men attack, the smack of flesh against flesh, the
crack of ribs, a hard bash against Remus's head. Blood
drips into his eyes. Remis knocks out three of the thieves,
but the fourth climbs into Remis's truck and speeds away,
taking hundreds of cases of whiskey with him. The next week,
(01:50):
Remus tracked down the boss of the pirates, who surprised
him with a compliment, you.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Have more guts than twenty men and deserve to keep
your liquor.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Remus just laughed and hired a few of the ringleader's
men to drive his trucks insurance against future attacks if
you can't beat them. By him, it was the Remas way.
I'm Abbot Taylor, and this is Remus, the mad bootleg king.
(02:35):
From the minute George and Imagen Remus arrived in Cincinnati,
they hustled to get Remis's circle operation spinning. Remus promised
Imaging that she would be his partner in everything. She
would oversee business records and plans he couldn't share with
anyone else. There was nobody in the world he trusted
so fully. Now, both his livelihood and his heart rested
(02:56):
in her lovely and clever hands. Together, they ruthlessly exploited
the loophole Remus had found in the vol Set Act.
Their first purchase was a down town drug store. With
some legal trickery, they turned it into a wholesale drug
company that could pull permits from the federal government to
sell quote medicinal alcohol. They quickly bought several more drug
(03:16):
wholesalers in Cincinnati, across the river in Kentucky, and in
New York City. From there, they shifted to the supply
side of their bootlegging venture. Remus bought the H. Pogue
Distillery in Maysbowl, Kentucky, sixty miles from Cincinnati. He entered
negotiations to buy other distilleries that had stockpiles of liquor
made before prohibition. Next, he hired a team. A few
(03:40):
discreet inquiries led him to local prohibition officers open to bribes.
Once he found his marks, he hired confidential men to
bait them into accepting payoffs. He recruited a traffic man
to handle his one hundred and forty seven truck fleet.
He brought in secretaries to falsify paperwork. Ebajan's brother came
on as their quote all around man, and of course
(04:02):
they needed a personal chauffeur and a personal cook. High
society demanded nothing less, But the most important hire was
a man named George Connors. Connors, the son of poorer
Irish immigrants and a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, was a
powerful real estate broker with useful political connections. Connor's was
Reemas's physical and psychological opposite, with a wiry, compact build
(04:25):
and a reserved demeanor. Connor's quiet, steadfast nature complemented the extravagant,
bombastic Remus. Remus believed he would make a fearless and
savvy lieutenant. He would become the bootlegger's most important mediator,
not just in business matters, but in personal dealings too.
The battle with the whisky pirates exposed Remis he needed
(04:47):
a safer, more secluded storage facility at headquarters, where whiskey
could be housed and where trucks rolling in and out
would not arouse suspicion or risk being hijacked by competitors
or seized by police. It didn't take Connor's long to
find a spot in the woods outside the city. Connor's
and reams Us went to check the place out. They
drove northwest toward the small town of Cheviot, ten miles
(05:10):
outside Cincinnati. They turned down Lick Run Road, a long,
twisty passage devoid of any other traffic. The farther they drove,
the more the road narrowed. Hundreds of pear trees formed
a canopy of leaves above them. The road looked like
it would dead end into a forest, but instead a
two story clapboard farmhouse came into view. Close by were
(05:31):
three barns and a scattering of outbuildings. A man in
his mid fifties, heavy and unshaven, stood amid the buildings
to Greek Connors and Remas. His name was George Stater,
and he owned the place. He told them prohibition had
wiped out his own business, a small grape growing and
wine making operation. Theater wanted to run out the farm
for storage privileges, and he figured a bootlegger like Remus
(05:53):
would be an ideal tenant. Remas offered one hundred dollars
per week, and the deal was done. Remas and Connors
returned the next day with a truckload of whiskey and
began unloading cases, two hundred and fifty in all. But
Dater began to have second thoughts. He was putting people
in danger. He could not afford to be arrested, and
neither could his hired hand who lived on the property
(06:15):
with his family. Dater took his concern to Connor's. It
did not go well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
We're going to get pinched, get out of the way
and shut up.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Having put data in his place, Connor's and Remus continued
their work until the whiskey truck was empty. Connors and
his crew began turning Dater's farm into an impregnable fortress.
A company of marksmen stood guard at all hours. They
were armed to the teeth shotguns, pistols, automatic rifles, and
(06:48):
ready to protect the stash. More armed guards manned the
hayloft in the barn. An electric buzzer connected them to
the second floor of the house, where another guard kept
watch During the night. Guards at the entrance instructed approved
customers to drive into the yard and dim their headlights
three times in a quick succession. At this signal, the
(07:09):
men in the barn pressed the buzzer and guards in
the house illuminated the entire yard with a high powered floodlight.
The compound soon earned the Moniker Death Valley Farm, both
a warning the trespassers and a hint at the fate
of those who tried but were never seen again. The
rum runners would take Remus's liquor and sell it to
(07:29):
speakeasies back in their hometowns. During my research, I discovered
an original nineteen twenty five menu for a Chicago speakeasy.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
What's the password? The moon is shining bread.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
One could get a champagne cocktail for seventy five cents.
Other cocktails had unique names, Dirty Dick's Flip, Maiden's Prayer,
and my personal favorite, the Corpse Survivor, a hangover cure
that remains popular today, made with gin Lelais blanc, orange
look and lemon juice. The Corpse Reviver came with a warning,
(08:09):
four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the
corpse again. To keep the circles runners loyal, Remus treated
them as though they were on vacation. They enjoyed a
free car wash, home cooked meals, and a soft cut
to sleep on. Important runners could even play games of
craps with money Remus gave them on credit. When they
(08:29):
were ready to make a pickup or delivery, Remus personally
handed them a sack of sandwiches, a thermos of milk
or coffee, and a few quarts of whiskey. He explained
that his runners should never have to drink their own
supply on the road, and Remas's customers all knew they
were getting the highest quality booze in the business.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Remis so good liquor.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
He disdained those who muddled clean, pure whisky by cutting
their supply with sugar or water or wood alcohol. Those
inferior bootleggers didn't care if the customer went blind or paralyzed,
or died or lost his mind. Once Death Valley Farm
was in place, Remas's circle never once stopped spinning twenty
(09:14):
four hours a day, seven days a week. His trucks
blackened the roads. Children playing along the route to Death
Valley halted their games long enough to cry, there go
the whiskey trucks. Remas took pride in his work. He
was raking it in and doing good for his community.
Prohibition cost thousands of jobs in liquor related industries. Bartenders, waiters, truckers,
(09:36):
barrel makers, and glass workers were all out of work,
but Remus would rescue them. He welcomed three thousand men
to his payroll, becoming one of the largest employers in
Cincinnati and a de facto hero, providing quality whisky and
the money to buy it. Just as he refined his
business operations, Remus was refining his own persona. He added
(09:58):
and subtracted traits and nuances, shading and sharpening his lines.
He changed how he talked. He never used one word
where a half dozen might do. Merely saying thank you
wasn't enough. Instead, he would offer thanks.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
From the teeming fulness of my grateful heart.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
He developed a meticulousness that bordered on phobia. He could
not tolerate a speck of dirt or disarray. He couldn't
abide anything that restricted his freedom in body or mind.
Piece by piece, he replaced his wardrobe with bespoke suits
made of silk smooth, baby soft silk he decided was
the only material that should touch his skin. Imaging, Remus
(10:39):
was remaking herself too. Whenever she wasn't a death Valley farm,
supervising orders or greeting clients, Remus encouraged her to go
shopping for home decor. He wanted little trinkets and fixtures
that would make the mansion. They were renovated like none
other in the city. She spent afternoons shopping for solid
gold service plates and silver cutlery, which she had engraved
(11:01):
with his initials g R. She never looked at christ
Town and pulled out her checkbook for anything that caught
her eye. After all, she had a hundred thousand dollars
diamond blinking from her hand. Even young Ruth became known
for her extravagant possessions bottles of Garland perfume, lavish outfits,
(11:22):
and a genuine muskrat coat. She gave favorite classmates diamond studied,
gold and platinum figurines that cost fifteen thousand dollars apiece.
Remus called her Princess. They would be the perfect family,
happy content, always there for one another. Her Srema's thought
and Remus's business was about to get even easier, at
(11:45):
least for a while. In the spring of nineteen twenty one,
shortly after President Warren Harding's inauguration, Remus got a call
from an old Chicago law colleague named Elijah Zolen. Someone
in the Department of Justice, a close friend of Attorney
General Harry Dougherty, had made it known that the government
was willing, even eager, to conduct business with bootleggers. For
(12:07):
a certain price, Remus could get an unlimited number of
genuine permits to withdraw pre prohibition booze from distilleries. Zolene
told Remis he could arrange a meeting on neutral territory
in New York City. Remus was definitely interested. Business was booming,
but it grew riskier by the day with each whiskey withdrawal.
(12:28):
He took the chance that an honest prohibition director would
discover his subordinates selling permits. To mitigate this issue, Remus
bought a rubber stamp copy of a local prohibition director
signature so he could forge the permits himself. But large
scale forgery also posed obvious risks. Buying authentic permits directly
(12:48):
from the federal government, as Zolene was suggesting, would both
streamline the process and diminish its dangers. Zolene made good
on his promise. He took Remis to New York for rendezvous.
In the lobby of the Commodore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Soon saw a man swing through the doors and approach them.
(13:08):
He was an odd looking character, wide and squat, with
a florid complexion and a coarse bristled mustache. Black wire
glasses made imprints on his fleshy cheeks, so Lean made
the introductions.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
George Remus meet Jess Smith, so.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Len left the men alone to talk.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I hear you are a large operator in the whiskey industry.
I could provide you with all the permits you need
for consideration.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Of course, Smith told Remus that the permits would bear
the authentic signatures of state prohibition officials who reported to
the Justice Department, a bit of insurance if Remus encountered
any suspicious authorities. Then came the quid pro quo, So.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Remus, what can I expect from you?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Remus thought it over.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Per permit between dollar fifty and two fifty on the size.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Of the ship. The next topic was an even bigger coup.
Smith offered to use his political clout, in particular his
relationship with Attorney General Harry Dougherty, to protect Remis from
legal trouble. If Remus found himself prosecuted for bootlegging, Smith
promised there would be no conviction, and if for some
reason a conviction happened, Smith would arrange a pardon from Doherty.
(14:30):
For this service, Smith would accept fifty thousand dollars for
starters without hesitation. Remus reached into his pocket and counted
out fifty grand all in thousand dollars bills. The men
shook hands and agreed to meet again soon. It was
the first in a long series of meetings. Remis kept
(14:52):
paying Jess Smith big money for his whiskey permits and
legal protection, thirty thousand bucks at a time, always in cash.
With Smith's assurances, Reemus operated openly, even brazenly. He bilt
distillery after distillery as fast as he could. He bought
the Edgewood Distillery in Cincinnati and ordered his force of
(15:12):
bottlers to get to work. Within five days, they removed
sixty five hundred cases of Old Keller, five hundred cases
of Johnny Walker, and two hundred and fifty cases of
Gordon's gin. The same drill was repeated in dozens of distilleries,
frequent and massive deliveries. To Remas's death, valley storage space
filled the place to overflow him. Remas's chain of distilleries
(15:35):
and drug companies stretched across nine states, from New York
to Kansas. His clients included the head of the Chicago mob,
Johnny Torrio and his ambitious protege Al Capone. Remas and
Connors had so much money they couldn't count it, and
so much whiskey, they couldn't store it. Connor spent hours
counting cash. The money came in so fast that Remus
(15:58):
couldn't deposit at all, forcing him to carry as much
as one hundred thousand bucks in his pockets at eddy
given time. He even considered opening his own bank. One
broad estimate of Remas's net worth at this time was
between twenty one and forty million dollars, and that's in
today's money. Remas had the Washington politicians in his pocket
(16:20):
and an army of men moving his liquor, but he
had no idea that a powerful woman was maneuvering to
knock his playhouse down. Mabel Walker Willembrandt was the Assistant
(16:40):
Attorney General of the United States, the most highly ranked
woman in American government. She was responsible for all Prohibition
related matters in the country. It was her job to
taunt down the top bootleggers and bring them to justice.
Willanbrandt was, in her own way, a lot like George Remas.
She had always felt destined for grand and public endeavors.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
For all of my I have had the most uncanny
feeling against which I have often struggled, that seems to
always say to me, you are marked to step into
a crisis sometime as an instrument of God. It seems
that it may mean danger or disgrace, or in some
way cause me agony of the heart, but I can't
escape it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Also, like Remus, she rose from hard scrabble beginnings. Mabel
Walker was born in a sod duckout on a remote
Kansas plane in the waning decades of the American Frontier.
It was around the turn of the twentieth century, and
young women on the frontier were expected to have the
same resourcefulness as men, and if they failed, they were
(17:48):
punished as severely as the young men. Her parents, both
descendants of German pioneers, worked tirelessly to shape her character.
When she bit her pet cat's ear, her father bit hers,
she developed a ruling philosophy to which she would adhere
for the rest of her life.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Look above and beyond the immediate task.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
At age thirteen, Mabel began formal schooling and cast her
mind in all directions. By the time she began her
own teaching career in her late teens, her resume claimed
a nearly unfathomable range of expertise. In addition to the
usual basic school curriculum. She also mastered botany, zoology, biology, physiology,
(18:33):
freehand drawing, domestic science, household economy, clay modeling, and even
gymnastics and baseball. She did not tolerate disrespect from her students.
On one occasion, a boy attacked her with a knife.
With one deft move, she snatched the weapon from his
grasp and delivered what she called an enthusiastic licking. She
(18:55):
had another favorite, saying.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Life has few petted darlings.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And willebrand certainly did not consider herself one of them.
Every morning, she filled her bathtub with ice and forced
herself to soak in it. She believed such daily discomforts
built stamina and character. Will and Brandt knew what she
wanted and wasted no time in pursuing it. She graduated
from what is now Arizona State University and then moved
(19:22):
to Los Angeles, enrolling in the University of Southern California's
law school. She had a short lived marriage, which she
ended for a surprisingly progressive reason. Her husband was in
pulling his own weight. Throughout their marriage, Mabel had nursed
her husband, author Wilhembrand, through tuberculosis, cared for his elderly
mother and worked full time as a teacher to pay
(19:43):
for both of their law degrees, not to mention cooking, cleaning,
and preparing the next day's lessons before attempting a few
hours of sleep. When they separated, she lamented that only
she had made the quote necessary adjustments of marriage.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
A wife should be concerned with the preservation of her freedom,
her self respect, her intellectual and executive attainment, her economic independence,
finding the best outlets for her energies, finding the best
protection for her spirits, and establishing a basis of mutual
understanding with her and her husband in order to have
both a child and a job if she wants both.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
After graduating from law school in nineteen sixteen, Willimbrant became
Los Angeles' first female public defender. In that job, she
argued two thousand cases, focusing particularly on prostitution. She employed
a rule that forced John's to show up in court
alongside the prostitutes they'd hired. She avoided sentimentality in favor
(20:46):
of honest, pragmatic support. When one client, a madam, sought
advice about going straight, will Andmbrandt assessed the woman's finances.
She determined that Madam could retire after six more months,
and even loaned her some money to help with her
fresh start. The problem was, Mabel Willebrandt did not have
much alone. Five years as a public defender put precious
(21:08):
little money into her bank account. But then she got
a telegram that would change her life. Attorney General Harry
Dougherty invited her to come to Washington to meet President
Warren Harding. The new Republican administration was eager to curry
favor with women who had just won the right to vote.
They wanted willinbrand to fill the position. She would be
(21:29):
in charge of federal income taxes, prisons, and most important,
all issues relating to the Volstat Act. Willebrant was so
strapped for cash that she had to borrow money for
train fare and a new blouse to wear for her interview.
Unlike George Remas, Willanbrandt liked to drink, especially California wine.
(21:49):
She didn't believe in prohibition, but she would ruthlessly enforce it.
Her new digs at the Justice Department were like nothing
she'd ever imagined, and her office at a gleaming mahogany
desk the size of a barge. She had a personal
staff of six people, three attorneys, two stenographers, and one secretary.
(22:10):
They quickly nicknamed her the Queen. Her salary was seventy
five thousand dollars per year, almost one hundred and twenty
five thousand dollars in today's money. But when she sussed
out the politics of prohibition enforcement in the Hartig administration,
she got a surprise. None of her bosses, including President
Harding himself, had much interest in waging the war on liquor.
(22:34):
He even served liquor in the White House during card
games with friends and appointees. It was easy to see
why the administration had courted her for the job. She
was just thirty two years old, five years out of
law school, and had never prosecuted a single case in
her career. They knew she was inexperienced. They thought she
would be intimidated and overwhelmed, and they assumed they would
(22:56):
be free to continue their profitable relationships with bootleggers like
George Remas, selling whiskey certificates and promises of protection. But
to her boss's surprise and dismay, willim Brand took her
oath of office in the fall of nineteen twenty one
and buckled down. Aside from crooked bosses, she faced other
serious challenges on the job. Rampant sexism. For one, many
(23:19):
Americans didn't like the fact that a woman held one
of the most powerful jobs in the country, especially when
she was enforcing a very unpopular law. Newspaper reporters couldn't
write about her work without mentioning her appearance, the cut
of her dress, the style of her hair, the height
of her heels, the color of her eyes, whether she'd
gained or lost weight. Even her hands were scrutinized. One
(23:43):
article noted her low set thumb and her middle finger
of unusual prominence. Willimbrand hated this double standard and privately
griped in a letter to her parents.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Why the devil do they have to put that girly
gurly tea party description every time they tell anything a
professional woman does?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
And yet she felt compelled to play along, trying, at
least in public, to strike a balance neither too masculine
nor too feminine, too aggressive or too demurror, too indifferent
or too emotional, too much or too little of any
quality that would highlight her sex instead of her work.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
I try not to think of myself as a woman
in going before a jury. By this, I do not
mean that women should be mannish, but that they must
forget about themselves.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Willibrand also had to contend with a physical impairment. She
was almost entirely deaf. She did not want her bosses, colleagues,
or opposing counsel to know of her condition, and spend
an hour each morning fixing her hair to conceal her
hearing aids. In Willebrandt's archives of the Library of Congress,
I found dozens of letters she wrote to her parents
(24:52):
about her hearing issues, letters expressing her sadness, frustration, and
especially her rage.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
The dread shadow of deafness all but submerges me for
Mama and Papa Dear. When from every quarter and indirectly,
I hear the most extravagant marvelings at my capacities over
the way I handle myself before the court and when
presiding over trying conferences, that surge of bitterness rises even
(25:20):
in their praises, when I think, damn you, you think
that's good? Do you know what then I could do
if I weren't struggling under the most horrible handicap that
you do not guess.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Sometimes in reading these letters, I noticed that Mabel had
pressed her pencil with such force that the tip had
broken off. Willembrandt didn't mind her immediate boss, Attorney General
Harry Daugherty, but she had misgivings about his personal assistant,
Jess Smith. Although his office at the Department of Justice
was just down the half of her own, she had
(25:55):
no idea what Smith did all day. As far as
Willebrandt could tell, Smith seemed to be an errand boy
who bought railroad tickets for the Attorney General and carried
his brief case. Dougherty himself told Willebrandt, Oh, don't pay
any attention to Jess. If I have any directions for you,
I will give them to you. There's a telephone on
my desk and I will reach you. She would soon learn, however,
(26:18):
that Jess Smith was aiding and abetting the biggest bootlegger
in the country. Her first clue came in a telegram
from an Ohio based federal district attorney who described what
he called an almost unbelievable condition in Cincinnati. Although his
office had successfully prosecuted several prohibition cases, they were now
(26:38):
facing quote one of such magnitude and so far reaching
that they needed Washington's help. A thorough investigation by capable
agents could quote stamp out in this community, the so
called whiskey ring. Will and Brandt opened a brown folder
labeled Department of Justice Mail and File's Division and slipped
(26:59):
the telegram inside. She would soon scrawl one word across
the folder, underlined with a heavy.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Remus on this date, November twentieth, nineteen twenty seven, this
session of the Criminal Division of Common please Court in
Hamilton County will come to order.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I call Emmett Kergan to the stand. You talked to
missus Remas.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
We were down to Raglan Dixon and Williams's office and
Missus Remas was sitting in the waiting room, and I
came in, and she came over and shook hands with me.
I met the lady once before. She said, I am
afraid of this man. I am afraid he is going
to kill me. He is so insanely jealous. If he
(28:04):
walked in here now and seeing me talking to you,
he would be liable to shoot both of.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Us next time. On remis the mad bootleg king.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
We're prohibition officers. Hands behind your back.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I've got everyone and his brother in Washington on my payroll.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
We know he's been working his influence all up and
down the line congressman and public officials in the state
of Ohio, and clear up even to the White House itself.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Remus The Mad Bootleg King is a co production of
iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. It's hosted by me
Abbot Taylor, Chuck Reese, and I wrote the show. Our
producer is Miranda Hawkins. Our senior producer is Jessica Metzker.
Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Brandon barr Els Crowley, and
Jason English. Sound design and mixed by Chris Childs. Elise
(29:00):
McCoy composed original music. Additional scoring by Chris Childs in
this episode provided by Ben Bolan, Lauren Vogelbaum, Julia Chris Gaal,
Noel Brown, Matt Frederick, James Morrison, New Carloso, Jonathan Sleep,
Joel Ruiz, Jay Jones, and Van Gunter. Special thanks to
John Higgins from Curiosity stream and the team at CDM
(29:23):
Studios in New York. If you're a fan of the podcast,
please give it a review on your podcast app. You
can also check out other Curiosity podcasts to learn about history,
pop culture, true crime, and more. A school of humans,
As strange as this story may seem, this is a
work of nonfiction with no invented dialogue. Every reenactment you
hear comes from government files, archives, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, books,
or trial testimony. It's an autumn night in nineteen twenty.
(00:39):
George Remas and his driver haul a truckload of whiskey
from Kentucky to Cincinnati over the Cincinnati Covington Bridge. It's
a routine trip, one they'd made many times before, but
on this night, a car traveling from the opposite direction
veers in front of their truck and blocks the road.
(00:59):
Remus's heart pounds whiskey pirates a roving band of thieves
and tent on stealing all his liquor. His driver flees
on foot, leaving Remus to fend for himself. The pirates
surround Remus's truck and point four Tommy guns at his head,
stick him up high. Remus stands his ground.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Pull your triggers, shoot you cowards, and if you do,
you'll never live to tell the tale.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
The men attack, the smack of flesh against flesh, the
crack of ribs, a hard bash against Remus's head. Blood
drips into his eyes. Remis knocks out three of the thieves,
but the fourth climbs into Remis's truck and speeds away,
taking hundreds of cases of whiskey with him. The next week,
(01:50):
Remus tracked down the boss of the pirates, who surprised
him with a compliment, you.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
Have more guts than twenty men and deserve to keep
your liquor.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Remus just laughed and hired a few of the ringleader's
men to drive his trucks insurance against future attacks if
you can't beat them. By him, it was the Remas way.
I'm Abbot Taylor, and this is Remus, the mad bootleg king.
(02:35):
From the minute George and Imagen Remus arrived in Cincinnati,
they hustled to get Remis's circle operation spinning. Remus promised
Imaging that she would be his partner in everything. She
would oversee business records and plans he couldn't share with
anyone else. There was nobody in the world he trusted
so fully. Now, both his livelihood and his heart rested
(02:56):
in her lovely and clever hands. Together, they ruthlessly exploited
the loophole Remus had found in the vol Set Act.
Their first purchase was a down town drug store. With
some legal trickery, they turned it into a wholesale drug
company that could pull permits from the federal government to
sell quote medicinal alcohol. They quickly bought several more drug
(03:16):
wholesalers in Cincinnati, across the river in Kentucky, and in
New York City. From there, they shifted to the supply
side of their bootlegging venture. Remus bought the H. Pogue
Distillery in Maysbowl, Kentucky, sixty miles from Cincinnati. He entered
negotiations to buy other distilleries that had stockpiles of liquor
made before prohibition. Next, he hired a team. A few
(03:40):
discreet inquiries led him to local prohibition officers open to bribes.
Once he found his marks, he hired confidential men to
bait them into accepting payoffs. He recruited a traffic man
to handle his one hundred and forty seven truck fleet.
He brought in secretaries to falsify paperwork. Ebajan's brother came
on as their quote all around man, and of course
(04:02):
they needed a personal chauffeur and a personal cook. High
society demanded nothing less, But the most important hire was
a man named George Connors. Connors, the son of poorer
Irish immigrants and a lifelong resident of Cincinnati, was a
powerful real estate broker with useful political connections. Connor's was
Reemas's physical and psychological opposite, with a wiry, compact build
(04:25):
and a reserved demeanor. Connor's quiet, steadfast nature complemented the extravagant,
bombastic Remus. Remus believed he would make a fearless and
savvy lieutenant. He would become the bootlegger's most important mediator,
not just in business matters, but in personal dealings too.
The battle with the whisky pirates exposed Remis he needed
(04:47):
a safer, more secluded storage facility at headquarters, where whiskey
could be housed and where trucks rolling in and out
would not arouse suspicion or risk being hijacked by competitors
or seized by police. It didn't take Connor's long to
find a spot in the woods outside the city. Connor's
and reams Us went to check the place out. They
drove northwest toward the small town of Cheviot, ten miles
(05:10):
outside Cincinnati. They turned down Lick Run Road, a long,
twisty passage devoid of any other traffic. The farther they drove,
the more the road narrowed. Hundreds of pear trees formed
a canopy of leaves above them. The road looked like
it would dead end into a forest, but instead a
two story clapboard farmhouse came into view. Close by were
(05:31):
three barns and a scattering of outbuildings. A man in
his mid fifties, heavy and unshaven, stood amid the buildings
to Greek Connors and Remas. His name was George Stater,
and he owned the place. He told them prohibition had
wiped out his own business, a small grape growing and
wine making operation. Theater wanted to run out the farm
for storage privileges, and he figured a bootlegger like Remus
(05:53):
would be an ideal tenant. Remas offered one hundred dollars
per week, and the deal was done. Remas and Connors
returned the next day with a truckload of whiskey and
began unloading cases, two hundred and fifty in all. But
Dater began to have second thoughts. He was putting people
in danger. He could not afford to be arrested, and
neither could his hired hand who lived on the property
(06:15):
with his family. Dater took his concern to Connor's. It
did not go well.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
We're going to get pinched, get out of the way
and shut up.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Having put data in his place, Connor's and Remus continued
their work until the whiskey truck was empty. Connors and
his crew began turning Dater's farm into an impregnable fortress.
A company of marksmen stood guard at all hours. They
were armed to the teeth shotguns, pistols, automatic rifles, and
(06:48):
ready to protect the stash. More armed guards manned the
hayloft in the barn. An electric buzzer connected them to
the second floor of the house, where another guard kept
watch During the night. Guards at the entrance instructed approved
customers to drive into the yard and dim their headlights
three times in a quick succession. At this signal, the
(07:09):
men in the barn pressed the buzzer and guards in
the house illuminated the entire yard with a high powered floodlight.
The compound soon earned the Moniker Death Valley Farm, both
a warning the trespassers and a hint at the fate
of those who tried but were never seen again. The
rum runners would take Remus's liquor and sell it to
(07:29):
speakeasies back in their hometowns. During my research, I discovered
an original nineteen twenty five menu for a Chicago speakeasy.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
What's the password? The moon is shining bread.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
One could get a champagne cocktail for seventy five cents.
Other cocktails had unique names, Dirty Dick's Flip, Maiden's Prayer,
and my personal favorite, the Corpse Survivor, a hangover cure
that remains popular today, made with gin Lelais blanc, orange
look and lemon juice. The Corpse Reviver came with a warning,
(08:09):
four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the
corpse again. To keep the circles runners loyal, Remus treated
them as though they were on vacation. They enjoyed a
free car wash, home cooked meals, and a soft cut
to sleep on. Important runners could even play games of
craps with money Remus gave them on credit. When they
(08:29):
were ready to make a pickup or delivery, Remus personally
handed them a sack of sandwiches, a thermos of milk
or coffee, and a few quarts of whiskey. He explained
that his runners should never have to drink their own
supply on the road, and Remas's customers all knew they
were getting the highest quality booze in the business.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
Remis so good liquor.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
He disdained those who muddled clean, pure whisky by cutting
their supply with sugar or water or wood alcohol. Those
inferior bootleggers didn't care if the customer went blind or paralyzed,
or died or lost his mind. Once Death Valley Farm
was in place, Remas's circle never once stopped spinning twenty
(09:14):
four hours a day, seven days a week. His trucks
blackened the roads. Children playing along the route to Death
Valley halted their games long enough to cry, there go
the whiskey trucks. Remas took pride in his work. He
was raking it in and doing good for his community.
Prohibition cost thousands of jobs in liquor related industries. Bartenders, waiters, truckers,
(09:36):
barrel makers, and glass workers were all out of work,
but Remus would rescue them. He welcomed three thousand men
to his payroll, becoming one of the largest employers in
Cincinnati and a de facto hero, providing quality whisky and
the money to buy it. Just as he refined his
business operations, Remus was refining his own persona. He added
(09:58):
and subtracted traits and nuances, shading and sharpening his lines.
He changed how he talked. He never used one word
where a half dozen might do. Merely saying thank you
wasn't enough. Instead, he would offer thanks.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
From the teeming fulness of my grateful heart.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
He developed a meticulousness that bordered on phobia. He could
not tolerate a speck of dirt or disarray. He couldn't
abide anything that restricted his freedom in body or mind.
Piece by piece, he replaced his wardrobe with bespoke suits
made of silk smooth, baby soft silk he decided was
the only material that should touch his skin. Imaging, Remus
(10:39):
was remaking herself too. Whenever she wasn't a death Valley farm,
supervising orders or greeting clients, Remus encouraged her to go
shopping for home decor. He wanted little trinkets and fixtures
that would make the mansion. They were renovated like none
other in the city. She spent afternoons shopping for solid
gold service plates and silver cutlery, which she had engraved
(11:01):
with his initials g R. She never looked at christ
Town and pulled out her checkbook for anything that caught
her eye. After all, she had a hundred thousand dollars
diamond blinking from her hand. Even young Ruth became known
for her extravagant possessions bottles of Garland perfume, lavish outfits,
(11:22):
and a genuine muskrat coat. She gave favorite classmates diamond studied,
gold and platinum figurines that cost fifteen thousand dollars apiece.
Remus called her Princess. They would be the perfect family,
happy content, always there for one another. Her Srema's thought
and Remus's business was about to get even easier, at
(11:45):
least for a while. In the spring of nineteen twenty one,
shortly after President Warren Harding's inauguration, Remus got a call
from an old Chicago law colleague named Elijah Zolen. Someone
in the Department of Justice, a close friend of Attorney
General Harry Dougherty, had made it known that the government
was willing, even eager, to conduct business with bootleggers. For
(12:07):
a certain price, Remus could get an unlimited number of
genuine permits to withdraw pre prohibition booze from distilleries. Zolene
told Remis he could arrange a meeting on neutral territory
in New York City. Remus was definitely interested. Business was booming,
but it grew riskier by the day with each whiskey withdrawal.
(12:28):
He took the chance that an honest prohibition director would
discover his subordinates selling permits. To mitigate this issue, Remus
bought a rubber stamp copy of a local prohibition director
signature so he could forge the permits himself. But large
scale forgery also posed obvious risks. Buying authentic permits directly
(12:48):
from the federal government, as Zolene was suggesting, would both
streamline the process and diminish its dangers. Zolene made good
on his promise. He took Remis to New York for rendezvous.
In the lobby of the Commodore Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Soon saw a man swing through the doors and approach them.
(13:08):
He was an odd looking character, wide and squat, with
a florid complexion and a coarse bristled mustache. Black wire
glasses made imprints on his fleshy cheeks, so Lean made
the introductions.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
George Remus meet Jess Smith, so.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Len left the men alone to talk.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I hear you are a large operator in the whiskey industry.
I could provide you with all the permits you need
for consideration.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Of course, Smith told Remus that the permits would bear
the authentic signatures of state prohibition officials who reported to
the Justice Department, a bit of insurance if Remus encountered
any suspicious authorities. Then came the quid pro quo, So.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
Remus, what can I expect from you?
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Remus thought it over.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Per permit between dollar fifty and two fifty on the size.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Of the ship. The next topic was an even bigger coup.
Smith offered to use his political clout, in particular his
relationship with Attorney General Harry Dougherty, to protect Remis from
legal trouble. If Remus found himself prosecuted for bootlegging, Smith
promised there would be no conviction, and if for some
reason a conviction happened, Smith would arrange a pardon from Doherty.
(14:30):
For this service, Smith would accept fifty thousand dollars for
starters without hesitation. Remus reached into his pocket and counted
out fifty grand all in thousand dollars bills. The men
shook hands and agreed to meet again soon. It was
the first in a long series of meetings. Remis kept
(14:52):
paying Jess Smith big money for his whiskey permits and
legal protection, thirty thousand bucks at a time, always in cash.
With Smith's assurances, Reemus operated openly, even brazenly. He bilt
distillery after distillery as fast as he could. He bought
the Edgewood Distillery in Cincinnati and ordered his force of
(15:12):
bottlers to get to work. Within five days, they removed
sixty five hundred cases of Old Keller, five hundred cases
of Johnny Walker, and two hundred and fifty cases of
Gordon's gin. The same drill was repeated in dozens of distilleries,
frequent and massive deliveries. To Remas's death, valley storage space
filled the place to overflow him. Remas's chain of distilleries
(15:35):
and drug companies stretched across nine states, from New York
to Kansas. His clients included the head of the Chicago mob,
Johnny Torrio and his ambitious protege Al Capone. Remas and
Connors had so much money they couldn't count it, and
so much whiskey, they couldn't store it. Connor spent hours
counting cash. The money came in so fast that Remus
(15:58):
couldn't deposit at all, forcing him to carry as much
as one hundred thousand bucks in his pockets at eddy
given time. He even considered opening his own bank. One
broad estimate of Remas's net worth at this time was
between twenty one and forty million dollars, and that's in
today's money. Remas had the Washington politicians in his pocket
(16:20):
and an army of men moving his liquor, but he
had no idea that a powerful woman was maneuvering to
knock his playhouse down. Mabel Walker Willembrandt was the Assistant
(16:40):
Attorney General of the United States, the most highly ranked
woman in American government. She was responsible for all Prohibition
related matters in the country. It was her job to
taunt down the top bootleggers and bring them to justice.
Willanbrandt was, in her own way, a lot like George Remas.
She had always felt destined for grand and public endeavors.
Speaker 4 (17:04):
For all of my I have had the most uncanny
feeling against which I have often struggled, that seems to
always say to me, you are marked to step into
a crisis sometime as an instrument of God. It seems
that it may mean danger or disgrace, or in some
way cause me agony of the heart, but I can't
escape it.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
Also, like Remus, she rose from hard scrabble beginnings. Mabel
Walker was born in a sod duckout on a remote
Kansas plane in the waning decades of the American Frontier.
It was around the turn of the twentieth century, and
young women on the frontier were expected to have the
same resourcefulness as men, and if they failed, they were
(17:48):
punished as severely as the young men. Her parents, both
descendants of German pioneers, worked tirelessly to shape her character.
When she bit her pet cat's ear, her father bit hers,
she developed a ruling philosophy to which she would adhere
for the rest of her life.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Look above and beyond the immediate task.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
At age thirteen, Mabel began formal schooling and cast her
mind in all directions. By the time she began her
own teaching career in her late teens, her resume claimed
a nearly unfathomable range of expertise. In addition to the
usual basic school curriculum. She also mastered botany, zoology, biology, physiology,
(18:33):
freehand drawing, domestic science, household economy, clay modeling, and even
gymnastics and baseball. She did not tolerate disrespect from her students.
On one occasion, a boy attacked her with a knife.
With one deft move, she snatched the weapon from his
grasp and delivered what she called an enthusiastic licking. She
(18:55):
had another favorite, saying.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Life has few petted darlings.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
And willebrand certainly did not consider herself one of them.
Every morning, she filled her bathtub with ice and forced
herself to soak in it. She believed such daily discomforts
built stamina and character. Will and Brandt knew what she
wanted and wasted no time in pursuing it. She graduated
from what is now Arizona State University and then moved
(19:22):
to Los Angeles, enrolling in the University of Southern California's
law school. She had a short lived marriage, which she
ended for a surprisingly progressive reason. Her husband was in
pulling his own weight. Throughout their marriage, Mabel had nursed
her husband, author Wilhembrand, through tuberculosis, cared for his elderly
mother and worked full time as a teacher to pay
(19:43):
for both of their law degrees, not to mention cooking, cleaning,
and preparing the next day's lessons before attempting a few
hours of sleep. When they separated, she lamented that only
she had made the quote necessary adjustments of marriage.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
A wife should be concerned with the preservation of her freedom,
her self respect, her intellectual and executive attainment, her economic independence,
finding the best outlets for her energies, finding the best
protection for her spirits, and establishing a basis of mutual
understanding with her and her husband in order to have
both a child and a job if she wants both.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
After graduating from law school in nineteen sixteen, Willimbrant became
Los Angeles' first female public defender. In that job, she
argued two thousand cases, focusing particularly on prostitution. She employed
a rule that forced John's to show up in court
alongside the prostitutes they'd hired. She avoided sentimentality in favor
(20:46):
of honest, pragmatic support. When one client, a madam, sought
advice about going straight, will Andmbrandt assessed the woman's finances.
She determined that Madam could retire after six more months,
and even loaned her some money to help with her
fresh start. The problem was, Mabel Willebrandt did not have
much alone. Five years as a public defender put precious
(21:08):
little money into her bank account. But then she got
a telegram that would change her life. Attorney General Harry
Dougherty invited her to come to Washington to meet President
Warren Harding. The new Republican administration was eager to curry
favor with women who had just won the right to vote.
They wanted willinbrand to fill the position. She would be
(21:29):
in charge of federal income taxes, prisons, and most important,
all issues relating to the Volstat Act. Willebrant was so
strapped for cash that she had to borrow money for
train fare and a new blouse to wear for her interview.
Unlike George Remas, Willanbrandt liked to drink, especially California wine.
(21:49):
She didn't believe in prohibition, but she would ruthlessly enforce it.
Her new digs at the Justice Department were like nothing
she'd ever imagined, and her office at a gleaming mahogany
desk the size of a barge. She had a personal
staff of six people, three attorneys, two stenographers, and one secretary.
(22:10):
They quickly nicknamed her the Queen. Her salary was seventy
five thousand dollars per year, almost one hundred and twenty
five thousand dollars in today's money. But when she sussed
out the politics of prohibition enforcement in the Hartig administration,
she got a surprise. None of her bosses, including President
Harding himself, had much interest in waging the war on liquor.
(22:34):
He even served liquor in the White House during card
games with friends and appointees. It was easy to see
why the administration had courted her for the job. She
was just thirty two years old, five years out of
law school, and had never prosecuted a single case in
her career. They knew she was inexperienced. They thought she
would be intimidated and overwhelmed, and they assumed they would
(22:56):
be free to continue their profitable relationships with bootleggers like
George Remas, selling whiskey certificates and promises of protection. But
to her boss's surprise and dismay, willim Brand took her
oath of office in the fall of nineteen twenty one
and buckled down. Aside from crooked bosses, she faced other
serious challenges on the job. Rampant sexism. For one, many
(23:19):
Americans didn't like the fact that a woman held one
of the most powerful jobs in the country, especially when
she was enforcing a very unpopular law. Newspaper reporters couldn't
write about her work without mentioning her appearance, the cut
of her dress, the style of her hair, the height
of her heels, the color of her eyes, whether she'd
gained or lost weight. Even her hands were scrutinized. One
(23:43):
article noted her low set thumb and her middle finger
of unusual prominence. Willimbrand hated this double standard and privately
griped in a letter to her parents.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
Why the devil do they have to put that girly
gurly tea party description every time they tell anything a
professional woman does?
Speaker 1 (24:02):
And yet she felt compelled to play along, trying, at
least in public, to strike a balance neither too masculine
nor too feminine, too aggressive or too demurror, too indifferent
or too emotional, too much or too little of any
quality that would highlight her sex instead of her work.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
I try not to think of myself as a woman
in going before a jury. By this, I do not
mean that women should be mannish, but that they must
forget about themselves.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Willibrand also had to contend with a physical impairment. She
was almost entirely deaf. She did not want her bosses, colleagues,
or opposing counsel to know of her condition, and spend
an hour each morning fixing her hair to conceal her
hearing aids. In Willebrandt's archives of the Library of Congress,
I found dozens of letters she wrote to her parents
(24:52):
about her hearing issues, letters expressing her sadness, frustration, and
especially her rage.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
The dread shadow of deafness all but submerges me for
Mama and Papa Dear. When from every quarter and indirectly,
I hear the most extravagant marvelings at my capacities over
the way I handle myself before the court and when
presiding over trying conferences, that surge of bitterness rises even
(25:20):
in their praises, when I think, damn you, you think
that's good? Do you know what then I could do
if I weren't struggling under the most horrible handicap that
you do not guess.
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Sometimes in reading these letters, I noticed that Mabel had
pressed her pencil with such force that the tip had
broken off. Willembrandt didn't mind her immediate boss, Attorney General
Harry Daugherty, but she had misgivings about his personal assistant,
Jess Smith. Although his office at the Department of Justice
was just down the half of her own, she had
(25:55):
no idea what Smith did all day. As far as
Willebrandt could tell, Smith seemed to be an errand boy
who bought railroad tickets for the Attorney General and carried
his brief case. Dougherty himself told Willebrandt, Oh, don't pay
any attention to Jess. If I have any directions for you,
I will give them to you. There's a telephone on
my desk and I will reach you. She would soon learn, however,
(26:18):
that Jess Smith was aiding and abetting the biggest bootlegger
in the country. Her first clue came in a telegram
from an Ohio based federal district attorney who described what
he called an almost unbelievable condition in Cincinnati. Although his
office had successfully prosecuted several prohibition cases, they were now
(26:38):
facing quote one of such magnitude and so far reaching
that they needed Washington's help. A thorough investigation by capable
agents could quote stamp out in this community, the so
called whiskey ring. Will and Brandt opened a brown folder
labeled Department of Justice Mail and File's Division and slipped
(26:59):
the telegram inside. She would soon scrawl one word across
the folder, underlined with a heavy.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Remus on this date, November twentieth, nineteen twenty seven, this
session of the Criminal Division of Common please Court in
Hamilton County will come to order.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
I call Emmett Kergan to the stand. You talked to
missus Remas.
Speaker 5 (27:43):
We were down to Raglan Dixon and Williams's office and
Missus Remas was sitting in the waiting room, and I
came in, and she came over and shook hands with me.
I met the lady once before. She said, I am
afraid of this man. I am afraid he is going
to kill me. He is so insanely jealous. If he
(28:04):
walked in here now and seeing me talking to you,
he would be liable to shoot both of.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
Us next time. On remis the mad bootleg king.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
We're prohibition officers. Hands behind your back.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
I've got everyone and his brother in Washington on my payroll.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
We know he's been working his influence all up and
down the line congressman and public officials in the state
of Ohio, and clear up even to the White House itself.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Remus The Mad Bootleg King is a co production of
iHeart Podcasts and School of Humans. It's hosted by me
Abbot Taylor, Chuck Reese, and I wrote the show. Our
producer is Miranda Hawkins. Our senior producer is Jessica Metzker.
Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Brandon barr Els Crowley, and
Jason English. Sound design and mixed by Chris Childs. Elise
(29:00):
McCoy composed original music. Additional scoring by Chris Childs in
this episode provided by Ben Bolan, Lauren Vogelbaum, Julia Chris Gaal,
Noel Brown, Matt Frederick, James Morrison, New Carloso, Jonathan Sleep,
Joel Ruiz, Jay Jones, and Van Gunter. Special thanks to
John Higgins from Curiosity stream and the team at CDM
(29:23):
Studios in New York. If you're a fan of the podcast,
please give it a review on your podcast app. You
can also check out other Curiosity podcasts to learn about history,
pop culture, true crime, and more. A school of humans,
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