37 Facts About Jerry Horan

Jeremiah J Horan was an organized crime figure and President of the Building Service Employees International Union from 1927 until his death in 1937.

Jerry Horan established the kickback scheme whereby Scalise would eventually loot the union treasury of millions of dollars in member dues.

Jerry Horan was born to John and Mary Horan McLeod in May 1886.

Jerry Horan was one of eight children, and raised a Roman Catholic.

Jerry Horan married the former Nonie Corbett, and the couple had a daughter, Helen.

Jerry Horan became a lifelong member of the Loyal Order of Moose, the Knights of Columbus, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Jerry Horan owned a saloon near the corner of South Wood Street and West Van Buren Street in Chicago.

Jerry Horan led a gang of bombers, gunmen and "sluggers" which was in the employ of various organized crime outfits and labor unions.

Jerry Horan was hired by his uncle, BSEIU President William Quesse, as an organizer in 1921.

Jerry Horan was indicted a second time a short time later on the same charges.

Jerry Horan was formally elected Nelson's successor on September 6,1927.

Jerry Horan quickly began a campaign of Americanism in BSEIU, pushing his members to learn English and become American citizens.

Jerry Horan took over the Cook County Wage Earner's League, a quasi-political action committee established by William Quesse in 1924 to promote pro-labor candidates for office.

Jerry Horan was a prominent supporter of Republican William "Big Bill" Thompson during his successful run for Mayor of Chicago in 1927, and was elected chairman of the Republican Party's 27th Ward Committee in November 1929.

Jerry Horan backed Republican Governor Louis Emmerson's plan to pass a state constitutional amendment legalizing an income tax, and supported Charles W Brooks in that candidate's unsuccessful run as the Republican candidate for governor of Illinois in 1936.

However, Jerry Horan used the Wage Earners' League to not only promote candidates for office but to run an illegal gambling operation near Chicago City Hall.

Jerry Horan established a union of maids and butlers in December 1927, but shuttered it less than six months later.

Jerry Horan established a council of trade union leaders to identify and respond to the open shop movement, but the council never engaged in any activity.

In 1933, Horan was accused by former Illinois Attorney General Edward J Brundage of consorting with gangster Al Capone and seeking to improperly influence James H Wilkerson, the judge overseeing Capone's 1931 tax evasion trial.

Jerry Horan initially attempted to avoid being put under the influence of Capone and his Chicago Outfit.

In desperation, Jerry Horan moved to Chicago's northwest suburbs in the late 1920s in an attempt to escape Capone's influence.

Jerry Horan brought $125,000 in cash to buy Touhy's assistance, which Touhy agreed to provide.

In 1934, the Capone mob forced Jerry Horan to hire George Scalise as a union organizer.

Jerry Horan agreed to the deal, and Scalise was not only appointed to the position but Scalise received 50 percent of the dues from any newly organized members in the East.

In one notorious case, Jerry Horan raided a Chicago local of the International Union of Elevator Constructors led by Matthew Taylor.

Jerry Horan wanted the elevator operators to support strikes by building workers, and he wanted Taylor's union in BSEIU.

Jerry Horan sent mobster Louis Schiavone to threaten Taylor in 1936, but this tactic failed.

Jerry Horan kept up the pressure on Taylor in various ways, and Taylor finally gave in.

Jerry Horan arranged for Taylor to meet with Oscar Nelson, George Scalise, Harry Bates, and AFL President William Green after a meeting of the AFL executive council in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in August 1937.

Jerry Horan did not become publicly involved in the strike until the fifth day.

Jerry Horan issued no press releases, made no speeches, and pledged no support.

When Jerry Horan finally did make a statement, he pledged to lead all building workers nationwide out on strike in support of the New York City workers.

Jerry Horan's statement was considered so preposterous that a day later he withdrew his promise and said that BSEIU would merely pledge "unlimited" funds to support the strike.

The press, meanwhile, accused Jerry Horan of being in cahoots with Al Capone and recently deceased Louis "Two Guns" Alterie, forcing Jerry Horan to stay in Boston in order to avoid tainting the strikers' cause.

Jerry Horan weakly claimed that he had purposefully flown to Boston to avoid any appearance that the strike was being run from Chicago and not New York.

Jerry Horan died there on April 27,1937, of liver failure.

Jerry Horan was buried at Calvary Cemetery, where more than 30 automobiles were needed to deliver flowers to the grave.