Jeremiah J. Horan"Obituary," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 30, 1937. (aka Jerry Horan) (May 1886-April 28, 1937)"Jerry J. Horan, Flat Janitors' Leader, Is Dead," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 28, 1937. was an organized crime figure and President of the Building Service Employees International Union from 1927 until his death in 1937.Witwer, "The Scandal of George Scalise: A Case Study in the Rise of Labor Racketeering in the 1930s," Journal of Social History, Summer 2003. Although praised by newspapers for reducing the level of overt violence and graft which plagued the union under his predecessor, William Quesse, Horan nonetheless still engaged in bribery, extortion, physical intimidation, and other crimes, and permitted George Scalise (his successor) to enter and rise within the organization. Horan established the kickback scheme whereby Scalise would eventually loot the union treasury of millions of dollars in member dues."Scalise Jury Gets 2 Success Stories," New York Times, August 16, 1940.
Early years Jerry Horan was born to John and Mary Horan McLeod in May 1886. He was one of eight children, and raised a Roman Catholic.
He married the former Nonie Corbett, and the couple had a daughter, Helen.
He became a lifelong member of the Loyal Order of Moose, the Knights of Columbus, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Early organized crime involvement By the time he was in his mid 30s, Jerry Horan had been heavily involved in organized crime for several years."Murphy, Shea, Mader Hit As Killers Talk," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 16, 1922. He owned a saloon near the corner of South Wood Street and West Van Buren Street in Chicago (the site is now a parking lot opposite Malcolm X College)."Developments to Date; Clearing Bomb Mystery," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 16, 1922. Horan led a gang of bombers, gunmen and "sluggers" (men who would beat others to intimidate them) which was in the employ of various organized crime outfits and labor unions. Among his clients were mobster and labor leader Timothy "Big Tim" Murphy, mobster Fred Mader, and mobster and labor leader Cornelius Shea (who was international president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters).
Horan was hired by his uncle, BSEIU President William Quesse, as an organizer in 1921."Horan Installed as Head of Flat Janitors' Union." Chicago Daily Tribune. September 7, 1927. His primary job, however, was to act as Quesse's chauffeur.Fitch, Solidarity For Sale, 2006.
On May 6, 1922, Horan, Shea, Murphy, and five other labor leaders and labor racketeers were arrested and charged with the murder of a Chicago police officer. Horan was accidentally released, and went into hiding—although the press reported that he had turned state's evidence and been freed for rendering assistance. On May 24, the state asked for nolle prosequi and the court agreed to withdraw the indictments."200 Labor Chiefs Arrested in Chicago After Two Policemen Are Shot Dead And Industrial Plants Are Bombed," New York Times, May 11, 1922; "Labor Chiefs Seized in Effort to End Murders by Gangsters," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 11, 1922; "Rush To Indict Chicago Laborites," New York Times, May 12, 1922; "Eight Labor Chiefs Indicted In Chicago To Block Release," New York Times, May 12, 1922; "Raid Bomb Factory in Chicago's War On Labor Terror," New York Times, May 13, 1922; "Get New Evidence On Labor Bombings," New York Times, May 15, 1922; "'Big 3' of Chicago Labor To Be Tried," New York Times, June 10, 1922; "Shea, Member of 'Big 3,' And Two Others Get Bail," Chicago Daily Tribune, June 13, 1922; "'Big 3' Denied Separate Trials On Terror Plot," Chicago Daily Tribune, June 18, 1922; Kinsley, "Trial Nears Climax," Chicago Daily Tribune, July 29, 1922. Horan was indicted a second time a short time later on the same charges. Although Horan was later identified by eyewitness testimony as a co-conspirator with Murphy, Shea and Mader in planning bombings, murders, and beatings,Kinsley, "Guns, Killer, 'Big 3' Linked By State Spy," Chicago Daily Tribune, August 1, 1922. the state withdrew these charges as well.
By 1924, Horan had become a Republican and was active in GOP politics in Illinois, supporting Governor Len Small."Labor Finds Its Small Bosters Are Discredited," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 7, 1924.
BSEIU presidency Oscar Nelson, who had succeeded Quesse as president of BSEIU in February 1927, resigned his union office for health reasons on September 3, 1927.Wren, "Horan Succeeds Oscar Nelson As Janitors' Chief," Chicago Daily Tribune, September 4, 1927. Jerry Horan was formally elected Nelson's successor on September 6, 1927. Horan's brother-in-law, local Sheet Metal Workers' International Association president William J. "Wild Bill" Rooney—an alleged murderer and noted crime figure in the city—engineered Horan's accession to the union presidency.
Horan quickly began a campaign of Americanism in BSEIU, pushing his members to learn English and become American citizens.Wren, "Plans Council to Lead Fight on Open Shop," Chicago Daily Tribune, September 14, 1930.
By the fall of 1929, his political fortunes within the American Federation of Labor (AFL) had risen to the point where he was named a member of the AFL delegation to the annual meeting of the British Trades Union Congress.Evans, "Galpin's Ward Is Reorganized," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 8, 1929.
Horan's political activity also continued. He 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."Gambling Salon Operates Wide Open Near City Hall," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 19, 1928."Hunt for Murder Clew in Past of Slain Union Boss," Chicago Daily Tribune, March 20, 1931. He 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. He backed Republican Governor Louis Emmerson's plan to pass a state constitutional amendment legalizing an income tax,Hewitt, "Labor of City Backs Proposed Tax Amendment," Chicago Daily Tribune, October 21, 1930. and supported Charles W. Brooks in that candidate's unsuccessful run as the Republican candidate for governor of Illinois in 1936."Labor, Business and Civic Heads Support Brooks," Chicago Daily Tribune, October 27, 1936. However, Horan used the Wage Earners' League to not only promote candidates for office (allegedly through intimidation and vote-rigging) but also to run an illegal gambling operation near Chicago City Hall.
New member organizing was initially not very high on Horan's list of priorities. He established a union of maids and butlers in December 1927, but shuttered it less than six months later."Union of Maids and Butlers Put Out of Business," Chicago Daily Tribune, June 2, 1928. He also established a council of trade union leaders to identify and respond to the open shop movement, but the council never engaged in any activity.
Organized crime infiltration of BSEIU Although Horan won praise from Chicago newspapers for eliminating the worst and most obvious forms of violence, intimidation, and graft in the union, his ties to organized crime actually deepened. Horan's uncle, "Wild Bill" Rooney, had virtually taken control of the BSEIU's Chicago locals with Horan's approval within by the end of 1928."Union Boss Slain By Gang In Chicago," New York Times, March 20, 1931. 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."Capone Effort to Influence Judge Charged," Chicago Daily Tribune, February 25, 1933; Ator, "Admits Perjury in Racket Trial," Chicago Daily Tribune, February 24, 1934; Wright, "Nelson Quizzed About Meeting With Al Capone," Chicago Daily Tribune, April 20, 1934.
Horan, however, initially attempted to avoid being put under the influence of Capone and his Chicago Outfit. Capone sought control BSEIU in order to embezzle funds from the national union's treasury.Biles, Big City Boss in Depression and War: Mayor Edward J. Kelly of Chicago, 1984; Bukowski, Big Bill Thompson, Chicago, and the Politics of Image, 1997. But Big Tim Murphy had been gunned down in 1928,"Big Tim," Time, July 9, 1928. leaving Horan without protection. Horan could not turn to Chicago Mayor Bill Thompson, either, for Thompson was closely linked to the Capone mob. Although labor leaders like the now-deceased William Rooney had broken with Thompson, Horan had not—and could not expect Thompson to protect him from Capone. In desperation, Horan moved to Chicago's northwest suburbs in the late 1920s in an attempt to escape Capone's influence. But when Capone sought him out again, Horan turned to bootlegger and gangster Roger Touhy, who controlled Chicago's northwest suburbs and was already engaged in a battle with Capone. According to Touhy and other sources, Horan and leaders of the Teamsters, Painters and other unions approached Touhy in 1929 and sought protection from Capone. Horan brought $125,000 in cash (raised from the union leaders) to buy Touhy's assistance, which Touhy agreed to provide.Roger Touhy, The Stolen Years, 1959.John William Touhy, When Capone's Mob Murdered Roger Touhy: The Strange Case of "Jake the Barber" and the Kidnapping That Never Happened, 2001."Touhy Accuses Cop in $40,000 Capone Payoff," Chicago Daily Tribune, May 10, 1949."Touhy Relates How Syndicate Invaded Unions," Chicago Daily Tribune, September 20, 1952."Gangster Says Unions Paid to Fight Capone," United Press International, September 20, 1952."Cites Gilbert Link to Labor Rackets," Chicago Daily Tribune, August 10, 1954.
But after Wild Bill Rooney's murder in March 1931, a frightened Horan (who was terrified even of his own bodyguards) made peace with Capone. In April 1933, Horan met with North Side Gang member Ted Newberry and turned over control of BSEIU over to Capone—taking his day-to-day orders from Murray "The Camel" Humphreys, Capone's liaison to unions."Scalise Sentenced to 10 to 20 Years," New York Times, October 8, 1940.