John G Clay - Racketeer or Straight Arrow?

Helen Struck Coakley told a story about her uncle, John G. Clay, who was killed in Chicago. She thought he was one of the victims of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

On February 14, 1929 seven men were murdered at the garage at 2122 North Clark Street in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Chicago's North Side.  The victims were all part of or affiliated with the Bugs Moran Gang. The assassins, allegedly members of Al Capone's Gang, impersonated police officers. They burst into the warehouse, ordered the victims to line up and face the wall, gunned them down, and fled the scene. The victims were James Clark, Peter Gusenberg, Frank Gusenberg, Adam Heyer, John May, Dr. Reinhardt H Schwimmer and Albert Weinshank. John G. Clay was not among the victims. 

Family stories may not be completely accurate but usually there is something behind them that is directionally correct, so I decided to research the death of John G. Clay to see how he died. 

John G. Clay - Picture from Chicago Tribune, Saturday, November 17, 1928

John G. Clay was the Secretary-Treasurer of the Laundry & Dye House Drivers' and Chauffeurs' Union Local No 712. On Friday, 16 November 1928, he was sitting at his desk which faced the big window in the front of union headquarters at 639 South Ashland Avenue in Chicago. At 6:50 pm two men walked up the front steps and fired through the window using an automatic pistol and a sawed-off shotgun. Eight bullets hit John in the chest and abdomen. The two gunmen escaped by automobile. 

Headquarters of the Laundry & Dye House Drivers' and Chauffeurs' Union Local No 712

According to multiple newspaper accounts, John's body lay in state at union headquarters on Sunday, 18 November 1928 where thousands of mourners filed past his body. His coffin was placed near the spot where he was gunned down. There were two funeral services. The first was a requiem high mass was said on Monday morning at 10 am at St. Cajetan's Catholic Church, 112th Street and Artesian Avenue. The second was a memorial service at Carmen's Hall, Van Buren Street and Ashland Boulevard. Members of the Elk's Lodge that John belonged to and union officials conducted the memorial service.  He was laid to rest after the second service on the Goeppner family plot along with his wife's parents and other family members at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery.

Surviving John were his wife Theresa (nee Goeppner), his son John W. Clay; his sisters Anna Clay, Margaret Clay, Mrs. Susan Struck, Mrs. Mary Kroner; and his brother Joseph Clay.

The gunmen were never charged. The most credible theory is that John was killed by members of the Moran Gang that were killed in the massacre. The clothing industry was full of strife between the various parties. The main players were:

• The Laundry & Dye House Chauffeurs' & Drivers' Union No 712. John was one of the principal organizers of the union and served as the Secretary-Treasurer. The union represented the drivers who moved the clothing from the tailor or cleaners store front to the cleaning plant where they were cleaned and then back to the store front. 
• The Cleaners', Dyers' & Pressers' Union. Ben Abrams headed this union. The workers ran the equipment in the cleaning plants.
• The Retail Cleaners' & Dyers' union headed by Albert Borris. The members of this union worked in the store fronts and took in the clothing from the public. 
• The Chicago Master Cleaners & Dyers' Association directed by F.W. Crowley and Max Krauss. The association owned and operated most of the city's cleaning and dyeing plants. They strong armed cleaners and laundromats who were forced to pay excessive dues to belong to the association. Prices for services went up and customers started taking their business to the suburbs. 
• Central Cleaners and Dyers Association, a partnership of small North side cleaning shops who broke off from the Master Cleaners & Dyers' Association. They enlisted Bugs Moran to protect them from the violence of the Master Cleaners' & Dyers' Association. Moran took over the association eventually installing Albert Weinshank (one of the St.Valentine's Day Massacre victims) as president. Moran escalated the violence in the industry and he tried to infiltrate the Laundry & Dye House Chauffeurs' & Drivers' union, allegedly to take control of their $250,000 treasury. 
•  Sanitary Cleaning Shops, Inc. was started by Morris Becker. Becker was bankrupted by the Master Cleaners & Dyers' association. They bombed his plant because he wouldn't raise his prices in 1927. That was followed by a strike that left him without workers. He filed a complaint with the State's Attorney that went nowhere. He lost his business. Becker built a new cleaning company with his new partner, Al Capone.  

Bombings and workers being beaten up was the norm. Bugs Moran was hired by the Central Cleaners and Dyers Association for $1800 a week to combat the violence and strong arming by the Master Cleaners & Dyers' Association. The violence escalated and Moran tried to take over the Central Cleaning Company. He sent one of his men to negotiate an agreement when he couldn't provide authorization for the negotiation, Clay refused to negotiate and wasn't intimidated by Moran's gang. Moran also tried to take over the Union from Clay and failed. Morris Becker partnered with Al Capone and the Moran gang was out maneuvered. The violence stopped until the night John Clay was killed. 

Newspaper accounts of the killing painted different pictures of Clay. According to some he was a racketeer and according to others he was as "clean as a hounds tooth" who was caught between two racketeers - Moran and Capone. Clay was instrumental in forming the union when he was a driver. He worked diligently and managed to raise the wages for the drivers and improve working conditions. He built the union treasury up to over $250,000 which was used to help the membership. One of the agreements that he negotiated in 1927 with the Masters association is in the manuscript collection of the Chicago History Museum.

John was respected and admired by his union brethren. In addition to being Secretary-Treasurer of Local No 712 he was a trustee of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America; a member of the Chicago Federation of Labor Executive Board; a member of the Teamsters' Joint Council; director of the Amalgamated Trust Savings Bank, and director of the South Side Building and Loan Association. 

The probate file for John's estate doesn't support the racketeer charge. His estate was valued at a little less than $72,000. Estate tax of $1079.15 was paid by his estate. One newspaper article makes the point that no racketeer would have left $250,000 in the Union treasury which has merit. John Clay was respected by the union membership for his successful efforts to help them earn a living wage while working in decent working conditions. He would have to have been shrewd and a skilled negotiator to have moved the union to the position of power that it held, but there is no real evidence that he could be considered a racketeer. 

The violence in the clothing industry in Chicago didn't stop with John's death. There are multiple references to his killing as one of the reasons for the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Helen's story resulted in finding out the story of the death of John G. Clay.  

Sources

1. The Mob Museum https://themobmuseum.org/exhibits/massacre-wall/

2.  Death Certificates Index, 1916-1950, Illinois Secretary of State Website http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/idphdeathindex.html

3. Chicago Police Department Homicide Record, 1870-1930, Illinois Secretary of State Website http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases/homicide.html

4. "Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2MZ-SH3K : 18 March 2018), John G Clay, 16 Nov 1928; citing Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States, source reference , record number , Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 

5. "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVV3-LXSR : 13 December 2015), John G Clay, ; Burial, Evergreen Park, Cook, Illinois, United States of America, Saint Mary Catholic Cemetery and Mausoleum; citing record ID 6807789, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

6. "Illinois, Archdiocese of Chicago, Cemetery Records, 1864-1989," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2HJ-ZRR9 : 11 March 2018), John G Clay, 19 Nov 1928; citing Evergreen Park, Cook, Illinois, United States, St. Mary, Archidiocese of Chicago; FHL microfilm 1,643,525.

7. "Illinois Deaths and Stillbirths, 1916-1947," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3C4-QHT : 10 March 2018), John G. Clay, 16 Nov 1928; Public Board of Health, Archives, Springfield; FHL microfilm 1,892,228.

8. "Slay Racket Boss At Desk," Chicago Daily Tribune, Saturday, November 17, 1928 page 1 and back page. 
9. "Mourn Killing of Racketeer Victim," The Chicago Federation of Labor Federation News, Vol 20, No 21, November 24, 1928, pages 1, 3, and 5. 
10. Keefe, Rose, The Man Who Got Away: The Bugs Moran Story: A Biography, p 223-5 and 228-9.
11. "Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: an Edgeeater Connection," Edgewater Historical Society Website http://www.edgewaterhistory.org/ehs/articles/v24-4-7
12. Chicago Federation of Labor, The Official Labor Union Directory, January 1922.
13. "Gunmen Taken Into Business For Trade War," Chicago Sunday Tribune, 27 May 1928 pages 1 and 6.
14. "Hunt Racketeer Chiefs in Killing of Tim Murphy," Chicago Daily Tribune, Thursday, June 28, 1928, pages 1 and 8.
15. "Slick Gangs Get Rich Pickings In Cleaning Racket," Chicago Daily Tribune, Wednesday, November 14, 1928, p 8.
16. Probate File John G. Clay, Archives Reference 01-0781, Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. 
17. "Cley Points to Moran Gang in Killing of Clay," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 18, 1928 p 5.
18. "Nelson Takes Place of Slain Labor Leader," Chicago Daily Tribune, November 19, 1928 p17
19. "Link Massacre of Seven Gangsters to Clay Slaying," Chicago Daily Tribune, February 21, 1929, p1-2.
20. "Bullets, Bombs, and Blackmail," Chicago Sunday Tribune, April 5, 1936, part 7 page 12. 
21. John G. Clay memorial, Find A Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6807789/john-g-clay
22. "Death Notices, Chicago Tribune, November 18, 1928, page 16.