We used to spend alternating Thanksgivings and Christmases at my two grandmothers' houses, and Frances truly presided over a splendid feast. She and Adeline both wore wool crepe suits with starchy aprons, and they were assisted by their housekeeper, Elizabeth. Pictured here in 1958 (before my time) Adeline is wearing her accustomed suit and apron, her dog Chinga as sous chef.

Blue Island Group, before the kidnappings.

Frances Hackett is in the third row from the bottom, eighth child from the left.

 Saint Benedict's  School, early 1920s.

Hot Springs

Adeline and Jim at the Hoke Smith Hot Water Fountain,
Bathhouse Row, before 1923

Thanks to Liz at the Garland County Historical Society
for dating this photo and identifying the fountain.

Jim Hackett explains lawn care to Frances 1933

Kidnapping was a booming business. The Daily News Almanac and Yearbook 1933 records that between 1929 and 1932 "Illinois led all states in crimes of this character, with forty-nine."
It seemed that the time was coming when every successful businessman would have to spend time sequestered by a professional syndicate of kidnappers. With public opinion demanding a solution to the kidnapping epidemic, local law enforcement was busy trying to pin an assortment of crimes on suspects they had in custody.
Frances was sent to Saint Mary's Academy in South Bend, Indiana to complete her high school studies, while her brother George was kept at home in Blue Island. George had a living space done up for him in the basement of the family house on Greenwood Avenue.

A Memorable Incident

For Father’s Day, I’ll tell you a story Frances told me about her dad. One afternoon she and some neighborhood children were playing together when a man came along pushing a cart. Some of the kids started skipping along after the man shouting Ben de sheenie Ben de sheenie, and she joined in the fun. Frances remembered figuring that the peddler was an Italian and that the kids were just chanting his name.

Just then, Jim Hackett came home, passing the children in the road. He jumped out of his car, pulled his daughter aside, upbraided her, and spelled out for her that the little mob was taunting the man because he was Jewish and that “sheenie” was a bad word used to insult Jews. Frances was about seven years old at the time, so it would have been 1921.

Jimmy Blouin 1886-1947

Jimmy Blouin was Jim Hackett's business partner and played an important part in paying his ransom during the 1931 kidnapping. Above, 19 year old Blouin poses for a Chicago Tribune photographer as if throwing a bowling ball, 1905. In February 1925 Blouin beat Joe Scribner of Detroit to win the world's bowling championship. He was inducted into the Bowling Hall of Fame in 1953.

James Blouin won the USBC Open Championships all-events title in 1909 and captured the singles title two years later. Blouin made his mark on the lanes in the days when challenge matches were the determining factor for the stamp of greatness. He possessed steely nerves and had a strong, slow curve ball he seemed to push rather than roll. For many years he took on all comers in the Chicago area and around the nation. -from  bowl.com. United States Bowling Congress, n.d. Web. 8 Jun 2011.

Front and back views of a postcard written but never sent by young George Hackett (pictured on horse) to a friend in Blue Island. Harold Schneider's father was an employee of Jim Hackett.

Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Al Capone and his wife at Happy Hollow

Happy Hollow, Hot Springs, Arkansas

 

While Adeline benefited from the theraputic steams, vapor cabinets, and wraps offered by the elegant bath houses and Jim made business contacts, Frances and George had fun posing at Happy Hollow. Frances and George are at either end, I don't know who the people in the middle are.

Spike O'Donnell Has a Theory

On May 9, 1931, the Tribune reported
Edward (Spike) O'Donnell, south side gangster, who was questioned in connection with the purported kidnaping, said that Hackett's story was a gesture to defraud the government.
O’Donnell came right out and claimed that Hackett had staged his own kidnapping so that he could cry poverty and avoid paying back taxes.
Was there a connection between the kidnapping and Hackett’s tax status? Shortly before the 1931 kidnapping federal internal revenue service agents placed a tax lien on Hackett, with acting collector Robert E Neely claiming he owed $354,639 to the government. The debt was for the years 1914 - 1929 during which time his income was allegedly more than $2,000,000. Hackett had recently compromised with the collector's office. O'Donnell's theory was that Hackett's payment of a large ransom would let him off the hook for paying his settlement. Another plausible connection between his debt and his kidnapping is that an insider at the IRS leaked news of these vast sums to criminal persons. Hackett’s agreement with tax authorities involved a large payment that would clear his liens. If he had enough to pay the government he had enough to pay a ransom.

My dad told me that his mother and grandmother often characterized deeds of his as things Jim Hackett would or would not have done. Adeline's sense of security and well being was destroyed by the 1931 kidnapping and the thought that her son George was a potential target of kidnap gangs. Such a deliberate destruction of his wife’s peace of mind falls into the category of something Jim would not have done.

Up North at Calvert Camps

Sometimes in the fall, Jim Hackett went fishing for muskellunge in Lake of the Woods.  A day's journey from Chicago, this vast body of water encompasses thousands of islands and sheltered bays. Lots of bootleggers operated in Lake of the Woods, transporting alcohol across the lake in the wilderness between Ontario, Canada, and Minnesota.

Muskies perk up at the beginning of autumn, after summer sluggishness, and look around for something to eat. Anglers sought the big 'lunge, warrior fishes lurking in the glacial waters, grown to greater proportions than anywhere else. Lake trout had been known to grow to over thirty pounds. The black bass could chew the bottom right out of your boat, the muskies would gnaw the bark off of trees, and pike had a strong habit of gobbling up spoon lure like candy. It was a sportsman’s haven as well as a hub of criminal activity. No wonder when Jim took his son George up there for a little hunting and fishing he brought along bodyguards.

1931 kidnapping continued

Ask About Prospects.

"When they kidnapped Chamberlain in January they asked him who else in Blue Island had money and the named of all those in the rackets. They only got $600 from him. They asked me the same thing and I didn't tell them.

"'You can't hold out anything on us,' one of the men said to me. 'We get information about how much dough you fellows have from the income tax office. We know how much a tap you can stand and you'll have to pay $150,000."
"Outside of the first abuse the men were courteous to me, calling me Jim and telling me I could have anything I wanted to eat, drink or smoke. They put a box of cigars beside me. I couldn't eat and I didn't want any of their drinks, although they said they had any kind of whiskey, beer or wine I wanted. When I wouldn't eat they told me not to be afraid, that they were not going to poison me.
“They had handcuffs on one of my wrists and the other link was attached to a bed post. When I complained that my hand was becoming numb they would change the cuff to the other wrist. They offered to shave me and they wanted to get me a clean shirt, but I didn't want either.
"They called my wife that night, Friday, and said to her, 'Adeline, we have a message from your husband and it is going to cost you one hundred and fifty G.' She didn't understand at first but soon found out what they meant. They told her unless she furnished the money she would never see me in the same old form as she last saw me. She was frightened and said she would get what money she could. They warned her not to call the police. They said they were afraid our home telephone would be tapped so she was to go to the place of business of a friend of mine in Chicago next day and wait there for a call from them. When she finally got together $150,000 she agreed with them on a password by which she would know she was giving the money to the right parties.
They told her to have our boy George drive her to the meeting place. She wouldn't do that, saying she was afraid they would harm the boy. She asked permission to have Jimmy Blouin, my former partner, to go with her and they said that would be all right, but they must drive in my son George's car. They knew all about George's car, its license number, kind and so forth, and they knew the name of our dog as well as my wife's first name.

    "I was mortally afraid something would happen to my wife. I knew of the proposed meeting and I thought she might call the police and then there might be some shooting. Drops of perspiration as big as my thumb were falling from my head as I waited there those few hours while the gang went to meet my wife. But everything worked out all right. She drove down a road as she had been directed and finally she was signaled to stop. The password was given and the money was handed over.
    "The men came back and told me the money had been paid and I was to be freed. What a relief! About 2 o'clock Sunday morning they brought me out into an automobile and drove around and around for a half hour. Finally they got out and told me not to do anything for five minutes. When that time had elapsed I took the bandage off my eyes, the only time it was off since they had captured me, excepting on one or two occasions, when they brought food and newspapers and told me I could read for a few minutes if I wished.
    I was in my own car and I was somewhere near Melrose Park. I drove home and here I am, not so much the worse physically but broke financially. I never saw any of the kidnapers before and I have no idea who they are or where they came from, excepting that they were all Americans, with no hint of any foreign nationality about any of them."
    Saturday evening a telephone call came for Blouin.
    "Have you the money?" a voice asked.
    "It's all ready," Blouin replied.
    "Then leave Blue Island about 10:15 o'clock  and drive west in 127th street till you cross the bridge over the Sag canal," the caller directed."There'll be somebody there to tell you what to do."
    The bridge is two miles east of the Navajo Fields Country club.
    Blouin and Mrs. Hackett wrapped up the money - $500 and $1,000 bills - in a newspaper and set out at the hour directed. At the western end of the bridge another automobile drew along side and a spotlight flashed into their car.
    "Drive slowly along about a mile west," one of the occupants of the other car ordered. This automobile followed Blouin and Mrs. Hackett to the spot designated. Another car was parked by the side of the road there. A man got out of the parked car.
    "Have you got the money?" he asked. Blouin nodded and handed over the package of bills.
    "We've done our part,"Blouin said. "Now you return Hackett unharmed."
    "We're men of our word," the kidnaper replied. If the money's here Hackett will be home. It'll be several hours, though."
    With this the kidnapers departed and Blouin and Mrs. Hackett returned home. They greeted Hackett when he arrived, driving the car in which he had been abducted.

1931 kidnapping continued

Hackett was driving to the club and on the way a car containing three men passed and they waved at him. Later he passed this car and did not recognize any of the occupants but thought they were casual acquaintances. This car followed him into the club grounds.
While he was parking his car in a stall a man came to the side of the car and pointed a gun at him and said “Don’t move or make any noise or I’ll kill you as sure as there is a God above. You’re going for a ride.”
"I looked to the other side and there was another man there with a gun pointed at me,” said Hackett yesterday in relating his experience. "Then I looked behind and there were men in a car behind with a machine gun and sawedoff shotguns. I knew it was useless to resist. The first fellow told me to move over and keep quiet and he climbed into the car and  I moved over to the other seat. He drove it out of the yard and down the road, the other car following.”

Blindfolded in Car.

"A mile or so down the road I was told to get in the kidnaper's car and lie on the floor. They wound gauze bandage all around my head so I couldn't see. I judge that I was driven fifteen or twenty miles before we stopped. One of the men was abusive, calling me vile names and threatening to bang me on the head with the butt of his gun, but I said there was no need of violence, that I would do what I was told.
"They took me into a house and on the way I heard the leader blaming the fellow who had abused me. He told him that such treatment was unnecessary because I was a good fellow.
"Inside the house they had put handcuffs on me and told me to lie on the bed. Two men stayed in the room all the time. I heard a lot of their conversation and it convinced me they were old timers in the kidnapping business and that these gangs worked together all over the country, one gang helping another.

KIDNAP GANG GETS $150,000 CASH IS RAISED BY WIFE TO SAVE GAMBLER'S LIFE

KIDNAP GANG GETS $150,000 CASH IS RAISED BY WIFE TO SAVE GAMBLER'S LIFE Returns Safe to his Blue Island Home.

Monday May 4, 1931 the Chicago Daily Tribune headline story told of the 57-year-old, 240-pound gambler taken for a ride by unknown persons. 

James Hackett, Blue Island gambler, paid 150,000 ransom to kidnapers and retuned home unharmed yesterday morning. He was kidnaped Friday afternoon. For two days his wife worked frantically converting securities and jewels into cash and borrowing money, mortgaging the home, in order to meet the demand of the kidnapers.
Hackett said last night that the $150,000 was all he had. It was possible for his wife to raise the money only upon the assurance that he would sign the mortgage on his home when he was freed.

Life in Danger.

Three different gangs had been shadowing him for weeks to take him for a ride, Hackett said his captors told him, and from the conversation of his guards he deduced they were affiliated with a national organization which makes a business of kidnaping wealthy men for ransom. The gang that captured him wanted to take either him or his son, George, 20 years old, whom they had followed on several occasions last week, Hackett stated.

Others Kidnaped by Gang. 

There was no connection between this attempted bombing and his kidnapping, Hackett declared, but he said he was certain the men who were successful in the $150,000 crime were the same who on Jan. 6 of this year kidnaped Daniel Chamberlain, another Blue Island gambler and liquor dealer, and who also abducted James Ward, chief bootlegger of Chicago Heights.
Hackett, until this experience, had resisted all efforts of gangsters to get his wealth or take his profits from him. He is known to have had slot machines all through the southern portion of the county long before prohibition led to the formation of powerful gangs. These gangs, such as those led by Capone, the Saltis-McErlane gang of the south side, and the Bugs Moran gang of the north side, dealing in liquor, decided to annex the slot machine business in conjunction with their liquor sales.

The Human Vampire Dracula Is Here!

In March, 1931 Frances was dying to see Dracula, which had just opened at the State Lake Theater, but her parents wouldn't allow her to see the film. They were willing to let her go to the movies, just not that particular film. Dracula had been  released the month before in New York and there were reports of people fainting from shock. She disobeyed them and went to a matinee, pretending when she returned home to have seen something else. Around midnight Frances' chow chow dog growled a long low growl and then it began to howl. Next a brand-new roller shade in her bedroom window lost purchase and flipped up. Frances shrieked and ran to her parents, her terror exposing her earlier disobedience. There was already  plenty for the family to fear, no imagination required. Gangs of predators had been circling closer and closer and were becoming increasingly explicit in their menace.

James and Adeline Hackett with George and Frances about 1915

March 4, 1931 Chicago Tribune

REVEAL 75 LIVES IMPERILED BY “MURDER BOMB”
Gaming House Crowded, Police Discover.

The revelation that nearly seventy-five persons escaped death on Monday night when a dynamite bomb, the most powerful ever seen in the Chicago area, failed to explode beneath a Blue Island gambling house came as a climax last night to the inquiry into the murder of William Maier, 52 years old, caretaker, who was shot by the bombers.
Instead of a boarded-up deserted structure, as asserted by police, the gaming house at 119th street and Vincennes avenue was thronged with men playing games of chance when the bomb was placed, it was learned. In a political meeting only two doors away, thirty-five men and women were gathered. The lives of all these persons, in addition to passersby and residents in flats at the corner, would have been imperiled by the terrific power of the explosive.

Gangs Defied by Hackett.

Investigators seeking a motive found themselves confronted by a multiplicity of theories, but the one most generally accepted was that the bombing plot was aimed at James Hackett, wealthy gambling chief of Blue Island, the owner of the resort.
Hackett has been known to have defied efforts of criminal syndicates to muscle into his territory. The Joe Saltis gang some time ago and before that the Edward (Spike) O’Donnell gang were told by him to stay out of the profitable Blue Island gambling business, it was reported.
Another puzzling element was the part played by Hilario Rodriguez, 35 years old, a Mexican, who at first was hailed as the hero who snuffed out the bomb when, he said, the bombers hurled him and the explosive down a col chute into the basement of the gambling house. Questioning of witnesses yesterday disproved this version, and Rodriguez contradicted his own story several times.

Story of a Bus Driver.

One witness, William Johnson, of Harvey, a bus driver, said that Rodriguez, who had been lurking about the corner, joined the three bombers when they drove up, and that all four went to the side of the gambling house. Johnson then heard a shot which was followed by four others. Peering toward the scene, Johnson said, he saw a man lying on the sidewalk (later identified as Maier) and Rodriguez running way. The other three men jumped into their sedan and drove off.
Similar testimony was given by two other witnesses, residents in a flat nearby, who said they saw the shooting and heard Maier cry “For God’s sake, don’t kill me!”
Hackett and his partner, Jimmy Blouin, former bowling champion, had been ordered to appear at the inquest yesterday afternoon but neither did so. At Hackett’s $75,000 residence in Blue Island, a man who said he was a constable on guard, declared that Hackett’s whereabouts were unknown.
Hackett and Blouin were on the scene of the crime a few moments after the shooting and Hackett exclaimed to bystanders that the murder was an “outrage for which someone will pay.” He will be subpoenaed to appear at the next session of the inquest on March 13.